Fusion install - '09 A6 coupe - experience/review
03-22-2009, 10:50 PM
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Fusion install - '09 A6 coupe - experience/review
First off let me just say, these Fusions exceeded my expectations and to thank Marylandspeed, Corpsvette and Sox3 here on the forum.
If you don’t like to read a lot of detail and just want the results, here you go:
Fusion install: Installation of the exhaust components was very easy, a 2 on a 1-10 scale, installing the vacuum lines and electrical components was also very easy, also a "2", cutting or taking off the cover to the vacuum nipple on the backside of the exhaust manifold a 9 on a 1-10 scale, very difficult and time consuming.
Fusion sound: Fantastic! Deep throaty guttural sound, like a true muscle car with flaps open or closed, love it. Has some burble on decel, I don’t hear any popping. Id prefer more popping and burble, but the sound is great.
Quality/look: Fantastic! Large 4.5" tips on a high quality system. This is a one piece product. The finish is glorious.
Drone: With flaps open on my '09 A6 coupe, you will hit drone from 1400-1600 rpm, right in the 65-73mph band. Around town on acceleration, you hit it in every gear. It’s the kind of drone that resonates the entire interior and you then understand what people are talking about when they say drone. With the flaps closed there is "almost" no drone. It doesn’t "quite" resonate the entire interior, but you can hear that it’s right on the cusp of droning. It may even drone a tad, but this is livable by any measure. This drone is negligible compared to when the flaps are open and just by turning on the radio at a normal volume, you don't even hear the exhaust really (unless you WOT it of course).
For those who want to read all the details, here you go (I’m long winded with useless details
):
I had been reviewing, reading, listening and "youtubing" almost every exhaust available for the C6. Borla, corsa, B&B, flowmaster, SLP....all those systems. Concerns of drone kept coming up and '09 availability was a concern. I initially wanted to get the Corsa Extremes. I read the Corsas don't drone and the youtube vids demonstrated some nice sound to them, especially the decel burble and popping....I like that
. I was about ready to pull the trigger on those and then I stumbled across a post that said the extremes do not do well at all with the A6 transmissions, at least as far as drone is concerned. Well, I figured, if I’m going to have drone, why not get an exhaust with a bit deeper sound than the extremes, so my search continued. I read so many good things about the Borla stingers and the sound was great on youtube, but there were also a ton of people talking about the stinger drone and that it "IS" there and very predominant. There was still not much to pick from for the '09 C6 and it was the best sound I had heard yet, so I tried to buy one of those, but Borla had just finished the R&D on the '09 version and it was not available yet. I continued my search. I listened to the fusion and I liked that sound as well. But, I had to install the retro kit to take advantage of the "quiet" mode. I really didn’t want to do this. I have never modded any of my cars and was very reluctant to mod this one, even with an axle back system. Also, the price was a bit prohibitive as well, so I thought about the NPP and got pricing on that. Ok, that was almost as expensive as the Fusions, but it was much quieter, tips were not as nice looking, did not come with lifetime warranty and was not as pleasant to look at. Hmmmm, I think I'll take the Fusions over the NPPs. But before I put down that kind of money on an exhaust, I have to hear this thing in person. I was able to find "CorpsVette" locally, who had just installed a set of Fusions himself, and I asked if I could listen to what he had. He has a manual with a convertible top and I knew it would sound different than an A6 coupe, but still, I had to hear this. After a drive out with CorpsVette, talking with him and doing some additional reading, I decided the Fusions were for me. Even though I was not excited about installing the retro kit, I had to have the sound, it was too sweet sounding to pass up. I ordered from MarylandSpeed and it was delivered within 3 business days to my home. Whew, this new exhaust was heavy, but boy, did they look sweet! I couldn’t wait for the weekend to put these in. Friday came around and I took the day off from work to install this thing 
. I figured Id have this done in about 3 hours tops. It wasn't done in 3 hours and here are some "gotchas" and tips that may help others out. First off, the first thing you need to do if you are installing the whole system with the retro kit, is to get that tip off of the nipple of the vacuum port on the backside of the intake manifold. I am not sure about the '05-'08 C6s, but on my '09 this is a HUGE problem. It appears that GM doesn't like anyone touching that port. They have installed a hard plastic "tab" that now sits right in front of the port to specifically BLOCK access to that port. It took me 3 hours to not only cut that tab, but to also cut the tip off of the vacuum port. The problem is that you can not really get a tool back in there because of the lack of space, heck, I barely found the port as it was. It is wayyy back in there. I am not a large man and have small hands and I still had a hard time accessing it and making the cuts. In order to cut the tab, I took a hacksaw blade in my left hand and put it back in there and with my right hand, I came in over top of the manifold to apply pressure on the blade so that it would cut the tab as I sawed. You have to be careful because there are wires around there that are easy to cut. This took me about 2 hours to do. First from the top, I cut about 1/3 the way down, then from the bottom, I cut 1/3 the way up. Then I just pulled and pushed on that tab to weaken it enough so that is just snapped. Keep in mind that you want to cut it back far enough so that you have full access to the port once the tab is removed. If not, then you'll have to cut again.... 
