First of all, I want to recognize zuhaelter_82's contribution towards pioneering exhaust modifications for our North American Jettas with the new 1.4T engine. As he showed us, simply chopping that rear muffler does change the sound slightly. And why not improve the look of that pipe! That oval tip is sweet!
However, if you're after more sound, you'll need to chop more than a rear muffler, as it does very little to muffle. As you can see below, it is pretty much straight-through with some packing:
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I decided to push the envelope and called up a residential area exhaust shop near Calgary, Alberta. We put the car up on the hoist, and as you can see here, the bulk of the exhaust sound is cancelled by this heavy, chambered resonator.
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We removed it, cut/bent some new pipes and soldered them to the existing stock piping. We didn't lower the car after, we just continued and removed the rear muffler as well for a straight pipe (keeping the cat of course).
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We then fired it up, it was noticeably louder, but not in a bad way! The exhaust is well muffled by the small turbocharger, and I found virtually no droning across the rev range.
However, the sound is still quite present when launching the car, when coasting and driving at highway speeds. For my taste, it sounded a little too clear / high-pitched. Too "gurglely" at times. But it is a very "liveable" straight pipe compared to others.
Does it improve performance? Somewhat yes. When you floor the gas pedal, there's a bit less lag in acceleration from a dead stop, and strangely it's not loud at all at WOT. Felt less torque, but that was expected with less back pressure in the system.
So for that reason, and to retain daily driving pleasure, we installed a bullet-style 17" long by 4" wide Flo-Pro resonator in between the cat and the complex bends where the resonator used to be:
![Image]()
Sound quality improved. Less "canny", more subtle, refined a bit. Sound levels in the cabin have decreased noticeably. Torque is back. A pretty good set-up IMO if you want more sound, but not all of it. You can also notice the increase in exhaust flow when flooring it.
UPDATE: Sept 13th, 2016 : So my wife drove the car and thought it was still a bit loud. She said it is giving the car a sound that is "too different" from stock. The only solution to this complaint was to... Add a muffler! I went for a Flo-Pro Max muffler, which is a straight-through design, with some sound deadning material inside.
![Image]()
It created a much quieter exhaust, but with a deep, velvety tone. I actually like it quite a bit! Louder than stock any day, still a direct exhaust, no perceptible loss of power.
![Image]()
I made a little montage of the stock exhaust sound, the straight-piped version, the aftermarket resonator, and finally the aftermarket muffler added.
So there it is! Feel free to ask questions.
However, if you're after more sound, you'll need to chop more than a rear muffler, as it does very little to muffle. As you can see below, it is pretty much straight-through with some packing:
I decided to push the envelope and called up a residential area exhaust shop near Calgary, Alberta. We put the car up on the hoist, and as you can see here, the bulk of the exhaust sound is cancelled by this heavy, chambered resonator.
We removed it, cut/bent some new pipes and soldered them to the existing stock piping. We didn't lower the car after, we just continued and removed the rear muffler as well for a straight pipe (keeping the cat of course).
We then fired it up, it was noticeably louder, but not in a bad way! The exhaust is well muffled by the small turbocharger, and I found virtually no droning across the rev range.
However, the sound is still quite present when launching the car, when coasting and driving at highway speeds. For my taste, it sounded a little too clear / high-pitched. Too "gurglely" at times. But it is a very "liveable" straight pipe compared to others.
Does it improve performance? Somewhat yes. When you floor the gas pedal, there's a bit less lag in acceleration from a dead stop, and strangely it's not loud at all at WOT. Felt less torque, but that was expected with less back pressure in the system.
So for that reason, and to retain daily driving pleasure, we installed a bullet-style 17" long by 4" wide Flo-Pro resonator in between the cat and the complex bends where the resonator used to be:
Sound quality improved. Less "canny", more subtle, refined a bit. Sound levels in the cabin have decreased noticeably. Torque is back. A pretty good set-up IMO if you want more sound, but not all of it. You can also notice the increase in exhaust flow when flooring it.
UPDATE: Sept 13th, 2016 : So my wife drove the car and thought it was still a bit loud. She said it is giving the car a sound that is "too different" from stock. The only solution to this complaint was to... Add a muffler! I went for a Flo-Pro Max muffler, which is a straight-through design, with some sound deadning material inside.
It created a much quieter exhaust, but with a deep, velvety tone. I actually like it quite a bit! Louder than stock any day, still a direct exhaust, no perceptible loss of power.
I made a little montage of the stock exhaust sound, the straight-piped version, the aftermarket resonator, and finally the aftermarket muffler added.
So there it is! Feel free to ask questions.
