Took out the soundaktor this evening and what a difference. The videos on youtube do not do justice to the improvement it will make to get rid of this piece of junk. The artificial buzzy sound is gone and replaced with a pure motor sound. It felt so unnatural to have it on the car. It serves no purpose that I can think of, and only degrades the sound of an otherwise outstanding engine.
You can hear the turbo whistle a little more now since the soundaktor's extra sound is gone. It sort of homogenized the sound before removal, and I am sure VW was after that affect. The transition on to boost was muffled by this awful thing. From the first slip of the clutch at the dealership when I picked up the car until today, I knew something was not right with the car. My original sales guy even agreed with me when we bought the car. Thought it was some sort of exhaust rattle or the like, and it would get sorted out at the 90 day check. Had not had time to take the car in yet, but after seeing the videos on youtube, I knew this artificial thing had to come off the car no matter what.
The car is so much quieter now and the motor so much smoother like it should be. My son even said it was like driving a different car, and I agree with him. We could not be happier with this mod, and agree that VW should have never put this piece of crap in our cars. Why on earth do we want our fire walls to vibrate?? Car manufactures spend millions to quite their cars, and this thing is pure noise pollution.
Best of all, it is a FREE modification. Below are a few helpful videos and hints to remove the Soundaktor. This is not a complete "how to" thread, but some helpful hints and sources for a DIY job. If anyone has any questions post or pm.
Episode 35: 2011 VW GTI: The Soundaktor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUbYVS3uEc
Wiper blade removal is not just undoing the bolt and pulling up, you need to see these videos. Actually rock the blade arm back and forth to loosing it up first and then do like the video says. Took me 30 minutes to mess around with pliers etc, put a small crack in the black plastic, smash my hands up, find and watch the videos to get the first one off. Now 60 seconds to take off the bolt, loosen, and pop off. See these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3gXG6hh01w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpnppBeG1-c&feature=relmfu
View the episode 35 video, as that is a good place to start. It has some good views of what you are looking for. You need to also remove the two 10mm bolts that hold part of the windshield wiper assembly of the passenger blade. This lowers the soundaktor down low enough so you can reach in with another 10mm wrench and loosen the bolt holding it to the wiper assembly. Then you can move it around and gain better access to remove the plug and take it out of the car. We then taped off the end of the plug and zip tied it to another wiring bundle. A second person is nice to hold the flash light, but not mandatory.
You can hear the turbo whistle a little more now since the soundaktor's extra sound is gone. It sort of homogenized the sound before removal, and I am sure VW was after that affect. The transition on to boost was muffled by this awful thing. From the first slip of the clutch at the dealership when I picked up the car until today, I knew something was not right with the car. My original sales guy even agreed with me when we bought the car. Thought it was some sort of exhaust rattle or the like, and it would get sorted out at the 90 day check. Had not had time to take the car in yet, but after seeing the videos on youtube, I knew this artificial thing had to come off the car no matter what.
The car is so much quieter now and the motor so much smoother like it should be. My son even said it was like driving a different car, and I agree with him. We could not be happier with this mod, and agree that VW should have never put this piece of crap in our cars. Why on earth do we want our fire walls to vibrate?? Car manufactures spend millions to quite their cars, and this thing is pure noise pollution.
Best of all, it is a FREE modification. Below are a few helpful videos and hints to remove the Soundaktor. This is not a complete "how to" thread, but some helpful hints and sources for a DIY job. If anyone has any questions post or pm.
Episode 35: 2011 VW GTI: The Soundaktor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUbYVS3uEc
Wiper blade removal is not just undoing the bolt and pulling up, you need to see these videos. Actually rock the blade arm back and forth to loosing it up first and then do like the video says. Took me 30 minutes to mess around with pliers etc, put a small crack in the black plastic, smash my hands up, find and watch the videos to get the first one off. Now 60 seconds to take off the bolt, loosen, and pop off. See these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3gXG6hh01w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpnppBeG1-c&feature=relmfu
View the episode 35 video, as that is a good place to start. It has some good views of what you are looking for. You need to also remove the two 10mm bolts that hold part of the windshield wiper assembly of the passenger blade. This lowers the soundaktor down low enough so you can reach in with another 10mm wrench and loosen the bolt holding it to the wiper assembly. Then you can move it around and gain better access to remove the plug and take it out of the car. We then taped off the end of the plug and zip tied it to another wiring bundle. A second person is nice to hold the flash light, but not mandatory.