Any way to quiet down the exhaust drone?

[MSP-4-ME]

I love my speed but the exhaust drone when at cruising speeds can really be annoying.

I have dyno-matted the entire interior of the car in hopes of reducing the drone. It did inprove the stereo sound and solid feel of the doors but not much for quieting down the exhaust.(uhm)

Any other ideas that will got decrease performance. Will changing out the exhaust make it worst or better.

 

[clos561]

go 10mph less? i usualy get loud exhaust noise when i hit 60 and cruise at that speed. under that its fine

 

[Boosted333]

Stock exhaust?? I don't hear much drone, maybe cause I'm used to much louder cars. I think it has a nice "tone", but everyone has a different opinion.

 

[mordant80]

Don't know if there's room underneath but maybe have a 2nd muffler welded in somewhere. Or maybe fabricate some kind of a silencer to put in the exhaust tip like what some of the fart cans come with. Anything to make the exhaust more restrictive should quiet it down, of course you're sacrificing performance for comfort.

 

[ericm]

I find the drone most annoying at 3k rpms on trailing throttle. The rest I can live with but off the throttle down hill it's quite loud. Most of my driving is in hilly areas; if I lived in a flat place it'd bother me less.

Last night I saw some comments on the GHL "no-drone" exhaust page on **********'s web site to the effect that it's a lot quieter but I don't know if that's compared to stock or compared to other cat-back exhausts. I'm tempted but that's a lot of $$ to spend with so little real info.

A quiet exhaust doesn't have to be restrictive. In this case it just needs to be tuned differently to reduce the 3k rpm resonance.

 

[mordant80]

A quiet exhaust doesn't have to be restrictive. In this case it just needs to be tuned differently to reduce the 3k rpm resonance.

Good point

 

[MSP-4-ME]

Can you PM me the website link to that page?

I find the drone most annoying at 3k rpms on trailing throttle. The rest I can live with but off the throttle down hill it's quite loud. Most of my driving is in hilly areas; if I lived in a flat place it'd bother me less.

Last night I saw some comments on the GHL "no-drone" exhaust page on **********'s web site to the effect that it's a lot quieter but I don't know if that's compared to stock or compared to other cat-back exhausts. I'm tempted but that's a lot of $$ to spend with so little real info.

A quiet exhaust doesn't have to be restrictive. In this case it just needs to be tuned differently to reduce the 3k rpm resonance.

 

[MSP-4-ME]

Thanks for the info. I still think the issue can be resolved without sacrificing performance. I use to own a 2004 R32 and the exhaust was the best sounding exhaust on a factory vehicle with no drone at any speed and a great tone at full thottle.

Does anyone with the MAZDASPEED exhaust experence the same drone at cruising or off thottle coast???

 

[KZL_99ES]

turn up the music louder...

that is all.

 

[mordant80]

Thanks for the info. I still think the issue can be resolved without sacrificing performance. I use to own a 2004 R32 and the exhaust was the best sounding exhaust on a factory vehicle with no drone at any speed and a great tone at full thottle.

Does anyone with the MAZDASPEED exhaust experence the same drone at cruising or off thottle coast???

Yea, I'm sure it's possible, but let me rephrase. I don't think it would be easily done without causing some restriction or without replacing the exhaust with something tuned differently. But then again I always hear that the catback on these cars isn't where the restriction is, so maybe making something in that part of the exhaust more restrictive wouldn't matter. I really don't notice any drone on my ms3. The only time I really hear much from the exhaust is in between shifts during casual driving, which personally I love. But as for just cruising along in gear i really don't hear much. And I hear less than I expect from engine breaking.

My last car (01 sentra se with a catback) was absolutely ridiculous at specific rpms. It almost hurt. That may be why I really don't notice anything.

 

[ericm]

Thanks for the info. I still think the issue can be resolved without sacrificing performance.

I do too. The problem is going to be getting good information. Most people on the boards don't think it's a problem- maybe their driving style doesn't get into the drone zone, or they think that noise is cool. Or maybe not all cars do it.

The aftermarket's mostly for the noise is cool crowd so they're not much help. I personally would be just fine with losing 5hp off the top end to get better sound (less of the annoying frequencies) but that won't fly in a market that's largely driven by HP numbers.

I use to own a 2004 R32 and the exhaust was the best sounding exhaust on a factory vehicle with no drone at any speed and a great tone at full thottle.

The R32 has got to be the sexiest sounding car short of a ferrari.

 

[MSLou]

delete 2nd cat and weld in a 3rd resonator

 

[MSLou]

and the resonators on our car are pretty much just straight through free flowing so honestly i dont see why it would decrease performance at all but they do make the exhaust tone A LOT quiter trust me ive chopped up and welded my exhaust twice haha

 

[ottawaP5]

I don't hear any drone at all on the highway, and my rpm's are around 3K.

 

[matsuda]

I find the drone most annoying at 3k rpms on trailing throttle. The rest I can live with but off the throttle down hill it's quite loud. Most of my driving is in hilly areas; if I lived in a flat place it'd bother me less.

Last night I saw some comments on the GHL "no-drone" exhaust page on **********'s web site to the effect that it's a lot quieter but I don't know if that's compared to stock or compared to other cat-back exhausts. I'm tempted but that's a lot of $$ to spend with so little real info.

A quiet exhaust doesn't have to be restrictive. In this case it just needs to be tuned differently to reduce the 3k rpm resonance.

Yes, it is just a matter of tuning.

The interesting thing is that when you find the exhaust note to be annoying (off the throttle going down hill), the engine is not even firing.

 

[ericm]

delete 2nd cat and weld in a 3rd resonator

Illegal in California, and too much work to undo for smog checks or fix-it tickets.

 

[ericm]

I don't hear any drone at all on the highway, and my rpm's are around 3K.

Try it on a long downhill with your foot totally off the throttle. It's at 3k rpms and zero throttle.

I live in the mountains so I'm going downhill half of the time. If you're somewhere that's flat or close to it you'd rarely have it in right circumstances.

 

[ottawaP5]

Try it on a long downhill with your foot totally off the throttle. It's at 3k rpms and zero throttle.

I live in the mountains so I'm going downhill half of the time. If you're somewhere that's flat or close to it you'd rarely have it in right circumstances.

It's pretty hilly around here - I'll try 3K and zero throttle going down a hill next time I get a chance.

 

[MSP-4-ME]

I guess I will have to put it in neutral when off throttle to get rid of the drone for now.

 

[nextcar]

to me the drone is present whenever i have my foot off the gas. it's most audible at >2000 rpm. that's why i sometimes shift into neutral when coasting to a stop.

so the concensus is:
there's no confirmed mod that will eliminate drone?