Bored's exhaust - FX50S

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bored4life

Member
Location
Washington DC/Northern Virginia
I've been away from the forums for a long time, but I've been silently lurking and seeing the exhaust options out there for the FX as the stock exhaust (as most of us can agree on) is way too quiet.

So I ran across JBakers exhaust thread with the muffler delete and I figured hmm, why not give this a try. I saw some other videos and figured that it'd be the cheapest and easiest option to get done. After researching shops, I came across a shop near me that has really good reviews so I thought I'd give him a try.

For starters, dude ended up not using the factory flanges and ended up cutting off right behind the flanges. Oh well, work was done, and he ended up welding pipes from there to the exhaust. I used the stock exhaust tips for now. My muffler has the bolted flanges still on and he said that he would/could put it back on if need be.

So after the job was done, turned it on, and holy shit this thing is LOUD. From the videos and everything, I was hoping for more of an AMG or Porsche GTS type of sound, but this sounds (according to a friend) like a mustang or corvette with a custom exhaust. Yeah it's that loud. Around 1.5k - 2k RPM the bass on the inside is annoying as hell, and the drone and vibration is a little unbearable.

I'm planning to go back to the shop, because he needs to rebend the driver side pipes a little bit to match the passenger side (because of some sensor, and it looks cleaner on that side). I'm going to ask him whether he can make the pipes smaller, to see if that refines the sound a little bit.

Since some of you have a custom exhaust, could you guys provide any tips or suggestions? I'm going to try to get pics and video up when I can in the next week, but I would really love some input..
 
Did a muffler delete also. I have a vid posted of a cold start. Mines didn't sound as loud as you describe when I first did it, though it isn't quiet either. I've had mine for quite some time and I don't know if it's me but mine seems to have quieted down slightly over time. When I first had it done I would remote start it while it was in my driveway and I could hear it start from inside my house without really having to listen for it. Now when I remote start even now with cold winter starts I have to really listen for the start. I was thinking about putting a small race muffler on each side strictly to lighten up some of the drone on the inside but again mines doesn't bother me as much as you describe yours bothering you.
 
muffler delete will quite down overtime and drone will get a bit easier. Best advice to you, buy 2 small resonators and get it welded in place of the mufflers.
 
Do you guys think it could be the size of the pipes that were welded? For some reason my mind just keeps going back to that being one of the main reasons for it being so damn loud..

I'm actually considering the Borla kit because its so annoying. Anyone have any experience with the Borla?
 
Lot of guys that have borla like it. Nice aggressive growl. I am not sure if many have aftermarket kits for the 50 though I know it has been harder to find because there weren't many or any kits.

There is a thread for an ARK exhaust for the 50 but I think that there has been problems as far as follow ups to see if it will be for sale? Not sure if it's in production but I would check that thread out too.


Let us know what you do. Post a video of your exhaust now if you could
 
Size of the pipe at the muffler won't make much difference in sound. Not much length and that's at the tail end anyways. You can always weld in resonators, Vibrant makes one that a lot of various cars use to quite down muffler deletes. But you removed your mufflers, there's not really any getting around the noise. And how would a muffler delete get quieter over time? I'm curious because with HFC's or resonators, there is sound suppression material that "breaks in". But with a muffler delete, all that is gone so what will quiet down?
 
blueduck1105 said:
Let us know what you do. Post a video of your exhaust now if you could
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I've taken a couple of videos of the exhaust, but the interior video doesn't capture the drone and vibrations properly. In the videos it actually sounds pretty decent from the videos, pretty on par with some of the videos that are posted. The exterior has a nice sound, but the interior noise I can see myself being annoyed of down the road, it was already getting annoying in the beginning, and it may just exponentially grow from there.

I'll see what I can do about the videos, might just take one in the garage while I'm at work, or cold start this weekend since I park in the garage at home for the time being too.

Seriously considering the Borla system though.. from what I've heard it's only slightly louder than stock. From the videos it sounds good, but I want a nice throaty v8 that won't kill my ears inside the car.

shadow191 said:
Size of the pipe at the muffler won't make much difference in sound. Not much length and that's at the tail end anyways. You can always weld in resonators, Vibrant makes one that a lot of various cars use to quite down muffler deletes.
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Instead of going this route, I'd be more inclined to just get my factory set up welded back together and buy a Borla system. It'd be a lot quieter than now, but I feel like it *may* give me the sound I want
 
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You could so the sound deadening thing as well if you like the exterior sound? I forgot what it's called off the top of my head there are several people who have installed the extra sound deadening material though! Just another option for you
 
It doesn't make a huge difference. I've sound deadened most of my car minus the roof and it cuts the drone some, but doesn't do as much for overall volume. Dynamat only keeps a panel from resonating. So any noise caused by the boom of the exhaust going through the trunk floor will be cut, but that's not most of what you hear in the car. You would have to use Dynamat and then foam as well; even then, it's not a night and day difference.
 