. Once that was done I tried to "twist" the top off of that vacuum port....HA! That cap is either melted or glued onto that nipple. I could not twist it off or do anything else to even budge it, even with pliers on that guy. Your range of motion is very limited and you just can not maneuver enough to get a tool in there that can do the job. I ended up using a straight edge utility blade. The plastic is soft enough to cut with one of these, whereas the plastic tab that was blocking it was much more dense and made of some hard plastic. After another hour of cutting with the utility blade, the cap was off. What a huge victory - there's the light at the end of the tunnel
. Now to connect the vacuum tubing and drop it down the firewall. After I dropped the tubing down and secured it with tie wraps it was time to lift the car. I recommend the bottom of the rear tires be at least 14" off the ground. The fusions, being one piece units, have to "arc" over the axles to get them in. This requires more area below to get that initial angle as you insert it over the axle. It also helps to avoid scratching the bottom of your tips on the ground. This pretty much covers the "gotchas". Cutting the vacuum port was the biggest challenge by far. Everything else was gravy and very easy.
After I got this installed on the first night (the retro kit was missing some fuses, so it was not working yet...BBExhaust had to ship the fuses out the following week, they were missing from the package), so I tie-wrapped the fusion valves open because I wanted to hear it at its loudest and had to hear it now. I had my wife come out to the garage at 11pm as I was getting ready to start her up for the first time with a real exhaust. She still didn’t understand all this effort to replace a perfectly good exhaust for something louder. I get the look of, "you're crazy" or "what is wrong with you", and sometimes a condescending smile, but she knows it makes me happy, so she "plays the game"
. Anyways, she comes out into the garage and I start it up. She nearly jumped out of her shoes because it scared her. I have to admit, I jumped a bit too. I thought something was wrong with the car and was self-destructing it was so loud (I have no other mods on the car other than exhaust). I looked at her and she had fear in her eyes, and I just smiled as I drove off. I drove around the area for about 30 minutes that night, enamored with the sound and how loud it was. I was surprised that there was almost nothing for drone and I was happy. The drone was something I was really worried about. I’m thinking all this sound and no drone. A few days later, after I got my fuses in for the retro kit, I realized that when I used the tie-wraps, I actually had the flaps CLOSED, not opened like I had originally thought (NO I DIDNT LOOK IN THE PIPE THE FIRST NIGHT ). I’m thinking OMG! This thing gets louder. I told my wife and she almost started to cry......LOL! I cut the tie wraps and went out again. UH-OH! This beast has been awaken, along with all of my neighbors a mile away (not really, but its drama for the story)! HA! I’m thinking, man, did I make a mistake here? This may be too much for me. I was a little bit concerned now. I decided that with all things, humans resist change, they are used to the "Status-quo" and are slow to change even when they are forced to (AKA GM and their business model 
). OK, lets leave the flaps open and drive around for a week and see if I can adjust. A week goes by and I slowly get used to the droning with the flaps open and I now actually look forward to the droning. I can feel it through the whole cabin, it penetrates my ears, my chest.....this is MAN, this is POWER, this is a CORVETTE! I like it, I LOVE IT! Did I mention I LOVE IT? Ok, so now I know I can live with it and look forward to that 1400-1600 RPM droning around town. Lets get the retro kit squared away. I put the fuses in the next week and make a couple other adjustments and WOOHOO! I got it working. Time for a drive! Before I went out for a drive I tested and played with it a bit. When CorpsVette showed me his system at idle, I could not tell much difference between open and closed flaps, very little difference. With mine, there is a very big difference between open and closed flaps. Did B&B do something different for the '09 models? I don't know, but I sure am glad there is more of a difference between open/closed. I went out for a drive. Started her up, closed the flaps and ......... quiet. I went out driving with the flaps closed and I’m thinking......this sounds like my stock exhaust with nothing that resembles any kind of drone that I had heard previously with the flaps open, not even close. SWEEEETT! The best of both worlds. Bad A$$ and loud when open, and almost stock quiet when closed (not quite, but after driving a week with flaps open all the time, the difference in drone and loudness was quite distinct). After a few days of driving I don’t even close the flaps anymore, just too quiet for me, I’m used to the loud stuff now 
.
