Standard exhaust too quiet

[smoggy1965]

I too wanted to improve the sound quality, so for £100 the local exhaust garage's stainless steel fabrication man cut the exhaust off in front of the back boxes and replaced with a through pipe, fixing the origonal exhaust caps on the end. The noise is just right and yet another good reason to keep the hood down.

[mike020150]

Excellent value! Mike.

[RMA37]

This is an old thread but the topic I would imagine is still current. I too want to increase the sound slightly, this is the quietest V8 I've had (1997 XK8 Convertible). So I went along to my local Powerflo Exhaust dealer and he suggested 3 options.

1. Replace rear boxes with straight through pipes.

2. Replace rear boxes with new pipes with smaller boxes.

3. Replace the mid boxes with straight through pipes.

These options will give different sounds, and without actually trying them, I wouldn't know what I would end up with. Does anyone on here have experience with Powerflo exhausts, and has anyone done any of those options to their car with any make of exhaust?

Thank you

[mike020150]

Sadly, you can't beat listening to a modified car to hear if the result is the one you want and can live with. Hence, go to a regional meeting and ask to hear members' modified cars or attend a Modern XK Forum meeting to do the same.

I ran a 4.2 litre convertible without the rear silencers and enjoyed the (cost effective) experience of increased V8 woofle. Others haven't. Apart from noise volume, the rear boxes are also there to damp down a natural V8 resonance which occurs at around 70mph in top gear. Without the silencers, if the slight resonance bothers you, the noisier exhaust will tend to enforce cruising speeds of around 5mph either side of the resonance frequency. It's all a matter of taste. Mike.

[RMA37]

Thanks Mike, I'll ask around. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has used Powerflow. Their exhausts are made on site and welded on, not a kit. Unfortunately that doesn't make refitting the old one very easy if the sound isn't acceptable.