2009 R3, I love it, and don't have a lot of plans to change things; but I do like to change exhaust on my cars. I don't want to go with the deep growl of a V8, would rather move more towards the buzzy sound of the Lexus LFA or a F1. Are there any suggestions out there for such a exhaust?

The rX-8 is not a V8, and shouldn't be treated as such "IMO". Plus, I've already owned a Vette.

Before I get the complaining from everyone that knows more than me, I did look throughout the forum for such questions, and post!

 

Exhaust sounds are produced by the exhaust pulses of the engine. You are trying to compare the exhaust note of a large v-10 to that of a "1.3L" rotary engine ..... not going to happen.

The rotary has an exhaust note of its own which can easily get out of control if not tamed (loud, can get raspy, tinny, etc). Throw on a midpipe with an auger style resonator (like BHR) and a quality muffler and you can get a nice low brap... but you may never get a 'growl'

 

+1

You can play with exhausts to modify the tone and pitch a bit, but you can't make changes to the frequency or base sound of the engine without changing the engine.

The rotary can indeed get the kind of sound that you are looking for, but you have to increase the rate of the pulses (more rotors similar to more cylinders), and the total amount of energy flowing (displacement)

For example, like this:

and at full song:
(note how loud it is, considering you can hear it negociating a chicane out of sight and rather far away)

Another way of looking at it is to look at the differences in possible sounds of the 2.0L flat 4 in a FR-S/BRZ vs a ~3.0L flat 6 in a Porsche. Same displacement per cylinder, same basic configuration, significant differences in sound.

A 3-rotor sounds a bit different from the 4-rotor above as well, for the same reasons.

 

Totally understand, thanks for the feedback. It would be nice if she could sound like that!

 

Many of the exhaust combinations available for the rx8 sound pretty crappy IMO so it pays to have a good troll around the forum/utube to find one that emits a tone you might like .

 

I have the BHR Midpipe mated to a Greddy Sp2 exhaust. It provides nice "snarl" and "grunt" at the low rpm range, then gets much more vocal and rotary like in the high RPM range. Great combo in my opinion, and the noise level isnt too far out there.

 

bought the wrong car for the sound buddy.

 

Nah, I really like the sound of the car as is, would just like to enhance it a bit. The car sounds great when you get on her! I was just trying to see if there was a little more.

 

I am running into the same issue. I found a great HKS set up that I love the sounds it produces, the issue is that it apparently is for the S1 RX8, so my search continues!

 

All Rx8 exhaust systems are non-series specific. They'll all fit.

 

Not true

 

Ok.

 

Not exactly not true either.

They all fit, there are however some fitment issues that need to be dealt with. Most specifically is the need for longer exhaust hangers.

That being said, some of the larger 3" exhausts may run into clearance issues (TurboXS) where the design leaves the connection between the intermediate pipe and the axle-back portion of the exhaust hanging low.

I have the RR Single exit exhaust, no fitment issues except for the need for longer exhaust hangers.

 

I would recommend a few laps around the youtube for tons of exhaust sounds and combinations and find one that you like. Im still in the hunt for a good exhaust to pair with the BHR midpipe