AA Equal Length Midpipes with MPE videos

[yjypm]

Originally Posted by jballer123

I feel like I still hear lots of rasp before the turbos spool around 3500 rpm, is that the case in person, i love the tone of it , sounds almost NA 👍

You are not wrong. I feel the same. These midpipes work the best at higher rpm. The other two EL midpipe + MPE owners have the similar conclusion.

[MyFragileHalogen]

Originally Posted by yjypm

I did notice that. My left tips are where they sit previously but right tips are lowered by 1/4 inch

My right tips didn't get lowered that much. Gap is about 1-2mm.

[MyFragileHalogen]

Originally Posted by Kilabyte

I HATE rasp but I hear nothing like what MyFragileHalogen posted in the first video. Maybe something is touching and causing resonance?

I noticed one of left tips are contacting bumper or heat shield. Going to take care of it and see if anything changes.

[MyFragileHalogen]

With both windows all the way down I noticed it's really loud and aggressive, like at least 3-6dB more. It feels like the car is at least hi-flow catted. Much higher flow going through the pipes. WOT with valves closed didn't sound good at all. It sounded like muffler is being choked, like a steaming rice cooker.

[bimmer ///man]

The resonated version should get rid of some of the rasp.

[MyFragileHalogen]

https://vimeo.com/437682727

Here's another quick video after fixing an issue. The 1.5" left exhaust cut was pushing each other making a left tip to touch. Fixed it by trimming the pipe with dremel and t They still slightly touch but doesn't push each other. Interestingly the right side 1.5" cut has a lot space between two pipes.

Now the car sounds much better. The sweet high pitch note is more audible through all rev range continuously. With windows down WOT it's quite raspy (the second cut) but I don't hate it. It's loud and gets very loud above 5k rpm. Still the same musical instrument (MPE), but with fiddled EQ knobs. But again, it doesn't sound good with valve closed, like blowing lots of air into a tin can. But who would go WOT with valves closed.

[yjypm]

Update 07/12/2020:
We to the canyons and recorded a video of my car accelerating hard by a buddy
People on ig said it sounds like stock MPE but it's not in reality according to friends, maybe it's because of the phone mic and speaker

IMO there are still rasp no doubt, but I like the cleaness of the sound now. It sounds much more exotic at higher rpm compare to stock mpe, its actually not so embarrassed to pull hard now.

[spool twice]

Originally Posted by yjypm

Update 07/12/2020:
We to the canyons and recorded a video of my car accelerating hard by a buddy
People on ig said it sounds like stock MPE but it's not in reality according to friends, maybe it's because of the phone mic and speaker

IMO there are still rasp no doubt, but I like the cleaness of the sound now. It sounds much more exotic at higher rpm compare to stock mpe, its actually not so embarrassed to pull hard now.

that sound nothing like a stock MPE Sounds substantially better than the OE.

[Andrae26]

Originally Posted by spool twice

that sound nothing like a stock MPE Sounds substantially better than the OE.

Agreed. I've had MPE for 4 years now and this sounds different.

[shaddy]

Sounds really great in that clip! It's hard to capture exhaust sound through any mic, let alone a phone. Been going back and forth on pre-ordering this midpipe I just feel like I haven't gotten a true representation of what it sounds like. Were you able to fix the fitment issues? Been reading more about the vibrations and such and wondering if AA will make some adjustments on their later revisions.

[yjypm]

Originally Posted by shaddy

Sounds really great in that clip! It's hard to capture exhaust sound through any mic, let alone a phone. Been going back and forth on pre-ordering this midpipe I just feel like I haven't gotten a true representation of what it sounds like. Were you able to fix the fitment issues? Been reading more about the vibrations and such and wondering if AA will make some adjustments on their later revisions.

Thanks for the like! It really was hard to capture with a cellphone. I intended to use a dslr with microphone attachment but mine ran out of battery so I had to use a cellphone. In terms of fitment, there's a strong resonance/vibration happens at around 1200-1500 rpm, I have yet to find out the cause of it.

[MyFragileHalogen]

The stock MPE tone is unique and there is certainly a good thing about it. But now I prefer this EL setup miles more. Filtering out tons of bass frequencies and enhancing the mid frequencies have benefits of less wall penetrating cold start for neighbors as well as engine note being conveyed through the exhaust much better. I hear some vibrations at 2000 rpm when getting on throttle like yjypm said too, but I don't think there is any pipe contact underneath. Rasp is still there under WOT. I am fine with it but still want to hear the resonated version which's premier somewhat keeps being delayed. I am still happier that I can hear the race car like "ehhhh" high pitched sound around 5k rpm. It's really nice to get on throttle around that rpm range, but I wish it didn't get harder to hear after around 6k rpm.

Recording a loud car, loud electric guitar, and (maybe) gunshots are never going to be good as in person due to not just frequency range capture issues but also the huge dynamic range differences, so I am settled with a phone recording just giving a very basic idea of how tone changed.

