The current obsession with popping exhausts

lordrobs · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:26

I'll admit that at the ripe old age of 37 and well into my second midlife crisis... I've hit miserable old man status pretty early but I just don't get the obsession with having your car excessively pop and bang.

To put this in perspective in my MX5 if I'm giving it the beans and the exhaust is nice and hot and I come off the throttle, shift and nail it I'll sometimes be treated to a little pop from the exhaust. Equally it will give a little burble on the overrun at times, this I like. Quite a lot in fact, it just adds to the experience of driving it. This isn't what this thread is about though.

What I'm talking about here are these 'burble maps' (at least I think that's what they are called) which will create a seemingly constant 21 gun salute on the overrun in all driving conditions. What is the point in that? I saw a Youtube video of some guy getting his Evo mapped and his words to the mapper were "I want it to pop and bang, like, all the time" followed by a video of him grinning like a Cheshire cat when a drive down the high street sounds like the scene from Apocalypse Now.

On my drive to work there is a Fiesta ST and pootling along at 30 mph its BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG burrrrrr BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. It sounds daft.

So... whats the deal?

Diagro · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:33

People are stupid

lespaul · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:43

I have a Forester STi, it's due a rebuild soon and when it goes in for it's final map I'm having all that taken out as it's a pain, frightens dogs and old people as I drive by. Currently has the loudest exhaust on it, so loud people in the next county can hear me a mile off, as can the fuzz. Going for a nice old man exhaust, no pops and bangs and just lots of fun.

Rotty · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:46

Don't have much choice with mine

koolpc · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:57

Whenever i hear them, or see them, i immediately think 'chav'.

Relentless81 · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:04

Guy on my road has something similar, it's a nightmare when you have young children and babies etc as it's a quiet road and then suddenly pops bangs and farts emerge

It's just an attention thing I think, I used to have aftermarket exhausts back in the day but I always wanted something that balanced performance and noise people just want to be seen these days and crave attention

MrRockliffe · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:06

Would rather have a huge subwoofer

Temujin · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:06

I used to have a mini that had an rc40 exhaust that on overrun would emit (to my ears) a lovely burble that would probably not be heard by anyone not in the car or outside it within a radius of a few meters. I don't think pops and bangs are the problem as much as they are when they are combined with a decat and obscenely loud backboxes. I don't really want to categorise one marque but the overwhelming majority seem to be the fiesta or focus st crewzz, these seem to be the sort of loud that would burst your eardrums if you got too close, at least in this neck of the woods.

Diddums · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:09

Jag are by far the worst for it. People seem to love it, I think it makes the car sound borked.

Conscript · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:12

The occasional pop or burble, when it happens genuinely, no problem.
But cars which are purposefully popping and banging on every gear change just sound pathetic and contrived. Mercedes, I'm looking at you - fella up the road had a CLA45 and every time he went up the road, the car made a farting noise as he shifted gears. It just sounded broken.

Tom_ed1987 · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:14

I agree OP - I think they sound ridiculous; artificial & fake. In fact i'm sure I read somewhere that some of them (Perhaps Audi) are completely fake - there is a transducer in the exhaust.

Edit - yup: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/2017-audi-sq7-fake-v8-exhaust-sound-isn-t-that-bad-107103.html

GhostWKD · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:18

akaFonzie said:
I don't really want to categorise one marque but the overwhelming majority seem to be the fiesta or focus st crewzz, these seem to be the sort of loud that would burst your eardrums if you got too close, at least in this neck of the woods.

Problem with the Focus ST is there's an off the shelf system that literally removes the backboxes, combined with a decat they're just ridiculous and yet they're stupidly popular in the owners circle.

https://www.tarmacsportz.co.uk/medi...9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/d/fd24.jpg

** Do not hotlink images **

I sold my focus just recently but even with the stock backbox and a decat it would pop/bang loudly at times when I didn't want it to. Enjoyed the pops at the top of the rev range when changing gear though. Probably would have refitted the stock cat if I kept it any longer though to be honest as I felt very antisocial when it would do a spontaneous pop/bang driving sensibly through the middle of a built up area.

Nasher · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:21

It's mainly all faked now, which makes it lame. In the old days it used to come from anti-lag systems spitting flames etc.

Some other cars do it naturally but it's never excessive like you see from these stupid exhaust systems (the 5cylinder in the mk2 Focus RS/ST does it a bit). Which just sounds like a badly tuned engine.

NoNameNoNumber · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:26

My TTS burbles on overun, kinda like a tickling chesty cough. This is nice.
Those ''crackle maps " are worse than aids.

Howard · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:42

NoNameNoNumber said:
My TTS burbles on overun, kinda like a tickling chesty cough. This is nice.
Those ''crackle maps " are worse than aids.

Agreed. Some cars, Golf GTI for example, give off a nice "whumpf" as the DSG gearbox shifts, which I quite like. But it's excessive on some cars, with an enormous crack emanating from the exhaust on even moderate upshifts. It just sounds like something is broken.

I guess it's the new form of "excitement" now that high-revving naturally aspirated and/or >4cyl engines don't really adorn hot hatches anymore.

grudas · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:53

essentially what happened was, manufacturers got kicked in the teeth by emissions, double cats etc.. and sports car stopped sounding "exciting" standard so they added the pops and crackles on gearchange(see DSG) on overrun etc.. to make them sound sportier/more exiting..

now of course there are people who just want their to constantly sound like a machine gun which is over the top as it's all fake and done with software and fuel ignition in exhaust..

my s2000 rarely pops or bangs, does after a proper trashing but mostly it's just high rpm noise.

it is silly loud and would upset 8/10 people tho! I'm very much a chav and I'm happy to admit it, I do it for my self tho I want it to be fun/loud and silly.

Housey · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:15

It is the new 'look at me' and is laughable when on rubbish cars (as it is on less rubbish ones too). Few weeks back I had some 'spesh' in a Mini Clubman (the estate one?) who obviously had some big tune (init). He circled around me popping and banging trying to egg me on. If I had been on the Polo I would have owned him and made a YouTube but sadly I was in my daily V10 so let him do his stuff.

The bangs were jump out your seat loud, the driver was as you might expect, a rock ape with a face for slapping. Fords and Seats seem to do it a lot but the winner of the pop and bang fest is without question that small Merc A45 with all the wings. They seem to breed the noise maker generation. For me it is a gimmick. My R8 doesn't do it but it was very noticeable that the new one does and after the initial giggles it becomes tiresome. Merc GT-R was the same, tiresome.

Housey · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:19

...also, embrace the angry. It is your right to be angeeee at the young and with each year that passes the tutting and annoyance grows.

It is mostly envy at no longer being young but don't tell em that. They need to learn it and learn it good....which they will when they reach 37

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:37

My old scoob did it, full decated and when it was really hot it would on overrun, normally one, possibly 2 pops. This is nearly 20 years ago mind!

Glanza · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:37

I can get occasional bangs if I shift up at a certain RPM using Vpower, if it's got BP ultimate I'll struggle to get it to do the same amount, I know others where they've had the map setup to anything over 4k it'll give the 21 gun salute and it's overkill imo.

Friends finally got his evo back on the road and he's now got antilag on a switch he can toggle if he wants pops and bangs but his map hasn't built them into it.