I purchased a JCW exhaust. It did not come with teh centor resonator. will I miss it or be happy that it is gone? It came with a straight pipe and I am woundering if I should spend the money to buy the missing piece. any backgound on this is appreciated.

 

I think the answer to your question is a matter of opinion. Some like the sound with the resonator off, others don't. With it off the exhaust is a little louder, but more in terms of the pop and crackle volume rather than the deeper undertone that a lot of people are looking for.

Since your exhaust came with the reesonator off I would suggest getting it installed as it is and drive it for a while to see how you like it. Dropping the exhaust isn't a big job, so you can always have the resonator installed afterwards if you feel you need it.

Don't pay too much attention to the sound when the exhaust is cold - it sounds a little ricey. Get it warmed up before making judgement. Also, if the exhaust is new, drive it for at least several hundred miles to burn off the wadding they install during manufacture - it will get a little louder as this burns off.

 

Been running that way with my MCS for 18 mos....not much louder than a one ball mod IMO. Until you use the right pedal little more on the highway

No bad drone and enough back pressure to keep things running correct.

 

The JCW exhaust has a really nice tone to it- from what I understand, Mike Cooper listened to like 19 different setups until he found the one with the right sound, so you'd think it would really mess stuff up to change it. But it doesn't.

I went from a stock MCS to a one-ball, and THAT made a difference. Much louder than stock. Later, I got the JCW kit, and the car actually got SOFTER. Much less noise and grumble... so a few weeks ago, I popped into the local Midas and had them pull the resonator. Best mod I could have done. The car sounds properly aggressive, and I did notice a teeeeeeny increase in throttle response.

Personally, I love having a resonator-less JCW exhaust. As gray raven said, it doesn't drone on the highway, nor is it scare-pedestrian loud around town. In fact, I barely noticed a difference inside the cabin- it's outside that it really shines.

 

this is great to hear. as this is what I was looking for and one of the reasons I went looking for a deal on a JCW exhaust. I comute 40 miles each way. I didn't want to be deff when I got home. I will be installing it after I do sugery on the bench to get the wrong tips to fit.

 

I am one that did not like the JCW resonator delete so I went with a different exhaust. The JCW without the resonator had a little too much snap, crackle, and pop for me, especially in the GP without a rear seat or rear insulation to muffle a little of the sound. However, I think the resonator-less JCW is better than the stock JCW exhaust. The resonator-less JCW is not too loud and I also suggest that you try it without the resonator. You can always add a resonator later.

 

I love my JCW pipes. Mine has a resonator & to my ears it sounds perfect. Like quikmni said try it without the resonator. If you don't like it have the local muffler shop install one.

 

what is the resonator really? Does it need to be JCW specific. or something I can buy and weld in myself? looks like I can get the official part for 312.00 plus shipping. I did come across some dimensions someplace.

 

The resonator is just a way of toning down the sound of the exhast and eliminating drone, although without it I never experienced any drone - I just didn't care for the snap crackle and pop.

An earlier post said that Mike Cooper went to great lengths to get the exhaust sounding just right, which I don't doubt, but he had to do so within the constraints of noise regulations (in the UK they are more stringent than they are here). Maybe that is why he included a resonator. I wonder what his exhaust would have sounded like if there were no regulations!

 

IMO nothing special really. Just a small one should do it if you decide you need one. For $312 I'd sure go to the local pipe hanger & have him do it for $100 or so.

 

I have the resonator on and I drive through parking garages, tunnels, under bridges etc. with the windows down and the sunroof open... I suspect I'd do the same thing if I didn't have the center resonator.

Basic point - don't think about changing anything till you've warmed it up nicely, found a parking garage and given it the beans up one of the ramps. If you don't like that then you should have somone check your pulse . Or you could get a resonator installed. Up to you

Greeaaaaaat sounding car!!

 

What one likes in an exhaust is a very personal thing. What is sweet to ones ear is painful to another's. Noise or rather sound does not equal HP. If only it did I'd drill a bunch of holes in mine & have 500HP. Best tip is to install the exhaust as is & see how you like it. Easy to change if you don't.

PS: An 09 R56 JCW is going to sound way different than an R53 JCW exhaust.

 

nope don't miss it. I got it installed last night. I find the tone perfect. I can't hear it when cruising on the frwy at 70. and only hear a nice throaty sound when I stomp on it. slight crackles and pops when slowing down.

My only complaint which is not a complaint about the exhaust is the straight pipe that it came with was fabricated wrong. so I cut it off my stock exhaust. The hangers are in the wrong location so I had to modify those and in fact still need to work on 2 of them tonight to get my tips centered and tighten it up. And I needed to make a T cut in the ehaust tips to reduce the overall dia to get the early JCW exhaust Tips to fit. I have a franken exhaust. if I had to do it over again I would buy a new ehaust made for a 2003 so I would not need to do so much fabrication. Sure I saved a few hundred bucks. But I spent 4 hours fabricating getting parts to work together that were not made for each other.

But it sounds great.

 

Cool beans, it sounds good & you like it. Worth the effort for sure.

 

I hope it is ok to ask my questions here.

I'm thinking of replacing my one-ball modded exhaust with a JCW rear silencer setup. Cutting the midpipe halfway and mounting the JCW silencer to that. Basically a non-resonated JCW cat back exhaust.
I'm curious how it sounds compared to the one-ball mod, has anyone done this exact same switch?

After I did the one-ball mod some years ago, I really liked the more pronounced pops and mild increase of volume. Definitely don't want to lose the pops.

How are the pops of a non-res JCW cat back compared to a one-ball mod?
And, how does it compare volume wise? I don't want to increase it so much that I can't have a conversation while driving for example, but some more sound/volume is fine. Would like some more sound when accelerating, and some more pops when releasing of the gas.

2005 R53 (stock other than the one-ball)

Thanks!

P.s English is not my first language, sorry for possible strange typo's

 

No...please tell me you don't REALLY believe this old myth / wives tale (in red above) ? I thought believing this went away with tie-dyed shirts..!

Mike

P.s.- This "resonator" is just a stainless steel copy of the old 1950's "glass pack" mufflers. These "mufflers" are still produced by most muffler companies today, and sold as...yep...mufflers.