3.3TT Advice needed: Exhaust

[dkmalloy]

Hey fellas!

I've had my new Stinger for a couple weeks now and I'm trying to get some feedback and thoughts on a particular exhaust setup... I'll get to that shortly.
I've got K&N intakes in place now, windows scheduled to be done next week (15% all around), jb4 piggyback w/mobile app + hks plugs ordered and on their way, hood and wheel emblems replaced (apologies, Sal... I ordered them elsewhere before finding you guys here), catch can is on the way as well as body colored replacements for the rear reflectors.
Now then, exhaust. I'm not a fan of ricey, raspy, pop/crackly sounds and don't want anything obnoxiously loud. I'm looking for something slightly louder than stock, and I love a smooth, low grumple. Something that'll free up air flow a bit and simply sound better than stock without ruining the "sleeper" status that drew me to the car in the first place.
I think I've settled on a combination of the Magnaflow catback + Ark secondary catless DPs. The sound of the Magnaflow is what I'm after, but it seems a bit quieter than I'd like. From what I've read, the addition of DPs will get the sound about where I'd like and obviously open things up a bit more and facilitate slightly better gains. I've only been able to find one very short clip of this setup (see link below).
What do you guys think? I'd greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer. I'd hate to pull the trigger on this stuff and have it turn out to be completely different than expected.

Thanks!
-Daniel

 

[narsnail]

Check out Quicksilver, have a pre-order on for a good price. Should be a video up soon of the sound I believe.

 

[SteveCo]

What do you guys think? I'd greatly appreciate any advice you have to offer. I'd hate to pull the trigger on this stuff and have it turn out to be completely different than expected.

Beware of YT videos as a means of judging how the car will sound with different systems - lots of people have tried that route, only to put their 'almost new' exhaust up in the classified section at a loss when reality doesn't meet their expectations.

Your best bet is to find someone locally who will let you listen to their exhaust in person - and ideally even take you for a ride, to hear how much noise intrudes into the cabin at different speeds and levels of acceleration, what it sounds like to those on the street, etc.

If you update your profile with your location, you have a much better chance of finding someone willing to help out - good luck!

 

[dkmalloy]

Check out Quicksilver, have a pre-order on for a good price. Should be a video up soon of the sound I believe.

Oh wow, thanks dude!
It looks like they've even further reduced their price since this thread was posted:
(insert link I'm currently not able to post here, lol)
Even with a shipping charge of $124, it comes out to $736 for their DPs+Catback with the discount (QSSTING2020) applied at this time.

I wonder why they're so much more affordable than other systems?

 

[dkmalloy]

...If you update your profile with your location, you have a much better chance of finding someone willing to help out - good luck!

Thanks for the tip! Done ✔

 

[narsnail]

Oh wow, thanks dude!
It looks like they've even further reduced their price since this thread was posted:
(insert link I'm currently not able to post here, lol)
Even with a shipping charge of $124, it comes out to $736 for their DPs+Catback with the discount (QSSTING2020) applied at this time.

I wonder why they're so much more affordable than other systems?

The price for the catback is just a pre-order price, you will be charged the full amount eventually. Says on the product page.

 

[General_Vodka]

Get the quick silver mids if the discount is still up. They are pretty good quality

 

[dkmalloy]

The price for the catback is just a pre-order price, you will be charged the full amount eventually. Says on the product page.

Yeah, I just realized that as I was reading through some recent threads here‍, lol.

 

[Pash]

Why don't you just change your mufflers? Cut the resonator out and change them. I did. It sounds slightly louder than stock and has a reasonable amount of growl. No drone, just comfortable ride.

 

[dkmalloy]

Why don't you just change your mufflers? Cut the resonator out and change them. I did. It sounds slightly louder than stock and has a reasonable amount of growl. No drone, just comfortable ride.

If I was only doing it for sound, that would work, but my primary goal is to get rid of the restrictions in the factory exhaust from the primary cats back without ending up with something obnoxious. There don't seem to be many examples of that out there, as most people tend to favor louder configurations.
I went ahead and got the Magnaflow catback and Ark catless DPs on the way. Magnaflow's catback has 4 mufflers along with 2 resonators, but it's a straight through design so I'm thinking that's probably the best route for me even if some other options are ever so slightly more performance oriented. If drone becomes an issue, I may modify the DPs and/or tips a bit.
That stock piping, mufflers, and secondary cats gotta take a hike though for sure. Stinger's stock exhaust is like someone trying to fart through a coffee straw, lol.

 

[Daniel @ K8 Stinger Store]

Magnaflow Exhaust is a good option for sure, you might also want to look into the Ark Grip Catback Exhaust especially if you already have Ark Performance Downpipes. That exhaust from Ark Performace has nearly no drone and is made to be paired with your downpipes. If you have any questions just shoot me a message and I would be glad to send over some videos of different set ups or help you narrow down your decision further.

