I have a 2012 Acura RDX (completely stock) and right now I’m mainly just looking to improve the exhaust sound without getting into tuning yet.

I want something loud and aggressive, but still running the stock tune.

A few questions:

• What’s a good loud exhaust setup for this car without needing a tune?
  
• Would something like a catback or axle-back be the best route?
  
• Any specific brands or setups people recommend?
  

From what I’ve been reading, it seems like catback exhausts usually don’t require a tune since they’re after the catalytic converters and mostly affect sound rather than engine tuning.

If anyone here is running a loud setup on a 1st gen RDX, I’d love to hear what you’re using.

Any advice helps. Thanks.

 

Without a tune you're a bit limited - anything that significantly increases noise will increase airflow which really should go with a tune for it.

I've never tried this, but I bet deleting the muffler that's right after the secondary cat would get you a bit louder without altering the airflow too much.

I feel like replacing the whole exhaust system isn't economical unless you're also going with a higher-flowing exhaust i.e. a 3" pipe vs the stock 2.5" pile. While it's true the primary bottlenecks in the stock exhaust system are the cats, doing a 3" pipe with only one resonator can get you some small power gains when appropriately tuned.

My setup is catback and is a 3" pipe from the secondary cat all the way to the back of the car, with just one magnaflow hi-flow resonator at the end before the tip. I started with the ATLP exhaust but removed their resonator and the Y split. The sound is very deep and there's a moderate amount of cabin drone when using boost, and at idle the exhaust is quiet but but still very deep and growly. At higher RPMs it doesn't sound as deep. I also get that deep brrrrr sound when coasting to a stop (=throttle body closed) from higher RPMs, especially between 2500 & 3500 RPM in second & third gears.

Hope that helps.