Crackle/Pops&Bangs tune harmful for the engine?

[Zanic L3]

Hi all,

I'm about to go stage 2 with my car next month, I have a catless downpipe stored in my garage that will go onto it as well as a CTS air intake. I have a Milltek catback non res on my car right now but I currently do not have any tune on it (I first took care of the chain issue before tuning it).

I'm not entirely sure if I want a pops & bangs/crackle tune on my car, on one side I like it, it's quite aggressive and it makes it 'stand' out but on the other side it looks a bit childish so I'm debating where I will ask my tuner to get it or not.

Also, is it harmful to the engine in the long term? If yes, then I would avoid it at all costs.

Also, with a catless DP should it not have a deep rumble already with it? My car is also a DSG so it'll fart.


Thanks

 

[Mk6Autobahn]

I’m not personally a fan of it since it seems like every single “tuned” car around me has it, but to each his own. I think your engine will be fine, usually you hear about people running the pops and bangs with a catted downpipe and they end up damaging/destroying the cat but you’re gonna be cat-less so you should be fine.

Maybe someone more experienced can chime in here, but I thought being cat-less made it louder and more raspy, not deeper. I went with a catted DP because of that

 

[Joe_Mama]

Catless sounds like shit and destroys the environment. I hope you enjoy loss of low-end torque, high pitched rasp, droning and making your passengers car sick from fumes.

Oof, better bring the wet wipes!

 

[GolNat]

Every turbo car has a pops and bangs around me. The Focus, Fiesta, Subaru, BMW, Audi peeps all at the very least have a BOV and/or crackles and pops. I think it could be fun to have them but only if I could turn them off cause it might get annoying after a while. A guy near me has a straight piped 2.0T Audi with IE stage 2 crackle tune and you can hear him from miles a way.

I have read it can be bad for the cat but some cars have it from the factory so maybe not that bad.

Yeah I'm not sure on a 4 banger if it will make it deeper. It will certainly give it a more raw sound. Loud does not equate to sounding good but everyone has their own definition of what sounds good. I like a little rasp and rawness.

Give it a try and if it's too loud or not deep enough for you have an exhaust shop add a universal resonator.

 

[CleanAsFckMk6]

Please do not get another crackle tune, even if it won’t cause harm In any way. . i don’t believe most posts mentioning how much they love it, there’s simply no way. They sound like total dogshit on our cars plus will quickly annoy the shit out of you bc their obnoxious

 

[Grabbit]

 

[ParkersGTImk6]

Catless sounds like shit and destroys the environment. I hope you enjoy loss of low-end torque, high pitched rasp, droning and making your passengers car sick from fumes.

Oof, better bring the wet wipes!

Chill tf out

 

[Timothy Bryce]

They sound like total dogshit on our cars plus will quickly annoy the shit out of you bc their obnoxious

Agreed. I live at the top of a hill and whenever I'm out front cleaning my car or working on it every prick in the neighbourhood revs their shitbox car to the top of the hill giving me an earful of the spitting and popping on the overrun. After a year of this I decided that I hate that shit even more than ever. The worst thing is that 99% of the cars making all the noise are slow as fuck compared to mine and mine is barely louder than a standard car.
When people turn to stare at noisy cars they're not thinking 'wow!! cool guy', they're thinking 'what an anti-social prick; grow the fuck up'
It's almost as bad as people who like to broadcast to their whole neighbourhood their shit taste in music but that's another thread...

 

[Grabbit]

Lets just put it this way..... I think a lot of us here would lump crackle tune owners into the category of highly likely to also be honking on their vape at a light, have some type of "Supreme" clothing/stickers, their IG handle advertised on their car and think extreme negative camber is baller.... Just ask yourself if you want to be lumped into that category and know that's how others are likely to perceive you..... /end rant

 

[Thumper]

When people turn to stare at noisy cars they're not thinking 'wow!! cool guy', they're thinking 'what an anti-social prick; grow the fuck up'

Reminds me of the South Park episode with the Harley riders.........lol

 

[vdubnick]

love my unitronic turbo back.... sounds deep and mellow, loud enough when you are on the throttle, almost stock quiet when you arent so you dont sound like a faggot

 

[riceburner]

well, suppose i'll chime in.

I got the pops enabled on my stage2 mk7 with a catted dp. Interestingly, prior to having it enabled i had just a hair of rasp but that is gone now, like it mellowed out. Hard to explain which actually makes me think there may be something to the theory of the bangs slowly damaging the cat - but don't quote me, its a completely unfounded theory.

All said i kind of doubt it will cause damage; otherwise the suppliers would be hardpressed to sell it as an option, again just my opinion.

Lastly, it is nice to have the option to just click it on and off with the driving mode. Personally my car is really quiet and just sounds GOOD when i get on it. Having the pops and bangs on here and there gives the car a little more personality and makes the experience more fun. I'm not one for obnoxious or loud cars, so i'm on the fence but think i like having it - at least the option.

 

[sterkrazzy]

People that don't know what a crackle tune is (the majority of the population) will tell you your car sounds like shit or ask you if something is wrong with it.

I like mild burbles, but the loud pops are cringey...and I had a stratified tune with pops for a while.

 

[Zanic L3]

People that don't know what a crackle tune is (the majority of the population) will tell you your car sounds like shit or ask you if something is wrong with it.

I like mild burbles, but the loud pops are cringey...and I had a stratified tune with pops for a while.

Yeah thats what I wanted, just some mild burbles like a stock M2 or an RS3.
Its on a stage 2 tune right now and there are none any pops n bangs tune, the DSG farts are fine (for now?)

 

[GolNat]

A part of me feels like the sound of the car should match the performance.

Stock - stock exhaust
Stage 1 - resonator delete or CBE
Stage 2 - Down pipe adds enough added sound
K04 - Then maybe add some crackles and pops

On the other hand if you have a car that is not the fastest but you can make it sound good that certainly can add to the driving pleasure (I'm talking from previous Honda ownership). Yeah people probably laughed at my slow ass Honda but I enjoyed the added sound so whatever.