Question for Borla owners

[Buzzrush]

Hello everyone. So I put in an order for Injen Intakes and Borla exhaust. My concern with the Borla is it's going to be too loud during highway speeds 65-85. My wife and I take a lot of road trips and if she has to shout at me on the highway....not good. If you have people in the back seat traveling at highway speeds is it difficult to talk comfortably? I definitely don't want something that's going to force me to shout to the people in the back. Obviously don't want a ton of drone either. I purchased some sound deadening material which I'm going to line the battery compartment with. Will this make a significant difference? If it's too loud, I may have to look at the Jun BL EVC system instead (for 2 grand...yikes). Don't really care what the neighbors think...suck it up buttercups lol. Maybe the exhaust will drown out the sound of their constantly barking dogs

 

[mitchyboy]

I have the Borla and my wife has never complained about the noise. I also have passengers in the back occasionally and have no problem chatting to them. Some people on here think the Borla is very loud, others not so much. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.

 

[StungBlueGT2]

Hello everyone. So I put in an order for Injen Intakes and Borla exhaust. My concern with the Borla is it's going to be too loud during highway speeds 65-85. My wife and I take a lot of road trips and if she has to shout at me on the highway....not good. If you have people in the back seat traveling at highway speeds is it difficult to talk comfortably? I definitely don't want something that's going to force me to shout to the people in the back. Obviously don't want a ton of drone either. I purchased some sound deadening material which I'm going to line the battery compartment with. Will this make a significant difference? If it's too loud, I may have to look at the Jun BL EVC system instead (for 2 grand...yikes). Don't really care what the neighbors think...suck it up buttercups lol. Maybe the exhaust will drown out the sound of their constantly barking dogs

If you have too much drone just use the latest anti-drone fix.
Kia Stinger Aftermarket Exhaust Information and Discussion
Eliminated almost all of my drone and only cost $11.99.

 

[Rakker]

I have the Borla and my wife has never complained about the noise. I also have passengers in the back occasionally and have no problem chatting to them. Some people on here think the Borla is very loud, others not so much. I guess it all comes down to personal preference.

My wife says it's embarrassingly loud lmao! But like you said, it comes down to preference.

 

[Secondchance]

The borla is quieter than the CTS turbo exhaust I had on my S4, the resonator Delete on my Durango, the Invidia turbo back on my STI ( literally the quietest setup you could get on that car ), The ultimate racing Turbo back on my Evo x, The Invidia exhaust on my WRX 265, the Ultimate racing + Magnaflow turbo back on my MS3 and so on. It's NOT loud lol, I was blown away with how many people complained, it really does make me wonder how many stinger owners are first time tuners..

 

[Metalmania82]

Definitely not loud. But like said above, if you're coming from a super quiet car, sure, it might sound loud. Personally, when I had just the Borla and no cat delete, I think it sounded best in Sport and auto, or paddle shift it.

 

[Rynil2000]

Hello everyone. So I put in an order for Injen Intakes and Borla exhaust. My concern with the Borla is it's going to be too loud during highway speeds 65-85. My wife and I take a lot of road trips and if she has to shout at me on the highway....not good. If you have people in the back seat traveling at highway speeds is it difficult to talk comfortably? I definitely don't want something that's going to force me to shout to the people in the back. Obviously don't want a ton of drone either. I purchased some sound deadening material which I'm going to line the battery compartment with. Will this make a significant difference? If it's too loud, I may have to look at the Jun BL EVC system instead (for 2 grand...yikes). Don't really care what the neighbors think...suck it up buttercups lol. Maybe the exhaust will drown out the sound of their constantly barking dogs

Hey Buzzrush, I've been with the Borla pipes for about two weeks. Check out my post in this other Borla thread. Show some of my results pre and post sound deadener installation. It helped, but the results are still subjective.

 

[Manaz]

it really does make me wonder how many stinger owners are first time tuners..

I suspect this is true to a point - Kia doesn't traditionally play in the performance market, and they're not yet attracting many traditional "fast car" owners.

 

[Rynil2000]

I’m honestly curious to know the popular correlation between loud and good/sporty/tuned. As a Gran Turismo, I think the Stinger should walk a fine line between being sporty and comfortable. However a lot of what I see in the tuning community seems to jump on the bandwagon of making the car loud just for the sake of seeming aggressive. Maybe just different strokes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That being said, the Borla exhaust is noticeably louder than stock, which was almost embarrassingly quiet, but is definitely manageable and not as loud (see: ricey) as say a muffler delete. Just realize that Kia obviously saved cost on sound dampening by installing such a quiet muffler, so some work in that area will help the loudness concerns.

