Hi guys, I just got the ATLP cat-back on my 3.7 and the drone is killing me! People tell me it sounds great outside but I wanna hear it too! Anyways, I was thinking of putting some dampers on the pipes to maybe tone down the resonance a bit. (They have bolt on dampers for a lot of the Ford trucks.) I was wondering what you guys thought and/or if you had any recomendations to get rid of drone inside the cabin. And also my pipes are pretty close to my bumper (about 2 in. or so) is that normal? Im scared of it burning the paint.
Thanks

 

Fitment sounds normal. The best ways to reduce cabin noise would be to add dynamat to your trunk and rear seats or you could chop the catback and add larger resonators?

 

Mine seemed to die down a little bit after 2 weeks or so (or I just got used to it). But check out this thread... some good info:
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/how-do-i-keep-x-exhaust-rasping-pcds-849750/

 

I thought about putting in a resonator but I'm scared it will ruin the exterior sound.. It just seems like I should probably try that dynamat and ill check ford later tonight. Thanks guys

 

Adding a resonator will change the tone.

 

That's what I'm scared of, I noticed you have the ATLP on yours (hearttls), did it really tone down a lot after the initial install? I have 150 mi on it, it toned down a lot after about 50 miles but now it seems to be staying the same.

 

The more restrictive the resonator(s), the less the exhaust noise/tone.

 

drive it for about 1000 miles.. it will tone down.

i have a atlp with resonator.. till this day on take off at very low rpm you will hear drone.. if you cruise, you cant even hear it..

 

Ill give it till 1500 or so, I don't mind the take off drone, it's the cruising drone that kills me, but I also have the un-resonated exhaust. I'm not sure if it will act the same as yours potmilkz. But thanks for your reply

 

Have you never had an aftermarket exhaust?

The reason stock exhaust is restrictive is to muffle the sound.

I have a solution to your problem. Take it off and sell it to me for $100

 

do all the aftermarket exhausts drone? I don't have exhaust on my TL..but I"ve had plenty of aftermarekt exhausts in my life..and it was ususally teh cheap ones that droned...

when I think of droning..I don't think of just "loud"... I had a system once that would have this deep droning sound / and whatever sound waves they were they would literally just make your head hurt.... after a long freeway cruise I'd feel like my ears were throbbing... that exhaust was a cheapy custom made at the mufflers shop setup..and even with adding a bunc of resonators I coudln't fix it. so I trashed it and got a real aftermarket system...

is your ATLP droning that badly? or is it just too loud? there is a difference. loud is one thing.. but droning really sucks.

 

I had XLR8 on my old 4G. I was told the same "it'll tone down after X amount of miles", bullshit. You just get use to the noise, or in my case learn to tolerate it. It's metal tubing, whats going to make the exhaust note tone down after X amount of miles? SS doesn't = fine wine.

 

Yeah that's all your doing is getting use to it. Now motorcycles are different because the canisters are packed tightly from the manufacture and it burns off. Basically insulation and it hardens to change the tone a little.

Cars don't change or wear in. You just get used to the noise unless it's so bad that you can never get use to it. Most exhaust gets a little louder over time. Some say it's seasoning lol. A drone is the worst thing to try and get rid of. To loud is easy to resolve but drone comes from the muffler design and sound pulses resonating from it. You really want a drone, buy the american thunder flowmastes and 2K cruising around for 15 minutes will drive you literally insane

 

mine was pretty loud when i first installed it.. but after it got much quieter... it may be that its just all in my head but it seems that my gf and my brother think the same way and they dont ride in the car as much as i do.

 

It seems to be quieting down a bit, I put some dynamat in the trunk, didnt help much but I think I really am starting to get used to it. It's no longer a nuisance in my personal opinion nor do I think I will be selling it for $100 Mr Marco but thanks for the offer lol
I'm still gonna give it some time, maybe ill dynamat under my seat or something
Anyone know if you can put dynamat or peel and seal under the car, above the exhaust?

 

You have to put dynamat to cover the whole trunk floor and under the rear seats, then put dynapad ontop of it. I did that to mine and it helped a lot. You can check it out in my thread:

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-photograph-gallery-296/couple-pictures-i-took-today-after-nice-wash-my-wdp-my-new-ronjon-20-a-845935/

 

AcuraTL, I just looked at your thread, that helps me get an idea of what I should probably do, ill probably do that this weekend, do you remember how much dynapad you used? Also I feel like the sound is coming from underneath the driver seat, not so much from the back..:-/

 

That's odd.

