[sinz]

Hello guys.
Installed the Borla catback on my Stock Cayman S!
i must say the sound after 3500rpm is incredible, brings a smile to my face.
And from 1000rpm to 2000rpm its quite.

BUT

Drone from 2000 to 3000 is kinda unbearable. does it go away after i put on some miles on it? any tips of how to reduce it?
if you've installed the Borla on ur car do u guys have the same issue?
anything will help.

Thank You!

 

[K-Man S]

Most aftermarket exhausts have some degree of drone in this RPM range, it is the nature of the engine, in fact your stock system had it too, Porsche just did a good job of masking it. Try to avoid lugging the engine or staying in that RPM range by changing gears faster or leaving it in a different gear longer, etc. It may mellow a bit over time, but I doubt it will be reduced significantly.

 

[DaveN007]

Hello guys.
Installed the Borla catback on my Stock Cayman S!
i must say the sound after 3500rpm is incredible, brings a smile to my face.
And from 1000rpm to 2000rpm its quite.

BUT

Drone from 2000 to 3000 is kinda unbearable. does it go away after i put on some miles on it? any tips of how to reduce it?
if you've installed the Borla on ur car do u guys have the same issue?
anything will help.

Thank You!

I don't think that the sound changes as much as you grow accustomed to it.

I let a friend drive my car the other day and he kept accelerating hard starting from the low 2000's. I told him to get the revs up to enjoy the wail of the exhaust. He replied, "I love the booming sound down low."

I explained that the sound is "drone" and that some people can't stand it.

He was puzzled by this and is now shopping for exhaust for his 335i.

It really is a personal taste question. At least a couple of times a month I end up spending 2.5 hours on the highway at a stretch...sometimes 5 hours (there and back)...cruising at 65 mph or so...on the edge in the drone range in 6th gear...and no matter how tired I have been, the sound cheers me up.

I was trying to remember what the car sounded like when it was stock, and I can't.

The only way to know if you like the sound is to try it, so if you end up going back to stock and losing a little money, don't beat yourself up. Now you know. :cheers:

 

[Blitzkrieg]

It really is a personal taste question. At least a couple of times a month I end up spending 2.5 hours on the highway at a stretch...sometimes 5 hours (there and back)...cruising at 65 mph or so...on the edge in the drone range in 6th gear...and no matter how tired I have been, the sound cheers me up.

I was trying to remember what the car sounded like when it was stock, and I can't.

The only way to know if you like the sound is to try it, so if you end up going back to stock and losing a little money, don't beat yourself up. Now you know. :cheers:

Definitely personal taste, I too love the sound of the Borla and am not bothered by its drone. Dave, I'd wager the reason you can't remember the OEM exhaust note is by design it wasn't supposed to be intrusive to the cabin. With OEM I almost felt you'd hear the mechanical noises from the engine moreso than the exhaust as revs built up. For me its an acceptable trade off to lose that in exchange for hearing the Borla wail when I step on it.

Sinz, like Dave said, if the sound/drone isn't for you, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding someone who wants to buy a "like new" system.

 

[AJK]

Hello guys.
Installed the Borla catback on my Stock Cayman S!
i must say the sound after 3500rpm is incredible, brings a smile to my face.
And from 1000rpm to 2000rpm its quite.

BUT

Drone from 2000 to 3000 is kinda unbearable. does it go away after i put on some miles on it? any tips of how to reduce it?
if you've installed the Borla on ur car do u guys have the same issue?
anything will help.

Thank You!

I generally do not like it when someone replies "do a search". But in this case, I'm going to say that too since so much has been written on the subject.

I'm in pretty much the same place as you and spent most of last evening reading (re-reading) the enormous number of posts concerning "THE DRONE" So far there is no magic bullet but you may be in a better philosophical place when you're done. The best advice I have is to accelerate quickly thru 2-3K RMP in first gear and do not go there again.

 

[DaveN007]

Dave, I'd wager the reason you can't remember the OEM exhaust note is by design it wasn't supposed to be intrusive to the cabin. With OEM I almost felt you'd hear the mechanical noises from the engine moreso than the exhaust as revs built up. .

YES! I remember. The mechanical noise was cool. In fact I remember that the noise was a bit different going from the 2.7 to my 3.4 car. I remember how occasionally after driving around in my SUV for a while I would be almost startled when I started up the Cayman by the, "How funny...I almost forgot that the engine is right behind me." sensation.

Not anymore. Adding the exhaust is like realizing that your stereo's fader was only putting sound to the front speakers...so you turn the knob and now you hear what you had been missing.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Blitz.

