moonluv810
Ready to race!
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- GTI Heaven
April 13, 2015 Update
If you only have 5 seconds to spare and don't have time to read the updates and full review, here's my advice: buy AWE Track Cat-Back if you're in the market for CBE. It's an absolutely great product from an amazing company!
Here's my update after installing the new system. But before that, just to quickly recap the history:
March 3: order placed
March 11: exhaust shipped
March 15: I installed the system myself and noticed the tips were not aligning properly
March 16-25: almost daily discussions with Mike @ AWE and AWE Engineering team trying to troubleshoot the issue
March 26: brought the car to 303 Motorsports (AWE dealer in Denver) and they could not get the tips to align
March 27: Mike advised that they're sending a new system to 303 Motorsports
April 1: new system arrived at 303
April 10: I finally got the chance to take the car back to 303 and left grinning ear to ear!
I'm estatic to report that the new system looks amazing!
The tips are aligned nicely, almost perfectly in the center of the valence cut outs. They're pointing straight out towards the back, no more funny downward/outward angles.
I don't have any pictures for now... have two sick kids at home
I'll take pictures soon.
Let me be absolutely clear on one thing.... I'm truly amazed with AWE's customer support. Their products are top notch, but their customer service has won me over.
I also want to give a shout out to 303 Motorsports in Denver. Scott (owner) and Blake (e-commerce manager) have been absolutely amazing.
I'm not affiliated with AWE or 303, but their service and commitment to customer excellence have made me a supporter of them.
Original Post
One of the items that I felt really lacking from GTI was the exhaust tone. I felt the stock exhaust was a bit underwhelming, even after disabling the evil soundakator.
A little bit about myself, so you can kinda compare to yourself... I'm 37 with two young kids (7 and 3) whom I take to school every morning in the GTI. In the past life (read: prior to kids), I competed in SCCA DSP class in E36 M3 and M coupe and tracked the cars several times a year.
For my GTI, I was looking for something with just a touch more noise sitting idle and under light/medium throttle and more growl under WOT. I did not want to turn heads with obnoxious system or make people think I'm going through a mid-life crisis way too soon.
I do most of minor work (brake, suspension, etc) on my car. I have an engineering background and a bit OCD about my car, so my standard and expectations may be slightly above an average driver.
After quite a bit of research, reading, watching online videos, and consulting with another member here (Mops), I finally decided to go with AWE Tuning Track catback. Here are some pics, my thoughts, and videos that hopefully can help people make their decision.
My Personal Rating
Shipping/Packing: 10/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Installation and Alignment: 7/10 (more later) Updated April 13: Installation and Alignment: 9/10
Sound: 12/10 (yes, it's that good)
Customer Support: 10/10
Overall Satisfaction: 9/10 Updated April 13: Overall Satisfaction: 10/10
Shipping/Packing/Unpacking
The system came in fairly quickly, about 2 weeks after I placed the order including shipping from PA to CO. It's packed in a really nice thick double-wall corrugated and filled with ranpack stuffing paper to withstand freight abuse. The tips, which are the most delicate, were packed inside bubble wrapped bags.
Build Quality
The system basically consists of three sections: front (mating to downpipes), middle (with muffler), and rear Y-split, all to be mated with clamps.
Welds were done beautifully. The serial number tag, I think, is a very nice touch and it gets a plus point from me.
I'm still amazed with the black anodized tips.... These things are simply awesome.
Installation and Alignment
I did the install myself, putting the back end of the car on ramps. Installation itself was pretty straight forward.
The removal of stock system only requires 12mm (clamp to downpipe and crossbar) and 13mm sockets (back hanger). This was literally a 10 minute job if you're handy. Make sure you support the system with a couple jack stands, this thing is heavy!
Once the stock was removed, I simply followed AWE's instructions. I ran into an issue mating the front section and mid section. The front section should go inside the mid section joint, but the mid section joint appeared to be a bit too small. I used a rubber mallet to slightly enlarge the mid section joint.
