too quiet!

[jeebusm3]

I like the way the Mazdaspeed3 sounds when started. At low speeds it has a slight growl. But at WOT it is just way too quiet.

Are there any resonator deletes for the intake, anything that can be done to add some noise for free?

Any intake video/sound clips yet?

 

[Speedkid]

Check youtube.

 

[MS3chriSS]

I agree the car is super quiet all the way around. I can not wait for an aftermarket exhaust system to hit the market.

 

[DailyDriver]

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[Dubcnea]

I think your previous vette experience is somewhat washing out your current MS3 experience. it may be quite a bit different than the non turbo 3 as i've not heard the 2010 MS3. yes i know the engine is the same but i'm not sure if any setup has changed anything. from having owned a first gen non-turbo and going to the next gen non-turbo i think the car sounds great as is! however...it's lacking. it's almost as if it's telling you what it could sound like if you'd only remove the silencers from it's innards.

also remember that this car's power comes at the higher end of the RPM band. torque and hp scream at the higher end. vettes kick in, as i know you know, at like 1500 rmps. they don't even get a chance to scream and they've already thrown out their peak hp or close to it. the reality of big bore vs small coming to pass.

 

[DailyDriver]

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[jeebusm3]

DailyDriver,

FWIW, you haven't had any loud cars if you think the MS3 is loud, ever. It's under 70db at WOT for god's sake. Ridiculous. My family knew I was coming home from something like 3 blocks away with my old BMW, and my Subaru could scare old people.

As for the turbo "kick" as you say, making revving past 2700rpm almost impossible; sounds like you'd really appreciate a good ECU tune. The factory tune is pretty awful. You need something that has lower boost targets at lower loads. The car boost spikes somewhat, which is what makes you get all that torque even when you aren't really asking for it.

In my last subaru, even on the stock turbo with just exhaust upgrades, I was able to get a tune that had much less boost at low throttle, while achieving much quicker spool (around 2500rpm vs 3500rpm) when under heavy loads. Peak boost was held much longer and was set higher. Spikes much less prevalent. The ms3 has a pretty similar stock tune to that subaru, once I got it all dialed in it was much more enjoyable day to day.

 

[DailyDriver]

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[jeebusm3]

actually, what I meant by lower boost targets, was shooting for LESS PSI under light loads. My forester was similar in that even under medium acceleration it would spool the turbo too quickly, because the targets were high under light load. This would produce a very lumpy and hard to predict powerband. It was fine when you were trying to drive fast, with 75%+ throttle application, but when cruising it could be annoying...not to mention a waste of gas.

There are always people that believe car manufacturers are the ones that built the car, so obviously they know what's best for the car. This is simply not true. They tune their car to the most cautious level possible because they just don't know where and how people will drive the car. They know someone's going to put 87 octane in it. Some people will go 40k miles between oil changes. Some will never let the water and oil temps get warm before going WOT.

That's where the tuning community comes into play. You can spend some time with a particular car, in particular conditions, getting it to respond the most desirable way. Tuning for full-throttle applications is what everyone thinks about because they see the dyno sheets, etc. But it's the tuning for the rest of the driving conditions that can really make a huge difference. It can also take a great deal of time. You could even have the car tuned to have no greater peak boost or timing than it is set at now, but get the midrange cleaned up to make it easier to drive on a daily basis...if that's your cup of tea.

Turbo cars are definitely the best candidate for ECU tuning because they have the most erratic behavior and likely a very conservative factory tune.

 

[DailyDriver]

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[Stavesacre21]

If you are looking for something with a more aggressive sound, I will agree with you about the engine sound. It doesn't have NEAR the bark of it's bite...which some people really like that sleeper aspect of it.

The only things I'd have to suggest would be intake and exhaust/mufflers. There really isn't much else that you can do to this car. yet.

Give it some time. It'll get a more aggressive market eventually. I personally like it's tune for daily driving.

 

[Vater]

I dig the quietness. It's loud enough for me, in that I don't really want to draw that much attention to myself when I open it up. If I end up installing an SRI or CAI, it'll increase the volume a bit. I don't see myself ever needing a louder exhaust.

 

[Dubcnea]

i don't want it for sound only. in fact..if it wasn't louder but had a different tone, etc...i'd be fine with that. and the performance increase is nice. louder isn't necessarily better...but it's nice to hear the performance come through. my .02

 

[coololddude]

I like LOUD!!

 

[Newf]

lol, I thought the car was too loud.Nothing I hate more then loud abnoxious cars. Not saying the speed is that, but I wouldn't go any louder, and spend money elsewhere. Personally, loud cars to me are nothing more then a certain type of owner wanting to attact attention. Sorry, but it's true around here.

Now if we are talking lambo, Pagani, Aston, Ferrari type loud...that's a symphony.

 

[jeebusm3]

lol, I thought the car was too loud.Nothing I hate more then loud abnoxious cars. Not saying the speed is that, but I wouldn't go any louder, and spend money elsewhere. Personally, loud cars to me are nothing more then a certain type of owner wanting to attact attention. Sorry, but it's true around here.

Now if we are talking lambo, Pagani, Aston, Ferrari type loud...that's a symphony.

I just like a good sound. Never attracted any unwanted attention, surprisingly. The speed sounds ok but a little more noise makes me happy.