jetblakTL

Well, I had finally had enough of the 1-2.5K drone from my GReddy EVO II exhaust. I love the looks, and love the little boost in power, but driving 90 miles a day and hearing the drone at 2AM after a 10 hour workday had worn thin. Besides, I use my ride for business sometimes and, most importantly, wifey was fuming that the car was too loud. When she confused my car with the lady next door with the 96 Altima with the blown muffler, something had to be done. I did a whole lot of research and had decided to install a 22" Magnaflow resonator in the GReddy midpipe. After much discussion with some members of this board, and some exhaust "experts", I was leaning toward re-installing the stock resonator. This morning, I woke up and decided today was the day to make a move once and for all - so I went to my backyard with my trusty hacksaw and cut the stock exhaust from about a foot past the resonator. I took it a local Meineke, haggled a bit with them and am now driving a GReddy/stock exhaust hybrid. They removed the GReddy midpipe (1st pipe from the cat), reinstalled the stock pipe with the resonator, extended it a little to reach the GReddy y-pipe piece, welded on a 2-bolt flange and that was it - DRONE GONE!! No more resonation in the cabin, no more change vibrating in my cupholders, no more headache. Most of the GReddy owners on this board under age 30 (and some over) will probably say that it is way too quiet, but it is perfect for me now - at WOT, it sounds almost the same as before, but just puttering around town, you just barely hear it now, but you don't feel it vibrating you. I sprayed some high-heat rustoleum on the welds and that's it.

Now I've got to figure out what to do with the Magnaflow resonator that just shipped this AM. Somewhere down the line, I might just have a shop fab up a piece of pipe with the Mag resonator on it just to see how it sounds....

Special thanx to StillHere153 for talking me out of cutting up the GReddy midpipe. Now I can still at least sell the exhaust down the line if I trade in the car.

chill_dog

The drone has quieted a bit for me, except for every once in a while. I do get an occassional buzzing here and there, but nothing overly bothersome. One thing I found amusing (although some/most people probably wouldn't) was that when it's droning, people talking in the back seat sound like they're talking into a fan. I drove when a bunch of us went to lunch the other week, and this is what was reported to me. My response was "cool"...guess I'll never grow up.

Anyway, glad you're happy now.

tidus888

do you think u can record the new exhaust sound from outside?

jetblakTL

I took a sound clip from my digital cam, but it didn't seem to come out too good. I'll figure out a way to post it for those interested. The real difference appears to be from inside the cabin. I just remote started the car from inside my house and seemed to be moderately quieter. The initial rev at startup seems to be almost the same noise level, but then the sound disappears when the revs go down - which is why I say that the sound at WOT is still really good.

mrlunecy

iTrader: (1)

FINALLY! Someone with the courage to modify the EVOII! Good to see that the drone is tame-able. Thanks for posting this up. It could be really helpful to those who wanna quiet down their system a bit. Now I'm starting to think that installing an aftermarket resonator can be the best of both worlds. Can't wait to hear a sound clip. Keep us posted!

theklassic

Jet,

You're my hero. I was just about to post for some recommendations on either getting a resonator welded in or buying a couple of silencers.

Thanks for figuring this out. I personally could live with the drone, but like you, my passengers wanted to kill me. I'm a little weary of cutting the stock exhaust, since I may decide to sell the car at some point (GT-R???).

What do you guys recommend? I was looking at getting this resonator: Link

Do you think this would be comparable to the stock res?

Thanks for the input, and thanks for confirming this modification.

Collin

hollandca12

I'm very interested in doing this mod myself. So did you replace both Greddy resonators with the stock units? I may try to do this weekend. Love the exhuast but hate the drone especially when I'm tired after a 30hr shift.

theklassic

H,

No, no, all he did was take the stock resonator section or the original pipe and replace the Greddy straight pipe with it. Some welding was necessary to extend the stock piece to connect to the Y-pipe of the Greddy exhaust and muffler - hence the confusion.

jetblakTL

theklassic - I wouldn't worry about cutting the stock exhaust. When you are ready to trade the car in, just have someone weld it back together. The dealership is probably not gonna look under the car. When I traded in my Maxima, the just drove it around and gave it good look-over. As for resonator suggestions, I had ordered the Magnaflow, but a guy I was referred to who works in a custom exhaust shop said that he had experience with the TL and that the stock resonator did the best job of killing the drone. But people all over the internet and this website have been using the Mag for just that, with good results so I think it probably would have done the job OK.

