KaseZome

So my days of tracking motorcycles and cars are mostly behind me meaning driving isn't all about best lap times anymore. Overall experience and fun have superseded outright performance for me. My 2012 wagon is all stock save replacing the resonators with straight pipes and I love the car - having put close to 20K miles on it already. There's not much else I'd want to do to it save maybe some HRE wheels down the line.

However, I got a chance to drive my buddy's V60 Polestar today and really enjoyed the intake sound and turbo whistles. They weren't obnoxious (it's a Volvo) but they added a factor of aural pleasure that now seems missing from my car. I've done research on intakes and majority of the feedback on the various systems are focused on power. I'm good with the stock power levels, I want more sound.

If anyone can comment on how to achieve a complementary level of forced induction music to match the already wonderful exhaust note (at a reasonable pirce - I'm not spending $5K for an AMS system), I'd be grateful. Thanks in advance.

efiftyfizzle

I think the trick here is to have a proper flowing intake system. On other turbo cars when you upgrade the intake and increase the sizing and flow, you can hear the turbos spool better. It's also harder to hear the turbos spool when you have a 5.4L rumbling V8.

sjb

I'm with you... I wanted exactly the same and decided to give the Weistec high flow air filter set a shot. The price is good at $245 and the install is very easy (I'm assuming that with track experience you're comfortable with a modicum of DIY).

While I would still love more of the spool noise, it did make a difference, and I also feel like the throttle response has improved somewhat. I currently do not have a tune or any other performance modifications.

Seems like the only next step is to increase the piping on the intake (as pointed out above), and/or get downpipes. I keep referring back to this video... you can hear them spool over the exhaust, even with that camera placement (action starts at about 0:45):

kponti

Turbo back downpipes will give you all the turbo noises you want. Without a tune, you will be alright just bolting on and going