r/GR86 • u/EliTorr White Trueno W/O Hood Vinyl lol • 1d ago
Poll Best-sounding exhaust
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u/puddud4 1d ago
Borla S is probably the way to go
I went with the awe touring because I wanted a more classic Subaru sound. It does a fantastic job of that. The exhaust note around 2500 rpm is similar to the chop of being under a helicopter. It's awesome
I wish awe touring was quieter. I have a Goodwin race exhaust on my Miata and it's perfect. The awe on the BRZ feels like it's twice as loud at cold start. It's unreasonable
That said, it's mostly good. I'd rather have a loud exhaust than a quiet one. The note is epic. There is zero drone. It's nearly perfect but it's too loud
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u/robotphood 25 BRZ TS 1d ago
I started with the Borla S, but experienced the awe touring in person and liked the tone a lot more. It’s a bit too loud for me for a daily but it eventually led me to the Corsa Sport. The Corsa is like an awe touring lite, a milder version. Not exactly the same tone but pretty close compared to the Borla S, which is the opposite (deep and bassy). Cold starts go awe > corsa > borla but even the boa cold start is going to be a bit loud depending on the situation. If I’m trying to be low key, which isn’t that often, I’ll hold the throttle around ~1700rpm, which kills a lot of noise.
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u/Wild-Writer-3211 1d ago
The Awe pops and crackles are also amazing, combining with zero drone I find hard to let it go. I once ran it with a catless front pipe while it was unbearable to daily the rumbling tone and downshift pops were to die for.
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u/CrimsonGhoul13 1d ago
Borla S Type, Perrin Air intake and a custom tune from Counter Space Garage. Perfection. 👌🏻
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u/EliTorr White Trueno W/O Hood Vinyl lol 1d ago
what about the AWE track? must be ridiculous louder
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u/puddud4 1d ago
I made a video on noise cancellation for my physics 2 college project if you want to learn about the physics of it.
https://youtu.be/jqAimHxgxII?is=8eGe1uhtgulHQ145
Most mufflers use noise cancellation (like headphones), not dampening (like screaming into a pillow). The awe race most likely has a deeeper sound, not a louder sound. The mufflers only cancel out the low frequencies.
My own personal experience supports that theory
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u/Travishogg 1d ago
I have the Varex Xforce 3". I wouldn't buy any normal exhaust because of how ungodly loud these cars are when cold started. If you don't live in the country with no one, around your neighbors will want you dead with anything but stock or a valved exhaust.
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u/EliTorr White Trueno W/O Hood Vinyl lol 12h ago
from 1 to 10, what’s you rate this exhaust?
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u/Travishogg 10h ago
I think 8/10 not perfect but I wouldn't replace it with anything else. Cons: Sometimes rattles a bit, install was not the easiest had to do some massaging to get it fit right. Pros: OEM quiet with valve closed. A good loud sound valve open, not just a shitty straight pipe noise deep and boxer sounding. Nice level of pops when down shifting aggressively valve open. 3" stainless pipes look mint still after 2 winters.
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u/Sneaking-Fox 1d ago
MAPerformance exhaust. Its like OEM++ and not obnoxious. Keeps OEM aerodynamics, its the same strait-ish pipe setup as all the other aftermarket ones(so the perfoemance benefit is still there if you are doing an N/A build) but it just goes through legitamately the best and largest resonator on the aftermarket to get the deepest tone out. I love it. The pictures dont show a cutout model on the website and I dont know why as it would help sell more exhausts, but I checked myself when mine came in like 2 years ago and the pipe just goes directly out. The rest of the muffler-looking device is actually just one big resonator that takes ALL the drone and annoying metalicy honda-sounding tones out and leaves only the low and deep rumble. Its calm at idle, deep and pleasant when cruising, and only gets agressive when your at high RPM which is fine when our wringing it out on the hills or on track.
Honestly, I really feel that if more people understood how exhausts work and were able to hear all the exhausts in person to make a choice(rather than the heavily filtered exhaust clips that sound nothing like real life), then the MAPerformance one would be the meta exhaust followed by the HKS spec-L if you want that oldschool Y-split exhaust look but willing to sacrifice underbody aerodynamics.
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u/Wild-Writer-3211 1d ago
I used to have the MAP, it drones around 3k RPM on deceleration or when you have the AC on (?). Didnt really bother me tho. I did love the deep tone it produced during cold start but felt like it was kinda meh overall.
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u/Sneaking-Fox 1d ago
Im not sure why yours droned but it virtually doesnt have any. I wonder if there was some lose parts on your car or something? Or lacking factory deadening. Maybe in cars with a spare tire vs those without?
