Why does it sound like RICE???

[sasquatch]

Ok, took the 87 na and installed a Bursch header and cat bypass with the stock muffler. Egad that thing sounded like crap! Real "tinny" and super raspy.

Took it to the muffler shop to have a high flow cat installed (gotta be legal). This only slightly toned down the exhaust. Still sounded like crap.

Since the original muffler 'only' had 187,000 miles on it, I thought I would try an experiment. I purchased a stainless "sport" muffler off of Ebay. Price was right, even if I end up tossing it. It is a relativly short, straight through muffler with twin outlets.

Hacked off the stock muffler, and welded this in place. At idle, the sound is much improved. Much more 'melow' than the stock unit, but definatly lounder. Not worried, since it is not a daily driver.

At full song, it is definatly ricy. I would have thought that the larger displacement motor (compared to most rice) would have produced a deeper tone, but I guess not. My next step, unless any of you can convince me other wise, will be to weld in a resonator after the cat.

Bottom line, these headers, while increasing power, made the car sound way too ricy.

[fast924S]

Yea I did notice that when I did my exhaust, But the sound grows on you and if you really lisen to it it is a way better sound the the ricers, The 924S/944 engine's sound is deeper and sounds more toned. I would go and weld in the resonator, let me know what you use and how it goes.

[CJFusco]

I have been in a few 944s with the Bursch systems; the sound is ricey at 3-4 thousand, but i think it sounds great at idle, and at full chat.

It does sound a little "tinny," though... I wonder what could be done about that

[944freak]

I think that flowmaster makes some kind of sound chamber that makes your exhaust sound a lot beefier

[bluebullet]

anything straight through will make the car louder...anything like a flowmaster that doesnt have any packing in it, just angled pieces of metal makes it sound hollow and more rice-ish.

My dynomax isnt straight through (but has fiberglass packing in it), but the car has a nice deep tone to it, and doesnt sound ricey at all. Could be the fact that I have a middle resonator (magnaflow) and I have no cat and the second part of my headers is tubular. I might end up getting a bursch header to see if there is a difference..I like the tink tink tink noises my header makes when its cold out...

[chitown944]

i dont think its the bursch headers at all...i did the same thing and put in the test pipe and removed my cat...had an annoying cow like exhaust and was loud...i did this with the stock exhaust.....since then i put in the stock cat and the sounds back to normal with the same cat muffler and new bursch headers...the high flow cat is really why ur getting that sound..its like not reallt having a cat at all...the cat really deadens the exhaust and thats why urs is sounding ricey...replace the cat with a stock or regular cat ull probaly enjoy the sound much better

[AaronM]

All four cylinders (well, all inline 4's) are going to have that same ricer cadence. It's just the way the pulses end up.

Aaron

[bluebullet]

aaron is right...just the way 4 cylinders pulse gives you the rice effect. Headers sometimes make it worse due to the fact that all the exhaust pipes arent getting crammed into 2 or to 1 single exhaust, where they merge. 4 into 1 headers or really good 4-2-1 headers will sound more raspy because each exhaust pulse is exiting the car at its own time...

[toolboy62]

throw a cheap bullet glasspack in the middle of the exhaust somewhere as a secondary resonator. That will make it sound nice and mellow, and as an added bonus it will cost you about $17. That's what Techtonics does for their VW exhausts and they make the car sound incredible. My Scirocco had a TT echaust on it with a bullet glasspack in the middle and a Dynaflow muffler right before the tailpipe, sound quality was great and it wasn't loud at all. Much deeper tone than the ricers with their fart pipes.

good luck,

nate

[sasquatch]

Originally posted by chitown944
i dont think its the bursch headers at all...i did the same thing and put in the test pipe and removed my cat...had an annoying cow like exhaust and was loud...i did this with the stock exhaust.....since then i put in the stock cat and the sounds back to normal with the same cat muffler and new bursch headers...the high flow cat is really why ur getting that sound..its like not reallt having a cat at all...the cat really deadens the exhaust and thats why urs is sounding ricey...replace the cat with a stock or regular cat ull probaly enjoy the sound much better

Drumroll please....... chitown944 is the winner!

It was the high flow cat. I pulled the test pipe back out. Well, it is not really a test pipe anymore because I mounted the cat in it, but oh well. I cut out the high flow cat. I then grafted back in the OEM Porsche Cat.

Since I had the tubes cut off the Porsche Cat, I did some measuring on it. It actually had more surface area of the honeycomb than the high flow cat did. I actually think that a high flow cat would flow LESS than the Porsche unit.

Second, the Porsche cat has a resonator built into the exit side of the cat. This is why it is so long.

Anywho... I put it on the test pipe and loaded it back into the car. Sounds excellent now. Nice and mellow, with a good song at full tilt boogie. Almost silent at cruise.

Thanks chitown944!

[Makenzie71]

The biggest thing are the headers. 4-2-1's will always be raspy, and the dual out muffler you chose isn't about to help you. Those merges and what not cause turbulance, and turbulence is what ives you that "rasp" sound.

Even on a B16, a professional straight exhaust with the stock mani or with a 4-2-1 will sound raspy...a quality 4-1 will mellow and smooth it out. Same thing with the 944.

[Makenzie71]

Also, I seriously doubt you found a muffler with the same size core as your stock tubing...that's not helping. Adding a header with a 2.5" out and sticking it to an otherwise stock exhaust won't get you good sound.