After all the sections were connected together (but not tightened), I installed the tips loosely and adjusted the alignments here and there and started tightening the bolts.
I was able to get my tips center properly (left and right) in the valence cut-outs, but noticed that there's a bit gap between the top of the tips with the valence, more than I'd like to see. Upon closer inspection, I also noticed that the tips are pointing a bit downward and outward. I compared with AWE's pics and Mops's pics and their tips appear to be almost dead-on center and point straight back with no downward or outward angles.
I contacted Mike at AWE and am still in discussions with him. He's been nothing but responsive and has been giving some pointers on troubleshooting the issues.
I did uninstall the system and put everything back on to make sure I didn't miss anything during the installation, but the tips still wouldn't budge.
Based on communication so far, I'm sure I'll get things figured out with AWE.
Sound
I still cannot believe how civil this system is. I was leaning more towards the Touring version and Mops advised me to go for Track. I'm so thankful for his advice!
To me, this is how the stock GTI system should be!
Cold start: there's more noise, growl, slight bubble compared to stock, but nothing that would make your next door neighbor ever turn their heads.
Idle: practically stock sound
Light to medium throttle: from the outside, the sound is deeper, very "adult" like sound, for a lack of better word, it's nothing like a riced-out 4-cylinder or an angry growl out of a muscle car, from insider of the car, you can't really tell any difference from stock
Cruising: my PSS tires make more noise than the exhaust there's ZERO drone period! This system is kid-approved!
WOT: beautiful... simply beautiful! From my research, I think there's only another system that would probably beat AWE sound: Akrapovic system, but I don't think I can afford that in my lifetime. AWE Track is simply what I believe the stock GTI system should have come from the factory.
If money were no object, I would right away get their performance catted downpipe... that's how much civil their Track CBE is!
Light/medium throttle in traffic and WOT pulls from inside of the car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW8TIJMohW0
Light,medium, WOT from outside of the car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqxVmVyo-J0
Hopefully this review can help you make your decision on many exhaust offerings available for us to choose. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Going for a drive now... :laugh:
If you only have 5 seconds to spare and don't have time to read the updates and full review, here's my advice: buy AWE Track Cat-Back if you're in the market for CBE. It's an absolutely great product from an amazing company!
Here's my update after installing the new system. But before that, just to quickly recap the history:
March 3: order placed
March 11: exhaust shipped
March 15: I installed the system myself and noticed the tips were not aligning properly
March 16-25: almost daily discussions with Mike @ AWE and AWE Engineering team trying to troubleshoot the issue
March 26: brought the car to 303 Motorsports (AWE dealer in Denver) and they could not get the tips to align
March 27: Mike advised that they're sending a new system to 303 Motorsports
April 1: new system arrived at 303
April 10: I finally got the chance to take the car back to 303 and left grinning ear to ear!
I'm estatic to report that the new system looks amazing!
The tips are aligned nicely, almost perfectly in the center of the valence cut outs. They're pointing straight out towards the back, no more funny downward/outward angles.
I don't have any pictures for now... have two sick kids at home
I'll take pictures soon.
Let me be absolutely clear on one thing.... I'm truly amazed with AWE's customer support. Their products are top notch, but their customer service has won me over.
I also want to give a shout out to 303 Motorsports in Denver. Scott (owner) and Blake (e-commerce manager) have been absolutely amazing.
I'm not affiliated with AWE or 303, but their service and commitment to customer excellence have made me a supporter of them.
Original Post
One of the items that I felt really lacking from GTI was the exhaust tone. I felt the stock exhaust was a bit underwhelming, even after disabling the evil soundakator.
A little bit about myself, so you can kinda compare to yourself... I'm 37 with two young kids (7 and 3) whom I take to school every morning in the GTI. In the past life (read: prior to kids
), I competed in SCCA DSP class in E36 M3 and M coupe and tracked the cars several times a year.For my GTI, I was looking for something with just a touch more noise sitting idle and under light/medium throttle and more growl under WOT. I did not want to turn heads with obnoxious system or make people think I'm going through a mid-life crisis way too soon.
