Nothing draws attention to a vehicle quite like its sound. In this article, I aim to guide you on your automotive journey and help you learn how to make your car louder.
Striking a balance between the law, exhaust sound quality and noise volume can be quite challenging, however hopefully after reading through this guide you will have a better idea of the dos and don’ts of making your vehicle louder along with an extensive list of ways of achieving it!
Why you might or might not want a loud Vehicle
Apart from the wanted and unwanted attention drawn to your vehicle there are a few important things to consider before you begin the process of making your car louder.
Pros:
Sound
The most obvious reason anyone would choose to alter their vehicle’s exhaust and engine would be for the audible benefits. Having your vehicle stand out with a sporty and aggressive sound is quite an attractive proposition to most and is likely the reason you are reading this article.
While not all engines or exhaust systems will sound alike (or good for that matter) the head-turning sound of a new exhaust, and a modified engine is an experience to uphold especially amongst those committed to the automotive community.
Performance Gain
Apart from sound alone, another reason one would install aftermarket parts is for their power benefits. Having a free-flowing exhaust on top of a performance-oriented engine is a combination of success for making power and another benefit of a loud car.
Cons:
Unwanted attention
Louder does not necessarily mean better in fact sometimes it’s quite the opposite. With the increased noise it is undoubtedly going to draw more attention from everyone including law enforcement. In most areas (especially urban) having a modified vehicle that creates excessive noise can create conflict. With the potential of being fined (and shamed by your neighbors) it is important to understand how this extra noise may negatively impact you, especially for those planning on driving their loud vehicle frequently.
Familiarize yourself with your local noise, exhaust, and other vehicle modification laws before beginning to make alterations as this could save you a lot of time, effort, and money in the long run by avoiding unnecessary work and fines.
Cabin noise/drone
If you plan on driving a loud vehicle frequently or for a prolonged period there is a high likelihood you and/or your passengers may become irritated with the vibration and excessive drone of your vehicle. Loud vehicles without proper sound deadening will interfere with music quality, conversation, and other audible things such as the ability to quickly hear emergency vehicle sirens or other driver’s horns.
Emissions
There is a good chance that by making your car louder you will make alterations to certain emissions equipment. This could cause conflict with certain laws depending on the degree of extra emissions produced, especially in places that require emissions checks to pass inspections, familiarize yourself with your local laws and regulations to ensure you don’t run into unnecessary conflict.
Now that we have taken a look into some reasons why you might or might not want to make your vehicle louder, let’s explore all the ways you can make your vehicle louder along with personal recommendations for everyone’s needs and preferences.
Exhaust Modification
How does your Exhaust make your car louder?
Exhaust modification is the most common, and the easiest route in making your vehicle louder, which is by altering your exhaust, which from the factory is meant to muffle and quiet the sound coming from your engine. I will list how you can utilize your exhaust starting from cheapest to most expensive in making your vehicle louder.
Pipe diameter impact
Firstly the diameter of an exhaust will make an impact on the noise level, the wider the pipes the louder it will usually be. However, if your exhaust becomes too wide you may lose power due to a loss of back pressure and scavenging.
True Dual vs Single in Dual Out (Y-Pipe)
True Dual Exhaust
A true Dual exhaust is most commonly found on engines that have exhaust outlets on two sides of an engine (Boxer, Flat, V4, V6, V8, etc). A true dual exhaust system splits your exhaust in two, one exhaust system for either side of your engine usually consisting of a header/manifold, muffler, and resonator.
Single in Dual Out Exhaust (Y-Pipe)
A single-in dual-out exhaust combines your exhaust into one initially often sharing a Downpipe, Catalytic converter, and resonator and then splitting into two further down VIA a Y-Pipe to create a dual exhaust with their own mufflers.
1) Cut muffler
When it comes to easy ways to make your vehicle louder and irritate your neighbors nothing can be simpler than cutting off your muffler/s. All you need to do is cut your muffler off which from the factory is meant to silence/muffle the sound of your exhaust.
Warning:
Be cautious when cutting off your mufflers without replacing them with a straight pipe as the heat of your exhaust won’t be dissipated out of the back of your vehicle which may interfere with other equipment potentially leading to a dangerous combination of heat where it shouldn’t be and carbon monoxide building in the cabin. Consider a muffler delete kit!
2) Drilling Holes in Muffler
Another simple and easy way to louden the sound of your vehicle is by drilling holes into the bottom of your muffler. This bypasses the sound-deadening features of your muffler by allowing some exhaust to escape prematurely. This follows very closely to cutting your muffler but without having to lose all the quieting features of having a muffler.
Note:
Drilling holes in your muffler will likely sound bad in most cases as you are creating an exhaust leak purposefully and bypassing the factory sound equipment but will make your vehicle louder.
