RS5 Exhaust Tone Thread

[altobeast]

Hi All,

In my pursuit of a proper exhaust, I'd like to know everybody's opinion on exhaust tones, especially with the introduction of a few new offerings from Velocity and JHM.

I'm looking for something exotic, loud enough, valved. With this being a 2-4k investment, I would love to get a thread going over the different tones, as it is very hard to pick out over video and I would rather talk to owner's directly.

Options are:

Akrapovic
Armytryix
Capristo Res
Capristo Non-Res
JHM
VelocityAP
Gthaus
Milltek

New Adds: Remus

What are you favorites, and kind of rate them 1-10 on loudness, exotic tone, Muscle tone, etc.


Thanks! And if there is a thread like this, I couldn't find one. Since we are not just bolting on a 300 dollar muffler like my old V8's it would be helpful to me and many other people on the fence.

[Mops@Nemesis]

My selection would be Capristo Non-Res for my RS5. With stock DPs, the volume would be 7 of 10, and Non-Res sounds more exotic and interesting with some rasp at the top. It's less expensive and lighter than Res too.... so triple win 😁

[Beast]

Honestly I think most of the setups sound pretty similar and exotic sounding.... that is just due to the fact that the RS5 engine produces a high pitched exotic tone already by default.

I'd say VelAP. capristo, awe track extreme, akra + awe dp, gt haus and armytrix= more high pitched F1

JHM, capristo res, miltek, awe resonated, akra (stock downpipes)= Deep V8 Rumble

[s vier]

This weekend I had 2 RS5s in the garage with two very different exhaust setups. We idled, reved, cruised and went WOT for a few hours. Here’s what I came away with:

Armytrrix RS5: insane. Simply insane. It sounds like Hell’s Soundtrack cranked up to 11. Valved. You can kind of quiet it down a little. Sounds like pure awesome on the freeway at WOT. 9/10-10/10 on the Db scale. I couldn’t handle it full time even as much as I like it.

Akropovic and AWE Non Res (mine): I can only compare it to The Capristo for sound levels. I think it’s closer to the Capristo with a more exotic tone because of the titanium. Hells’s Symphony. Valved. Can be quiet. Can be a screamer. 4/10-8.5/10 on the Db scale. Tips the scale $ wise but is 1/2 the weight. I can hear the burbles and pops just barely below the surface with on/off throttle feathering.

I love this exhaust but the best bang for the buck isn’t the Akropovic. It’s stupid $ and you get as good of sounds from the Capristo for 40% less. Akropovic does give the Carbon tips and weight savings though.

[Beast]

haha my mistake, forgot to add that! Akra + AWE NON Res def has a nice exotic tone

[AsherAudi]

After trying out several options, I wound up preferring a non-exotic non-valved AWE Track Exhaust with stock OEM downpipes. To each their own but for me its the perfect combination of sound quality and volume as well as balance of engine vs muffler/tailpipe volume. I know you're looking for valved but with the AWE I found all you have to do is drive around in auto-D mode and its very quiet but auto-S mode opens it up nicely while trawling around at 5k rpm in Manual mode is the best. Just saying you may not need to spend $4k - and ofc if you need obscene levels of volume, you can always throw on the non-res DPs and still be under $2k...not to mention the guys at Xpel who drive true exotics every day in and out of their garage bays have all said my car sounds amazing and like a supercar - which is high praise coming from them.

[altobeast]

This weekend I had 2 RS5s in the garage with two very different exhaust setups. We idled, reved, cruised and went WOT for a few hours. Here’s what I came away with:

Armytrrix RS5: insane. Simply insane. It sounds like Hell’s Soundtrack cranked up to 11. Valved. You can kind of quiet it down a little. Sounds like pure awesome on the freeway at WOT. 9/10-10/10 on the Db scale. I couldn’t handle it full time even as much as I like it.

Akropovic and AWE Non Res (mine): I can only compare it to The Capristo for sound levels. For Beast to not include it in his “exotic” sounds list has me scratching my head. I think it’s closer to the Capristo with a more exotic tone because of the titanium. Hells’s Symphony. Valved. Can be quiet. Can be a screamer. 4/10-8.5/10 on the Db scale. Tips the scale $ wise but is 1/2 the weight. I can hear the burbles and pops just barely below the surface with on/off throttle feathering.

