I recently picked up a 2012 mk6 gti. I’ve been driving it for a while now and would like to make it sound a little better. This car is my daily so I don’t want it to be to loud. But also don’t want to waste money on an exhaust that won’t be loud enough for me to enjoy. There are tons of different exhausts and companies to pick from. Just wondering what the best exhaust for me might be.
Car sounds great with the suitcase muffler removed. That is where most of the air flow constriction comes from anyway besides the 2 cats up front. It won't drone either.
I heard resonator delete and it sounds like an unsophisticated cheap piece of crap (my opinion as others like it). Having said that, I heard Borla, Magnaflow, AWE, and COBB exhaust only (stock downpipe and cats). All these 4 are close to each other in sound volume and tone. Unless you saw the tips with their names on it, you wouldn't be able to tell which was which just by sound. IMO again, they are all not loud enough. When I put on the COBB catted downpipe along with the COBB exhaust, it sounded absolutely magnificent especially with the crackles! Note that you DO NOT get crackles unless you get the tune for it along with a downpipe. It did have a drone at highway speeds which could be tiresome for some people. If you added the optional center resonator to this COBB setup, the drone goes away and puts you back into the sound level position as if you didn't have a downpipe.
My suggestion: don't buy anything until you actually hear it IN PERSON. Do NOT rely on Youtube videos since everyone's recording device and listening device vary tremendously.
I heard resonator delete and it sounds like an unsophisticated cheap piece of crap (my opinion as others like it). Having said that, I heard Borla, Magnaflow, AWE, and COBB exhaust only (stock downpipe and cats). All these 4 are close to each other in sound volume and tone. Unless you saw the tips with their names on it, you wouldn't be able to tell which was which just by sound. IMO again, they are all not loud enough. When I put on the COBB catted downpipe along with the COBB exhaust, it sounded absolutely magnificent especially with the crackles! Note that you DO NOT get crackles unless you get the tune for it along with a downpipe. It did have a drone at highway speeds which could be tiresome for some people. If you added the optional center resonator to this COBB setup, the drone goes away and puts you back into the sound level position as if you didn't have a downpipe.
My suggestion: don't buy anything until you actually hear it IN PERSON. Do NOT rely on Youtube videos since everyone's recording device and listening device vary tremendously.
I'm just gonna offer the counter-opinion that a res delete really doesn't sound bad at all -- I had that for about a year and was never unhappy, never felt like an eBay exhaust Civic or anything of the sort. What really sounds like an unsophisticated sound is a stock muffler delete. Damn, does that sound bad. Really, just straight piping this car sounds bad -- it is not an engine that is kind to the ears, without some acoustic help.
Great point about recording devices; many mics are just garbage.
I'll always show up and +1 APR's exhaust. I have their downpipe as well, and the full kit just sounds excellent. They mic'd up incredibly well in their promo video for it, because that's very close to how it sounds IRL. Incredibly pleased with this system, haven't been this happy since I had a rare GReddy full exhaust in my old Celica.
Suitcase muffler will always be the better delete. You shave weight and solve a huge restriction in the exhaust system. Not saying res del is bad but I say chop that stupid ass suitcase off
