S4 Exhaust Options

Rich M

Rich M

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Hi all,

I have been pondering of tinkering with the exhaust system and I have been leaning towards the AWE system from regal autosport (would be a nice drive down there for me) due to the different options there are.

I want to keep the car civilised when the wife and little one are in the car but then be nice and throaty when i'm on my own and fancy a play. I can't seem to find one with active noise so I would need to consider what downpipes to go with.

If anyone has any recommendations or experiences with exhausts for the S4 then any help is much appreciated. As you can imagine prices for these systems are high so would be good to get it right the first time

Thanks
 
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Look for a good local tuning shop that make exhausts. They will be able to tune the sound to your requirements. mines booked in a week Friday into infinity in Bristol
 
Also try bcs automotive in haydock...they do very good work...they only supply backboxes but I've been told they are nice & quite when keeping it easy but open up when yr giving it some beans...
I might be going down this route
 
GO custom, much cheaper and better sounding imo as you tell them what you want.
I used EPM Performance on some very good recomendations and paid half of a Miltek with better sound and picked my tips :) Am a very happy girlie and would always go custom now.
 
Depends how much you want to spend. Miltek ValveSonic - active noise control. There are valves in the system that you can manually open and close with a button installed internally (usually in place of the 12v port/fag lighter). It's a Miltek so sounds beastly, but it aint cheap.

http://www.valvesonic.com/



 
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I would like to change the exhaust on mine - Really like the idea of an active system that can be cranked-up when needs be.
I guess it a personal view, but for me, going the custom route on a new car just doesn’t feel right (just my opinion)
The down side of the Miltek ValveSonic (apart from the cost) is the switch looks like it has to be hard-wired, the valve Akrapovic & Armytrix systems seem to have wireless control. Unfortunately neither Akrapovic or Armytrix currently offer a system for the S4 B8.5 but i bet these would be mega bucks.
 
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They do the valve bit of the exhaust on eBay
 
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Thanks guys, interesting replies here. Surprised a fair few have gone custom - I always thought that custom would be more expensive than one thats mass produced. What would you say the price difference is in doing this?

Millteks are nice sounding but as mentioned they are expensive and more on the louder side however interesting that they do the valvesonic for different modes.
 
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My custom exhaust 3", I choose the tips and the sound..... £500 fitted
 
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Type "car exhaust cut valve" in eBay try google too.
 
Not sure I see the point of the valve, custom pipe can be tuned to be quiet at motorway cruising speeds and on the school run. They make it neutral between say 2-3k rpm it starts to get beefy after that and all hell breaks lose at 5k rpm. You can choose to have it a little beefy, quite agresive or WTF is this monsta ! That is the great thing about custom.
 
The problem with that is, once you get up to around 5k rpm you are often on your way to licence loosing territory.......one of the problems with the S4, you want to keep your foot in to hear the noise but legal speed limits seem to appear rather quickly and some quick backing off is required!
 
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This point right here.

What i'm finding at the moment is when I want to hear the grumble of the V6 it means stepping on the pedal and the only place I can do that is over the tops (long way round home) which is fun but its having that option of when out on my own and crusing of being able to hear some noise low down the range but then it not being too intrusive or excessive.

I realise it's a specific requirement but I was the exact same with the RS and it's 5-cylinder warble popping and banging low down the range. The S4 is tame on the noise front as you would expect from a family estate - it's just bringing out that slightly naughty side of it :)

Also - the quote above for the custom exhaust - I assume that is just the backboxes and tips?
 
Nope ... cat back full exhaust.