Holland- the GReddy has NO resonators, that's why it's so loud. Even with the stock resonator in place, you can still tell it's an aftermarket exhaust - the cannisters still make a good amount of noise on their own - but that's the good, sexy noise. Resonation isn't sexy and is totally out of place in a "luxury" vehicle....

theklassic

Nice!

Ok, tomorrow I'm cutting that bad boy out. And you're right, no sense in paying for another aftermarket res, when I have one perfectly suited for the job sitting there.

Now, I just need a good shop.

I'm not going to even bother with waiting for a sound clip - I think you and I have the same requirement as far as sound dampening goes - Thanks for the research and the direction on this.

Collin

jetblakTL

Like I did, I would recommend you just make 1 cut and have the shop install the stock pipe w/ res and then extend it to reach the GReddy y-pipe - only 1 re-weld when you want to reinstall the stock system. Also, you don't have to cut up the GReddy midpipe in case you want to sell the whole system down the line. I think you'll be happy with the results - like I said, you'll still hear the exhaust but the vast majority of the low rpm buzz will be gone. I pulled up next to my buddy in my job parking garage today and was sitting next to him for a full 2 minutes before he noticed me - that's quiet, baby!!

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

I will take full credit for this lmfao

but I do like how you cut the stock exhaust at a good point so you kept the stock 3 bolt flange.... SMART, that flange is semi difficult to match up when you go from shop to shop, and almost always arent stainless

jetblakTL

I don't think the stock 3 bolt flange is stainless because mine was really rusted. I actually wanted to wirebrush it down and coat it with high-heat rustoleum before I put it back on the car but I didn't have time. For anybody whose going to do this mod, I would highly recommend taking the opportunity to clean that flange before re-installing it. Now that I know about it, it's going to bother me, so I'll probably wait until it gets warmer, then jack up the car, disconnect it and clean it up real nice.

mrlunecy

iTrader: (1)

SOUND CLIPS, SOUND CLIPS, SOUND CLIPS!!!!! lol.

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

mmh well it corroded since we live in nyc salt probably ate some of its top coating, but the stock flanges still last a few years

lights

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to hear the sound clip as well, also a more detail instruction of what to do.

tidus888

wait a minute ... what do u mean

"Special thanx to StillHere153 for talking me out of cutting up the GReddy midpipe. Now I can still at least sell the exhaust down the line if I trade in the car. "

i thought u just took it out..

chill_dog

1) He removed the mid-pipe from the GReddy exhaust.

2) He cut the OEM exhaust somewhere behind the resonator.

3) He had the exhaust shop weld on enough pipe to make the the piece from the OEM exhaust the same length as the mid-pipe from the GReddy exhaust. They also added a flange so it could be bolted to the GReddy Y-pipe.

4) In the future, he can sell the GReddy exhaust in its original form as it's all still in perfect condition. He can reassemble his OEM exhaust by having the exhaust shop cut off the piece they added (step 3) and weld the two pieces of the OEM exhaust back together.

ballinfizzle89

iTrader: (6)

Ohhhh alright I got it now, thanks for the clarification chill_dog.

Hmmm, this has got me thinking

Schulminator

iTrader: (2)

I have had the Aero resonator installed now for about a month, it takes about 80% of the droan away. It sounds great now...

The resonator was $50 and $50 install....best $100 I've spent.......

I can imagine the factory resonator eliminated all the droan, props for posting it here.....

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

^ good to hear your happy with the aero
mike (aznbo) believes alot of the drone comes from the noise cancellation stuff used on the car, I agree, briefly discussed pulling the fuse which powers the active noise cancellation, never did it though

jetblakTL

It's coming soon. Been busy with work but I'm going to try to post it tonight on youtube or something. Never done it b4..

On a side note, got home really late last night from work and had to be back at 7:30AM. Thank God I did this mod yesterday otherwise my head would be ready to explode - I had a nice peaceful drive home last night and I was able to carry on a 1 hour conversation on HFL this AM without having to ask anyone to repeat themselves or having to keep my foot off the gas so I could hear - and I remote-started the car in my driveway this AM without waking up my wife/kids. It's like I'm falling in love all over again - with the car, that is.... :wink:

jetblakTL

I was looking to see if anyone had installed a resonator - I considered the AERO, but it just looked too little to me and I didn't want to risk it not removing enough of the drone. The Mag seemed to be the popular choice but it seems like they (like Flowmaster or Borla) are geared towards American cars. I wish I would have made that decision before I ordered it (story of my life), but I'll probably just try to resell it on BM or ebay..

theklassic

Jet,

How much did the whole deal cost from Meineke?