With the flaps closed, the Fusions still sound great. They are louder than stock by a decent margin. They give what I would consider, very very minimal drone at 1400-1600rpm. It is so little that talking at normal levels is easily done and having the stereo on at normal levels will drown it out. Highway cruising for the A6 falls into this rpm range and I would have no hesitations on taking her on long trips. I was very concerned about drone and "Sox3" here on the forum was exactly right when he told me there is a little drone, but it is certainly bearable on trips. I'm glad I took his word for it.
With the flaps open. Pure power, pure sweetness, baritone at its finest. You want muscle car sound, this is it. Drone, yep, tons of it. I got used to it in less than a week and I now look forward to that 1400-1600 rpm band.
Earlier today I met another forum member "Jack's C6" and he has extremes on his car. He was interested in the Fusions so we met earlier today, rode some and talked. After we went for a ride in my car, we came back and went in his. We both agreed and laughed it up and compared our two exhausts. The extremes paled in comparison to the Fusions. Don't get me wrong, we both think the extremes sound great, but the difference was that deep muscular bass sound. The sounds are very different and we both agreed that we would prefer the Fusions. The extremes did have a sweet decel sound though. I loved that burbling and popping, but I'll stick with my Fusions. The extremes sounded "racy", but the fusions say "Power".
I highly recommend the fusions to anyone looking for that deep baritone muscle car sound, yet want comfort from time to time from the droning. For me, I'm very happy with them. I hope this review helps some people out when they research exhausts for their cars. It took me almost 5 months to make my decision, and I’m glad I made the right one.
We have some good forum members here and want to thank Corpsvette and Sox3 again for their help and time.
If you don’t like to read a lot of detail and just want the results, here you go:
Fusion install: Installation of the exhaust components was very easy, a 2 on a 1-10 scale, installing the vacuum lines and electrical components was also very easy, also a "2", cutting or taking off the cover to the vacuum nipple on the backside of the exhaust manifold a 9 on a 1-10 scale, very difficult and time consuming.
Fusion sound: Fantastic! Deep throaty guttural sound, like a true muscle car with flaps open or closed, love it. Has some burble on decel, I don’t hear any popping. Id prefer more popping and burble, but the sound is great.
Quality/look: Fantastic! Large 4.5" tips on a high quality system. This is a one piece product. The finish is glorious.
Drone: With flaps open on my '09 A6 coupe, you will hit drone from 1400-1600 rpm, right in the 65-73mph band. Around town on acceleration, you hit it in every gear. It’s the kind of drone that resonates the entire interior and you then understand what people are talking about when they say drone. With the flaps closed there is "almost" no drone. It doesn’t "quite" resonate the entire interior, but you can hear that it’s right on the cusp of droning. It may even drone a tad, but this is livable by any measure. This drone is negligible compared to when the flaps are open and just by turning on the radio at a normal volume, you don't even hear the exhaust really (unless you WOT it of course).