I love this exhaust but the best bang for the buck isn’t the Akropovic. It’s stupid $ and you get as good of sounds from the Capristo for 40% less. Akropovic does give the Carbon tips and weight savings though.

Was the armytrix valve closed civilized at all? If it's more like the AWE extreme all the time, that would grind on me. Stock DP's on the one?

Capristo definitely is what I'm leaning towards, akrapovic out of my budget but you are definitely saying what i've heard from others, an awesome piece of work from Akra.

[Delasangre4231]

You forgot Remus

I have it on my car, very well made system, it sounds amazing. Remus videos are very few and don't sound at all like it does in the flesh. I have their race system, which is no resonators only has mufflers and piping. I had a X put in after the downpipes, sounded insanely good and loud but I couldn't live with it like that (old neighbourhood that is really quiet, couldn't leave early in the morning or late at night with out pissing off everyone, cold start was like a bomb going off). To resolve this, if put in a resonated X-pipe toned it down a lot and made the sound deeper (happy wife and neighbours now) still sounds glorious with valves open but it quiet a few db quieter. I'm blankenberg on instagram.. I don't have much on my car on there but if you scroll down you can find a parking lot snownut video shot by a friend from outside the car that one is with the resonated x pipe and then in a earlier video of a highway pull with is regular X pipe with the windows up from inside the car.

[s vier]

If anyone wants to hear the Akropovic with non Resonated DPs on a cold start check the video on my Instagram GERMANBrew. Started in Comfort Mode then popped to Dynamic 10 seconds into the video. I only have (2) videos on there. It’s the one with the steering wheel on top of the car.

[altobeast]

My consensus is that microphones generally suck, because some videos sound like what I think the OEM Sports sound like, but it's all going through normalization and leveling once you record it, so it's so hard to tell the differences!

[Johnhanson]

You really can’t go wrong with any option but they certainly are all very different. I have a long thread somewhere after I switched from AWE track (resonated - not track extreme) to Capristo and while both are great, the Capristo is IMO much nicer and refined. The AWE definitely has the more exotic almost Italian sound and is almost unbeatable at 7k+ rpm, but I couldn’t handle the drone and 98% of city driving (and long highway) commutes is where the Capristo shines. It sounds amazing almost all the time, much deeper and throatier, with the only downside being a small amount of weedwacker noise on upshifts at higher revs. I can try and find the link if you want. Basically it’s been 3 or 4 years of bliss with the Capristo and even driving 4 seasons on our salty roads there is no sign of corrosion or wear on the system.

One option I would like to try, but don’t want to risk the unnecessary expense of it didn’t pan out, would be non-res pipes with stock exhaust along with the eventuri intake. Anybody running that?


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[Beast]

You really can’t go wrong with any option but they certainly are all very different. I have a long thread somewhere after I switched from AWE track (resonated - not track extreme) to Capristo and while both are great, the Capristo is IMO much nicer and refined. The AWE definitely has the more exotic almost Italian sound and is almost unbeatable at 7k+ rpm, but I couldn’t handle the drone and 98% of city driving (and long highway) commutes is where the Capristo shines. It sounds amazing almost all the time, much deeper and throatier, with the only downside being a small amount of weedwacker noise on upshifts at higher revs. I can try and find the link if you want. Basically it’s been 3 or 4 years of bliss with the Capristo and even driving 4 seasons on our salty roads there is no sign of corrosion or wear on the system.

One option I would like to try, but don’t want to risk the unnecessary expense of it didn’t pan out, would be non-res pipes with stock exhaust along with the eventuri intake. Anybody running that?


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thats what I have currently. It is a great setup but it leaves you itching for more from the exhaust. Definitely not as good as a full exhaust system. That's why I recently picked up the Velocity valved system to finish it off.

[Johnhanson]

Oh man that will be sick. Post vids indeed. You also have the overrun/burble tune correct?