 

Yeah it is, I've had multiple people with me in the car and they all find that the majority of the resonance is coming from the front of the cabin, it's actually quieter in the back seat. I have a feeling I got a bad exhaust cause the right tips hangs lower but the actual piping hangs lower on the left... Weirdest thing when you look at it in real life.

 

When I ad my full exhaust rear passengers could barely hear what was being said up front; all the noise definitely came from behind.

 

I'm almost positive it's coming from directly under the driver seat, even the gas pedal vibrates while I'm cruising. I put dynamat under the back seat and in the trunk, it didn't help at all.

 

I had to buy 2 dynapads, they are expensive but they work.

 

Ill give it some time, if I don't get used to it then ill buy some dynapad and finish dynamatting the rest of the car.

 

I never got used to it, that's why I did the dynamat and dynapad route. It was either that or sell it and get the CT-E exhaust.

 

AcuraTL, ill see what happens next, at the moment I'm talking to the company because I'm really upset about the misalignment of the pipes, maybe that is a possible reason for drone?

 

+ 1000 to that,people overlook the Ct axle back because of the price/gains but unlike the other systems available you have no such issues with the CT,to date everyone who heard my axle back love it,including myself.

 

I think the gains are there in comparison to the full catback alternatives, but for me the hassle of having to cut/weld my OEM exhaust is too much; makes the car more difficult to return to stock and sell parts. Plus I feel as though the CT-E tips aren't large enough to fill the space.

 

essentially they are just axle backs.. if i wanted axle backs i would have gone with the route of magnaflow + magnaflow tips which would set me back about only 300 bucks or so..

ct is a very nice brand but they should redesign that exhaust and give it a slightly larger tip.. 3.75 or 4 inch would be great

 

^+1 to that in my opinion

 

that really sucks that you're having problems with it... the whole point of an exhaust is to make the car sound BETTER... not have to contantly tweak it, or "get used to it"

you shouldn't have to buy ear plugs to drive your car...

is this a problem with all the exhausts aside from CT-E?

if I ever do get an exhasut... I think I'm goign to get the CT-E!

 

OP, the car is tuned for lux. Want more sport? Spend the $$$$ and buy a CTS-V It is all about the frequency of the tone.

Ever ride of trail bike around for an afternoon? At the end of the day you'll have a bad case of the Waaa, waaaaa's. The sound from that non-restrictive 250CC exhaust is not something you want to hear for hours on end.

 

making it sound better is a matter of opinion.. its like saying some people like eating banana's and some dont... it can vary from person to person..

the ct-e is not a catback exhaust, its just a axleback exhaust... but your paying premium for just axle backs with 3.5 inch thips which to me are just a tad bit too small for the rear.. it may differ if you have a 2012+ rear bumper. For the 09-11.. its just too small

 

My apologies to the OP, I am not trying to detract from your thread, you have a valid reason if you feel that there is some build issue with your exhaust and you should pursue it in order to have it resolved.

I just want to clear up some things that were mentioned here, first there is no need to weld the axle back to the original exhaust, the left side is bolted on and the right side is expanded to sleeve over the original pipe, I used a Torctite clamp and it is held perfectly in place, secondly about the tips, yes they are a tad too small but that is subjective and most people myself included could live with that, what I couldn't put up with is severe droning year after year of driving the car, there has been several thread about members trying to fix this issue and many sold their systems without resolution

Personally I don't see the point of purchasing a full exhaust and the adding resonators, dynamat etc to make it more quiet but then again I am an old fart and I prefer a more mature sounding exhaust, I also don't like hearing a loud car that doesn't seem to be going anywhere quickly.

OP, I sincerely hope you get your issue resolved because it sucks to spend your hard earned dollars and not be satisfied.

 

KarKraze, it's not a problem at all, who knows, maybe this thread can help someone out in the future. I'm in contact with ATLP but they think its an adjustment, I'm not buying it. It really sucks because I said "I'll spend the extra money to get a perfect exhaust so I don't have to do anything with it after" and now here I am $1500 later with a leaning, droning exhaust that just gives me a headache. The main reason I didn't go with the axle-back is because if worse comes to worse, I could just put on the stock exhaust and consider it a lesson learned the hard way. And it is drone not noise, trust me the resonance is killing me, I can't drive with the windows closed without a bottle of Advil in the cup holder lol