HYDE161
Go Kart Champion
Product Link: http://www.eurojetracing.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=EJ611-E30-01-00
Researching Your Options:
Turbo Back Exhaust systems can be a challenging topic. There are an abundance of choices on the market today for us to think long and hard about which system would suite our specific driving needs. We spend countless hours scouring the forums for reviews, checking product websites, calling manufacturers with questions, scanning Youtube for video and audio clips and trying to meet up with people in our area who may have a certain Turbo Back Exhaust (TBE) system installed on their car. Some forum reviews are good at best but are based on that user’s perception of sound characteristics. Some videos are good at providing the sound that these systems will make but they never convey their true sound with 100% accuracy. This is next to impossible being that comparison videos are usually shot in different locations with different acoustic environments that may skew the audio feedback. Videos shot inside or outside of the car with a cell phone are fun but should never be relied on for choosing a TBE system.
The Goal:
Before falling in love with the EuroJet system I spent all of the late night hours scanning Youtube for the best audio clips. None of these videos addressed my main concern about a TBE system, “drone”. My goal here was to bring one of the most in-depth comparison videos to our on-line community. I wanted to piece together a video that showed a majority of the sound aspects this EuroJet Turbo Back Exhaust system has. I worked hard to shoot my video comparisons in the same locations, around the same time each day with the same external factors over 1 week. With the amount of rain we received over the past week, I had to get out and shoot my videos when the weather was optimal.
The Right TBE System For Me:
When I bought my 2011 MK6 Autobahn GTI, a TBE system was the last thing I thought about upgrading. But after learning more and more about how my first turbo car worked I realized this was a must have for my performance build. My goal was to choose a system that was civilized and refined enough for daily driving and cruising with a baby, still had a noticeable sound increase over stock and gave a war cry when I really wanted to open it up. I wanted that Jekyll and Hyde personality in my car, one where I could cruise to work early in the morning without waking neighbors but open it up on the weekends when I went out for cruises. The stock TBE system always left me wanting more from the exhaust note. I heard more engine noise than exhaust. Luckily I run a local weekly car meet in my area and had the opportunity to sample several different MK6 GTI TBE systems in person. I was able to hear these systems inside and out, parked and while driving. None of these systems gave me what I was looking for. The APR RSC TBE system was stupid loud for me. The Miltek TBE system had no noticeable sound increase over stock which if I’m paying good money I need enough of a sound change to warrant the total cost. The Magnaflow and Borla cat-back systems sounded great but I wanted a full TBE system from the same company. The AWE TBE system sounded great but was a 2.5” system which explains why it was quieter and also had an 8 week lead time for manufacturing. Enter this new Eurojet MK6 GTI 2.0 TSI Modular V-band 3" Stainless Steel Turbo-back Exhaust system. EuroJet has these TBE systems in stock and ready to ship FAST! For the video portion of this review I want to list all performance aspects of my car that contribute to the overall EuroJet TBE system sound. I am currently running APR Stage 2 software, South Bend Stage 2 Daily Driver Silent Design clutch with lightweight flywheel along with all of the hardware upgrades listed in my signature. I thought listing the South Bend clutch and lightweight flywheel was important since the flywheel revs and drops a tad quicker.
Baby Tested, Mother Approved! (I feel like I should be posting a picture of the Kix cereal box for advertisement)
With a newborn baby girl in our household I was obsessed with interior noise levels and what’s commonly referred to as “drone”. “Drone” means a myriad of things to different people and trying to discuss this topic on the forums is a challenging situation. For the purpose of this review I will define what I consider to be “drone”. This is NOT the place to start a “what is drone” debate and try to correct me. This is merely what I consider it to be so that I may review the acoustic sound characteristics of this TBE system. “Drone” to me is vibration / buzzing / intrusive humming that is unpleasant to your ears while maintaining speed on a level to incline road surface. When cruising downhill you may let off the gas pedal and the rpms and engine will settle with the least amount of noise. When cruising on a level road or uphill (load) we may hold the gas pedal depressed to maintain our speed and keep a current level of rpm and engine activity. During this load, some systems produce a “drone” which is a major concern for most of us. My main concern when choosing this system was the level of “drone” that may interfere with my daily driving and family trips.
Results: I had this system installed on a Friday, Saturday I ran errands all day while my wife and baby girl were home. I even timed it where I turned the car on, let it warm up and drove off while my wife was outside walking the baby in her stroller. On Sunday I broke the news that I had this TBE system installed (she knew it was a matter of time) and she couldn’t believe that she didn’t realize it! She was so pumped we packed the baby up, threw the car seat in the GTI (red/grey/black to match, of course) and went off on a highway and lakeside drive. I showed my wife how subtle the system could be while driving around town or cruising on the highway. She was amazed at how smooth and refined the exhaust note was but she could definitely tell that it was louder than stock. After a few minutes of normal, calm driving I opened it up here and there to show her how the car came alive. The first thing she said was, “this sounds like the Porsche my friend has”! Imagine that, a GTI sounding like a Porsche. Now this is coming from someone who has minimal car knowledge and experience. The adjectives she used to describe this system blew me away. “Refined, smooth, powerful, how it should have come from VW”, need I continue? See the last 30 seconds of my video review and you’ll hear the outside of the car during that specific trip with my family.
