Catless Front Pipe Install Made Car Sound Like Trumpet
 

Hi everyone,

First time posting here. I have a 2017 Subaru BRZ, and recently put on an Invidia catless front pipe. I have the Tomei UEL headers and an Invidia N1 catback on the car as well. When I floor the car now it sound a bit like a trumpet, and in my opinion it does not sound great and I want a different sound.

I am trying to find a solution to the "trumpety" sound, the volume is fine but I want to fix the quality of the exhaust note. Since the over pipe on my car is the only stock part of the exhaust and has the smallest diameter, could that be the part that's giving me the bad sound? Or should I look into a different catback system than the N1? Does anyone run similar setups and how was your experience with it?
Thanks in advance.

1. Different from N1
2. Resonators are key. Look for front pipes and catbacks with nice fat resonators in them

Thanks for the response. So I guess the N1 is the main culprit for the trumpety sound hey? I do have one resonator in my entire system right now and that's on the N1's mid pipe, so yeah maybe I do need to switch the N1 altogether. The smaller diameter overpipe doesn't matter in this case then?

That is because the N1 is one of least better sounding catback system when paired with everything being catless.

Get a resonated F.P or high flow cat. Switch to either HKS, Greddy, Borla, TRD, CSG, MXP catback systems.



In terms of sound the O.P does very little, in terms of performance, is only important when going F.I.

no, it'll just make it louder and increase rasp

Will do, gonna try to find one of those catbacks to switch onto then, will keep updated. Thanks!

I REALLY like my HKS Spec L

I don't think I've heard an n1 that I like :(

Yeah I get you lol, I'm getting really sick of the drones and the sound too, I liked it at first because it was one of the deepest sounds but I don't like it anymore

Thanks for the suggestions, the Borla exhausts seems like they have no mufflers? I don't think I will go with that one. I am liking the looks of the GReddy RS-Race and MPX comp RS and they both seem like relatively affordable options.

Would you suggest either one of those options? Also, would you know which one would have the least drone?

Out of those two, Greddy RS and MXP, the Greddy would be less aggressive with a better note, probably pricier. The HKS Spec-L has a deeper note, sounds like a growl more than anything.

Something with a muffler would drone less, the quietest one out there that I know of is the Invidia Q300, but the packing wears out overtime. After those, would be the TRD/STi, Fujitsubo, Perrin.



Sound is also very relative. Best thing would be to find people with the same header as yours, and listen to their exhausts, Youtube is good but the dBs appreciation is not great.



One of the biggest components that will determine how loud your catback is your F.P, after your headers of course. Being cat-less on headers leaves everything to the F.P, so having a single, double resonator, would do wonders without affecting performance. Not that it really matters on NA applications.



You could switch back to OEM F.P and keep the N1 and see how you like it. Or get a single/double resonated F.P, or switch your catback. Cheapest option is to go back to stock on your F.P. If it still drones, improve your hangers to either JDM or ones like Perrin.

Do you have a tune for your headers and the exhaust? If not I would get that first. A tune can change the way your car sounds especially if you're now catless.

Yes I do have OFT tune for the catless headers, got it tuned right after I put on the headers. I didn't mention it earlier because I didn't know it would affect it much haha.

Went with Borla on ours, it had a N1 knock off on it when we bought it highly recommend if you want quieter exhaust.

Tune does not affect sound very much if not at all, it does help with flow, hence it could feel like more pressure goes thru, but hardware components play the bigger part at the end of the day. The only sound it could change is the startup one from cold starts (slightly quieter). Or from having an obnoxious popz n bangz. Other than that, the tune helps the vehicle to make make the most power out of headers and not throw a CEL.