I get gurgling, but I never got trumpets with Violators. I never got a burnt rubber smell, but it's normal to get all kinds of smells from brand new exhaust parts. I wouldn't worry about it. Yes, they get kind of hot, but so do the stock ones. That's why people always said their hickey was from hitting their neck on their muffler while working on a car.

 

The trumpeting I'm referring to is the sound it makes when you let off the gas after revving the engine, or when you let the engine slow you down (e.g. 70 mph in 5th gear, let off gas, allow it to decelerate down to 55 mph). It sort goes BURRRRRRRRRRRR and is much higher pitched than droning - I like this sound.

Overall I have to say the sound quality is very good. I can't compare it to the GTAs or Stingers since I never heard them in person, but they're not as loud as the Bassanis + O/R H/X-pipe.

 

That's not trumpetting. Trust me, you don't want trumpeting. I know the sound you're talking about, and I love it. I love going down a hill with concrete walls on either side.

 

Hey Charlie, seems to me the sound your describing is sort of like burbling, but also has a type of pulsation effect as well. Btw: were you able to get both your mufflers aligned yet ? Anyway, keep us all posted

 

I gave up on the alignment. I had the car jacked up by the rear differential every time so the car was as level as it could be but the intermediate pipe couldn't be adjusted enough to allow the muffler to sit higher. The hangers aren't welded correctly as far as I can tell.

 

I think the exhaust is getting louder or its just my imagination. There's a noticeable burble at 1500-2000 RPM when decelerating in 5th gear, which immediately turns into drone when you open the throttle. I don't really have any complaints at this point.

 

They will get louder over the next month or so as they get broken in.

 

I think they get louder from all the water that collects in the mufflers. I poured out several cups worth of water when I had to realign them a week later. I wonder what happens if you poured several gallons of distilled water inside the muffler? Pypes didn't seem to think drainage was important, but the stock mufflers all have drain holes.

I may have to remove the mufflers again to widen the notches so that the clamp can collapse the pipe more to produce a better seal.

 

All that water just means you aren't driving it enough! Get on that bad boy and blow out that water. If you drive it for 15 minutes it should get hot enough to evaporate the water. I agree though, it isn't right, and it should not collect like that.

 

My commute is about 30-45 minutes each way. I shift at about 2000 RPM, is that too low?

 

Wow. I would think everything would be nice and hot after that. I don't know. Maybe they do need some drain holes.

 

I called Pypes and they said the mufflers are covered under a lifetime warranty, so I am not going to drill drainage holes.

Regarding the sound, it seems that the exhaust is attracting everyone and anyone who thinks their car is fast. Another S197 GT followed me for awhile and went WOT to pass me. It must have been the stock exhaust because I couldn't hear anything above the sound of my engine.
A few ricers and beat up Neons/GMs have passed me with extreme gusto as well. I shift at 2000 RPM so it seems to **** off a lot of people.

DarkfireGT's dragstrip video demonstrates the sound of the exhaust extremely accurately: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JOXMKqEw7p8

I made a few slight tweaks to the Violators to make them fit the intermediate pipes. I enlarged the notches (the ones they cut to allow the pipe to compress and grip the intermediate pipe) using a die grinder. 304 SS is surprisingly very easy to cut and grind (409 SS is supposed to be much more durable/harder due to some titanium alloy content). One of my Pypes clamps is about to take a dump, but I won't have to remove the muffler so it should be "good". Worst case scenario is that I buy a new SS band clamp. Overall, there was quite a bit of tweaking needed to make these mufflers fit my 2007. Had I known that it would require this much effort, I probably would have kept it stock or did more research into finding out which axle-back was 110% bolt-on, direct-fit, no mods needed.