3) Straight pipe
Next on the list is to straight-pipe your vehicle. This could be the way to make your vehicle the absolute loudest possible without any sound quality in consideration. A straight pipe replaces mufflers, resonators, and catalytic converters with a straight-through piece of exhaust removing all emissions and muffleing equipment from your exhaust system.
Important:
By removing catalytic converters you will produce significantly more emissions and noise. Take this into consideration before beginning so you don’t throw a code or interfere with local laws. Alternatively, you could go for a partial straight pipe and only straight pipe your mufflers and/or resonators to retain your catalytic converters and hopefully minimize the interference with emissions laws.
4) Aftermarket Mufflers, Resonators and Cats
Now we enter into more tasteful ways to enhance and louden your vehicle’s sound by replacing factory parts with aftermarket and performance parts. By replacing factory exhaust equipment you will louden your vehicle while potentially improving performance (depending on how restrictive a factory part may be) and sound.
Aftermarket Mufflers, Resonators, Catalytic Converters, and Exhaust tips are designed to improve performance by allowing better exhaust flow (increased exhaust flow will make your car louder) and improve sound because they are designed to produce specific exhaust notes and reduce the poor-sounding frequencies simultaneously.
5) Headers
Headers are meant to replace your factory exhaust manifolds which are the part of your exhaust that transfers your exhaust from the exhaust ports in your engine to your exhaust system. Headers are enhanced manifolds involving smoother-flowing pipes and a collector, allowing for smoother expulsion of exhaust gasses from your engine and enhancing the scavenging effect.
Scavenging: An effect within your combustion chamber involves replacing the exhaust gas with a new clean air-fuel mixture. Scavenging in regards to exhaust is the expulsion of exhaust gas and the pressure created by this expulsion which helps to draw more air/fuel mixture into the combustion chamber with less exhaust gas remaining aiding in cleaner and more powerful combustion.
Headers make your car louder by allowing more of your exhaust gasses to flow more effectively into the rest of your exhaust system.
6) Axle Back exhaust
The first exhaust system on this list is an Axle-Back exhaust. An Axle back exhaust is an aftermarket exhaust system that replaces everything from your rear axle back. An Axle Back usually includes new mufflers, exhaust tips, and smoother-flowing higher-quality exhaust pipe/s.
This will make your vehicle louder because of the aftermarket muffler in the system which will aid in performance, sound quality, and noise level. This is a good system because it won’t make your car overly loud all while not interfering with any emissions equipment and being relatively affordable.
7) Catback exhaust
One of the most effective and tasteful modifications out there also helps to increase noise and performance. A catback exhaust system is an exhaust that replaces all the components from your catalytic converter back. Replacing Resonators, Mufflers, Exhaust tips and sometimes including new Catalytic converters also (Often performance cats).
By replacing the factory components with aftermarket ones your exhaust will flow more freely increasing noise and when paired with performance resonators and mufflers resulting in an aggressive powerful sound.
8) Full exhaust
The final step in making your car louder with an exhaust is a full Exhaust System which incorporates every section of your exhaust to create the highest performance, sound quality, and noise. Full Exhausts will have everything including, Headers, Downpipes, Cats, Resonators, Mufflers, Exhaust Tips, and new Exhaust Pipes.
This combination aids in creating the most power you can with an exhaust, producing a beautiful exhaust note while increasing your vehicle’s sound.
Engine Modification
How does your Engine make your car louder?
When it comes to making your car louder, displacement will be key. The more your engine displaces the louder it will be naturally because of its larger combustions. There are ways to make your car louder regardless of its displacement via the engine also, which we will explore below including ways to increase its displacement.
Displacement: Engine displacement is determined by calculating the engine cylinder bore area (circumference of the cylinder) multiplied by the stroke of the crankshaft (length of piston path from top to bottom of its cycle), and then multiplied by the number of cylinders.
1) Cold Air intake
Perhaps this is the most widely known car modification in the automotive industry but also makes your car louder. A Cold Air Intake (CAI) helps to make your car louder by providing its own unique sound (Air Intake Noise) and allowing for more air to enter your engine, the extra air when mixed with more gas creates more full and powerful combustions working to make your car louder.
2) Forced induction
Forced induction VIA a Turbocharger or Supercharger is another great way to increase the noise of your vehicle. Whether increasing the boost of a pre-existing forced induction device or adding a forced induction kit you will undoubtedly make your vehicle louder.
By adding or increasing boost you will create noise in two ways; Firstly by creating a unique noise from the turbocharger/supercharger itself, either carries a unique and loud sound by itself, and Secondly, will allow you to tune your engine for the added air increasing the combustions in your engine leading to a larger amount of exhaust gasses, which will louden your exhaust.