For those who want to read all the details, here you go (I’m long winded with useless details
):I had been reviewing, reading, listening and "youtubing" almost every exhaust available for the C6. Borla, corsa, B&B, flowmaster, SLP....all those systems. Concerns of drone kept coming up and '09 availability was a concern. I initially wanted to get the Corsa Extremes. I read the Corsas don't drone and the youtube vids demonstrated some nice sound to them, especially the decel burble and popping....I like that
. I was about ready to pull the trigger on those and then I stumbled across a post that said the extremes do not do well at all with the A6 transmissions, at least as far as drone is concerned. Well, I figured, if I’m going to have drone, why not get an exhaust with a bit deeper sound than the extremes, so my search continued. I read so many good things about the Borla stingers and the sound was great on youtube, but there were also a ton of people talking about the stinger drone and that it "IS" there and very predominant. There was still not much to pick from for the '09 C6 and it was the best sound I had heard yet, so I tried to buy one of those, but Borla had just finished the R&D on the '09 version and it was not available yet. I continued my search. I listened to the fusion and I liked that sound as well. But, I had to install the retro kit to take advantage of the "quiet" mode. I really didn’t want to do this. I have never modded any of my cars and was very reluctant to mod this one, even with an axle back system. Also, the price was a bit prohibitive as well, so I thought about the NPP and got pricing on that. Ok, that was almost as expensive as the Fusions, but it was much quieter, tips were not as nice looking, did not come with lifetime warranty and was not as pleasant to look at. Hmmmm, I think I'll take the Fusions over the NPPs. But before I put down that kind of money on an exhaust, I have to hear this thing in person. I was able to find "CorpsVette" locally, who had just installed a set of Fusions himself, and I asked if I could listen to what he had. He has a manual with a convertible top and I knew it would sound different than an A6 coupe, but still, I had to hear this. After a drive out with CorpsVette, talking with him and doing some additional reading, I decided the Fusions were for me. Even though I was not excited about installing the retro kit, I had to have the sound, it was too sweet sounding to pass up. I ordered from MarylandSpeed and it was delivered within 3 business days to my home. Whew, this new exhaust was heavy, but boy, did they look sweet! I couldn’t wait for the weekend to put these in. Friday came around and I took the day off from work to install this thing . I figured Id have this done in about 3 hours tops. It wasn't done in 3 hours and here are some "gotchas" and tips that may help others out. First off, the first thing you need to do if you are installing the whole system with the retro kit, is to get that tip off of the nipple of the vacuum port on the backside of the intake manifold. I am not sure about the '05-'08 C6s, but on my '09 this is a HUGE problem. It appears that GM doesn't like anyone touching that port. They have installed a hard plastic "tab" that now sits right in front of the port to specifically BLOCK access to that port. It took me 3 hours to not only cut that tab, but to also cut the tip off of the vacuum port. The problem is that you can not really get a tool back in there because of the lack of space, heck, I barely found the port as it was. It is wayyy back in there. I am not a large man and have small hands and I still had a hard time accessing it and making the cuts. In order to cut the tab, I took a hacksaw blade in my left hand and put it back in there and with my right hand, I came in over top of the manifold to apply pressure on the blade so that it would cut the tab as I sawed. You have to be careful because there are wires around there that are easy to cut. This took me about 2 hours to do. First from the top, I cut about 1/3 the way down, then from the bottom, I cut 1/3 the way up. Then I just pulled and pushed on that tab to weaken it enough so that is just snapped. Keep in mind that you want to cut it back far enough so that you have full access to the port once the tab is removed. If not, then you'll have to cut again.... . Once that was done I tried to "twist" the top off of that vacuum port....HA! That cap is either melted or glued onto that nipple. I could not twist it off or do anything else to even budge it, even with pliers on that guy. Your range of motion is very limited and you just can not maneuver enough to get a tool in there that can do the job. I ended up using a straight edge utility blade. The plastic is soft enough to cut with one of these, whereas the plastic tab that was blocking it was much more dense and made of some hard plastic. After another hour of cutting with the utility blade, the cap was off. What a huge victory - there's