How To Fix Exhaust Drone?
 

I've got horrific exhaust drone on my car (A4) with GHL mufflers. Its right around 1,500RPMs to 2,000RPMs, which where I do most of driving.

I'm thinking that installing a few resonators (or extra mufflers) will kill the drone right away. Has anybody done that and had success?

I was thinking of using SLP resonators or Borla XR-1 racing mufflers.

Have you tried an X-pipe? I hear they tone down droning but I have not tried one, myself. My Borla Stinger drone is hardly noticable, anyway.

:iagree: or different muffler cat-back system. I had BB Bullets and couldn't take the drone. I chg'ed to Ti and love the sound. :thumbs:

My corsa doesn't drone, which is what they advertise...

Corsa pacecars are very quiet at crusing speed but designed to be straight pipes at WOT. I have them with no cats & long tubes. Even with a 342 rear on my A4, I don;t get any drone unotl 75+ mph. I can always tell if I am speeding by the drone.

Drone is a product of accoustics. When not designed to cancel frequencies, exhaust systems will exhibit tones that will resonate like crazy. Yours is spot on.

I would suggest either getting used to it on longer trips, or make a change.....but do your homework.

After two previous cars with tremendous drones, I chose to go with cutouts so that I can have OE calm all the way to outrageous.

Don't get me wrong, I love the nasty sounds that an aggressive system can bring, but on long(er) trips, it really sucks.

Good luck

There's an x-pipe in the cat-back already.

That's what I'm trying to avoid doing, this cat-back cost me quite a bit of money and I'd rather not spend another thousand bucks just to have no drone. If I could eliminate drone with only a few hundred dollars investment I would be really happy. I love how the GHLs sound other than when they drone.

You have to get a catback that doesn't drone. I don't think that there's anyway to fix it if it does.

You can buy a used set of C5 Z06 Ti cat-backs for 400-500 bucks on the forum. I have H/C & LT headers w/o any drone using the stock Ti cat-back on my Z06.

cheap solution
 

one 30db ear-plug in the right ear only on trips....works for me.

Ear plugs or go back to stock exhaust

You can't fix this without making a change. Your exhaust either drones or it doesn't and it's hard to deal with on a 4AT car. If it really bothers you, you can fix this without spending too much money. Trade your exhaust for a Z06 Ti setup plus some cash and purchase a low profile electronic cutout kit. Loud when you want it, stock when you want it. Otherwise, if you already have an X-Pipe on there, I don't think there's anything you can do but get used to it.

:cheers:

Still have the OLD exhaust?

I have MagnaFlows No drone anywhere and I love them:thumbs:

You can dampen the back fiberglass tub and keep it from being such a giant horn to transmit the sound so much. Just get one pack of Dynamat or equivalent, pull out the back carpet and put it on; takes an hour or two and is easy. Also might try to fill the back compartments with something to take some space and also absorb some sound. Try it by putting some towels in there and see if it helps.

I agree to the comment to trade your new cat back with someone with a ZO6 Ti set and a few hundred to you. The Ti ones flow well and are quieter.

Could fix it also by getting higher gears like 3.90 or 4.10 in back because you will stay above the resonant rpm range. And the car is much more fun to drive with the gears. :cheers:

I had Borla Stingers first no drone with everyting else stock. Then installed LT's with no cats and the drone was horrible. I found a used set of Z06 ti's that fixed the problem for about a year then they started to drone. Now I have Corsa Xtreme's the drone is less but the car is louder, but that's what I wanted. I think your pretty much going to have to deal with some drone if you want that "Nasty" sound all the time.

get rid of that system
 

the harmonics are designed in...you can not have drone free cruise, great wide open throttle, and great idle.. is cant be done with the exhaust tone made by an LSX engine.. you can have two of the three, any two, for most of us drone free cruise will only allow you a great idle or great wide open throttle, usually you pay alittle at idle to get great wide open throttle and great tone at cruise with no drone at all.

Same problem with my C6 06 with auto transmission. Tried several mufflers and finally went with Mangnaflow. Very common to have drone at 1500 to 1700 with the auto. There are mufflers out there I have heard that eliminate the drone, but they are almost as quiet as the stock mufflers. Oh, sound dampening the interior really helps with much of the noise, but can't stop all of the drone.

Suprised I have not seen the obligatory suggestion:

Crank Up The Jams!

:iagree:
I'm planning on switching to MagnaFlows because I'm having the same issue.