 

[nhcowboy28]

I’m honestly curious to know the popular correlation between loud and good/sporty/tuned. As a Gran Turismo, I think the Stinger should walk a fine line between being sporty and comfortable. However a lot of what I see in the tuning community seems to jump on the bandwagon of making the car loud just for the sake of seeming aggressive. Maybe just different strokes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That being said, the Borla exhaust is noticeably louder than stock, which was almost embarrassingly quiet, but is definitely manageable and not as loud (see: ricey) as say a muffler delete. Just realize that Kia obviously saved cost on sound dampening by installing such a quiet muffler, so some work in that area will help the loudness concerns.

Keep in mind that the Borla offered for the stinger is the s-Type. Not the “ATAK”. It is considered their medium / sport exhaust.

I can say it is much louder at startup, much louder outside at rev/WOT. Louder at moderate acceleration. But if you feather the throttle. Drive conservative. It won’t bother the popo or you/your passengers noise wise. Drive like a hoon. It screams like a f’n sports car.

If installed properly to a car with everything else exhaust stock, no drone at all. Drone = painful cavitation/resonate vibrations making your head explode. There is zero.

You do hear the exhaust note now in the cabin at freeway speeds (2500 rpm or so in 8th). Nothing ridiculous sound wise and I can have conversations with those without talking louder. But it is noticeable.

City driving sound is fully dependent on your driving style.

I was surprised how exotic it sounds. was expecting an unrefined sound, and instead truly believe this should have come stock.

 

[asciidic]

This isn't the loudest car I've had (that goes to either the LT1 with straight pipes or the GN with a cutout) but the Borla exhaust makes it about as loud as you can be without sounding obnoxious imo. I don't know how much the 2nd cat deletes factor into that because I installed them both at the same time. It carries quite a distance and is distinct enough that a friend called me when I was driving a bit uh enthusiastically on my way home from work the other day, because he heard my car from several blocks over and wanted to confirm that it was me.

 

[Rynil2000]

This isn't the loudest car I've had (that goes to either the LT1 with straight pipes or the GN with a cutout) but the Borla exhaust makes it about as loud as you can be without sounding obnoxious imo. I don't know how much the 2nd cat deletes factor into that because I installed them both at the same time. It carries quite a distance and is distinct enough that a friend called me when I was driving a bit uh enthusiastically on my way home from work the other day, because he heard my car from several blocks over and wanted to confirm that it was me.

Which secondary cat deletes did you go with? Any opinion on drone with these installed?

 

[asciidic]

I'm using the SSR pipes and had bad drone cruising at 55+ in comfort mode until I wrapped the tail pipes. More info in this thread: 3.3TT - Kia Stinger Aftermarket Exhaust Information and Discussion

By drone I mean how nhcowboy28 described it above - vibration and head explodiness. It can still be noisy in the cabin.

 

[Buzzrush]

After a week or so having the Borla and Injen intakes I can honestly say I LOVE it. Gives the car a great growl and some nice low gurgles when letting off the gas. Admittedly, after the first few days I was strongly considering putting the car back to stock and selling the exhaust and intakes. I'm one of those "new to modding people" and the sound kinda surprised me to be honest. I guess it shouldn't have..I read all the reviews so I knew it was pretty loud. I added some sound deadening to the trunk AND wrapped the mufflers (thanks asciidic) as so many of you suggested. Might be overkill doing both but I gotta tell you, sounds great when the windows are down and it's a few clicks over stock when the windows are up. Even got a big thumbs up from the wife. It's like a poor mans EVC system lol. Relatively quiet in the cabin and if I want some noise, I just crack the window. Thank for all the suggestions everyone! Huge help as always!

 

[turboAWD]

I've already said it before - I like an aggressive sound, but after making my own exhaust for my '90 GTI 16v, it was so loud I got headaches going 20 minutes across town. Ever since, I've been sensitive to that kind of thing. So while I'd like a loud aggressive sound maybe 3 days a year, overall, pretty sure I'm staying stock. This isn't a GT350 or ZL-1. I appreciate the stealth factor.