I do most of minor work (brake, suspension, etc) on my car. I have an engineering background and a bit OCD about my car, so my standard and expectations may be slightly above an average driver.
After quite a bit of research, reading, watching online videos, and consulting with another member here (Mops), I finally decided to go with AWE Tuning Track catback. Here are some pics, my thoughts, and videos that hopefully can help people make their decision.
My Personal Rating
Shipping/Packing: 10/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Installation and Alignment: 7/10 (more later) Updated April 13: Installation and Alignment: 9/10
Sound: 12/10 (yes, it's that good)
Customer Support: 10/10
Overall Satisfaction: 9/10 Updated April 13: Overall Satisfaction: 10/10
Shipping/Packing/Unpacking
The system came in fairly quickly, about 2 weeks after I placed the order including shipping from PA to CO. It's packed in a really nice thick double-wall corrugated and filled with ranpack stuffing paper to withstand freight abuse. The tips, which are the most delicate, were packed inside bubble wrapped bags.
Build Quality
The system basically consists of three sections: front (mating to downpipes), middle (with muffler), and rear Y-split, all to be mated with clamps.
Welds were done beautifully. The serial number tag, I think, is a very nice touch and it gets a plus point from me.
I'm still amazed with the black anodized tips.... These things are simply awesome.
Installation and Alignment
I did the install myself, putting the back end of the car on ramps. Installation itself was pretty straight forward.
The removal of stock system only requires 12mm (clamp to downpipe and crossbar) and 13mm sockets (back hanger). This was literally a 10 minute job if you're handy. Make sure you support the system with a couple jack stands, this thing is heavy!
Once the stock was removed, I simply followed AWE's instructions. I ran into an issue mating the front section and mid section. The front section should go inside the mid section joint, but the mid section joint appeared to be a bit too small. I used a rubber mallet to slightly enlarge the mid section joint.
After all the sections were connected together (but not tightened), I installed the tips loosely and adjusted the alignments here and there and started tightening the bolts.
I was able to get my tips center properly (left and right) in the valence cut-outs, but noticed that there's a bit gap between the top of the tips with the valence, more than I'd like to see. Upon closer inspection, I also noticed that the tips are pointing a bit downward and outward. I compared with AWE's pics and Mops's pics and their tips appear to be almost dead-on center and point straight back with no downward or outward angles.
I contacted Mike at AWE and am still in discussions with him. He's been nothing but responsive and has been giving some pointers on troubleshooting the issues.
I did uninstall the system and put everything back on to make sure I didn't miss anything during the installation, but the tips still wouldn't budge.
Based on communication so far, I'm sure I'll get things figured out with AWE.
Sound
I still cannot believe how civil this system is. I was leaning more towards the Touring version and Mops advised me to go for Track. I'm so thankful for his advice!
To me, this is how the stock GTI system should be!
Cold start: there's more noise, growl, slight bubble compared to stock, but nothing that would make your next door neighbor ever turn their heads.
Idle: practically stock sound
Light to medium throttle: from the outside, the sound is deeper, very "adult" like sound, for a lack of better word, it's nothing like a riced-out 4-cylinder or an angry growl out of a muscle car, from insider of the car, you can't really tell any difference from stock
Cruising: my PSS tires make more noise than the exhaust
there's ZERO drone period! This system is kid-approved!WOT: beautiful... simply beautiful! From my research, I think there's only another system that would probably beat AWE sound: Akrapovic system, but I don't think I can afford that in my lifetime. AWE Track is simply what I believe the stock GTI system should have come from the factory.
If money were no object, I would right away get their performance catted downpipe... that's how much civil their Track CBE is!
Light/medium throttle in traffic and WOT pulls from inside of the car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW8TIJMohW0
Light,medium, WOT from outside of the car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqxVmVyo-J0
Hopefully this review can help you make your decision on many exhaust offerings available for us to choose. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Going for a drive now... :laugh:
Last edited:
