Exhaust options.

[vestax32]

Then best wait until Mike reports back after he's done the work to his standard system.

I've already done this and can say that it's ended up sounding exactly the same as a Milltek Non-Res. The lad who's currently mapping my performance edition has an RS6 with a Milltek Non-Res so I've heard both side by side. On start up his is louder (cold start) but revving/driving etc, we couldn't tell any discernable differences.

Andy, I presume this would be the same for the standard non sports exhaust too? Would leaving the resonators, but cutting out secondary cats give a more sporty note without going as far as sounding like a non res milltek?

[A20LEE]

I'd recommend Supersprint, its off the shelf. Tuned to the car and only £400 more than a Milltek but the built quality is another league! Sounds miles better too. These are C6 system for comparison only not C7

Milltek



Supersprint

[MikeFish]

Andywaddy done this as stated above but I believe he had the sports exhaust to start with? If you have the non sports exhaust to start with then I imagine it will get louder but not as loud as milltek etc.

As a round up of exhaust for the C7 this is what I know:
Akra 6-7k cat back only
Capristo 4k cat back only, switched via remote
Milltek non res cat back 1.5k. Add about 200 for res version.
Milltek also offer a full system in either res or non res for 3.5 - 4k from memory.

Supersprint now make an exhaust in many different flavors but essentially offer a cst back or full system. Nit sure on prices.

The milltek cat back replaces the secondary cat with bypass pipes. Other may do this too (I don't think the acts does though).

And for me, the best sounding out of akra, capristo and milltek (based on Videos) is the milltek. I know a lot of people prefer the akra but I don't like the tone of it. Actually, its not that I don't like it, it sounds good, I just prefer the milltek sound.

[vestax32]

Mike, you seem to be the man in the know when it comes to exhausts! So to summarise for my situation I have narrowed it down to 2 options;

1. Remove secondary cats & central resonators from my existing standard (non sports) exhaust. Do you think this will give a more sporty note, akin to the OEM sports exhaust, but not as loud as the non res Milltek? Any drone likely? Will car need to be recoded?

2. Fit OEM sports exhaust which I am waiting for a price on from the stealer.

I would rather do option 1 as Im guessing will be a fair bit cheaper and may give me the effect Im after as I really don't want anything too over the top. In your informed opinion what do you think?

[MikeFish]

Does the non sports exhaust not have valves?

[MikeFish]

I'm not sure if it wi give it a sportier note, but it will make it louder. How loud I don't know. I'd guess it will be quieter than any milltek.

Have you heard the sports exhaust? Is that loud enough for you?

[vestax32]

Yes it has valves, but I would like to maintain there function rather than leaving open. Yes the OEM sports exhaust is good for me.

[MikeFish]

Not sure why you would need a recode if you already have valves then unless the valves have a different opening and closing behaviour for the 2 different exhausts.
If the sports exhaust is the perfect sound for you I'd recommend asking audi for a price then contacting mrc etc to see if they have any old sports exhausts lying around / keep an eye on ebay for one to come up.

[vestax32]

Yes I think you may be right Mike, probably easier than risking cutting up the existing and not being happy with the results...

[Ian_C]

Mike, you seem to be the man in the know when it comes to exhausts! So to summarise for my situation I have narrowed it down to 2 options;

1. Remove secondary cats & central resonators from my existing standard (non sports) exhaust. Do you think this will give a more sporty note, akin to the OEM sports exhaust, but not as loud as the non res Milltek? Any drone likely? Will car need to be recoded?

2. Fit OEM sports exhaust which I am waiting for a price on from the stealer.

I would rather do option 1 as Im guessing will be a fair bit cheaper and may give me the effect Im after as I really don't want anything too over the top. In your informed opinion what do you think?

Isn't this basically the same thing? With the factory sport exhaust, Audi charge you a fortune to throw away the centre box and replace it with straight pipes. That's it, unless I'm very much mistaken

(bar the different finishers in the bumper)

[MikeFish]

Mike, you seem to be the man in the know when it comes to exhausts! So to summarise for my situation I have narrowed it down to 2 options;

1. Remove secondary cats & central resonators from my existing standard (non sports) exhaust. Do you think this will give a more sporty note, akin to the OEM sports exhaust, but not as loud as the non res Milltek? Any drone likely? Will car need to be recoded?

