What is louder? AWE Track or APR Exhaust

[swcrow]

I wish EITHER of them made an axle back. I need to ditch the rear muffler and can't find a shop that will do it

 

[dosjockey]

I've never seen some many APR nutt huggers in one place before till now.

Eh. You don't have to hug any nuts to know quality from crap.

One of those exhausts is crap, and one is high quality. APR branded the latter. End of that story.

 

[Navi]

AWE is TIG weld by the way. But I guess we can complain about hanger. I do agree with GTIJake about the muffler hanger as I had reached out to him for one. But it turns out the stock exhaust doesn't use that hanger location either and if you torque the slip fittings to 65ftlbs, the exhaust is fine and never sags.

 

[GoldenIslesMK7]

I had the AWE track with stock DP ... ehhh
I had the muffler cut out and it sounded really good.
Then I got an APR DP and it was really loud. Now I have full APR system from the DP all the way to the diamond black tips and loving it.
I still have the AWE boxed up and ready for someone if interested. It just has the muffler cut out , which I still have too. Could be welded back in.

 

[amritdesai]

I have the APR catback and the downpipe. I added the APR resonator after a few weeks because I commute. The APR exhaust is beautiful and super easy to install - everything goes together perfectly.

At WOT the car sounds amazing - DSG farts and all. With the resonator it sounds excellent - very tasteful.

Happy with the choice I made.

 

[jay745]

Cracks me up reading people think that one company copied the exhaust from a different company lolololol.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Cracks me up reading people think that one company copied the exhaust from a different company lolololol.

That and the notion that APR or AWE is a “crap” product... they are both quality brands with quality products, hence the reason they are both in business and we are even having this discussion.

Having brand loyalty is great, but what’s the point of bashing the product to this depth...neither are the eBay specials.

Real question is did we determine the answer to O.P’s question? Which is LOUDER?

 

[GoldenIslesMK7]

AWE more raspy APR more grumbly
Same loudness if that makes any sense. APR fits into the car much easier and just feels and installs much better. Fittings are superior on the APR as well but of course it’s more expensive.

 

[dosjockey]

Here’s my car at the track. You can hear every car but mine! And my car has a cat back (on factory down pipe!) which is much louder than factory!

Well, yeah; on a track, around cars like that in that big open space, a stock exhaust can be lost. That was actually kind of funny. ?

I'll bet it was much more potent in person, as it sounded like the microphone gain was set for the more boisterous cars (could have been set automatically), which would make yours essentially disappear in audio.

If you just plain want the car louder, though... Well, none of that really matters, in the end. Exhaust note is a matter of personal taste.

 

[SouthFL_Mk7.5]

Well, yeah; on a track, around cars like that in that big open space, a stock exhaust can be lost. That was actually kind of funny. ?

I'll bet it was much more potent in person, as it sounded like the microphone gain was set for the more boisterous cars (could have been set automatically), which would make yours essentially disappear in audio.

If you just plain want the car louder, though... Well, none of that really matters, in the end. Exhaust note is a matter of personal taste.

Ha! That was my son recording. I asked him after the run; “hey! Did you hear the car when I went by?!” He responded “Nope, nada!”

I must say on the street the car is relatively loud, even with the factory down pipe in place. You can hear the car from a block away approaching. I’m 46 and it’s borderline silly but I don’t care! Puts a smile on my face.

So, yes, “loud” is indeed relative! Especially within a certain context.

 

[dosjockey]

That and the notion that APR or AWE is a “crap” product... they are both quality brands with quality products, hence the reason they are both in business and we are even having this discussion.

It's not a fair fight. APR went above and beyond, there. AWE, at least in this singular contest, didn't bring enough to the table to break bread.

We're talking about musical plumbing, here. Both exhausts are likely to get you the same result in performance; it comes down to sound, detail, fit, and finish. Those last three are the objective categories, and APR just plain walked away with them, with a girl on each arm and a never-ending bucket of fried chicken; unless it doesn't fit.