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[Ape Factory]

Honestly the AWE with their resonated downpipes are loud enough at WOT to get you arrested and zero drone. No valves to fail, just sounds great all the time no matter what mode you’re in. The same exhaust with non-res, aka track extreme, as others have said is super exotic sounding but just not livable day in and day out. The resonates downpiipes simply move the volume and sound from like its coming from underneath you to out the back at the tailpipes. The tone is the same.

Money no object, it’d be the Akra but just due to the weight savings. If the JHM system proves to outperform a 2.5” system across the rev range, that’s be my choice although from early reports it would probably be too loud (for me).

[Beast]

Oh man that will be sick. Post vids indeed. You also have the overrun/burble tune correct?


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Yup! I love the overrun feature.

[BuyTheWarranty]

Honestly the AWE with their resonated downpipes are loud enough at WOT to get you arrested and zero drone. No valves to fail, just sounds great all the time no matter what mode you’re in. The same exhaust with non-res, aka track extreme, as others have said is super exotic sounding but just not livable day in and day out. The resonates downpiipes simply move the volume and sound from like its coming from underneath you to out the back at the tailpipes. The tone is the same.

Money no object, it’d be the Akra but just due to the weight savings. If the JHM system proves to outperform a 2.5” system across the rev range, that’s be my choice although from early reports it would probably be too loud (for me).

To each their own, but the JHM system isn’t louder than the AWE system, I had the touring setup and non res pipes on my S5. Different car, I know, but the JHM system really suits the car.

I in no way stand to benefit from other people going JHM (I also think the Velocity is amazing) BUT I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed by going another direction, waiting for data. I do understand the desire for performance figures, but look at JHMs track record and the performance they got out of the RS4’s 2.75” system by itself. I believe them when they say if you want the best performing exhaust system, this is it. My gut says with their tune and exhaust we’ll see 1/4 mile figures in the high 11’s. I don’t have a video of it, but I was able to pull away from a 50km rolling start against my brothers E92 M3, which is almost unheard of unless we were at a stand still.

[Delasangre4231]

To each their own, but the JHM system isn’t louder than the AWE system, I had the touring setup and non res pipes on my S5. Different car, I know, but the JHM system really suits the car.

I in no way stand to benefit from other people going JHM (I also think the Velocity is amazing) BUT I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed by going another direction, waiting for data. I do understand the desire for performance figures, but look at JHMs track record and the performance they got out of the RS4’s 2.75” system by itself. I believe them when they say if you want the best performing exhaust system, this is it. My gut says with their tune and exhaust we’ll see 1/4 mile figures in the high 11’s. I don’t have a video of it, but I was able to pull away from a 50km rolling start against my brothers E92 M3, which is almost unheard of unless we were at a stand still.

My car is bone stock and I beat an M3 from a 50mph roll. 50- 130, it was close like I had about a car length on him by 130 but I won twice. Unless it was a 335I and he put an M badge on it but I'm pretty sure it was an M3. Dunno what gen.

[Pandamonium]

hmmm how fo I upload video to the forum, Ive got a video of my set up if you are interested in hearing it

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[Delasangre4231]

How about Kline?

Edit: just did some light googling, seems they do headers without cats and they can put high flow cats in the downpipes if you still need them, but they do headers and or a downpipe back valved exhaust, in your choice of stainless or full Inconel 625 including the headers.

I have an email out to them asking for shipped prices to the US but from what I'm seeing the downpipe back in stainless is only about $2800, headers in stainless another $2500-3000. And double that for Inconel.

https://youtu.be/T-z4uwlLG5M

[Beast]

hmmm how fo I upload video to the forum, Ive got a video of my set up if you are interested in hearing it

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Upload it to youtube or Vimeo then paste the link here.

How about Kline?

Edit: just did some light googling, seems they do headers without cats and they can put high flow cats in the downpipes if you still need them, but they do headers and or a downpipe back valved exhaust, in your choice of stainless or full Inconel 625 including the headers.

I have an email out to them asking for shipped prices to the US but from what I'm seeing the downpipe back in stainless is only about $2800, headers in stainless another $2500-3000. And double that for Inconel.

https://youtu.be/T-z4uwlLG5M

I think they have discontinued the headers. Let us know what they say.

