Electric Exhaust Cutout

[Thaifight-R]

Just wondering what your thoughts on electric exhaust cutouts are. I'm thinking about replacing the resonator with a 2" straight pipe, and then having a shop weld a 2" cutout there. (looking at buying a BadlanzHPE stainless steel one.)

Resonator idea from this thread:
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t955/

My goal is for more power. Don't care too much about exhaust note although I do like how cutouts sound on the 1.4L Cruze.

And if you prefer catbacks over cutouts, why?

Thanks!

 

[Gimpster]

I had one of the 3" vacuum activated ATP cutouts on a previous car and it was great, long as its a well designed I don't see how you could fail. Get read for some loud open downpipe sounds

 

[laborsmith]

I am unwilling to give up a resonator so I had to give up the idea of a cut out, as the HB does not have room for both the resonator and the electric cut out of my choice. If I had been willing to give up the resonator I would have gone with the NoWeeds as I have used their product and found I liked it. I know it is considered to be over engineered but to me that just meant better reliability.

Laborsmith

 

[Thaifight-R]

Soooo should I put a cutout before or after my cats?
BNR said that I'm probably better off having it after the cats, but I'm curious what everyone else has to say since people keep telling me to put it before the cats...

Thanks

 

[laborsmith]

If you replace the resonator, then it will be after the cats. If you put it in before the cats, you are up almost inside the engine bay, and I would guess there is more than enough heat there already. I opted for the cat back as I am unwilling to give up the resonator, but that is just me, there are many who see little need for one. Other than missing the mild to wild the electric cutout allowed me, I am quite pleased with the new exhaust.

Laborsmith

 

[Thaifight-R]

If you replace the resonator, then it will be after the cats. If you put it in before the cats, you are up almost inside the engine bay, and I would guess there is more than enough heat there already. I opted for the cat back as I am unwilling to give up the resonator, but that is just me, there are many who see little need for one. Other than missing the mild to wild the electric cutout allowed me, I am quite pleased with the new exhaust.

Laborsmith

Any particular reason why you don't want to get rid of the resonator?

That's nice to hear. I take it you went with the resonator and no muffler set up?

 

[laborsmith]

Yep, resonator no muffler.

I have been in cars with straight pipe no resonator and they sound cool for a while, but there is something about the thrum (aka drone) that is physically wearing, so any long distance driving wears you down. A well designed resonator cancels those harmonics by forcing them to bounce off each other. There are mathematical formulas used to develop resonators, more complex than one would believe until one looked at them.

So if you know you will never travel more than a couple hundred miles in a day you may be able to go w/o a resonator with little regret, but if you might use your car for a longer trip (I drive to N. O. about once a year, 1200 miles each way) then going w/o will definitely cause regret.

Laborsmith

 

[Danny5]

I don't think you can be so blase about it Labor. Unless you remove the resonator, you don't know what it is doing. I believe this is a case of over-engineering.

However, I don't have your cat-back exhaust. And you aren't missing a resonator, so we really can't give facts, just opinions.

My opinion is that turbo cars are already quieter than N/A cars, so removing the resonator does nothing in terms of sound or performance.

Oh, and the last CAT has no o2 sensor, so in theory you could bypass it as well.

 

[laborsmith]

You are right, it is my opinion. And turbocharging does have a quieting effect on the exhaust.

I also agree that there is a very good possibility that the OEM resonator is over engineered. The new resonator is much smaller than the one it replaced and currently seems to be at least as effective. I opted for the resonator not to reduce the sound of the exhaust per se, but to negate the effect of unresolved unwanted sound, which I describe as thrum but most describe as drone. The presence of one should have no effect on performance, neither the original nor the replacement. What probably does have an effect is the larger diameter freer flowing exhaust. But I am not a fan of dynoing so on my car we will never know.

The second cat should be an easy replacement as it is in an accessible position. But for now I am happy with the results.