You can ask them to set it how you like. Do not get me wrong it will still sound good at low speeds, just not like a mk2 escort lol

Wait until mine is done and I will put a vid up
 
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Friday May 1st, just over a week
 
Totally agree with above comments. To get the stock S4 soundtrack going you need to be into licence loosing territory , and what you hear in the cabin is not pure exhaust noise (unless you have turned your sound ackatator thingy off). I am toying with the idea of a custom exhaust already. I would like it to sound good in the lower rev range, but not drone while motorway cruising if that is possible. I would also like one oval black exit either side (RS style) on the BE too.....not too much to ask then :)
 
Milltek all the way , pricey but no custom will beat it .... R&D what its all about ;)
 
I don't need to get into licence losing territory to hear my exhaust. It's good from the get go. There is some drone at motorway speeds though so intend to get that sorted at some point... Infinity were very helpful and told me to just come back if I wasn't happy (I only live 30min away) - I keep going to e-mail them, then change my mind because of the sound, I'll probably lose a bit. My favourite sound is the throttle blip on the downshift (in any ADS mode, but in manual and off the power), it's addictive. You hear it in the last 0.5 sec of the video I posted above. I do it all the time.

I, like others, recommend custom. I've heard the V6 with various exhausts at track days and I prefer mine. But it's all down to taste.
 
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People tend to prefer custom due to price , nothing more nothing less . Fit a custom do a rolling road and then fit a Milltek,AWE etc and do the same , results are evident
 
DavieK said:
Yes that's true buddy I used to think the same when I was 18
Click to expand...
That is a pretty rude coment right there !

It's also a bit ironic when looking at this post of yours " Fitted this week and although no noticable power gain , the sound coupled with the Milltek non-res is awesome:D."

So no noticeable power gains just sounded nice, were you 18 then ?
 
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DavieK said:
People tend to prefer custom due to price , nothing more nothing less . Fit a custom do a rolling road and then fit a Milltek,AWE etc and do the same , results are evident
Click to expand...
I take it you've done this then as you know the end result?
Or are you just plucking opinions out of your backside?
 
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He would have to test every custom exhaust ever made to prove that sweeping statement so I suspect the latter
 
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Most tuners say there are minimal gain of power from a aftermarket exhaust for the s4,it's mostly the sound from it..
 
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There's points from both sides

I suppose from a branded point of view you are paying the extra due to R&D done on the systems for maximum output but as your not gaining a huge deal of bhp (around 15bhp - someone please correct if im wrong) I suppose figures become negliable.

With custom you save some dollars and get freedom of what you can do but its up for debate on power increase (of course until it gets down to RR figures)

This is a good discussion and now I have a few options to toy with

Benjie your system sounds awesome from the outside, what's it like inside?
 
Junction 18 bath
 
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Lol, I wonder what other pearls of wisdom we'll have shared. I love being told why I do stuff by someone I've never met.

Yes it's just off J18 as Fctaff mentioned.

Inside it's quite drony at 1.5-3k rpm when you're cruising above 60. If I were doing regular motorway trips I don't think I'd manage. Around town/A roads it's noisy, but that's what I want. Like I said before, I may have it quietened down in the future, but I'm in 2 minds at the moment. I tried to record some interior sound for you but all you can hear is me messing with the MMI.
 
benjie said:
Lol, I wonder what other pearls of wisdom we'll have shared. I love being told why I do stuff by someone I've never met.

Yes it's just off J18 as Fctaff mentioned.

Inside it's quite drony at 1.5-3k rpm when you're cruising above 60. If I were doing regular motorway trips I don't think I'd manage. Around town/A roads it's noisy, but that's what I want. Like I said before, I may have it quietened down in the future, but I'm in 2 minds at the moment. I tried to record some interior sound for you but all you can hear is me messing with the MMI.
Click to expand...
What did you choose sound wise, they do quiet, sport and race I believe.
 
To be honest with these cars, once you're stage 2, exhaust gains aren't going to make massive differences, and then a custom vs miltek, you're entering similar threads of stock vs aftermarket air filters.

I had a miltek on my b7 and was good, but at that cost...the only thing that I was impressed with vs custom was the high flow sports cat.
If doing the exhaust this time, I'm just going for looks and a bit more noise over OEM, simple back box and tips will do that for me.

My two cents would be go custom and put the savings vs miltek towards stage 2 ;)
 
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