Hey guys, I just put an SRT-4 rear exhaust section on my '97 neon. It is OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD!!!!! I did not think it would be as loud as it is. I have no mufflers, just straight 2.25" pipe from the cat back. It is WAY too loud, I've been pushing in the clutch and coasting by cops (only seen 2 so far), and i'm still afraid of getting nailed. My ears actually hurt if I need to drive the car more than 15-20 minutes, and I've been driving like a grandma to try and keep the sound down. I like the overall tone (rappy, snarling, beastly, mean), but its just way too loud. I need a fix ASAP! I'd like to keep the same tone, just reduce the rappy-ness a smidgen, and quiet it down some.
I'm looking for some advice from you guys. The stock SRT-4 exhaust has 2 resonators behind the cat right? How loud/quiet is it stock? I still want my car to rap and snarl, so I'm considering just installing one resonator/glasspack behind the cat. Any suggestions on how long i should go? (short 18" glasspack or long 26"+ glasspack?) Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks. I need to get this thing a little quieter before i get busted and they make me hush it up completely.
Andy
04-08-2006, 10:24 PM
Yeah the stock exhaust has two small resonators after the cat. It's pretty loud stock, about on par with how a stock performance based car should be, though realistically mild compared to a SRT-4 with full aftermarket exhaust. There are plenty of reports of SRT-4 owners being ticketed for their stock exhaust, which of course for us can be cleared since it's stock and legal.
A resonator sounds like it would help you out. Don't know much else though, about size etc.
madwax
04-08-2006, 11:24 PM
You have to remember our cars are turbo, it sits within the exhaust and actually cancels a large portion of the noise, while a non turbo you get the full affect. You are now running a straight pipe, LOL! Get a muffler, or the cops will love you. THe SRT-4 and Subie Sti are the only vehicles I know of that come no mufflers from the factory, but both have a turbo to cancel some noise, and make some. ;)
elchicoyes
04-09-2006, 09:30 AM
Yeah, any type of resonator should help you at that point. Lol, funny one of the guys we hang with has an srt and got busted last night for nunning without any exhaust. Cops told him that it sounded like a deisel and shity. The cop must have been a rice lover or something.
rice_eater
04-09-2006, 04:36 PM
Thanks for the advice guys. Any suggestions on how long of a glasspack/resonator i should install? (or how many of them? LOL) I was originally thinking one 25" glasspack/resonator would quiet it down enough, but now i'm not so sure. You have a point MADWAX, about the turbo quieting it down. My engine also revs quicker and higher than a 2.4L, and its easy to hit 5000rpm in 1st just taking off around a corner. It just spins up so quick, and i dont like shifting in the middle of a corner. Maybe i should start with one 25" glasspack/resonator, see how it is, and if its still too loud hack off some more pipe and put another 25 incher right behind the first one? What do you guys think? Thanks again.
rice_eater
04-13-2006, 04:36 PM
Well, I got one glasspack today. $20 at a local garage. The body is about 17" long, and it is just over 21" long overall. A little shorter than I originally planned, but we'll see how it sounds. I can always add another. It has a spiral-louvered core, which should deaden more sound than a perforated core, and if it quiets it down too much I can always flip it around and it wont absorb as much sound (I doubt I'll have that problem though). I'll let you guys know how tomorrow's installation goes. If I had a digital camera I would post a sound clip.... maybe i can borrow one from school.
rice_eater
04-15-2006, 03:11 PM
Spent all afternoon putting a glasspack on yesterday.... Yeah thats right, all afternoon. THESE THINGS ARENT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS DIFFICULT!!!!! I ordered a 2.25" I.D. glasspack to slip over my 2.25" O.D. pipe... sounds like cake right? no. I had to flare both ends of the glasspack with my cheap flare tool that hooks on to an impact gun. And yes i cleaned all ends of the pipes good with a wirewheel before i had to beat the glasspack on with a hammer and a piece of wood. That wasnt working so well, so i had to go get a bigger hammer.
Well, finally got it all on and clamped up good and tight (my original plan was clamp it so it can be easily removed when it needs replacing... dont know if that will work LOL) and i guess it sounds ok. Its definetly quieter, and i got some of my low end power back but it seems a bit slower than the straightpipe above 5000 R's. nothing huge though, now that i can actually think when I'm accelerating, I realize it is indeed quicker than with the stock muffler. I miss the constant rapping and popping of the straightpipe though... Dang that sounded hot. Cops wouldnt have agreed though. With the glasspack i can keep it relitively quiet at light throttle (near impossible with the straighpipe) and I can actually hear my radio!!! LOL I thought it was too quiet at first, but its still pretty loud outside the car when i rev it up. I'm going to try and get a sound clip if i can find a digital video camera to borrow this week. I really dont know how the sound compares to an SRT-4, since the only onces i've heard have been online and computer speakers dont really do them justice. Overall I'm happy with it though, It may not scare big block owners anymore, but the exhaust note still commands authority over any other N/A 4 banger around here.