 

[CKeeler]

I love my MBRP exhaust. No downpipe needed. And the exhaust wrap mod is an option to get rid of any resonance below 2400rpm

 

[dkmalloy]

I love my MBRP exhaust. No downpipe needed. And the exhaust wrap mod is an option to get rid of any resonance below 2400rpm

I love it! That sounds great to me. I nearly went with MBRP's catback, but I'm obsessed with getting rid of the secondary cats as they (from everything I've heard and read) are perhaps the most restrictive part of the stock system aside from maybe the mufflers. Catless DPs paired with MBRP's catback sounded a bit over the top for my taste.
A lot of people complain that the Magnaflow catback is too quiet, so I'm counting on the combination of catless DP's and their exhaust stacking up to be a good combo of less restrictive air flow post turbos and a sound that doesn't make me want to kick a kitten.

 

[BIGOLTTS]

I love it! That sounds great to me. I nearly went with MBRP's catback, but I'm obsessed with getting rid of the secondary cats as they (from everything I've heard and read) are perhaps the most restrictive part of the stock system aside from maybe the mufflers. Catless DPs paired with MBRP's catback sounded a bit over the top for my taste.
A lot of people complain that the Magnaflow catback is too quiet, so I'm counting on the combination of catless DP's and their exhaust stacking up to be a good combo of less restrictive air flow post turbos and a sound that doesn't make me want to kick a kitten.

I had originally heard the secondaries were the most restrictive, but have since heard otherwise. Think Tonkabob has stated that the gains from the mids were pretty much negligible performance wise (and he has done more real world testing than most).

 

[dkmalloy]

I had originally heard the secondaries were the most restrictive, but have since heard otherwise. Think Tonkabob has stated that the gains from the mids were pretty much negligible performance wise (and he has done more real world testing than most).

Interesting. I guess I can't quite understand why there would even be conflicting information on the subject. I think there's a lot of biased and non fact based information out there, which certainly makes it difficult to decide what to do.
SSR claims ballpark 30hp gains from DPs alone. Others say aftermarket DPs don't matter unless you change everything downstream as well (which makes sense to me).
Regardless of claims, cats of any kind certainly are restrictive to some extent. I don't have emissions checks here, so I'm getting rid of the secondaries for kicks if nothing else.

 

[JaredHasselhoff]

Why don't you just change your mufflers? Cut the resonator out and change them. I did. It sounds slightly louder than stock and has a reasonable amount of growl. No drone, just comfortable ride.

Is that basically a resonator delete or something else cause I’ve heard stingers get really loud with that.

 

[celwin]

Beware of YT videos as a means of judging how the car will sound with different systems - lots of people have tried that route, only to put their 'almost new' exhaust up in the classified section at a loss when reality doesn't meet their expectations.

Your best bet is to find someone locally who will let you listen to their exhaust in person - and ideally even take you for a ride, to hear how much noise intrudes into the cabin at different speeds and levels of acceleration, what it sounds like to those on the street, etc.

If you update your profile with your location, you have a much better chance of finding someone willing to help out - good luck!

This. I have yet to hear an exhaust in person that sounded like youtube clips of it. Having said that, I have yet to hear an exhaust in person on a stinger; But generally youtube clips are not an accurate representation of what the exhaust sounds like in person.

 

[Aarvix]

Well, there's two opportunities for the sound to get distorted; the microphone and the headphones/speakers.

Most videos are taken with a phone, which is not the most accurate microphone.

I took my exhaust video with a calibrated measurement mic (MiniDSP UMIK-1), and it still sounds different depending on which headphones I'm wearing (phone speaker isn't even close).

 

[dkmalloy]

Yeah,

Well, there's two opportunities for the sound to get distorted; the microphone and the headphones/speakers.

Most videos are taken with a phone, which is not the most accurate microphone.

I took my exhaust video with a calibrated measurement mic (MiniDSP UMIK-1), and it still sounds different depending on which headphones I'm wearing (phone speaker isn't even close).

Yeah, it would be all but impossible to perfectly pick up the tones as they sound in person, but something people 'can' do is make sure to set the mic volume to manual.
When cameras/recorders are left in automatic mode, they'll constantly amplify and attenuate sounds to maintain a midrange volume level, and when you play the audio back through headphones or speakers, you can't hear the true decibel differences between two different sources.
If two exhausts (say... stock vs something very loud) are recorded properly in manual, and you adjust your headphones/speakers where you can comfortably hear the stock exhaust, you should be ripping your headphones off or crazily reaching for the volume control when the aftermarket exhaust comes through the speakers.

 

[Dodger Blue]

I had originally heard the secondaries were the most restrictive, but have since heard otherwise. Think Tonkabob has stated that the gains from the mids were pretty much negligible performance wise (and he has done more real world testing than most).

From what I understand (and I'm not an engineer so take this for what it's worth) the primaries on the GT are more restrictive than the secondaries, and while freer flow post-turbo is always a good thing for performance, on our cars there are indicators that aftermarket high flow primaries will cause additional oil burn and perhaps be wearing out the turbo faster. We aren't seeing those problems with other exhaust upgrades, so while you'll certainly see gains, do it at your own risk.