Taking mine there tomorrow, but they couldn't give me a quote over the phone.

Thanks!
Collin

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

don't let them sucker into paying for than $100 for anything

jetblakTL

They wanted $100, I wanted $60, so we met at $75. I still think $75 was too much - really wasn't more than $50 worth of work and they were done in about 20 minutes. If I had the time, I would have tried a couple other places (like Stillhere's spot in the BX) but I figured after all the driving around and maybe paying tolls I was only gonna save myself $20 or so. If you take them your stock mid-pipe with the resonator, then they don't have ANY bending to do, so it's a quick and easy job - just 12" of straight pipe (1 side expanded), a 2-bolt flange and 2 welds.

Don't forget your GReddy mid-pipe when you leave!!! I almost did...

jetblakTL

Aight - here's the sound clip. Kinda sucks but it's the best I can do:

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a87WbBXuJHg"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a87WbBXuJHg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

jetblakTL

Aight - here's the sound clip. Kinda sucks but it's the best I can do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a87WbBXuJHg

theklassic

Sounds mostly the same - which is definitely good news.

Same sound, less drone = win.

lights

iTrader: (1)

near the end of your video, I think your neighbour's car alarm went off due to your exhausts.

theklassic

Guys,

Just had this done as well. I haven't had a chance to roll around on the freeway yet, but the drone seems to be mostly (if not entirely) gone.

All I hear is a great sounding exhaust note when on go.

As a whole there is slightly less (SLIGHTLY LESS) of a big boom rumble at idle and otherwise, but its now a perfect fit for this car in my opinion. At this point I don't see the need to post a sound clip because from what I can tell the difference is that minute.

Thanks go to jetblak & stillhere

Collin

jetblakTL

As I am driving around more, I am getting the impression that the exhaust sounds a hell of a lot better from the outside. While driving, everything seems muted inside the cabin and I find myself trying to get about 3K to hear that beautiful note. But even if the sound is changed/lessened, that's a tradeoff I'm willing to accept to be rid of the drone.

theklassic

Word.

lights

iTrader: (1)

I haven't installed my exhausts, but what does a drone sound like?

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

Drone is a deep tone wear the sound waves get trapped in the cabin and it makes small items vibrate, like quarters etc.

mrlunecy

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the clip, jetblack! I'm pretty much convinced that this is the way to go, for those that want the best of both worlds; luxury+mean exhaust=happy TL enthusiast. Any chance someone can post up a driving clip to listen to any change in sound while the car is under load?

ed99

Thanks for the vid. Was wondering if you can do a clip for the following:

1) Hearing what it sounds like when you are driving.
2) What is sounds like inside the cabin now.


I recently installed my Greddy and I do find it to be quite loud inside the cabin around the 2k RPM. If I was 10yrs younger then I wouldn't mind the drone. But this is a mod I might think about if the loud drone doesn't dissipate after break in period.

mrlunecy

iTrader: (1)

I just want to know if the sound note changes at all, while driving, but Jetblack left us hangin'...lol. just messing wicha Jet, but I would like to see a driving vid.

Ed, the sound will dissipate a little over time while you break it in (and your ears will get used to it). At first, I was like, "WTF did I do to my precious ride!!!!"..Over time, the sound gets tamed a bit, and I kinda like it...I REALLY like it! Put it this way; haven't bothered to put forth any effort to install a resonator. and EVERYONE that has rode in my car say it's pretty loud...but IT SOUNDS FREAKIN AWESOME AND MEAN!!! My girl is currently car shopping and she said to me, "How do I get my car to sound like yours?" I just giggled.

I wouldn't mind getting rid of the drone, but I don't want to sacrifice HP or the quality of the sound note. So, Jetblak OR SCHULMINATOR....PLEASE HOOK IT UP WITH A DRIVING VIDEO? IST AND 3RD PERSON? PLEASE????

lights

iTrader: (1)

Ed,
You might wanna try this method....

Snookynibbles

Gad, compared to you young 'uns, I'm as old as dirt...53! I've been driving my modded '06 TL around So Cal with the Evo2's since January. Back then I bought a FLOWMASTER, HUSHPOWER 2 mid-muffler/resonator, but I never installed it...got addicted to the extra power...so I got used to the drone. Fortunately my wife doesn't drive the car, but she really hates the cabin resonance. Guess I'll keep the FLOWMASTER to install just before that future day if/when I sell the car.