 

[sinz]

Ok so i spent the day driving around, and noticed that when im not really concentrating on the sound the car is making, the drone isnt really that bad.
Also since i live in the city (beirut) and there is a lot of traffic and stop and go's, i figured that i can easily just keep the RPM below 2000 most of the times, and when i have some room to speed i try to get over 3000rpm as fast as i can like everyone on the forums has suggested.

i have another question though, does a Softronic flash help with this issue in any way?

thnx

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I added the SRP to my borla and didn't notice any change in drone. Some have suggested trying to extend the tips further back alleviates some, but would need custom work done on the back of the borla as it is welded instead of a T-pipe like the oem.

 

[intubator]

Running performance 200 cell cats (like Fabspeed) will isolate the drone to the 2600-2800 range with the Borla, narrowed by a large margin. The volume will be very slightly louder though. The sound overall will be awesome.

 

[MotoFanatic]

The best advice is to avoid the RPM range where the drone resides. Next, i've heard that extending the exhaust tips a little further out helps a little.

http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxs...80-dynamat-installed-w-photos.html#post453605

-Moto

 

[BadToTheBox]

Hello guys.
Installed the Borla catback on my Stock Cayman S!
i must say the sound after 3500rpm is incredible, brings a smile to my face.
And from 1000rpm to 2000rpm its quite.

BUT

Drone from 2000 to 3000 is kinda unbearable. does it go away after i put on some miles on it? any tips of how to reduce it?
if you've installed the Borla on ur car do u guys have the same issue?
anything will help.

Thank You!

The most common complaint about after market exhaust systems on the internet. No it doesn't go away and it is why many go back to stock exhaust.

 

[PURE INSTINCT]

However, I love the drone of my Borla sport exhaust.......:dance:

And with Fabspeed headers, it sounds like heaven will probably be my next mod.:banana:

 

[1BlinkGone]

The most common complaint about after market exhaust systems on the internet. No it doesn't go away and it is why many go back to stock exhaust.

For these the Porsche Sport Exhaust upgrade might be the ticket.

 

[Schwabe]

Every exhaust will burn in over time. Second you have to "burn" in too. At least give the exhaust a chance. Of course it is a big difference to stock, why would anybody pay $2,000+ for an exhaust if it sounded just the same. Leave it on for at least 2,000 miles, if you still don't like it and you feel it has too much drone take it off.

 

[Dunebasher]

Couldn't care less about drone personally..just go through your nearest tunnel and boot it and all will be forgotten :cheers:

 

[MTW]

its an aftermarket exhaust!.....yes its louder and sounds nicer....so its not going to be quiet as a mouse when your not booting it.....no aftermarket exhaust worth salt would have no drone at all.

 

[ronaldvetteron]

I agree that even the stock has drone but just masked pretty well by Porsche. I put the EVOMS VFlow on my car, took an inch off the collector on the exhaust to move my aftermarket tips in flush with the bumper and I heard the drone a bit. It does not bother me but I now have a better understanding of what most aftermarkets will bring about.

 

[live2shift]

I don't like boomy or droning exhausts and I have found that almost all aftermarket exhausts do one or the other on no matter what modern exotic car I have put them on, and I allwaysfind myself removing them. I never had this problem with my old muscle cars, and the mufflers were much less expensive!!!

All the aftermarket exhausts seem to sound awesome in some test clip when they are revved up like a race car, but when you use modified exhausts for daily driving and highway cruising at lower and steady RPM's they almost always seem to have some sort of problem, IMHO. I have been much happier doing intake/airbox mods that sound good when you are stepping on it hard and have none of the bad side effects of a loud exhaust. Just my personal preference.

 

[scottschoe]

I don't like boomy or droning exhausts and I have found that almost all aftermarket exhausts do one or the other on no matter what modern exotic car I have put them on, and I allwaysfind myself removing them. I never had this problem with my old muscle cars, and the mufflers were much less expensive!!!

All the aftermarket exhausts seem to sound awesome in some test clip when they are revved up like a race car, but when you use modified exhausts for daily driving and highway cruising at lower and steady RPM's they almost always seem to have some sort of problem, IMHO. I have been much happier doing intake/airbox mods that sound good when you are stepping on it hard and have none of the bad side effects of a loud exhaust. Just my personal preference.

If you have sensitive ears, just spring for aftermarket headers and keep the stock exhaust.

 

[Greywolf]

You're old muscle car exhausts were likely 2 to 3 times longer than the Cayman's pipes with an 8 vs 6 cyl engine. Both conspire to lower the resonance frequency and rpm (exhaust pulses) that drives it.

There are a few aftermarket systems that don't drone.