[Delasangre4231]

I think they have discontinued the headers. Let us know what they say.

They are still listed and pictured on their website, but it might be made to order. I'd only be interested in the down pipes back system because I don't want to pull the motor to install headers, but looking at the Dyno charts from their customers it's a significant gain.

[Delasangre4231]

I have some emails back from Kline Innovations.

Thank you for your inquiry.

We have a splendid system for your car. It is very civilized with valves closed and wild on valves open. The system is valvetronic and will work with the factory dash controls.

We have special pricing on this system.
Stainless steel is 2500 euro and Inconel is 4850 euro. Shipping to US is 200 euro with UPS.

We currently need 4 weeks to finish a system.

The setup contains :

Downpipes
Center X pipe section (loud non resonated or resonated) Just 150 euro extra for resonated.
Rear valvetronic muffler section

The entire system is 70mm diameter.

The headers have been discontinued I am afraid.

[jay_c09]

I sure would love me some inconel pipes 🤤


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[pickle.rs]

Ahhh, too many options!

I think I'm teetering between AWE Track + Stock downpipes and the JHM system (way more $ but I like the sound and retained valve option). Going to go check out the JHM in person, anyone in the Bay Area have AWE Track w/stock downpipes I can hear in person?

[jdmnomore]

Have had both milltek and now AWE track extreme.. Imo the track extreme setup is very daily driveable if you want loud go into dynamic if you want quiet ride in comfort drone is minimal.. but it does have a very annoying rattle which apparently is common. It is very exotic sounding in comparison to the milltek. You're probably not getting any performance with this setup.

Same for milltek not much performance makes car sound like a mustang and terrible drone. Do not reccomend.

At some point I may become interested in breaking into the 11s and hands down the JHM setup will be mandatory if and when I decide to go that route. Right now the car is more of a weekend cruiser and the AWE is a delight to listen to every time it'll be hard to part with.

[altobeast]

Have had both milltek and now AWE track extreme.. Imo the track extreme setup is very daily driveable if you want loud go into dynamic if you want quiet ride in comfort drone is minimal.. but it does have a very annoying rattle which apparently is common. It is very exotic sounding in comparison to the milltek. You're probably not getting any performance with this setup.

Same for milltek not much performance makes car sound like a mustang and terrible drone. Do not reccomend.

At some point I may become interested in breaking into the 11s and hands down the JHM setup will be mandatory if and when I decide to go that route. Right now the car is more of a weekend cruiser and the AWE is a delight to listen to every time it'll be hard to part with.

That's odd, I don't think the AWE has valved mufflers, right?

[Ape Factory]

They don’t have valves. I find the touring system is loud enough at WOT and pretty unobtrusive at part and neutral throttle.

[jdmnomore]

Correct. Frankly, after having both valved and non valved I think that whole feature is overrated. When the car is in dynamic the shift points and throttle response are more aggressive so naturally you're getting more feedback from the exhaust. In comfort the car is constantly below 2k rpms so even with the track extreme it's very tame unless you go heavy on the throttle.

[pickle.rs]

Correct. Frankly, after having both valved and non valved I think that whole feature is overrated. When the car is in dynamic the shift points and throttle response are more aggressive so naturally you're getting more feedback from the exhaust. In comfort the car is constantly below 2k rpms so even with the track extreme it's very tame unless you go heavy on the throttle.

Yeah, that’s what i figured. Right now the sound difference/preference will probably make my decision for me. Also AWE is way cheaper than JHM as there seem to be a lot of people selling secondhand AWe, and JHM is a new product.

[tma5091]

I listened to videos for 6 months before going Armytrix. Glad I did. Insane sound. Valves closed at 70 mph sounds almost stock.
Others in our local club have AWE and Capristo. Everyone agrees that mine sounds better. At track days I always get people wanting to know what I am running.
Mine is a cat back setup with stock downpipes.


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[altobeast]

Correct. Frankly, after having both valved and non valved I think that whole feature is overrated. When the car is in dynamic the shift points and throttle response are more aggressive so naturally you're getting more feedback from the exhaust. In comfort the car is constantly below 2k rpms so even with the track extreme it's very tame unless you go heavy on the throttle.