EuroJet TBE System Specs:
-3” T304 Stainless Steel
-Sequentially numbered production plate
-Fully V-banded Modular System
-Brushed matte finish piping prior to welding
-TIG welded with robotic pulse finish
-Slotted exhaust flange for all FSI & TSI applications
-Exhaust flange welded on both inner and outer sections
-CNC machined and chromed dipped steel flanges
-Ported, polished, and flow-matched flanges and welds
-Adjustable downpipe hanger
-Proprietary stamp muffler design with Eurojet logo
-Corrugated inner tubing within flex section
-Three (3) Oxygen sensor bung provisions
-Clampco clamps
Shopping / Ordering / Customer Service: Working with John at EuroJet was a breeze, he was very quick to address my concerns about choosing a 3” TBE system over a 2.5” system and the possible “drone” that some systems have. John sent me a ton of information and was always available to talk over the phone. Ordering was a snap, I called John after our initial conversations and pulled the trigger. He assured me that they could ship the package to Redline Speedworx in time for some other performance upgrades I had scheduled for that day. As promised the delivery arrived mid-day, just in time since all other upgrades planned for that day were done.
Shipping / Unboxing / Packaging: The best packaging job I’ve seen for sure! The massive box arrived via FedEx in perfect condition. EuroJet must have spent a fortune on packaging this TBE system. The amount of wrapping, foam and protection was crazy. The components were wrapped perfectly and were completely protected. The parts were easy to take out and unwrap and the mounting hardware was in plain sight so as to not leave anything inside the box.
Initial Impressions / Welding: Before I get into any of the main pictures I had to show these two off. I’ve seen all types of welding used on diesel trucks, performance cars and side projects. The quality of these welds and the overall smoothness of the exhaust tubing inside and out was so nice I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was so nice in fact that I wanted to hang the full system on my wall in my “man-cave” at home almost as a prize. I was really bummed this was going under my car and would be out of sight from here on out until it was on a lift again. Yes, it’s that nice…
Stock Downpipe:
New Downpipe: Quality, quality, quality. Coated flanges to prevent rust that some other systems have?
Picking up this downpipe made me feel like I could take out a building with one swing.
Stock vs. New Resonators: Beautiful polish and shine to them along with the EuroJet logo!
Stock vs. New Rear Muffler: Can I mention how much I hated staring at the old muffler in the past.
The ugliest feature on the rear of this car aside from the stock tail lights.
EuroJet Rear Tips: Flawless, clean and 4”!
Full TBE System Comparisons: These pictures blew me away. The OEM VW design looks old and decrepit with an additional bend or two and more restriction.
Install: Being that Redline Speedworx is one of the premier Euro tuning shops in the Tri-State area, I had no doubts they would install this system quickly without any issues. After the install I asked their techs for their feedback on how the install went. They said the install was simple, the included bracket made adjustments easy and the kit fit together without any added effort. They said the V-band clamps were truly the best in the business and the overall quality of the EuroJet TBE system blew away the other TBE systems they’ve seen in their shop.
The Initial Startup: JR at Redline Speedworx fired the engine up while I stood behind the car. My jaw dropped and I knew instantly that this was the best decision I ever made. It can be torture to think about the sound you’re car will make after actually placing the ordering your TBE system. You may worry that you made the wrong choice or that it may be too loud. John at EuroJet had my concerns addressed well before I let myself get all worked up with anticipation. After the initial idling sound check I listened for any possible vibration and rubbing against other components. During idling and our test driving there was not one hint of vibration or rattling through all of the gears and their respective rpm ranges.
Driving and Sound: While revving the engine in neutral there was a clean, crisp tone without any rasp. When driving the car the exhaust sound finally balanced out with the engine noise. At this time I would say I get about 60% exhaust and 40% engine noise which I feel is the perfect blend of performance. I could explain the sound qualities for every possible driving situation in text but I’ll let the video do the rest of my review in this area. Generally all of my write-ups contain more text than picture or videos. For the first time and for this specific review I felt that quality videos would explain the sound better than my personal opinions. Basically, the sound is perfect for daily driving, family and the enthusiastic drive. It will definitely not draw unwanted attention from the police or onlookers from the sound. The look is a different story since it’s so clean and good looking! This system offers the most complete exhaust personality that will suite and satisfy all MK6 GTI owners who are looking for the right exhaust. EuroJet spent their time watching other systems come to market then learned from their reviews, issues, concerns, etc. to develop their own system to outperform the rest. They spent months testing many different muffler combinations to get the perfect sound characteristics out of this system for a full range of consumers looking for different things. This truly is the latest and greatest TBE system achievement for the MK6 GTI.
The Look: It looks amazing, enough said. The fit & finish of the tubing, muffler, resonator, cat, flanges, v-band clamps and tips are second to none. The tip positioning relative to rear valence was absolutely perfect? We didn’t need to adjust a thing, both exit the rear equally and under the valance. When looking straight down at the edge of the bumper, you can’t see the tips protruding out like other TBE systems. The rear muffler looks amazing with the EuroJet logo. The rear end looks SO much better with 4” tips, they make the system pronounced without looking ricer like some 5”-6” tips I’ve seen on other cars. Standing behind the car, I can’t help but to crack an evil smile about how sexy my car looks now. I originally wanted the y-pipe look instead of a muffler under the rear but this muffler completely changed my mind.
Weight: I don’t have exact figures but John at EuroJet said that the full TBE system is definitely ~ 5lbs lighter than the stock TBE system even when going from 2.36” to 3” tubing!
EuroJet 3” vs. other 3” & 2.5” TBE Systems: In my opinion the EuroJet TBE system wins hands down. As I explained above, I was lucky enough to physically experience a variety of TBE systems from other manufacturers without satisfaction. None of their sounds are better than what EuroJet has created. After going with APR’s Stage 2 software (from Stage 1) I’m very glad that I went with the 3” design. I found no loss of power, torque, speed feel like some people have reported with their 3” TBE systems and their updated software. I have all of the exhaust flow, sound and power that this TBE system can deliver.
Video Review: Now, after all of my review and pictures above, it’s finally time for the video segment! Please watch in 1080p!
My attempt at embedding the video:
Direct Link if the embedded video does not work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ZnDox71bs&hd=1