the light at the end of the tunnel. Now to connect the vacuum tubing and drop it down the firewall. After I dropped the tubing down and secured it with tie wraps it was time to lift the car. I recommend the bottom of the rear tires be at least 14" off the ground. The fusions, being one piece units, have to "arc" over the axles to get them in. This requires more area below to get that initial angle as you insert it over the axle. It also helps to avoid scratching the bottom of your tips on the ground. This pretty much covers the "gotchas". Cutting the vacuum port was the biggest challenge by far. Everything else was gravy and very easy.After I got this installed on the first night (the retro kit was missing some fuses, so it was not working yet...BBExhaust had to ship the fuses out the following week, they were missing from the package), so I tie-wrapped the fusion valves open because I wanted to hear it at its loudest and had to hear it now. I had my wife come out to the garage at 11pm as I was getting ready to start her up for the first time with a real exhaust. She still didn’t understand all this effort to replace a perfectly good exhaust for something louder. I get the look of, "you're crazy" or "what is wrong with you", and sometimes a condescending smile, but she knows it makes me happy, so she "plays the game"
. Anyways, she comes out into the garage and I start it up. She nearly jumped out of her shoes because it scared her. I have to admit, I jumped a bit too. I thought something was wrong with the car and was self-destructing it was so loud (I have no other mods on the car other than exhaust). I looked at her and she had fear in her eyes, and I just smiled as I drove off. I drove around the area for about 30 minutes that night, enamored with the sound and how loud it was. I was surprised that there was almost nothing for drone and I was happy. The drone was something I was really worried about. I’m thinking all this sound and no drone. A few days later, after I got my fuses in for the retro kit, I realized that when I used the tie-wraps, I actually had the flaps CLOSED, not opened like I had originally thought (NO I DIDNT LOOK IN THE PIPE THE FIRST NIGHT ). I’m thinking OMG! This thing gets louder. I told my wife and she almost started to cry......LOL! I cut the tie wraps and went out again. UH-OH! This beast has been awaken, along with all of my neighbors a mile away (not really, but its drama for the story)! HA! I’m thinking, man, did I make a mistake here? This may be too much for me. I was a little bit concerned now. I decided that with all things, humans resist change, they are used to the "Status-quo" and are slow to change even when they are forced to (AKA GM and their business model ). OK, lets leave the flaps open and drive around for a week and see if I can adjust. A week goes by and I slowly get used to the droning with the flaps open and I now actually look forward to the droning. I can feel it through the whole cabin, it penetrates my ears, my chest.....this is MAN, this is POWER, this is a CORVETTE! I like it, I LOVE IT! Did I mention I LOVE IT? Ok, so now I know I can live with it and look forward to that 1400-1600 RPM droning around town. Lets get the retro kit squared away. I put the fuses in the next week and make a couple other adjustments and WOOHOO! I got it working. Time for a drive! Before I went out for a drive I tested and played with it a bit. When CorpsVette showed me his system at idle, I could not tell much difference between open and closed flaps, very little difference. With mine, there is a very big difference between open and closed flaps. Did B&B do something different for the '09 models? I don't know, but I sure am glad there is more of a difference between open/closed. I went out for a drive. Started her up, closed the flaps and ......... quiet. I went out driving with the flaps closed and I’m thinking......this sounds like my stock exhaust with nothing that resembles any kind of drone that I had heard previously with the flaps open, not even close. SWEEEETT! The best of both worlds. Bad A$$ and loud when open, and almost stock quiet when closed (not quite, but after driving a week with flaps open all the time, the difference in drone and loudness was quite distinct). After a few days of driving I don’t even close the flaps anymore, just too quiet for me, I’m used to the loud stuff now . With the flaps closed, the Fusions still sound great. They are louder than stock by a decent margin. They give what I would consider, very very minimal drone at 1400-1600rpm. It is so little that talking at normal levels is easily done and having the stereo on at normal levels will drown it out. Highway cruising for the A6 falls into this rpm range and I would have no hesitations on taking her on long trips. I was very concerned about drone and "Sox3" here on the forum was exactly right when he told me there is a little drone, but it is certainly bearable on trips. I'm glad I took his word for it.
