Advice please! 08 WRX too QUIET!!!!
 

We got an MY08 WRX and it's like Subaru decided to build it for the gentile suburban market, it's so flippin quiet!

So thinking that was down to the MASSIVE back box stock exhaust, I bought a non-resonated Cobra Sport 2.5" Cat Back Exhaust System, and although it sounds really nice when you're outside the car, from inside it's still barely audible. It is slightly louder than stock, but compared to my old 03 Prodrive WRX (not a crazy loud exhaust, but a great audible sound at any speed) it's still only 40% of the way there.

Has anyone got some advice please?
- are there some easy ways to increase exhaust volume from within the car?
- if I get a 2.5" / 3" decat downpipe will that mean the system has no cat and therefore is illegal to drive on the road?!
- if I do get the downpipe will I need to remap?
- are there some alternative ways to make it louder without the downpipe option?

Any ideas appreciated!
Cheers!

If it's a daily driver I'd stick with what you've got cabin drone does your head in might sound great at the start but wares thin pretty quickly

Drive with your back windows open an inch :thumb:

Have consideration for others :D

says me with a blitz nur spec on :lol1:

Hatches have a lot of soundproofing in comparison to earlier cars. Get someone to do a driveby with you outside to hear the difference

to give you an example, this was my hatch on std system with only a remus backbox, sounded really quiet inside the car but you could hear it way up the road when outside

Come on, there's gotta be a way to improve the sound inside and out! Remove soundproofing? Air flow round the block? Sound tube through the firewall? Decat downpipe? There must be a cheap/easy way.

It's just SSOOOO QUIETTTT!!! My old prodrive blobeye was perfect (until I trashed it), but these new ones are like driving a bloody Honda, what's the point?

And saying "have consideration" or "cabin drone does your head in", is like replying to someone on a cooking forum where they've asked for a recipe for flapjack, by saying "You should make a salad".

(I have tried the drive-by thing, it does have a lovely tone, but it's still really quiet)

Cobra sport exhausts are renowned for their low noise, being able to pass track noise limits. Bottom line is that you bought a quiet exhaust, so if you want noisy, buy one that is known for noise. There are plenty of video examples of exhaust tones online. It could be worse, you could have a twinscroll with no rumble!

Boo! Bummer, I bought it for the sound really, checked youtube vids first (and the tone is great); just didn't realise the volume would still be so pedestrian.

Best ways to increase volume up front then? Anything I can do with the firewall / downpipe while keeping it street legal?

Or does cat back mean there's a cat in the silencer box at the back ... and therefore I can remove the one up front without MOT issues?

Sorry noob questions I know...

Decat it and you'll notice a difference, if it's still too quiet you'll need to buy a new backbox

My twinscroll got rumble BRO :D