3) Rocker arms (Valvetrain)
Rocker arms are a unique modification that will increase your vehicle’s sound. Upgraded rocker arms will press your valves open for longer durations increasing both the amount of Air/Fuel mixture within your combustion chamber and the amount of exhaust gasses able to be expelled. Namely, the prolonged pressing of the exhaust valve is what will make your car louder as more exhaust will be entering your exhaust system increasing its noise.
Valve train (Valvetrain): The components of an internal combustion engine that are required to operate the intake and exhaust valves.
Important:
As we move forward into Valve train modifications it is important to understand the supporting modifications needed for some of these mods as some of your factory engine components will be unable to support the strain these modifications will have on the valve train.
4) Camshafts (Valvetrain)
Moving further into valve train upgrades it is critical we include a camshaft. Camshafts have a similar effect as rocker arms but operate from a different portion of your valve train. Camshafts use different sizes and shaped lobes to keep your intake and exhaust valves open for longer durations resulting in more air/fuel mixture and more exhaust expulsion to louden your vehicle even further.
Important:
Not all valve train upgrades will be compatible together as they may create too much valve lift which could potentially lead to your valves hitting your piston which is a critical issue. Instead of purely relying on lift (which is a very good and viable modification) to create all the noise, consider some of the following modifications also.
5) Larger Valves
Aftermarket valves are another unique way to make your vehicle louder. An aftermarket valve will widen the ports in your cylinder head allowing for more Air/Fuel mixture to be added and more exhaust gas to be expelled without the need for excessive lift. As we have previously learned the more exhaust gas being withdrawn from the combustion chambers the louder your exhaust will be and inevitably your vehicle.
6) Ported heads
Head porting falls hand in hand with larger valves, as it is required to port your cylinder heads to have the larger valves fit. However, the head porting we are referring to is talking about the other portions of your head, mainly the intake and exhaust ports that lead to your valves.
By having your intake and exhaust ports Ported/Cut and Polished, the intake charge and exhaust gasses will flow much better once again increasing the amount of Air/Fuel added and also increasing the number of exhaust gasses flowing out of your engine more efficiently leading to an increase in exhaust noise and increased combustion.
7) Stroker kits
A stroker kit is a set of engine components that lengthen the overall length of stroke in your engine leading to increased displacement creating more power and producing more noise.
By this point in the article, you will be far past any beginner modifications and it should be understood that creating this amount of power can be risky for your engine. Again adding a stroker kit is an extremely effective way to both increase power and the audible volume of your vehicle.
8) Cylinder Boring & Larger Pistons
The final modification on this list is to bore your engine and fit larger pistons. Just as the last modification did, larger pistons will create noise by increasing the displacement of your engine. Larger pistons in a bored-out engine will help create more power within your engine and can be paired with a stroker kit and other modifications to create large amounts of power and noise. Just ensure you have all the necessary supporting modifications and appropriate tuning to maximize safety and success.
Disclaimer
Before making modifications to your vehicle, I encourage you to research your local laws and regulations to ensure you can avoid unnecessary fines and work, or at the very least are aware of these laws and the consequences associated. Improper installation of any of these modifications could potentially be harmful to you or your vehicle so it is advised to seek professional help or instruction if you do not feel fully confident in your abilities.
FAQ
Can I revert my car back to its original sound?
In most cases, yes. While some modifications may be irreversible, such as cutting or welding components, many aftermarket exhaust systems are designed to be easily installed and removed. As for engine modifications, you will be able to revert these modifications with varying effort just be sure to de-tune if you previously had your car tuned. It’s essential to consider the potential costs and effort involved in reverting your car to its original sound and state before you choose to begin any modifications.
Will making my car louder void its warranty?
Modifying your car’s exhaust system or engine could potentially void certain aspects of your vehicle’s warranty, particularly if the modification causes damage or requires alterations to other components. Most engine modifications unless offered by a manufacturer will interfere with your warranty. It’s essential to check with your vehicle manufacturer or dealership to understand the implications for your specific warranty coverage.
Will making my car louder affect its performance?
If you modify your exhaust you will notice varying gains in power depending on the part or system you choose to install and how restrictive a factory part is. If you decide to modify your engine you will likely notice a gain in power if installed and tuned properly. By making your vehicle louder you will likely trade emissions and potentially fuel efficiency, however, especially if you choose to install performance-oriented parts, you are likely to notice power gains.
Is it legal to make my car louder?
Laws regarding vehicle noise emissions vary by region. It’s essential to check local regulations before making any modifications to your car’s exhaust system. In many places, excessively loud vehicles can result in fines or even citations.
Conclusion
Making your vehicle louder is a great way to express yourself and enjoy the true sound of your engine in unison. It’s essential to proceed with caution, considering legal regulations, safety concerns, and potential risks. With this knowledge, you can move forward modifying with confidence. If you have any further questions or concerns feel free to reach out at 74Customscompany@gmail.com, Thanks for reading!
