Hi. Im sure this is a well worn subject. But anybody make their exhaust TOO LOUD, here? And what did you use?

My stock 2001 xk8 4.0 exhaust is too quiet- -sounds like it's "electric". I'm searching for an Improved but not LOUD system, or reduction of the rear muff's. I already have an Extreme V8 street racer, so the thrill of vvvrrroom isn't the objective here. And I long for, atleast, Double Tip's, angled up wards. trying to kinda emulate 67 etype-ish look.

 

I think you will have trouble achieving a decent looking upward angle, unless you do some work to the rear bumper. My exhaust is borderline too loud. If I were to do it over again, I would use a slightly less agressive Flowmaster 50 rather than the Flowmaster 40 I used. That said, on a summer day with the top down, when I'm driving agressively, it puts the biggest smile on my face. Also, I get nice comments from non-car guys "That's what a car should look and sound like " Always fun to hear.

Here is what I did: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ter-40s-37811/

 

wOw, K.Westra. Nice data awesome. I'm still disecting your original post! I wish the IMG file wold still appear, in the begining, where you said:

"Here is a quick diagram of the system, green is stock, red is what I replaced it with. This isn't 100% accurate, but you get the idea:......"


I went too far once on a Dodge Ram P/u once, with Flowmasters and 3.5" pipe. Sound was just intoxicating at 45mph & under. But I just couln't take the drone after 55mph-75. sucked. REALLy. but in the parking lot of where ever I started it, heads would all turn and say "wow, that's nice".....

Soo, from all the data I've scoured...sound like NOBODY ever gets much of a MPG or POWER increase? Must be the computer recalibrating. I've heard Toyota Trucks are known for that.

Everyother vehicle I've owned, though. The standard recipe is K&N filter (even just the stock box) & free flowing exhaust..is ALWAYS good for an increase in power/MPG (if you can remain in control of your foot).

 

Mina's exhaust is a pleasant increase in nice V8 burble but not too loud IMHO.

 

My first venture into exhaust mod was simply remove the rear resonators. It improved the sound but left a drone at ~2000 rpm. Since I spend most of my time on the highway, it's not good. Pulling a hill at 55-60 can vibrate the whole car. I'll be going the direction of most of these guys with the rear muffs and less up front.

 

Dear Thunderbolt 13,
Maybe because I have an XKR not the XK8, and maybe because I keep the top down nearly all of the time so that I get a good earshot of the exhaust, I find the rasp of the stock exhaust more than acceptable. I also have another very loud car (de tomaso Pantera) that sets off every car alarm within a block as I roll down the street, and then again, it has dual tips pointing up as you'd like to see. Try driving an Audi S5, even when we take it to the race track, at full throttle, it is nearly silent. I'm not sure it's worth the expense nor the effort to find the perfect exhaust note, not too loud, not too soft. Good luck.

 

I had the Adamesh Sports exhaust fitted, consisting of stainless straight through replacements of the over axle and rear muffler sections, retaining the centre box. I love the sound it makes, the throb at tick-over and the howling machine gun at full throttle. It is noticably louder than stock with a much deeper tone, but not offensive (like small capacity 4 cylinder car exhausts can be) There is a slight drone in the cabin at 70-90mph when on throttle, but off throttle, or on constant I don't notice - and if you have the stereo on you won;t hear it at all. If I were to do mega motorway miles I would consider installing some sound deadening material in the doors/trunk but for me it is not necessary.Total cost was £400 + fitting.

http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/...ps41ff7ae5.jpg

http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/...ps35bbfe12.jpg

I like the fact that the rear section is just a pipe - no muffler box - as it cleans up the lines at the rear, and the exhaust tips fill the bumper cut-outs nicely.



So, no, I don't regret buying a loud exhaust

 

Thankyou for saying that. That's exactly what I was going to do, first!
Will hold off. I've always read the Catalytic converter is Super restricitve. With your mileage..have you changed yours? Made a difference?

(* How impressive & assuring you're running a XK8 w/185K miles!)

 

For a catalytic converter change, check out Nameless Performance. They have a freer flowing unit that is nicely made, is an exact fit, and is truly a wonderful product. I've not heard of too many XK8s running them, but the XKR guys sure love them.

 

Agreed.
They state for XKR, but after reading. I'm going to go this route, if possible.

 

Original cats as far as I know. I would like to try to fit a set of Nameless Performance 200 cell cats to it if I found myself with a grand I needed to spend . Not likely to happen anytime soon though. They don't just bolt up to a non-R, it takes a fair amount of work. My mpg for the year is 24.2 going through 806 gallons of premium (yes I'm an engineer).

I got the car with 120k on it in November, '09. 65k since then primarily between Portland and near the Canadian border about 600 miles per week. It is my daily driver, rain or shine or snow, mostly on the freeway. Any significant snow in western Oregon and Washington is rare and I have a 4wd pickup and the wife's Subaru Outback if I need to be serious about snow. I consider significant snow as enough to plow the parking lot (oops) .

I'm just an old pistonhead that likes taking care of his rigs so it gets "lots o' love". That being said, for a 185k Jag I haven't had to make many major repairs. I've put a radiator in it and a new throttle body, the rest are just normal wear items. Gas, oil, tires, and drive it. (Last Sunday evening's drive to work attached). Emphasis on 'drive it'.

Mike

 

OregonJag...dude, that is too cool. Congratulations.
About the spare $1k...agreed. the ROI if you get an xtra 1.5MPG, is negligable.

Q: are you using MOBIL 1 ?

 

They are there to be driven, I manage 3-400 miles a week in my 4.0L and the more I drive it the more "Driven" it gets. my mpg is down to 22.5 average over the last 4k miles. Cant beat a bit of engineering geekery
Respect to you.

 

This is an interesting thread to me. This summer I was consistantly getting in the low 21 to 22 mpg. range around town and 24-25 on the road. Had my exhaust done, by a good local hot rod shop type muffler guy. Rear mufflers replaced with flowmaster 40's, rear resonators removed, center muffler removed, I think the sound is about perfect. My mileage though has suffered pretty substantially, I am lucky to get 22 on a road trip, and high teens around town now.

Any thoughts or recommendations are welcome, don't really hot rod around, but do enjoy the sound with the top down.

 

I get 24mpg because I rarely have more than 3 or 4 cold starts in a tank of gas and most of my miles by far are on the freeway. If I spent a tank of gas just running around town I would get 15-16mpg. It is a 4000 pound car. The 4.2 engines get way better mileage.
..and this exhaust thread is running off the rails...
I know when I've got a nice exhaust note I'm turning up the volume. That takes more fuel. I've never seen any real mpg gains from exhaust mods.

 

H-pipe, X-pipe or just straight dual? Are you running the pipes under the axle or the stock route?

You probably use the loud pedal a bit more now and that affects gas mileage.

 

THIS setup was originally intriguing and still is. I wonder if "x-biker" is running this with the Resonators on or not. Sounds like the resonators help eliminate "drone". I haven't seen my car on a lift, yet. but few people mentenioned that the rear muffler box is not "wielded" on and that it is just "fastened" on???
For a $320 experiment, it would be an easy thing to go back to the Stock...if there is a (personally) annoying drone. OR before ditching the straight pipe, have a muff shop add in a small resonater. Similar to this one:
Velocity Performance Exhaust
Velocity Performance Exhaust