With the flaps open. Pure power, pure sweetness, baritone at its finest. You want muscle car sound, this is it. Drone, yep, tons of it. I got used to it in less than a week and I now look forward to that 1400-1600 rpm band.
Earlier today I met another forum member "Jack's C6" and he has extremes on his car. He was interested in the Fusions so we met earlier today, rode some and talked. After we went for a ride in my car, we came back and went in his. We both agreed and laughed it up and compared our two exhausts. The extremes paled in comparison to the Fusions. Don't get me wrong, we both think the extremes sound great, but the difference was that deep muscular bass sound. The sounds are very different and we both agreed that we would prefer the Fusions. The extremes did have a sweet decel sound though. I loved that burbling and popping, but I'll stick with my Fusions. The extremes sounded "racy", but the fusions say "Power".
I highly recommend the fusions to anyone looking for that deep baritone muscle car sound, yet want comfort from time to time from the droning. For me, I'm very happy with them. I hope this review helps some people out when they research exhausts for their cars. It took me almost 5 months to make my decision, and I’m glad I made the right one.
We have some good forum members here and want to thank Corpsvette and Sox3 again for their help and time.
03-22-2009, 11:56 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
Nice review and appreciated by one of those about to commit. I recently (waiting for delivery) purchased a Z06 set and if they don't work out will be moving toward the BB Fusions. They were $170 delivered so I have to try them first. Again, thanks for the detailed recap and opinions on drone esp!
Mike
Mike
03-23-2009, 12:30 AM
#4
Dwarflord, thanks for sharing the details on your Fusion install, and especially for your desciption of resonance.. I'm looking for the same muscular bass you describe in my 08 A6 and your post is very helpful.
03-23-2009, 08:50 AM
#5
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Glad I can help. I remembered how frustrating it got to hear so many different opinions. Some say drone, others say no drone, this system is better and so forth..... I wanted to get something out there that is a bit more descriptive, unfortunately, a bit long winded as well. Oh, and I didnt want to come across as bashing the extremes. That is a fine exhaust as well, its just that a side by side comparison of the Fusions and Extremes, didnt really play in Corsa's favor, obviously, based on the specific criteria we were looking at.
Ammo, I have heard the Z06 set, though inexpensive, is not quite as loud as the NPPs. And the NPPs are not nearly as loud as the Fusions. Just so you know, I wasn't sure what your requirements were for your exhaust. GL with them. Hopefully you get that sound you are looking for as well.
Ammo, I have heard the Z06 set, though inexpensive, is not quite as loud as the NPPs. And the NPPs are not nearly as loud as the Fusions. Just so you know, I wasn't sure what your requirements were for your exhaust. GL with them. Hopefully you get that sound you are looking for as well.
03-23-2009, 12:29 PM
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HA! I was wondering when someone was going to ask for photos . I should have some videos online in a day or two. One of the stock exhaust, if you can even hear that, then one of the Fusions alternating between open/closed. Im also thinking about taking some sound and videos from within the car to show how much the closed flaps clear up that drone and how quiet it really is in the closed position. I'll get those up soon.
. I should have some videos online in a day or two. One of the stock exhaust, if you can even hear that, then one of the Fusions alternating between open/closed. Im also thinking about taking some sound and videos from within the car to show how much the closed flaps clear up that drone and how quiet it really is in the closed position. I'll get those up soon.
03-23-2009, 12:30 PM
#8
Life Time NCM #2196
HA! I was wondering when someone was going to ask for photos . I should have some videos online in a day or two. One of the stock exhaust, if you can even hear that, then one of the Fusions alternating between open/closed. Im also thinking about taking some sound and videos from within the car to show how much the closed flaps clear up that drone and how quiet it really is in the closed position. I'll get those up soon.
. I should have some videos online in a day or two. One of the stock exhaust, if you can even hear that, then one of the Fusions alternating between open/closed. Im also thinking about taking some sound and videos from within the car to show how much the closed flaps clear up that drone and how quiet it really is in the closed position. I'll get those up soon.