Laborsmith

 

[Thaifight-R]

Alrighty, so if you all haven't already seen my other thread, I decided to go through with this idea. (cut out resonator, and stick the electric cutout after the cats, but before the muffler)

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t2055/

It has been about 2-3 weeks now and I am still very pleased with the results.

Here's where I had my Y pipe installed.

I currently don't have a picture of it with the cutout on yet, but I'll try to take a pic of it ASAP. I also have a video that I'll be uploading soon enough of it being turned on and off.

Specs:
Brand: BadlanzHPE
Size: 2.5" (the exhaust shop was able to straight up weld it to my stock pipe without using the 2.0" adapter that came with my cutout. )
Price: $185 for the stainless steel kit shipped to me + $120 in installation fees since I don't have the tools to weld or to get under my car for routing the wiring = $305 total

And of course, I had the resonator cut out to fit this cutout in. With the cutout closed (stock exhaust) I notice little, if any drone from the lack of a resonator while driving. With the cutout opened though, I hear the drone (very loud) once the car is warmed up, and cruising 2K rpm and below. Above 2K rpm, the drone goes away. The cutout also seems to amplify the sound of the turbo spooling, so the car sounds pretty nice IMO when you push it a bit. I heard that a turn down tip will reduce the droning, so I plan on ordering one of those soon to see if it gets rid of the drone.

Performance wise, I noticed a tad more initial turbo lag, but more power once I got higher up in the revs. I've never been on a dyno before so I don't have any numbers atm unfortunately...

Vids:
If you didn't already see the revving video:
Chevy Sonic Exhaust Cutout - YouTube

A vid of driving around with it in a parking garage.
Sonic Exhaust Parking Garage - YouTube

It's fairly loud, but it's not loud enough to set off car alarms. haha

Still working on getting a decent drive by vid so stay tuned for that. ^_^

Hope you all like it! Let me know if you have any questions!

On a side note, could a moderator change the title of the thread to just "Electric Exhaust Cutout" please?

Thanks.

 

[laborsmith]

Well done. A turn down tip should help.

Laborsmith

 

[dvn]

I'm starting to think that an aftermarket exhaust is not for me. The last thing I want to do is lose low end on this car.

 

[laborsmith]

I did not lose low end, if I understand what you mean. There is a slight falter in spool up but the power is there and it feels greater upon current spool up now. I have noticed that staying in or using lower gears makes an engine temp difference but no appreciable mpg difference. But my reason for an after market exhaust is my perception of the sound of the exhaust as the OEM exhaust was too quiet for my driving style.

Laborsmith

 

[Thaifight-R]

I did not lose low end, if I understand what you mean. There is a slight falter in spool up but the power is there and it feels greater upon current spool up now. I have noticed that staying in or using lower gears makes an engine temp difference but no appreciable mpg difference. But my reason for an after market exhaust is my perception of the sound of the exhaust as the OEM exhaust was too quiet for my driving style.

Laborsmith

This is exactly what I meant.

 

[1967stella]

Definatly am not trying to hijack the electric cutout thread however i am wantin to know if somebody has just jacke the pipe behind the Resonator and replaced the muffler with just straight and a tip.. Leavig the factory resonator alone. Does it sound different? Does it sound good? And any sound clips?

 

[laborsmith]

Scattered throughout several different threads are a variety of exhaust mods including what you are asking, some include vids w/ sound.

Laborsmith

 

[Thaifight-R]

^What he said.

Here's the electric cutout closing and opening vid.

Chevy Sonic Cutout - YouTube

Probably shouldn't have put my camera so close to my muffler... LOL
My car is actually VERY quiet with the cutout closed...

 

[hockey]

What cutoff did u get

 

[Thaifight-R]

BadlanzHPE

Almost sure I mentioned that earlier in the thread already...

 

[Thaifight-R]

A vid of driving around with it in a parking garage.
Sonic Exhaust Parking Garage - YouTube
It's fairly loud, but it's not loud enough to set off car alarms. haha

I take that back.

Chevy Sonic sets off Honda alarm - YouTube