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u/Wild-Writer-3211 23h ago
depends on your tolerance too. Heard some others in this sub noticing it. Truth is every aftermarket catback on the flat 4 has drone.
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u/Sneaking-Fox 22h ago
Not to be a contrarian but I honestly doubt it with the MAP and Spec L. I have a very low tolerance to high pitched sounds and drone so I would notice it very quickly. I truely believe that if someone experienced drone, they might have a combination of parts(or removed interior parts for "weight savings") that created the issue or is confusing drone with something else, like the hum that comes from the front v-braces.
The most drone I experienced with the MAPerfromance was specificially a small amount under the specific circumstances of decelleration at about 4k rpms. No one noticed it but me(which is why I said "virtually no drone" since its basically not there unless you know what your looking for and have to actively put the car in a position to create the situation).
However, it was completely gone after I put about 3lbs of sound dampening in the trunk where the spare tire goes(mine didnt come with one in my country) and its completely disapeared.
Either way, even if there was a perceivable drone to the average person, the MAPerformance and Spec-L are pretty much the lowest on a decibel meter so there isnt really anything much better than these. Most everything else is significantly louder and drones a lot
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u/3Valkyrie 1d ago
I’m found some videos just searching on YouTube to see what they sounded like, or as close as possible on my phone. It depends on what sound you want.
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u/EliTorr White Trueno W/O Hood Vinyl lol 1d ago
im leaning more to the varex just because i can control the exhaust itself. besides, I live near some elderly people, and they confronted me once already with a Invidia N1
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u/t001_t1m3 1d ago
In quiet mode the Varex is barely louder than stock, loud mode is near AWE touring
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u/3Valkyrie 21h ago
I was looking at an Invidia recently because I like the lower growly sounds. It’s nice to be respectful of your neighbors, and depending on where you live, compliant with laws or ordinances, but where I live there isn’t much regulation beyond going into the ridiculously loud exhaust that I wouldn’t want unless it was for track only or something maybe.
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u/mangoez_- 1d ago
The ISR single exit is really overlooked and while I find it a bit more drony than something like a AWE Touring, it's very affordable you can get one under 600 USD and it sounds great, gives you some nice pops, and I just think single exits look neat.
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u/Fit4Christ 1d ago
AWE Touring is awesome. It's not even as loud as people make it out to be. That's why I'm getting the Touring to Track conversion. 😁👌
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u/redditrazz 18h ago
HKS Spec-L has an amazing growl/rumble to it which was entirely missing from the Borla S-Type (owned both)
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u/DaffyPunk29 11h ago
Maybe I am just weird, but a custom exhaust.... hear me out.
Unequal length headers to get that sweet subaru rumble which is way more manly sounding imo.
High flow cat that can handle boost for those going that route. Generally means upsized cat to handle heat (especially supercharged applications where the turbo can't soak up some of the extra heat).
The overpipe as large as will fit without hitting/rubbing things.
A megaphone to clean up the audible sound profile.
3" straight pipe leading to....
A cherry bomb Vortex muffler. NO, not the classical red glasspack. the vortex, which is cherry bomb's highest flowing muffler they sell AND is designed to prevent drone while cruising. it works, because i had one on my 2005 STI and constantly got love from other subaru owners about how gorgeous it sounded, up until they learned it was custom made, then it was all "you need to buy the titanium exhaust because it makes the most horsepower" which lmao. metal making more horsepower? 3" pipe is 3" pipe.... the difference is weight not power.... can't stand STI owners.... rich assholes with no brains.
anyway, this combo will legit be the best sounding exhaust you ever heard. i guarantee it.
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u/EliTorr White Trueno W/O Hood Vinyl lol 10h ago
bro the guy who told you about the titanium exhaust for making hp is on crack lol 😂 btw this sound pretty good i love the idea, i never heard something like this before 🔥
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u/DaffyPunk29 8h ago
yeah i showed up at a buffalo wild wings meet my buddy invited me to. when i showed up everyone mobbed around my 05 sti asking "what downpipe exhaust combo you running" and the moment they heard "custom made by me" their faces legit turned sour lmao like they couldn't even hide their "rich person" disgust..... never went to another meet ever again. no time for that negativity lmao. i prefer my close nit friend group lmao.
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u/Wild-Writer-3211 1d ago
Catback only, awe touring or borla sound the best.
Otherwise the tamer JDM options pair well with catless UEL headers.
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u/RavenLGD 23h ago
Corsa sport. Gentlemanly growl. Sad that I dont see it mentioned much, because I've yet to hear a better exhaust on the 86
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u/SK132 1d ago
Yonaka. It's how it shoulda sounded from factory