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Very loud drone with current setup

5K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Litespeed08 
#1 ·
Hi guys!

I have a very, very loud drone at ~2500-3500RPM with my current setup, making it very rough for me to drive on highways etc. I feel like the exhaust is shaking a lot when idling, maybe it needs more hangers to get some of that load off it.

My current setup is as follows:

AEM Short Ram Intake
Serge Bo Headers (No cat)
Skunk2 Megapower exhaust

I'm thinking of adding a muffler or resonator to the exhaust, just after the first muffler
Maybe even removing the first muffler then adding a muffler and resonator. I'm not sure of the diameter and length tho

Has anyone done anything like this, if so what did you end up buying?

Any other ideas or thoughts on what I should do except "Sell the exhaust buy something else".

Thanks in advance guys!
 
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#2 ·
The removal of the cat is causing the bulk of those annoying drones. I personally don't like our cars without the cat, too loud and raspy for my taste. If you have a test pipe after the header maybe look at welding in a HFC or even throwing a stock cat back on. I suppose you could add another resonator after the first resonator but I think adding a cat would do more.
 
#4 ·
This is a common issue with the Skunk cat-back exhaust.

Both mufflers and the resonator are straight thru. While that is very free-flowing, it's loud.

Especially with no cat and with a small 4 cylinder engine. And its worse if you have an automatic transmission.

I agree with TSXXXX, reinstall the cat. It doesn't cost any power on the TSX anyway.
If it's still too loud, then I would add another resonator.


If you have an auto trans, start shopping for 2 rear mufflers.
 
#8 ·
I also suggest you add a high-flow cat. It cuts down all kinds of exhaust noise without sacrificing too much power. You might be surprised that the drone you thought you had with a cat before might not be as annoying now! Noise is always relative..
 
#9 ·
I put in the silencers i got with the exhaust and it actually made pretty much all of the drone go away. Looks like shit tho so i guess i will be getting myself a mid muffler. Hopefully that will get rid of the drone but also sound good
 
#12 ·
TSXXXX and Calgary TSX have defined it very well. That exhaust is too free-flowing giving you more noise and drone to deal with. The increased intake flow just adds more to it.

I experienced the same issues you did but with a custom 2.5 inch exhaust and Magnaflow mufllers. I also had a CAI and HF cat. I went through an expensive journey adding more and longer resonators (Vibrant and MagnaFlow), reducing pipe diameter, and swapping out the HF cat. They helped but only reduced the noise and shifted the drone to higher RPMs.

Ultimately I swapped the entire Catback exhaust to a Tanabe Medallion, and added a longer resonator. It gave it a nice and very tolerable growl without any drone. I can now listen to my stereo at low volumes and enjoy the ride. I also added sound deadening material as well as closed cell foam to the trunk and interior to reduce the overall noise from the exhaust.

One thing I noticed with our cars is that they tend to magnify the exhaust more than others. I had a much louder exhaust in my Mustang but inside the cabin it was quieter than the TSX. Go figure.
 
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