Back In The Saddle, Head About To Explode From Pypes

mattdee1

Active Member
Feb 21, 2002
1,525
2
39
Windsor, ON
Greetings Stangers

I used to be a regular on this site like 10 years ago and kind of fell out of it when I turned in my ’03 GT at lease end. After that, I drove a Neon SRT-4 for a few years (yeah, I know) and for the last 4-5 years it’s been nothing but plain old econo-boxes.

I’m a bit surprised I was able to remember my user name and PW to log in here at Stangnet, and it’s kind of nostalgic to see my Rush Moving Pictures avatar still intact; I can’t even remember the last time I listened to that album. :D

Anyway, as the title suggests, I’m back in the saddle as of this past weekend, when I picked up a 2012 GT 6-spd manual. The dealer didn’t know what gear is in the car, but with some quick calculations using speed/RPM pairings, it has to be the 3.73. I absolutely love the car overall, but…

It came with an aftermarket “exhaust”. When I test drove it I thought that was awesome, because it was loud and sounded mean, and my exuberance was blinding me from reason. Now that I’ve had a chance to drive the car at length on the highway (on my way to work this morning), I’ve discovered that cruising at around 70MPH (1900-2100ish RPM), my head feels like it’s going to explode from the drone. Seriously, it’s more than mere “annoyance”; it’s like… physical pain. I downloaded an SPL meter on my iPhone, and measured it at lunch. The drone at 70MPH is about 82dBA. Obviously I need to fix this problem so I can enjoy the car.

All I know about the currently installed system is that it’s a Pypes system (label on the exhaust tips). I briefly looked under the car at the dealership, and it looked like it was just some sort of straight-through pipe to eliminate the mufflers. I’ll look again when I get home tonight to make sure. Regardless, it has to go.

Ideally, I’d want:

- Basic axle back (not planning on doing much else to the car so I’m guessing more elaborate exhaust upgrade would be poor bang-for-buck)
- Nice snarl when gunning it, but as little highway drone as humanly possible, while not being stock
- reasonable price

I imagine this type of topic has been beaten to death here, and I did do a forum search in hopes of finding something resembling a consensus, but no luck. I guess exhaust tones are too subjective, although I would think that presence of drone (or lack thereof) could be answered definitively. The closest thing I can find to a consensus is the Roush axle back, as I’ve seen it name-dropped multiple times with glowing reviews, claims of no drone, and only a few negative comments.

Can anybody share their axle back experience, specifically as it relates to drone? I’ll gladly take any anecdotes/stories, but it’s all the more “convincing” if you can tell me that you had an annoying drone problem, but found a way to fix it, while still sounding mean when you gun it.

Cheers
Matt
 
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GT500 mufflers are a little more aggressive (louder, deeper tone) than the stock mufflers and are an excellent value ($320, typically) for stainless mufflers. Zero drone. If you want something louder and cost is not a big factor then go for Borla Touring (louder than the GT500's but not obnoxious) or S-type (louder than the Touring but not obnoxious). Again, zero drone. I had the GT500's on my car and swapped in the S-types. Very pleased.

HTH,

Chris
 
Thanks dude, I'll look at those options.

I confirmed by looking under the car that the system installed is called "Pype Bombs" which, upon review of that company's website, is indeed just a muffler delete like I thought.

Just got in from a cruise and I find I actually kind of like the Pypes around town. Yeah, maybe they're a bit obnoxious, but when you let 'er boil they sound pretty mean. In the city, it's easy enough to avoid the problematic "drone window" on the tach by selecting an appropriate gear. But on the freeway when 6th gear is pretty much your only choice for cruising, yikes... it's like placing your head in a vice.
 
I would go Roush any day of the week. I had a 12 GT and turned that in for a 13. Both cars had Roush's on them (I actually ordered a set prior to delivery of the 13 so I could put them on immediately) There is no drone and under about 3k rpms they have a relatively subtle growl. After that, they get LOUD! Think Roush/Yates NASCAR engine loud.

I have heard they are not the best if you are planning additional exhaust modifications (you said you weren't) and for a bit over 450 bucks, I don't think you can beat the sound for the price. Youtube vid's will only get you so far, but really do no justice to them. Hope this helps and happy modding!
 
as said, if you want loud but no drone, get the Roush, I personally think they sound like :poo:, and just get worse with exhaust mods, if you want good clean sound with no drone, but a bit quieter, get the other mentioned gt500 ab's
 
I like my S-Types. They have a good sound and loud enough when you want them to be, but quite when cruising at highway speeds. No drones at all.
 
I would also suggest the gt500 axle backs. They have absolutely no drone at cruising speeds. They give an aggressive tone when you give her some throttle and are a touch louder than stock at idle. They're also on sale on at latemodelrestoration.com for $280. The best bang for your buck by far.
 
And make sure you look for videos exhibiting the sound of those exhausts on the same year/engine of your car. This is remarkably useful. I can't imagine buying an exhaust system without hearing it somehow beforehand.

Sometimes, the way people describe things is not exactly the way they actually are.