Is there anyone here who modified his 500 twin air exhaust? I looked under the car of my girlfriend and I noticed there is a very big damper in the middle and no back box what so ever, just a slightly thicker peace of steel.

Is there anyone who tried fitting a straight pipe for the middle damper of another absorption damper? I think the twin air can produce a great noise with a lot of cool pops and bangs.

And does the exhaust burn in over time? The exhaust on my girlfriends car is extremely silent. I think it could also be because of the lack of miles on it. I don't expect the car to fully burn in at 40 miles on the odometer. :devil:

I found pictures of the dampers:

middle.


"backbox"

Middle silencer is clearly not straight through and no doubt has an absorbtion and resonator in it.

The rear silencer looks like a small resonator, which probably removes a funny little buzz or resonance at a particular rev range due to the long tail pipe.

Pops and bangs in the exhaust usually come from excess fuel injection on the overrun, or air leaks in the exhaust.

I really think a 900cc turbo engine is going to sound silly with a straight through box.....

I tend to agree, I find mine sounds quite good when giving it the beans anyway..

I know the exhaust will get a bit louder in time because every exhaust get's a nice note over time. But I think the 500 twin air will benefit from a good absorption damper because of the reduced back pressure making it easier for the turbo to spool up.

Petrolhead Tom said:

I know the exhaust will get a bit louder in time because every exhaust get's a nice note over time. But I think the 500 twin air will benefit from a good absorption damper because of the reduced back pressure making it easier for the turbo to spool up.

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Is the turbo lagging though? From what I've read I've never heard of anyone complaining about lag.

A freer flowing exhaust will probably reduce the boost threshold, no doubt, but I don't find the engine particularly struggling low down - if anything the flow at higher revs (or the boost control) is most noticable.

I suspect the 105PS Twin Air (when it comes) will move the power further up the rev range as the engine can get a little breathless in the lower gears at revs. I suspect it's more complex than that though, what with the valve control coming into play.

Petrolhead Tom said:

I know the exhaust will get a bit louder in time because every exhaust get's a nice note over time. But I think the 500 twin air will benefit from a good absorption damper because of the reduced back pressure making it easier for the turbo to spool up.

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The exhaust 'set-up' on the TA a little similar to the 1.4 with a middle and a back box. Some guys have removed the middle box with straight through and have reported improvements on their NA but I would imagine it's noisier. The A500 only has a back box (from memory) and on the Monza setup with the spring mechanism at 0.5 pressure the back box is bypassed releasing more power - 5 bhp at the top end and 12bhp at the midway point for the esseese model. I would have no idea if a setup similar to this on a TA would work but it might give half the claimed performance benefits. On a Turbo the silencing requirements are not needed as much as one would need on a NA engine.
Re the popping and crackling that you get on the A500 I very much doubt that you will ever get this on a TA. This characteristic is due to in some way to the inefficiencies of an 'older' engine and it is suspected that with the arrival of an 'equivalent' efficient Multi-air turbo engine you will not get the 'sound effects' - this would apply to the current TA given that it too is an even newer breed of multi-air since the whole engine is all new.

Great post Loveshandbags. I was just wondering if there where people here who thought there car could make a little more noise. I think the engine sounds great but can use a bit more throaty exhaust. I'm not saying the turbo lags but if it can spool up even faster and easier it is a nice benefit isn't it?

Petrolhead Tom said:

Great post Loveshandbags. I was just wondering if there where people here who thought there car could make a little more noise. I think the engine sounds great but can use a bit more throaty exhaust. I'm not saying the turbo lags but if it can spool up even faster and easier it is a nice benefit isn't it?

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There was a thread a few weeks back (TA on the motorway ?) where the capabilities of the turbo was 'explored' on the TA. For me personally - I bottomed out not knowing the particular spec on it except that it was an IHI and that it might be a RH2 or a RH3 in a 'lower' VL variant. Anyway it's a tiny turbo and appears to have very little lag. A complaint that have been made of the TA is that 'it runs out of steam quickly' since the turbo is doing most its work early on in the rev band.
On the test drives that I've had on the TA I thought it made a great sound. If you were looking to make more throaty sounds (e.g. removing the middle box with a 'straight through' section) might prove tiresome on the motorway.
If you like the idea of a variable back pressure exhaust system I would suggest contacting Monza to see if they intend doing one for the TA.

I have also searched high and low for a nice backbox for my TwinAir. No one is currently producing such a box, but german Novitec is to release one in October.

BTW, I had my dealer remove the middle resonator, and replace the pipe with one from a Panda. He thought it sounded very nice, but I thought it sounded like it had no exhaust at all. Not a way to go. I'm awaiting Novitec's solution for now...

Ferrari500 said:

I have also searched high and low for a nice backbox for my TwinAir. No one is currently producing such a box, but german Novitec is to release one in October.

BTW, I had my dealer remove the middle resonator, and replace the pipe with one from a Panda. He thought it sounded very nice, but I thought it sounded like it had no exhaust at all. Not a way to go. I'm awaiting Novitec's solution for now...

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With the middle resonator gone did you notice if it had any more power ?

Yes please share!

i may be having a conversation in the next few weeks with a zorst manufacturer at forthcoming btcc round to see if they have any plans as don't mind lending them the TA for a week

I'm so sorry, but I didn't even take it for a ride, as I thought it sounded horrible. So, unfortunately no experience with power...

However, I just ordered a tuning-box for my TA, which promises 101 hp, and 195 Nm... Will be interesting to see if that will be a success...

Ferrari500 said:

I'm so sorry, but I didn't even take it for a ride, as I thought it sounded horrible. So, unfortunately no experience with power...

However, I just ordered a tuning-box for my TA, which promises 101 hp, and 195 Nm... Will be interesting to see if that will be a success...

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Are you getting the TMC one from Daron ?

No I'm not familiar with TMC. I ordered from Diesel-Tuning UK, Andrew. He seems very friendly and I have read nothing but positive comments from people trying his boxes. Will be very interesting when it arrives in a few days.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, it just occured to me eace:

I'll post some of my impressions in a new thread, once I have tried out the box...

Ferrari500 said:

No I'm not familiar with TMC. I ordered from Diesel-Tuning UK, Andrew. He seems very friendly and I have read nothing but positive comments from people trying his boxes. Will be very interesting when it arrives in a few days.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, it just occured to me eace:

I'll post some of my impressions in a new thread, once I have tried out the box...

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TMC is TMC Motorsport and is a trader on the FF. Based in Nothern Ireland. Main supplier of the plug in box for the A500. I got the impression that he has not done many TAs but you can change the dial if someone borrows the car off you so that the 'extra power' is not used. Unsure of the price. Imagine that Petrolhead Tom might be curious on the outcome of yours though.

I am indeed very curious!