Lesson Learned:Muffler Delete Drone

[klatterblast]

Originally Posted by Iron Lung Jimmy

If you paid thousands of dollars to get drone you are an idiot. That would be like going to the dentist and paying him to make your tooth ache.

The level of cluelessness on this forum is comical... or pathetic. I can't decide which.

[ILJ's rant] Over the years the Camaro got the reputation for being the vehicle of choice for mullet wearing rednecks. I was pretty much hoping that the new, reborn Camaro would shed that image. But here we have a bunch of people who think cutting the mufflers off of their cars is a cool mod.

Read that again... a bunch of Camaro owners think cutting the mufflers off of their car is a cool mod.

Pretty pathetic when you see it in black and white, isn't it?

Sadly, I guess maybe that reputation is well deserved and will be carried on into Gen 5. [/ILJ's rant]

arh lt headers w/cats & xpipe - $1700.00, borla stinger catback exhaust - $1250.00, DRONE included free,. getting under your skin - priceless.
but seriously i did not ask for drone and did not like it at first but when you get a tune and tune out afm its better, it sounds bad ass and runs great so i got used to it.
Joe Dirt

[phil sac]

I don't care what system you get thier will be some drone,the only way to stop it is go back to stock,the drone at 70 will drive you crazy,here is the only otherway to stop it shift back to 5th gear and the rpm will jump to 2500 to 2700 and it will go away the drop in gas mileage is not that much .

[moultron]

I started with Flowmaster 40 series and my buddy has the Borla system. We both had extreme drone. Drove me crazy unless I went over 86mph in 5th gear. Here is the 100% fix........get a tuner and delete the Active Fuel Management (AFM) and it will be gone at all speeds and revs....period! You can also just have a profesional tune and have that option deleted that way. I have since added KOOKS headers and still have no drone....I love it! Good luck!

[bobby35ny]

Originally Posted by moultron

I started with Flowmaster 40 series and my buddy has the Borla system. We both had extreme drone. Drove me crazy unless I went over 86mph in 5th gear. Here is the 100% fix........get a tuner and delete the Active Fuel Management (AFM) and it will be gone at all speeds and revs....period! You can also just have a profesional tune and have that option deleted that way. I have since added KOOKS headers and still have no drone....I love it! Good luck!

Does not apply here, He has the LS3, He's not getting AFM drone.
-bobby

[caper]

Originally Posted by Iron Lung Jimmy

If you paid thousands of dollars to get drone you are an idiot. That would be like going to the dentist and paying him to make your tooth ache.

The level of cluelessness on this forum is comical... or pathetic. I can't decide which.

[ILJ's rant] Over the years the Camaro got the reputation for being the vehicle of choice for mullet wearing rednecks. I was pretty much hoping that the new, reborn Camaro would shed that image. But here we have a bunch of people who think cutting the mufflers off of their cars is a cool mod.

Read that again... a bunch of Camaro owners think cutting the mufflers off of their car is a cool mod.

Pretty pathetic when you see it in black and white, isn't it?

Sadly, I guess maybe that reputation is well deserved and will be carried on into Gen 5. [/ILJ's rant]

nope not pathetic at all. i dont have anything resembling a mullet but thanks for the insult,lol. - that is how you intended it right?

[JMROD]

Originally Posted by bobby35ny

Corsa and Hurst are in now, sounds GREAT and no drone!!
You are going to love it.
-Bobby

My Corsa got here yesterday! Ordered from LMP. Luckily it was in stock in their local California wharehouse and got here in one day. Installed it last night and what do you know, thoaty, much loader than stock, and...DRONE FREE! I could not get that thing to drone.

$1200 is alot for the hardware that shipped in the box, but I know most of that was to pay for the engineering that makes this sytem drone free. Money well spent, especially after my previous set up. Oh and like others stated, the product is definitely quality. Very nice looking system.

Originally Posted by phil sac

I don't care what system you get thier will be some drone,the only way to stop it is go back to stock,the drone at 70 will drive you crazy,here is the only otherway to stop it shift back to 5th gear and the rpm will jump to 2500 to 2700 and it will go away the drop in gas mileage is not that much .

Wrong, Corsa is drone FREE. But you are right about the technique of avoiding the drone when you have it...drive 500rpm above the resonance which will drop your mileage which might be acceptable. But, you still have to pass the drone rpm each time you go through first. So city driving wont allow you to escape it.

[skuttduck]

Originally Posted by JMROD

My Corsa got here yesterday! Ordered from LMP. Luckily it was in stock in their local California wharehouse and got here in one day. Installed it last night and what do you know, thoaty, much loader than stock, and...DRONE FREE! I could not get that thing to drone.

$1200 is alot for the hardware that shipped in the box, but I know most of that was to pay for the engineering that makes this sytem drone free. Money well spent, especially after my previous set up. Oh and like others stated, the product is definitely quality. Very nice looking system.



Wrong, Corsa is drone FREE. But you are right about the technique of avoiding the drone when you have it...drive 500rpm above the resonance which will drop your mileage which might be acceptable. But, you still have to pass the drone rpm each time you go through first. So city driving wont allow you to escape it.

I know how well the Corsa catback sounds and performs on the V6. I can only imagine what it sounds like on the v8.