If I stand next to Josh Holloway at a bar, I'm crap. Relativity matters in comparison.

Looks like the AWE is, on average, about $250 cheaper. They hit that lower price point, and I suspect they did so because there just wan't much else to do to differentiate their product. That places them out of direct competition on paper; if not in buyer consideration. Meanwhile, APR pushed the limits of what's reasonable and went for the higher price. That's a marketing decision. Either company could have made either product.

Both do the same thing, but side by side, it's night and day in build quality. Comes down to how much that matters to you, and your budget. The $250 difference in price may be a deciding factor.

 

[JerseyDrew77]

It's not a fair fight. APR went above and beyond, there. AWE, at least in this singular contest, didn't bring enough to the table to break bread.

We're talking about musical plumbing, here. Both exhausts are likely to get you the same result in performance; it comes down to sound, detail, fit, and finish. Those last three are the objective categories, and APR just plain walked away with them, with a girl on each arm and a never-ending bucket of fried chicken; unless it doesn't fit.

If I stand next to Josh Holloway at a bar, I'm crap. Relativity matters in comparison.

Looks like the AWE is, on average, about $250 cheaper. They hit that lower price point, and I suspect they did so because there just wan't much else to do to differentiate their product. That places them out of direct competition on paper; if not in buyer consideration. Meanwhile, APR pushed the limits of what's reasonable and went for the higher price. That's a marketing decision. Either company could have made either product.

Both do the same thing, but side by side, it's night and day in build quality. Comes down to how much that matters to you, and your budget. The $250 difference in price may be a deciding factor.

Since when are you an expert on exhaust systems and engineering of such parts? You obviously don't like AWE, for what ever reason, and all of what you are saying is just your opinion

 

[SuperDuper]

I was really only hoping someone could point out which was louder since I was looking to go with the more tame of the two. I've seen a lot of people say that either of these exhausts with the optional resonated mid pipe is too quiet for a car with a stock down pipe.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a discussion slamming either of the manufacturers. I am purely looking for the best sounding, more mild sound out of the two.

With that being said, I made my decision and went with the AWE Track exhaust. I found someone local to sell me his Touring mid pipe in case I ever want to switch it out which is great. I'm thinking I'll run the touring mid pipe during the colder months here and the track mid pipe during the warmer months. Both of these are costing me a little less than the standard APR exhaust without the resonator. Cost wasn't really a factor to begin with though. After spending numerous hours on YouTube, to me, the AWE just had a bit better of a tone.

I will likely order a sag hangar from Jake though as I do not want the muffler to sag. I spoke with AWE regarding their decision not to add an additional hangar. They said after about a week or so with the exhaust, that you should adjust it again and the muffler should not sag.

 

[GTI Jake]

Nobody’s pushing APR, just all agreed it’s built better than AWE

AWE is TIG weld by the way. But I guess we can complain about hanger. I do agree with GTIJake about the muffler hanger as I had reached out to him for one. But it turns out the stock exhaust doesn't use that hanger location either and if you torque the slip fittings to 65ftlbs, the exhaust is fine and never sags.

AWE only TIG welds the data tag on their catback. The rest is MIG, I’ve installed and fixed several of them (I took these photos of one I took right out of the box shipped directly to me from AWE).






I’m not trashing AWE, just explain the differences reflected in prices are justified between AWE & APR. At the end of the day both are made in America and night and day superior to most of the other options available for this platform.

 

[dosjockey]

Since when are you an expert on exhaust systems and engineering of such parts? You obviously don't like AWE, for what ever reason, and all of what you are saying is just your opinion

That's not opinion.

I don't own a single APR part. I don't even know who the heck AWE is, but I don't have to know. You're over-complicating things.

Both of these systems do the same thing. Both follow the same route. Both are specified for the same vehicle. Both use similar materials.

One of them is built to a much higher standard. The other could be made by your local muffler shop with parts on hand. The end.

Not my fault you don't like that.