04-06-2009, 06:06 PM
#9
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Vids and Pics
Stock exhaust (for comparison purposes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTnUt5vRSvI
Fusion exhaust (no other mods)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10gvvVEy-5g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTnUt5vRSvI
Fusion exhaust (no other mods)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10gvvVEy-5g
04-06-2009, 06:55 PM
#13
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they........will.........get........loud er............
I hate to rain on your parade, but I have been there and done that. While I'm still happy I went with the fusions, I was pretty dissapointed when I realized one morning that they were louder than they had been....and now there is definitely a drone. I looked and tweaked and called B&B but the response was that the packing (even though it is stainless) will "burn out" or otherwise somehow lose it's effectiveness over time.
Also, I am curious about your perception of the note outside the car while the valves are closed. Mine don't sound that great.....have you ever heard an old beater with an exhaust leak somewhere under the car? Kinda a brrrf brrrf brrrf chuging sound (great description, I know) That's what mine sound like with the valves closed. Makes me wonder.......
BTW, great write up, I am glad that you are liking your new exhaust.
I hate to rain on your parade, but I have been there and done that. While I'm still happy I went with the fusions, I was pretty dissapointed when I realized one morning that they were louder than they had been....and now there is definitely a drone. I looked and tweaked and called B&B but the response was that the packing (even though it is stainless) will "burn out" or otherwise somehow lose it's effectiveness over time.
Also, I am curious about your perception of the note outside the car while the valves are closed. Mine don't sound that great.....have you ever heard an old beater with an exhaust leak somewhere under the car? Kinda a brrrf brrrf brrrf chuging sound (great description, I know
) That's what mine sound like with the valves closed. Makes me wonder.......BTW, great write up, I am glad that you are liking your new exhaust.
04-07-2009, 12:30 AM
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Installed my B&B Fusions over the weekend. Very happy with the sound compared to the stock system I had. All the components appeared to be good quality built stuff. Yes, I had trouble connecting the vacuum line to back of manifold also. I didn't have the benefit of reading your post first, but came to the same conclusion after an hour or so and used a hacksaw blade to saw off the vacuum port cap. Have to be extremely careful with the blade while sawing not to cut anything else! Short controlled strokes. First guy to ever see the back of my engine will wonder about all the blood stains back there. All other parts of the install went smooth and according to plan. Very happy with results!
04-07-2009, 10:26 AM
#18
Safety Car
Thanks for the writeup, very beneficial for me. I finally made up my mind to go with the NPP for my 07 A6 Coupe because of the fear of drone with the Fusions (per the factory who said there would be a "little" drone especially on slight grades) even when the flaps are closed.
Now you have me thinking again. I don't like any drone so the NPP may still be my choice. I'm concerned the NPP exhaust will not have the deep rumble I'm looking for.
I would appreciate any other comments from those who have installed the Fusions on their A6.
Now you have me thinking again. I don't like any drone so the NPP may still be my choice. I'm concerned the NPP exhaust will not have the deep rumble I'm looking for.
I would appreciate any other comments from those who have installed the Fusions on their A6.
04-07-2009, 10:39 AM
#20
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Thanks for the writeup, very beneficial for me. I finally made up my mind to go with the NPP for my 07 A6 Coupe because of the fear of drone with the Fusions (per the factory who said there would be a "little" drone especially on slight grades) even when the flaps are closed.
Now you have me thinking again. I don't like any drone so the NPP may still be my choice. I'm concerned the NPP exhaust will not have the deep rumble I'm looking for.
I would appreciate any other comments from those who have installed the Fusions on their A6.
Now you have me thinking again. I don't like any drone so the NPP may still be my choice. I'm concerned the NPP exhaust will not have the deep rumble I'm looking for.
I would appreciate any other comments from those who have installed the Fusions on their A6.
CorpsVette did tell me that the Fusions were much louder than the NPP. I also have heard the NPP give you more popping and burble on decel than the Fusions. The Fusions have almost no popping, but moderate burble....not obnoxious. If you can, go for a ride with some fusions and listen to them in person. The Fusion sounds in my vids are pretty close to what they really are, though about a decibel or two quieter than in person.
GL to you.