Let this post be helpful to future members who experience, or don't want to experience the same problem you had.

[JMROD]

Originally Posted by skuttduck

I know how well the Corsa catback sounds and performs on the V6. I can only imagine what it sounds like on the v8.

Let this post be helpful to future members who experience, or don't want to experience the same problem you had.

Yes hopefully somone can benefit from my experience. I got bashed a few times for "whining". But for any members having the same problem, FYI, I did not have to trade in the Camaro for a minivan to get rid of the drone and it still sounds like a muscle car.

[reefdiver]

What to do if you want no drone.

1. Go to Auto Anything.com

2. Order the Corsa exhaust. They have both, automatic and manual, for SS (I have a 2SS A6).

3. Google a coupon code, you can typically find one for 10% off and free shipping (paid $1,149.00 delivered). Use the code when you get to the check out screen

4. Either put them on yourself or pay someone (put mine on and then had a shop weld where the clamps go for $60.00) to do it. Normally cost about $200.00.

You'll have no drone, sweet sound, and no huge cans hanging from the rear. I also put on Doug Hurley shorty’s on which Auto Anything also has. With coupon they were 549.00 delivered.

I took short cuts in the past with a Z71 truck. I got the drone for trying to save a few bucks.

[JMROD]

One more comment to those thinking about a muffler delete (maybe I should put this in my first post).

Many poeple have done it. They like it and few report getting drone. I think I may have been different for a couple of reasons. Others have said that with the Magnaflow Tru-X and a muffler delete they get drone. Apparently going back to the factory H helps. So I think the drone may have been induced not only by the x-pipe but also a bad weld job. Although it's to late to check the weld job on the x-pipe, I did notice the muffler delete work was not the greatest (same go did xpipe install and delete).

The drone (much worse then muffler delete) in the second setup with the flowmaster is, imo, a combination of the flowaster sound (very deep and "basey") and the acoustic properties of the car along my specific exhuast configuration. All came together to make some perfect drone. As stated in my original post when I removed the X-pipe from the flowmaster setup the drone was reduced.

A note on the flowmaster series 40 sound: It is nice and deep in low RPMs but at high it fades away.

My thoughts when trying out the muffler delete was that others had done it and liked it. I listened to tons of youtube clips. I had heard and sat in RocknDaBlueSS car and liked it. I figured for the price if I didnt like it I could just go for a full system. It was a gamble. So if you want to try out the muffler delete and have money to "gamble" go for it. You may like it and may not get the drone I had.

Going with a proven system, if you have the money, is much less of a gamle and IMO the best way to go.

[klatterblast]

Originally Posted by JMROD

Yes hopefully somone can benefit from my experience. I got bashed a few times for "whining". But for any members having the same problem, FYI, I did not have to trade in the Camaro for a minivan to get rid of the drone and it still sounds like a muscle car.

corsa is a great product im glad really that you are satisfied with it and if i did it over i would have got corsa, happy motoring.

[Master Shake]

I know this is an old thread, but I know exactly what the OP is referring to and just wanted to add my support for what he went through. Yes, as others have mentioned, you should expect it to be louder inside the cabin when you add a performance muffler or otherwise make a modification to make the exhaust louder.

The problem in this case is the dB (decibel - sound pressure level) level. As others have said, all after market systems or mods should have some drone, but they should be at or below a dB level that is comfortable inside the cabin. This is probably where the confusion in this thread lies.

I added Flowmaster 40's to my system instead of a kit and now have the terrible 2k RPM drone at a very high dB. I also have a 500 watt 2x10" speaker system, which isn't nearly as bad as the muffler drone -- in case that helps put it into perspective. My drone experience is basically a constant frequency somewhere around 60-80 hz (in my opinion) that is at a very high dB, and gives me a headache after 10-15 minutes of driving. However, I am fine with my 500 watt speaker system. If I shift to a different gear (and get a different RPM), it is very tolerable.

My previous car was a Nissan 350z convertable with a Nismo exhaust, which was loud enough to set off car alarms when it started up. It had no drone, but was still loud, top up or down. I loved that sound and had no drone there -- but that was a complete kit, designed by Nissan, so I am sure they had it perfectly tuned.

Just as the OP did, I am going to stop throwing money into my Frankenstein system (nice name BTW) and just go with a Corsa cat back. I too have been to my local muffler shop three times so far, and he has added additional resonators, and even a cross pipe connecting the pipes just before the muffler (similar to a second H pipe), but nothing is working.

To the OP, thanks for sharing your story. Hopefully my new Corsa will work for me as well.

[SK360]

Lesson learned, do it once, do it right. Corsa or Magnaflow.

[BigRed585Lbs]

I offer up the following "possible" solution to the problem of muffler deletion and the resulting drone at 68-74 mph in sixth gear:

I had the very same problem on my G8 GT when I installed a set of PM-FL axlebacks in place of the stock mufflers. The "drone" was awful at the speeds listed. The solution was the addition of Helmholtz chambers to both pipes. These are tapped into the main pipes out of the exhaust flow and allow the offending frequency to enter and be reflected back 180 degrees out of phase, negating the drone frequency.



This works, and has been adopted commercially by Solo Performance for their G8 systems, as well as for the V6 Camaros.