Right but what about at 75 MPH, cruising speed here? Is there drone at that rpm about 2300-2400

[jdmnomore]

Milltek yes.. AWE none what so ever.

[Mops@Nemesis]

Very informative thread guys.


Mops On The Move

[altobeast]

Milltek yes.. AWE none what so ever.

Sweet!

[tma5091]

Slight drone at 2000 with Armytrix. That's about 60 mph. At 70-75, Nada.


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[JamesRS5]

Correct. Frankly, after having both valved and non valved I think that whole feature is overrated. When the car is in dynamic the shift points and throttle response are more aggressive so naturally you're getting more feedback from the exhaust. In comfort the car is constantly below 2k rpms so even with the track extreme it's very tame unless you go heavy on the throttle.

Interesting, I have the Capristo and I would completely disagree with this and say the valve feature is 100% required if you wish to drive at city speeds with no drone or resonance at all.
If I force the valves open in “individual” mode and drive at around 30mph in traffic then there is a very noticeable droning/resonance which for me anyway is not in keeping with a $90k German car and more suited to a younger mans japanese import.
The same for the cruise to work, valves open just means I have to turn the music up to mask the annoying exhaust note, I’m not talking about drone here, I mean it’s just simply louder/deeper sounding and on a longer drive I’d rather listen to good music than a constant and unchanging F flat exhaust note, so again here the valves switch it to silent running.

Exhausts are completely a subjective choice, some guys like to make insane noise all of the time, others prefer a more subtle approach and some like the best of both, but you can only have that with valves.

[Delasangre4231]

Interesting, I have the Capristo and I would completely disagree with this and say the valve feature is 100% required if you wish to drive at city speeds with no drone or resonance at all.
If I force the valves open in “individual” mode and drive at around 30mph in traffic then there is a very noticeable droning/resonance which for me anyway is not in keeping with a $90k German car and more suited to a younger mans japanese import.
The same for the cruise to work, valves open just means I have to turn the music up to mask the annoying exhaust note, I’m not talking about drone here, I mean it’s just simply louder/deeper sounding and on a longer drive I’d rather listen to good music than a constant and unchanging F flat exhaust note, so again here the valves switch it to silent running.

Exhausts are completely a subjective choice, some guys like to make insane noise all of the time, others prefer a more subtle approach and some like the best of both, but you can only have that with valves.

Well said!

[AsherAudi]

Milltek yes.. AWE none what so ever.

Huh my AWE definitely drones at 1800-2300 rpm but it only ever hits that rpm consistently at highway cruising speed if Im in Comfort mode (DSG selects 7th gear) - so I just use Sport mode and that makes it top at 6th gear and about 3000 rpm and no drone.

I now mostly just use Manual mode so am always using lower gears and keeping it above 2300 rpm drone point any way.

[Ape Factory]

The AWE, with their downpipes, doesn't drone at all, not even a smidge.

With their non-resonated downpipes, aka "track extreme" there's drone around 1700-1800 rpm and then it goes away. But it's quite loud (not to be confused with drone)pretty much anywhere in the rev range, even at neutral throttle while cruising. It's somewhat tolerable around 70mph but it can be fatiguing on long journeys. I did a nine hour trip with the track extreme. The noise sounds like it's coming from right underneath your seat with the extreme's non-res downpipes.

With the AWE resonated downpipes, it's silent below your seat and all the noise comes out the back. The full resonated AWE is not going to be as loud as the valved systems when the valve is open. This isn't to say it's quiet. It's quite a bit louder than the OEM sport exhaust. Asher has the OEM downpipes which are louder than the AWE downpipes.

With a valved system, you sort of get the best of both worlds with a caveat. Take the Caparisto since that's a popular one. It's just as loud as the AWE track extreme with the valves open. So any time you're on it, it's going to sound fantastic but it'll be a loud fantastic. Just like the track extreme. While I enjoyed it immensely, it did get old after a while and I didn't want to draw that much attention. Personal choice though, some want it loud all the time.

[jdmnomore]

I think some of us are confusing drone with sound. Yes I get sound at 1800-2400 rpms but it is not drone. If you want to hear drone ride in a milltek car lol.