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I have done it as well and I feel that it is a good mix. Sounds good cold and then fairly moderate for daily driving, I have read post complaining about it being too loud and I completely disagree. If you get on it there is a nice V8 sound but not that annoying/loud quality that you hear from every other mustang that someone puts pipes on. Somewhere on these forums (?youtube) there are videos of resonator delete by itself.
It's close to this.. Hard to tell as I'm always in the car
Once it idles down it's fairly quiet until you gas it, so if you want to roll around quietly you can but when you get on it, it turns heads.
On deceleration it gurgles and pops and backfires occasionally ... it's awesome.
Can you post some sound clips by any chance ? I really like the ops x pipe sound. I don't want it to sound like muscle car.
I'll get some video clips up soon, just cleaning them up since I took a bunch... I took before and after cold starts, before and after reving and a drive by.
That's an interesting find... so those two small cans are empty? Nothing inside? I could swear that there are posts confirming those are secondary cats. I even recall a post where someone took them off, removed the catalyst from them, and had them welded back on. It would seem strange to just put a couple of bulges inline like that.
Anyway, while I appreciate your desire to help others avoid trial-and-error, one thing I learned from this is that opinions on what sounds good are meaningless. Everyone has different tastes. I was convinced that straight-pipes was the way to go, until I heard it in person. Even Youtube videos don't help much because the microphones on most people's phone is crap and can't capture the sound properly. I don't think there's any cure for trial-and-error unless you can see and hear someone's modded car in person.
What we can agree on is that the x-pipe does quiet it down considerably... and that can be a good thing, because before I did the x-pipe, it sounded obnoxious to me. But again, that's just my preference. The resonator removal with x-pipe is a bit louder than factory, but not obnoxious. But that's just my opinion. Others might hate it, others might think it sounds like stock. It's so hard to share via words.
Yes, they're totally empty and have all the holes in the walls like a resonator. I'll post a pic.
And I understand what you mean about trial and error, but to those who want that AMG sound, my way is definitely the way to go (like I said earlier, I've had several AMGs and this was way too quiet compared to what I was used to). If you want to tone it down a bit, by all means, add the x-pipe, but it is still nicer than stock. Also, I do all kinds of driving, both long highway trips and city and the sound is good. Initially when I did it I thought briefly that it might have been too much, but that lasted and hour, lol! Even the employees at my local MB store (sales & service) all said it's just like a CLS63, if not slightly better.
I'll post those sound clips shortly, just cleaning then up because I took so many.
Cheers
Front resonator pics. Did the best I could with the iPhone. You can see that it's resonated with all the holes/divits in the wall and no catalyst at all.
Those are different than other pictures I've seen. Interesting. I'll be waiting to hear sound clips from folks. I hope I'm not going back for a 3rd time to my exhaust shop! LOL.
Does anyone have interior videos how it sounds? I want to do resonator delete but hate the put put put sound at start up. Sounds like a tracker trailer. I put e63 mufflers on but sounds oem 😳
Sorry about the picture size, but I think I have something to add of value - and will add video if I can figure this out
I have seen center resonator delete, mufflers delete, and center resonator with single cat (they are not cats) deletes, but that is not what I did.
First, the secondary cats you read about are NOT NOT NOT NOT cats. They are resonators. You can see through them, and they have louvers inside and fiberglass. Also, learn the difference between Cats, resonators, and mufflers. Cats have 02 sensors and are filled with a ceramic core, resonators do not restrict flow at high rpm and are designed to tone down noise and are hollow through the center, and mufflers are baffled with internals and kill sound by means of redirecting the flow of gasses before exiting. I have a 2017 CLS550 with 6200 miles and it has a single cat on each side, followed by a small resonator, then both go into a center resonator, and they split to a muffler and tip on each side. Also, it is worth noting that turbo motors do not make the same noise because the exhaust runs the turbos before exiting through the system.
I'll also say that the ones above or online that have deleted the small resonators and the large center one upon start up have a note that sounds like popping (not a good sound) and that is what resonators do. They buffer low rpm popping and create more of a consistent low tone and do it without droning. Without resonators, or at least the small ones, you will get more noise under your seat, a little harsher sound on start up, and I suppose some back pressure popping. That characteristic is not one that you control with your foot, as you can with the small resonators in behind the cats. No resonators, and risk not being able to drive it without drawing attention. I'm a big fan of those small resonators on the car. as they are right behind the cats, probably the result of a couple of thousand hours of engineering, and do an amazing job of keeping the tone throaty wiith no back pressure popping, or drone. If you like them out....more power to you....this is my opinion. As for the center resonator, it acts more as an x-pipe than a resonator, and mufflers restict some flow but not a lot based on their size and lack of tone when they were deleted (this may be the most surprising thing - that deleting those monsters did nothing).
I have also built some headers and am at least dangerous in my knowledge about how they operate, flow, etc.... I built these for my raceboat in my shop
So here's what I did. I have a great shop in Atlanta that basically allowed me to point and direct, and here's what I found:
1. Taking off mufflers by themselves did almost NOTHING. We sawed them off, fired it up, and it was CLEAR this was NOT accomplishing anything. By any standard, it was useless to provide any exhaust note, no matter your personal taste.
2. The choice then became, do we put them back on and go after resonators, or all three resonators, or maybe remove the center resonator and install an X-pipe (you'll love the solution) We unbolted the center resonator, pulled it off along with the tail section (that went to the mufflers), and fired it up......BINGO.....awesome sound.
3. Removing the mufflers and center resonator makes a LOT of sense. The cats are active (no codes with any of this), the small resonators break down any unwanted noises that may have created a drone (I have NONE), and the system is dual exhaust from front to back because we opted to put in straight pipes in leiu of the center resonator, and straight pipes back to a set of polished stainless, double walled, tig welded tips.
4. Look carefully at my straight cat res back dual exhaust sections of exhaust added. Make SURE they use 2 1/2" tubing, as I caught my guy trying to neck down 2 1/4' into each end where the center resonator was, and I explained to him that making any section smaller would choke off air flow. He flared and welded the straight sections, and as I instructed, used 2 1/2" tubing to replace the sections of the muffler onto the tips
Okay...sound. First, everything works, there are not codes, no drone at any speed, and in at idle it is very barely noticeable (which is great because until I stab it, I don't want to be 'that guy'). Has it got as rasp and deep throaty sound on the road and highway. NO DOUBT you'll surprise some people who don't expect you MB to roar like that, but most importantly, and this is really awesome, you control the rip with your foot. If you want to go un-noticed at a stop light, you will. If you want to low growl away without turning heads (or because you have police behind you) - you can. If you want to flex your muscle a little, lean in a bit, or stab it and it captures everyone's attention. Most of all, it controllable and not obnoxious. You can go to dinner with your wife and another couple, or pull into a business meeting and not garner much attention, but put one of your buddies in it for coffee and cars, and you'll have the guy in a mustang double thinking pulling you and taking your lane when you make it bark with just a throttle blip....
I'll try to answer questions, but the pics and video's should be a good start. By the way, some pics taken before welded and hangers installed in stock locations. Enjoy.
Last edited by BoatRacer77p; Nov 12, 2019 at 09:57 AM.
If you want to try before you weld, here's a simple drill to hear it (although louder until tail pipes and tips are on). Just un-bolt the system in front of the center resonator and put it on the ground and fire it up. As soon as we fired it on the rack, I said "bingo....straight pipe it without an x-pipe (but you can add one there if you wanted to tone it down a little)
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