Exhaust Sound

[Dwight]

I have a 2001 S3 with a 2.0 liter Zetec with which I’m very pleased. It is, without doubt, the most fun of the many sports cars I’ve owned. The car has an integral muffler/catalytic converter with O2 sensors which work perfectly and result in a fairly subdued sound; however, I’d actually like to have a significantly more aggressive exhaust note.  Is there anyone on this site who shares my perspective and has found an alternative workable setup to achieve this goal.

[MV8]

Edited December 22, 2023 by MV8

[CarlB]

Here is my exhaust. I have a very similar car to yours. From the header flange it has a 2 1/2-inch pipe to a 4-inch MagnaFlow muffler part 10416. It exits in front of the tire and has a turn down to help with the noise. You do not want the exhaust pointed straight if you use it on a racetrack. They have sound meters and pointing at the sound meter will set it off. I had the original muffler cover and I cut it down to fit the new muffler and painted everything black. Sorry my car is apart, and this is the only picture I have of the exhaust. 

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by JohnCh
Car was driving on the ceiling :-)

[Dwight]

CarlB, Thanks for your response. In a fairly long lifetime I’ve had numerous sports and racing cars on which I’ve done virtually all the maintenance. However, this is my first fuel-injected, computerized sports car (which I love) and I really don’t miss valve adjusting, setting timing, adjusting carbs, etc.  But, as a result, my knowledge of modern electronics is sadly lacking.  That being said, it appears to me that you don’t have any 02 sensors on your setup.  Don’t I have to maintain them in some manner for proper computer function?

[CarlB]

You are correct, I do not have a O2 sensor or a catalytic converter. If you have one O2 sensor before the cat you can just put the sensor in the new pipe. If you have two sensors you will need to have a tuner turn off the second O2 sensor in the ECU.