finally got my exhaust and cold air intake installed

stew7962 · 08-16-2009, 10:27 AM

Just finished up this past week installing my Borla exhaust and cold air intake from smart madness. First I must say everyone at Smart Madness is a pleasure to deal with. I put the cold air intake and scoop on first. It was a really easy install. Took the car for a ride to see how much of a difference it made. It did seem to make a difference in the engine power and man what a cool sound it gave my cabrio. Next I put the Borla exhaust. I just need to find some door trim to finish off the cutout. The exhaust note from the exhaust is awesome. Real deep and throaty sounding. I was hoping for something as close as possible to a VW R32/Audi TT 3.2L sound and I think its close. Makes the 3-cylinder sound much better then I expected. The bad part is man is it loud inside. My wife doesn't like the noise at all. On the highway at 65 its not bad but tooling around at 35 or 40 it is really loud inside. I have started to put some fatmat in. I did the cargo area first and it did help a little but not enough. So not sure what I will do now. Might have to sell the Borla and get something else if the wife complains to much. I do love the sound outside the car though hate to lose that. Any ideals where to put fatmat to help cut the sound would be greatly appreciated. Oh yeah also put in the arm rest from smart madness, boy does that help on long trips.

**Dunerunner** · 08-16-2009, 10:33 AM

What? No Pics? Good luck with the loudness issue.

stew7962 · 08-16-2009, 11:08 AM

Wanted to get the exhaust cutout looking more finished and was going to take some pics then.

**Dunerunner** · 08-16-2009, 11:09 AM

OK..........I'll wait.........Done Yet!

How about now!!

stew7962 · 08-16-2009, 02:21 PM

Ok you motivated me to take some pics

**Dunerunner** · 08-16-2009, 03:15 PM

Great Pics...What insulation did you use and about how much was required for the engine bay?

stew7962 · 08-16-2009, 04:22 PM

Thanks. I bought a 50ft bulk roll of Fat Mat from Smart Madness. It looks like I used a lot less then half of the roll, so probably somewhere around 15ft or so looking at the roll. I also did down the firewall behind the seat and also did behind the drivers side cargo area plastic panel, so that is also included in what I used.

SergMadness · 08-17-2009, 04:06 PM

A quiet option is the SOLO and really quiet would be Remus

We just switched out an exhaust for a customer because of the "wife" and so far so good with his new Remus.

Most of the sound is just the size of the cans....if you notice the cans on many of the exhausts are smaller motorcycle cans or straight through mufflers ....great for power but increase the sound significantly....still maintain a good tone though...not raspy or buzzy

With the smart cars rear cargo area being much like a box the sound kind of echoes more.....sealing off the rear area behind you with a temporary enclosure would cut down on the interior sound alot....especially with the matting you have left over.

Years ago I had a gutted hatch with a race exhaust, no cat and 8600rpm worth of sound coming in the cabin....with no rear interior or sound deadening material I can tell you....THAT was loud. Luckily I had bought the wife a perfectly stock accord coupe to tool around in

....soft ear plugs dont hurt either lol

best of luck

Sergio