CT4-VBW Not happy with Corsa Axle back and catless DP

[85258]

Hey!
I ran Tap Out catless DPs for about year on stock exhaust. Had an oil leak that needed a few dealer visits so removed the DP for a few months. I liked the sound increase from DPs, but wanted more. So I bought a Corsa axle back and install it at the same time reinstalled the DP. Not liking the sound of this combo. With valves closed it rattles and rasps while accelerating, not even the right description but it is terrible. Cruising on highway is quite. With valves open, idle sounds industrial and acceleration below 3500-4000 is raspy. Above 4000 at WOT it sounds good but is a bit raspy.
Questions:
1. would the Corsa Catback sound better than the axle back - both open and closed? Can’t order the mid section on its own from website but I would call Corsa.
2. Does the AWE with catless DPs sound better than Corsa with catless DPs both open and closed?

Thanks!

 

[piranha971]

The lf4 engine generally sounds like shit. You don't want to run it completely unmuffled. From your description, I dont think you are going to be happy with the catless AWE either. I wouldn't be. This engine can only give you so much volume before it starts sounding like a piece of briken industrial equipment. My humble opinion based on hearing endless options over the years (atsv and the 4bw), is that you dont want to run a raspy exhaust like corsa with downpipes. If you are going to go with catless downpipes, I would stay with the stock exhaust. It is already pretty damn good for oem. Head and shoulders over what the atsv offered.
With stock downpipes, the AWE sounds pretty good, but it's problem is that the stock exhaust is already pretty good and 3k+ for the incremental increase in volume that the AWE provides is hard to justify. And then there are these tips......With downpipes, which they didnt design for, I wouldn't expect it to sound pleasant. There is one for sale on fb right now by a guy who went though this exact process a d removed it after he installed dp because it sounded so bad.
Though no one asked, I will share my own simple plan to this dilemma: catted downpipes when the warranty is almost expiring and the stock exhaust.
I would dump the Corsa. What you had before that is pretty much as good as it gets. If Borla made an exhaust for our car, I would change my mind. But they wouldn't.

 

[rubberduck]

Agree with @piranha971 V6s are tough to make sound good when loud. When running DPs or headers catless the matched exhaust needs to be pretty quiet in the stock cat setup. Too little mufflers/resonators and it will sound like raspy shit. I ran long tube headers and a Milltek exhaust on my S4 (V6 3.0L SC) and it sounded great, just wasn’t super loud. I was in the S4 community for a while and heard almost every possible combination of exhaust systems.

There was an S4 tuner shop where I was living and I dropped in a lot and hung around to hear the cars and discuss my needs with the owner. Without that your going to be doing a great deal of experimenting.

 

[BKC1]

The only exhaust that I like for the LF4 is on the ATS-V. I have an AFE exhaust on my ATS-V, however, I had to spend a lot of time and money engineering a solution to put a higher-quality set of valves in it, since AFE's valves don't seal all the way. Without proper sealing, it is way too loud when the valves are closed. Here's how it sounds with them open:

 

[TERRAVAST4]

sounds good!!

 

[85258]

@BKC1, how does it sound at moderate throttle and lower RPM? That is where the Corsa with catless DP sound terrible.
For 4VBW, don’t you reuse the OEM valves?