I bought an exhaust and found it not suitable for my needs, not wanting other to do the same I set about testing a few. My main issue was the drone so the quest began to find my unicorn.
Views are subjective and these reviews are based on my views and requirements.
The infinity
The quality was excellent, the tone was strong and deep, sounded great on overrun and on hard throttle. There was a slight drone at around 2.5k under load, as wales is all vallys, it's under load 50% of its life. The drone was not excessive but in a 4year olds world it interrupted the frozen watching on DVD it's the end of the world.
I returned to infinity and they did not think they could get it to a level that would not drown out frozen a little. So we returned it to stock, frozen was once again returned to perfect clarity, o the joy !
Round up..... Beefy sound, great build quality and fit, slight drone at 2.5k 8/10
I was talking to a guy who had bought an S4 exhaust from eBay, he fitted it and removed it. I phoned him and asked if he had returned it yet, he said he had not so a plan was hatched. I was going to try and review a few a few exhausts and post the results here.
I popped to his house and picked it up, drove straight to a friends garage and had it fitted.
The EBay Specail
This is a no name eBay special, straight out the gate it looks cheap and somewhat flimsy. Does not look worth its £400 price tag, fitting is a nightmare, nothing fits well, it has to be muscled on.
As soon as its started its bad, sounds like it's touching the underside rattling, buzzing and knocking. I drove it up the road and o dear, it sounded bad, like every 17year olds nova with flick on bits. Did not sound beefy like the infinity, just sounded broken !
I was in for the long run and thought I would run it for a week or until the owner had to return it. Took the wife out in it and she was mortified, the car really did sound like a shed. People stopped and turned and looked to see what was making this racket. Needless to say it was removed first thing this morning, on the drive home I had the song "silence is golden" stuck in my head lol
Round up..... sounds broken, terrible cheap nasty poorly fitting Rubbish, knocks rattles 0/10
Now the guy that bought the eBay jobbie has now bought a milltek, this arrives tomorrow and I have blagged it as he is working away from wednessday. So I should have it for a week to see what I think, I just have to pay to have it fitted to his car later.
Milltek
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Milltek is on, I have done about 100miles on it so far.
Day one thoughts
Quality was great, fitment was straightforward, went on like a dream. My guy in the garage claims he is getting a bit good at taking them on and off now.
On to the road test, sounds deep and powerful on tickover with a satisfying burble. It's quite a loud system if I'm honest but it does suffer with some drone, not too intrusive but there none the less. Sounds very nice on song, the up shift farts sound great as does the down shift blip. Overrun sounds is amazing, sounds like there should be flames or lightning !
Wife and child test this afternoon, my car has to live in two worlds. It can be a brash when I'm alone but has to do the school run without terrifying small children or getting disapproving looks from other parents.
Following day
Wife and child tested today, another 130 miles on it. Settled down a bit but still quite loud, asked my little one is it passing the frozen test.. No lol
Wife said it was loud and picked up on the drone, she is driving it at the mo so will no doubt hear more on her return.
Mid test thoughts
I have put about 400 miles on the milltek now, does not seemed to have settled much as I would have expected and is still louder then I would like it to be. There is a drone/resonance that really is the killer on fast flow exhausts on auto S4's. Anyway the milltek comes off Saturday so I will give a full round up then.
Milltek is off
Did a lot of miles on it, did get a little quieter but not as much as I would have liked. Did suffer with the dreaded drone, at this price I would not have expected that. It did look and sound nice but not for me and not at this price.
Round up .... Beefy sound, great build quality and fit, drone at 2300rpm, expensive 7/10
Powerflow custom made
This again was lent to me, my guys swapped the exhausts he had mine I had his for a week.
My fitter said it felt a little heavy, quality looked good. It had already been run in so tone would not change. Quite a loud exhaust this one, very intrusive in the cabin. Got it to 2300rpm and boom.... The dreaded drone !
This drone had an unpleasant effect on my ears like a vibration. The tone was good but very loud, the fart sounded good as did the overrun, lots of burble and popping. Even without the drone this would not be an exhaust for me, in a wrx or an evo maybe but we drive German luxury cars, if it too loud I think that cheapens them somewhat. It seems the owner agreed with me, he brought his stock exhaust and had that fitted back on. He had enjoyed having it stock again and will look for something new.
Round up ..... Loud, loud, loud, big drone! Build quality and fit were good but just way too loud. 4/10
Remus
Some nice chap called Clive trusted me with his S4 for the day, he drove in to Cardiff for the day and I got the train in and was waiting for him a 8.45am. We rung my insurance and put a days cover on it.
This exhaust has been on the car for years ( it's was on it when he bought it 18m ago ) so is well run in, first impressions was it was quieter more subtle then the other so far. Can not comment on fit or quality as it was on the car. Just tootaling round the street it was nice, not to loud but something there. Foot down it woke up a bit and sounded nice, the farts and blips on downshifts were clearly audible and a nice spit and burble on overrun..
Now for the motorway run, could this be the one you all ask. ( To date I have only been out in one car that did not seem to drone. I was a passenger and it was a brief trip but was promising, more to come on this. )
So I hit the motorway, started to build up some speed and ..... Drone at 2300-2500 sigh... Not massive, not painful but present this is not the holy grail. I would say this was probably the least drone but I want no drone damn it !
Ran the car for about ten hours, city, town, mountain roads and motorway.
Round up..... Nice sound, quite subtle highlights all the important parts of the drive, suffers some drone 8/10
Scorpion exhaust
This is the latest exhaust and its stunning ! I had a scorpion on my last Audi and loved it, it was on there when I bought it so can't take the credit.
On to this one, amazing quality and light, I believe it's 7kg lighter then stock. Exit pipes are really lovely ( will get a photo when it stops raining, so June maybe lol )
This exhaust is considerably quieter then the others tested, do not confuse this with sounding weak. It sounds the part but retains the classy refined Audi-ness we all bought. Sounds good on tick over, down shifts are clear and sound good as is the fart. It really comes alive under hard driving but never loses composure, most importantly
No drone.... Yes you read it NO DRONE !
It sounds better today as its settled in more, I'm sure over the next few day it will get better still. In the car it's clear there is a sporty sound but as I said more refined, subtle almost. For me this is perfect, enough you know it's not stock but not boy racer or ricer. ( Had the garage drive it today as I have a wheel baring type noise ) as it drove away Outside the car sounds purposeful and more aggressive but not overboard. When you push on a little it wakes up then, the sound far more agressive. IMO scorpion got the balance of sporty and refined spot on, you can see a lot of R&D has gone into this. I think I'm going to enjoy having this one on test.
I will keep you filled in over the next week and give a final round up but this scorpion is a pleasure.
Scorpion final round up
I have been testing this exhaust for a considerable time now and just can not find fault with it. It sounds great, beefy without being garish, unobtrusive on your shopping run but gutsy when your playing. The car just sounds purposeful, like it means business but in a classy way, IMO the way an Audi should sound.
I am totally besotted with this exhaust and would not hesitate to recommend it. The tips look great, you know it's not stock at a glance.
I hate to do it and I really have tried but I just can not find a fault, I have to give it a 10/10
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Originally Posted by Sceanzo
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