Active exhaust: yay or nay?

[Bikeman315]

A sad state of affairs. I get it that the average person who has no interest in cars beyond their value as mindless transportation appliances would appreciate not having to do much.

What I don't understand is how anybody who claims to have any interest in or enthusiasm for cars would want to their cars to be so much like your average minivan. Owned by people who don't even like to drive. It just seems at odds with the whole idea of being enthusiastic about actually driving your car, which was presumably what you bought your car for in the first place.

Norm

So Norm, you realize that you just called the a good percentage of the folks on this forum those "who has no interest in cars beyond their value as mindless transportation appliances" and "want to their cars to be so much like your average minivan". Oh yeah, we are also folks that "don't even like to drive".

All because we like technology. I know you don't like tech but please don't put those of us who do down. I have a lifelong interest in cars, and do not consider my 460HP Mustang to be a mindless transportation appliance. In addition I hate minivans (except when I need to haul a lot of stuff ). And I love to drive.

Now do you understand?

Sponsored

 

[Norm Peterson]

Maybe I could have worded it a little better, but the whole idea of wanting (needing?) computer assistance to switch the amount of exhaust sound up or down just doesn't seem very enthusiast-like to me. Especially after hafgod specifically said he couldn't be bothered to flip a switch or two on startup . . . like everything has to have a store-bought high-tech solution.


As far as what I did post goes, maybe that shoe fits a lot of people better than they'd care to admit.


Norm

 

[Bikeman315]

Maybe I could have worded it a little better, but the whole idea of wanting (needing?) computer assistance to switch the amount of exhaust sound up or down just doesn't seem very enthusiast-like to me. Especially after hafgod specifically said he couldn't be bothered to flip a switch or two on startup . . . like everything has to have a store-bought high-tech solution.


As far as what I did post goes, maybe that shoe fits a lot of people better than they'd care to admit.

Norm

Yeah, that really did not sound like you. That said, I can only speak for myself. I have no problem switching to track every time I take it out. But quiet is nice sometimes too. I should correct one of my earlier statements though. I like tech, but not just for the sake of tech. It has to be useful & meaningful. It has to allow me to doing that I would not be able to do without it. If it is well designed, well executed and reasonably priced, I'm in.

 

[speedup]

I wanted to get active exhaust but had a hard time finding them on used GT convertibles. I came across a nice 2019 with only 2700 miles but didn't have AE and went ahead and got it anyway.

How does the standard exhaust compare to the modes/sound of the AE system? Would it be equivalent to running it in 'quiet' mode ?

 

[Ecoboosted]

I wanted to get active exhaust but had a hard time finding them on used GT convertibles. I came across a nice 2019 with only 2700 miles but didn't have AE and went ahead and got it anyway.

How does the standard exhaust compare to the modes/sound of the AE system? Would it be equivalent to running it in 'quiet' mode ?

Probably more like normal mode I would guess.

 

[Bikeman315]

I wanted to get active exhaust but had a hard time finding them on used GT convertibles. I came across a nice 2019 with only 2700 miles but didn't have AE and went ahead and got it anyway.

How does the standard exhaust compare to the modes/sound of the AE system? Would it be equivalent to running it in 'quiet' mode ?

Somewhere between Normal and Sport, but closer to Normal. The 15-17 GT's were much quieter.

 

[Copperhead73]

I love driving my car so much, I even want to do it when I go to the nursing home to visit my father. It is down a very twisty highway. It is nice not to have to park out on the highway so as not to wake the old folks when I visit at night. I can quieten the car down when I get to the home, then liven it up after I leave. If not for the AE, I would have to drive the wife's explorer to visit dad. I get to drive the GT more often BECAUSE of the AE.

 

[Lgb0250]

I looked for a used 18-19 with the AE and getting one with all the options I wanted (Premium 401, AT) turned out to be very very difficult. This one had 10K on the odo and met all my requirements minus the AE, at a great price. In retrospect I don’t see the need for it. This thing is plenty loud enough in stock for at, at least for my needs. Now, if money was not a consideration I would have ordered a new one exactly as I wanted it. But, overall I am extremely happy with my new ride.

 

[Rapid Red]

AE ................ absolutely ........... but my opinion could be biased ?

My wife's truck

 

[carpenj]

Maybe I could have worded it a little better, but the whole idea of wanting (needing?) computer assistance to switch the amount of exhaust sound up or down just doesn't seem very enthusiast-like to me. Especially after hafgod specifically said he couldn't be bothered to flip a switch or two on startup . . . like everything has to have a store-bought high-tech solution.


As far as what I did post goes, maybe that shoe fits a lot of people better than they'd care to admit.


Norm

I kind of get where you're coming from. I got the active exhaust specifically because I leave for work around 6am and sometimes stay out late at bars or whatever, and don't want to wake my neighbors coming and going. Other than those times, my exhaust is almost always in track mode (which, don't forget, is louder than if you just got the normal exhaust). I bet quite a few active exhaust owners are the same, on here.

 

[kinchy]

I've been on the lookout a red or white 2019 GT Premium with A10, PP1, Magneride, and active exhaust. I've found two in FL that have nav and few other things. I saw this one in WA https://www.vancouverford.com/new/F...plink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=cars.com The price is great, if it's not just marketing, but no active exhaust. Would the lack of active exhaust be a deal breaker for you? I'd probably keep it stock if I had active exhaust.

Choice is a beautiful thing. I constantly adjust mine based on what sound I want and when.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Yeah, that really did not sound like you. That said, I can only speak for myself. I have no problem switching to track every time I take it out. But quiet is nice sometimes too. I should correct one of my earlier statements though. I like tech, but not just for the sake of tech. It has to be useful & meaningful. It has to allow me to doing that I would not be able to do without it. If it is well designed, well executed and reasonably priced, I'm in.

Exactly.

Not all of my cars are (or have been) OE-quiet, and the 750cc Triumph with shorty mufflers was flat-out loud even with a helmet on, so I fully understand the value of what these active exhaust systems do. Particularly where those who live in apartment complexes or condominiums or housing developments with overbearing HOAs would be concerned.


Norm

 

[13GetThere]

A little off and on topic here.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I saw a beautiful 13 or 14 black Mustang GT a few lanes over from me on the x-way. I had my window down so I could hear the rumble of it's exhaust. It sounded as good as the car looked. Not too loud, but authoritative, and I heard it before I saw it.

 

[Bikeman315]

A little off and on topic here.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I saw a beautiful 13 or 14 black Mustang GT a few lanes over from me on the x-way. I had my window down so I could hear the rumble of it's exhaust. It sounded as good as the car looked. Not too loud, but authoritative, and I heard it before I saw it.

There is certainly no mistaking the wail of a Coyote. I was on a local road yesterday and heard an unfamiliar roar. I knew it wasn't a Coyote and wasn't GM either. I pulled up just close enough to see that is was an avalanche gray Mustang. Man, that Voodoo sounded sweet!

 

[Nomadic]

Unless you want to quiet your car in the morning due to annoying neighbors, then I think the Active exhaust is a complete waste of $. I had a base GT manual and the stock exhaust sounded awesome and I would never have wanted to make it quieter/louder..etc. I worked from home so no worries about 5am startups.

Sponsored