Hey man - don't go borla. For the $1200 you'll spend you can get the same sound (if that's all you care about) with a set of mufflers out back. Or another set of resonators. When I had my muffler delete I added a resonator to each side and it helped with the sound a lot - but was ugly. That's why I went custom rear mufflers. (Check out my exhaust thread)
 
jbaker1121 said:
Hey man - don't go borla. For the $1200 you'll spend you can get the same sound (if that's all you care about) with a set of mufflers out back. Or another set of resonators. When I had my muffler delete I added a resonator to each side and it helped with the sound a lot - but was ugly. That's why I went custom rear mufflers. (Check out my exhaust thread)
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Your exhaust thread is the only reason why I went down this road. Otherwise I've done almost no custom modwork to this extreme to any of the cars I had, so I thought I'd give this a go. Do you think it's worth spending around $600 on a custom kit for this?

I'll take a closer look at some of the work you've done to it, and definitely keep this thread updated.
 
shadow191 said:
Size of the pipe at the muffler won't make much difference in sound. Not much length and that's at the tail end anyways. You can always weld in resonators, Vibrant makes one that a lot of various cars use to quite down muffler deletes. But you removed your mufflers, there's not really any getting around the noise. And how would a muffler delete get quieter over time? I'm curious because with HFC's or resonators, there is sound suppression material that "breaks in". But with a muffler delete, all that is gone so what will quiet down?
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Don't quite get the science of it either but mine has definitely quieted down some overtime. Could just be the car not starting as aggressively as I slowly put the mileage on but I just remote started today from inside my house and listened for the sound, it is definitely quieter than when I first had it done. Go figure........ maybe I'm losing hearing lol.

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------
bored4life said:
Seriously considering the Borla system though.. from what I've heard it's only slightly louder than stock. From the videos it sounds good, but I want a nice throaty v8 that won't kill my ears inside the car.
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I agree with JBaker on not going with Borla, most people who have reviewed the Borla exhaust didn't like sound, which is why most people with the 50 have stock exhaust. Then you have the few that deleted the muffler trying to get a more aggressive sound and then there are those hoping that ARK finishes the prototype they fabricated for the 50.
 
neva4self said:
I agree with JBaker on not going with Borla, most people who have reviewed the Borla exhaust didn't like sound, which is why most people with the 50 have stock exhaust. Then you have the few that deleted the muffler trying to get a more aggressive sound and then there are those hoping that ARK finishes the prototype they fabricated for the 50.
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That's such a shame, I saw some videos and loved that sound. But I'm one of those few, and although I have no regrets, I am wondering if there are any options for me out there that will be cheaper on the wallet
 
bored4life said:
That's such a shame, I saw some videos and loved that sound. But I'm one of those few, and although I have no regrets, I am wondering if there are any options for me out there that will be cheaper on the wallet
Click to expand...

Take into consideration that the Borla videos prob weren't of a V8, makes a huge difference in how the aggressiveness, or lack of, sounds.
 
A lot of the videos sounded good, but this is the one I'm basing a lot of my decisions on.. It's not too loud like it is right now, but it does give it that nice tuned sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bag4fDBQSXw

I am open to suggestions otherwise. I'm looking up mufflers to put right behind the exhaust tips and see where I can go with that, but according to a friend whose a mechanic, apparently it doesn't do much for drone..
 
bored4life said:
A lot of the videos sounded good, but this is the one I'm basing a lot of my decisions on.. It's not too loud like it is right now, but it does give it that nice tuned sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bag4fDBQSXw

I am open to suggestions otherwise. I'm looking up mufflers to put right behind the exhaust tips and see where I can go with that, but according to a friend whose a mechanic, apparently it doesn't do much for drone..
Click to expand...

I see that one of the newer vids and it on an actual 50, that's good because at least you know exactly what you would get well close to it. IMO i think it sounds a little muffled like it wants to be aggressive but it just misses the mark by a hair. It doesn't sound horrible though. The two race mufflers is what was I was thinking about doing. I looked into companies like Megan, Magnaflow and Dynamax who all make small race mufflers that claim to quiet drone in some cases. I just haven't had the time to get around to it.
 
In hindsight I should have gone with electric cut outs. Those seem to be an awesome option. But I am considering looking into race mufflers to put behind the tips. I just don't want a ricey/import sound. I want a nice exotic/tuned V8 to come out of those pipes.
 
race mufflers will have drone, if you want cut down on drone then sport mufflers. Another option is to cut open stock muffler and weld in straight pipes instead of preforated. You will get no drone and throatier tone
 
Just remember that where you place the mufflers or resonators does impact sound. The closer you mount them to the engine, the more sound suppression there will be. The further back they are, the less they will do. I'm not even sure what companies mean when they say "race" muffler. There's basically 2 kinds of muffler, chambered and straight/perforated. OEM mufflers are almost always chambered, they allow the most amount of tuning for sound. Straight through mufflers are basically big resonators, the exhaust just goes straight through and there are perforations in the pipe that is surrounded by sound suppression packing. Most companies just mean straight through when they say race muffler. A ricey sound on a V engine is usually rasp and if you get that, an X-pipe will fix it. Resonators or straight through style mufflers do very little for rasp (I've gone through this before). Keep in mind, the chambers are there for a reason, they're tuned for a certain exhaust tone.
 
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