Thanks kurvhugr! I just welded in a 6" diameter 2.25" Magnaflow 12615 and can hear my supercharger again. Plus it even clears a Helix short shifter and the stock heatshield with no modifications.

Originally, I bought a used JCW exhaust for $150 (cheap because all the crap had been removed from it; undoubtedly for some super-secret crappy project) and it was pretty blatty and obnoxious. I stuffed 8 cubic feet (!) of fiberglass into the cans and it sounded perfect for about two days, until that either settled or got sealed off by all the carbon soot our cars like to produce from running so rich. The drone wasn't too bad but all the snapping and popping started to wear a little thin. It was kind of fun at first because I could drive through a bad neighborhood then lift, and people would dive for cover.

Well now the din is completely gone and all that's left is a nice rumble at idle and a roar when at WOT. The rest of the time it's completely unobtrusive and does not mask the singing supercharger (which also seems to make pedestrians run).

 

On a slightly different note *thread hijack incoming*

Mario: Have you noticed any reduction in the popping from your exhaust? MINIUSA's bright idea to make the 05-06 MCS burble gets a bit rediculous once you add an exhaust and header into the equation. Seriously, like the above poster, I could see people diving for cover if I were to lift off the throttle in a bad neighborhood. A little burble is nice for some character, but it sounds like someone's taking pot shots with an AK-47 every time I lift off the throttle .

I may have to do something similar to your modification, like you, I love the exhaust note, but it's just a tad excessive at times, and I often find myself wishing the car didn't make so much noise just cruising. Where did you go to get it done?

 

It helped out a lot and my girlfriend is the proof. She tells me the truth even if I don't want to hear it. The one thing I did notice is that the Magnflow worked very well for about 2 weeks and then it started to get a little louder. The reason I think this happens is because the Mini's exhaust temps are so high that is burns off the fabric stuffing in the Magnaflow. If I had to do it over again I would have used a Borla because they use metal shavings instead of stuffing.

 

That's interesting feedback considering I'm planning on pulling the trigger on a magnaflow cat-back this spring/summer. I always thought if it was "too loud" I would do the additional muffler/resonator deal such as discussed here. Maybe I should instead look to the Borla Race? It looks like such a jig-saw puzzle to install though...

 

I love my Magnflow exhaust but I would install a Borla resenator under the shifter. I here the Borla street is the same amount hp but much softer sounding.

 

Yea, once an exhaust "Burns In" it's coated in carbon and other crap from your exhaust, this helps to absorb some of the sound, most of the time this just changes the note of the exhaust (Deeper) but sometimes it can also make it louder. I'll have to see about getting this done, where did you go to have this installed, and how much did it all cost? Losing HP isn't something i'd like to do, but I really need to quiet the exhaust down, it's obnoxious at times.

 

I had it done at a local shop in the city Oxnard, these guys are great! They made the new resenator have its own flange and slip joints so they never had to cut my Magnflow exhaust, incase I have ever wanted to sell it. I think with the res and labor was like $180 or something.

 

Geez, that's cheap, I may have to take a drive up there. Any idea what the model number is on the res? Did they provide it or did you get it online or something. If you get a chance later and have the shops info and could PM it to me i'd appreciate it. I take it your car is in working order again, so I look forward to seeing you at some of the SCMM meets .