2. Fit OEM sports exhaust which I am waiting for a price on from the stealer.

I would rather do option 1 as Im guessing will be a fair bit cheaper and may give me the effect Im after as I really don't want anything too over the top. In your informed opinion what do you think?

Isn't this basically the same thing? With the factory sport exhaust, Audi charge you a fortune to throw away the centre box and replace it with straight pipes. That's it, unless I'm very much mistaken

(bar the different finishers in the bumper)

The sport exhaust has centre resonators too Ian. I think the difference is in the back boxes.

[andywaddy]

Then best wait until Mike reports back after he's done the work to his standard system.

I've already done this and can say that it's ended up sounding exactly the same as a Milltek Non-Res. The lad who's currently mapping my performance edition has an RS6 with a Milltek Non-Res so I've heard both side by side. On start up his is louder (cold start) but revving/driving etc, we couldn't tell any discernable differences.

Andy, I presume this would be the same for the standard non sports exhaust too? Would leaving the resonators, but cutting out secondary cats give a more sporty note without going as far as sounding like a non res milltek?

Exactly the same mate. Cutting the secondary cats out and nothing else will not make much of a difference, it'll just emphasise the pops and bangs a little more. It's your central resonator that makes the most difference. Honestly, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it too much and cut the resonator and secondary cats out. With it being a turbo car, you have a lot more room to play noise wise. The majority of the noise only comes from being on boost anyway and as it stands, the only bit of drone (and it's not even bad) I have is sat in 8th gear at 90mph in dynamic mode but if you switch to comfort mode, the valves close and it's as quiet as a mouse I promise you. No coding is necessary as there are no sensors in the areas we're talking about. You're not touching the back boxes so nothing will change valve wise, they will work without a hitch.
Now I like noise, more so than most I expect and I'll still say this thing still isn't loud enough for me. Don't get me wrong, it sounds LOVELY at the minute and it's deafening in a tunnel or under a bridge but me personally will be doing some further playing with the back boxes in the future. Stop fretting and start playing! I think we're all in agreement on here that's it's proving rather difficult to get these cars to be obnoxiously loud!
Where are you based? If you're nearby, I've no problem you coming over to have a look/listen of mine.

[Ian_C]

Ahhh, okay. I think I remember reading that's the only difference on some Audi RS models, current RS3 perhaps.

Ditching the centre box and welding in straight pipes seems a popular great value mod on the B7 RS4 and B8 S4 in particular

If it were me, I'd 'cut and weld' (say £200?) or fit a non-res Milltek (£1500) which you can sell separately when you came to sell the car (assuming you had space to store the original)

I've said it before, going from res Milltek (when I bought it) to non res on my S4 made a world of difference!

With the RS6 double glazing, whatever exhaust you have, definitely worth seeing if folding half or all the rear seats down makes a difference. Let more noise come forwards!

[vestax32]

Thanks for this Andy, still mulling it over, car isn't arriving until next week so will mull until then! Im based near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, what about yourself?

So Im presuming messing around with the exhaust does not affect warranty, and removing secondary cats won't throw up any codes etc?

[andywaddy]

Thanks for this Andy, still mulling it over, car isn't arriving until next week so will mull until then! Im based near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, what about yourself?

So Im presuming messing around with the exhaust does not affect warranty, and removing secondary cats won't throw up any codes etc?

Not a problem, more than happy to help wherever I can. I'm in the Lancashire area so we're pretty far apart! I am however collecting the car from it's remap sometime this coming week (probably Thursday) from Kent, so I could take a detour off the M40 on my way back up if you so wished.

I've modified the exhausts in my last four RS cars and never once have Audi ever so much as mentioned it, let alone it affect warranty work, so nothing to fear on that front. And no, you shouldn't have any error codes coming up whatsoever as you're not changing anything with sensors associated with it.