[RocketBoots]

It's a little disappointing to hear about all the fitment issues. I hope AA is able to address this.

[AMGHUNTR]

Sounds awesome! The gear shifts drop quicker and are more pronounced aswell😎

[MyFragileHalogen]

I recorded from a recorder inside the trunk and it sounds pretty damn good. Not too far from top gear's exhaust sound at WOT, just a bit more low/mid frequencies components. Not much rasp actually, I think a lot higher flow due to making higher power creates that intense tone at WOT; also inside cabin engine getting too loud at higher rpm making it harder to hear exhaust sound. If someone has an external gopro mount that can be attached to the rear bumper it could be confirmed.

I wonder if others with MPE gets the slight resonance around 1800-2000rpm when giving some heavy throttle. In real driving situation usually I would not give that much gas around 2000rpm, so it's not a big issue. After fiddling with the touching pipes at cut (my ex-mechanic neighbor says it's ok) and exhaust tip clearances, I think it's perhaps just the muffler resonating with certain frequencies; but once more people get the pipes later we will find out.

[yjypm]

Originally Posted by MyFragileHalogen

I recorded from a recorder inside the trunk and it sounds pretty damn good. Not too far from top gear's exhaust sound at WOT, just a bit more low/mid frequencies components. Not much rasp actually but I think a lot higher flow due to making higher power creates that intense tone at WOT. If someone has an external gopro mount that can be attached to the rear bumper it could be confirmed.

I wonder if others with MPE gets the slight resonance around 1800-2000rpm when giving some heavy throttle. In real driving situation usually I would not give that much gas around 2000rpm, so it's not a big issue. After fiddling with the touching pipes at cut (my ex-mechanic neighbor says it's ok) and exhaust tip clearances, I think it's perhaps just the muffler resonating with certain frequencies; but once more people get the pipes later we will find out.

I can confirm that I have the resonance at 1800-2000rpm. Also a strong resonance/vibration around 1000 rpm when light accelerating from standstill, not sure if it's install error.

[MyFragileHalogen]

Originally Posted by yjypm

I can confirm that I have the resonance at 1800-2000rpm. Also a strong resonance/vibration around 1000 rpm when light accelerating from standstill, not sure if it's install error.

I will try and check if I hear anything at 1000 rpm too.

[Nettles]

Bumping this thread to see if any more members have gone this route. Has anyone paired MPE with the non-resonated EL?

[WarMachineM3]

Hey, I recently switched from the resonated to the non-resonated set-up. It sounds nice, loud, ad exotic in the higher rpm range, but also experiencing this weird rattle from acclerationup until 2, and even 3k rpm under load, and usually much more noticable when cold. I don't hear it during idle or light revs from idle, only when accelerating first thing after start up. Seems to go away when it's warmed, but when it cools down below a certain I hear the rattling tinny sound. When it was resonated, it masked a lot of the rasp and accleration sounded deeper, but was 10-15% quieter, but sounded good, but just not as loud.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by WarMachineM3

Hey, I recently switched from the resonated to the non-resonated set-up. It sounds nice, loud, ad exotic in the higher rpm range, but also experiencing this weird rattle from acclerationup until 2, and even 3k rpm under load, and usually much more noticable when cold. I don't hear it during idle or light revs from idle, only when accelerating first thing after start up. Seems to go away when it's warmed, but when it cools down below a certain I hear the rattling tinny sound. When it was resonated, it masked a lot of the rasp and accleration sounded deeper, but was 10-15% quieter, but sounded good, but just not as loud.

I went from straight EL to resonated to get rid of the rasp. In my opinion the car sounded best with the high flow catted downpipes and the resonated active autowerke equal length

[WarMachineM3]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

I went from straight EL to resonated to get rid of the rasp. In my opinion the car sounded best with the high flow catted downpipes and the resonated active autowerke equal length

The resonated sounded the best I agree. It's much cleaner. However, I do like how the non-res sounds more aggressive with the MPE. The MPE is a tinny sounding when cold. I bought the EL midpipe and alsonthe resonated section from you and I like how I can switch it out based on what I want exhaust notes I want to listen to. Here are some Youtube clips I made withe the resonated and non-resonated pipes.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Cc_1s0rE01w?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/3C8XlLW1SSY?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/c5O1UMrO5UM?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/8HOA9MDRYI8?feature=share

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by WarMachineM3

The resonated sounded the best I agree. It's much cleaner. However, I do like how the non-res sounds more aggressive with the MPE. The MPE is a tinny sounding when cold. I bought the EL midpipe and alsonthe resonated section from you and I like how I can switch it out based on what I want exhaust notes I want to listen to. Here are some Youtube clips I made withe the resonated and non-resonated pipes.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Cc_1s0rE01w?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/3C8XlLW1SSY?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/c5O1UMrO5UM?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/8HOA9MDRYI8?feature=share