What Does Exhaust Drone Sound Like?

[blackbeauty]

There is a lot of talk about exhaust drone on this forum and others. I know I've read one person claiming they have no exhaust drone and another with the same exhaust claiming they have considerable drone. The subject of drone is not SUBJECTIVE as some may claim. It's either there or it isn't. There is drone and there is exhaust SOUND. They are two different things. If a certain make/model of muffler or catback is causing drone for one person it also will cause it for another on the same type of vehicle unless there is some type of problem with installation that is causing an exhaust leak. Since it is obvious that some people to not understand or realize what exhaust drone is, they then don't think they have any.

Some people seem to think drone is only something you experience at highway speeds above 50 mph. It's not. If you are getting drone at high speeds on the highway, your also getting it at lower speeds around town. Speed doesn't matter, it's the RPM range that matters. It's in the 1500-2000 RPM range that drone usually happens when the engine is under a load and that can be at a variety of speeds depending on what particular gear the transmission happens to be in at the time.
I ran across a video clip on you tube that is a good example of what drone actually is. The clip is of a Nissan Titan with a Flowmaster 50 Delta Flow model muffler installed. It makes no difference what brand of vehicle, you can spend time on forums of any brand of truck and see plently of discussion on the subject of exhaust drone. I'm not picking on this particular muffler. I chose this clip simply because you can clearly hear what drone sounds like and to help people to be able to identify it and possible cut down on the confusion of what is and what isn't drone.

The drone is on the second half of the clip after the guy switches to filming from the interior of the truck while driving around town.

YouTube - Titan with Flowmaster 50

[reldapimp]

Thanks. Now all the newbs can stop telling me Im wrong.

[mxsjw]

Just to clarify for me, how exactly can you tell he has drone?
It seems to me he is on and off the gas so much, he is never at a steady enough rpm/speed to tell it he has drone.

I am listening through laptop speakers, so maybe I'll grab head phones and try again, but I don't hear it???

[Sweet Mercy]

A really good video here. You can definitely hear the exhaust note and the cabin drone. I try to explain it to people like this, when you know the sound is coming from the back of the truck, that's the exhaust, but when it sounds like its only coming from inside the cabin and if it continues will drive you crazy, that's exhaust drone.

[mxsjw]

Just to clarify for me, how exactly can you tell he has drone?
It seems to me he is on and off the gas so much, he is never at a steady enough rpm/speed to tell it he has drone.

I am listening through laptop speakers, so maybe I'll grab head phones and try again, but I don't hear it???

Ah!, OK headphones made the difference. Wow, that was bad.

[reldapimp]

Drone videos..
YouTube - Drone exhaust Accord 2,2
YouTube - Exhaust 2

[blackbeauty]

Mxsjw,

Does your TRD sound like that? Let's be honest now.lol

[Wgusler]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[mxsjw]

Mxsjw,

Does your TRD sound like that? Let's be honest now.lol

No way, not at all like that.
I have a 2 hour commute each day, I'd throw up.

[mxsjw]

I don't know how these came out, but here a a couple of clips I took with the video on my cell phone a while back. It will only do crappy 15 sec clips. I will try to get some better ones sooner or later with a better camera.

One is getting up to speed on a freeway on ramp.
The other is running at speed then I stood on it at the very end.

[blackbeauty]

Hopefully that video can be somewhat of a benchmark for everyone to compare the volume of the drone that there experiencing with their aftermarket exhaust when someone asks about it.

[ThirdHorseman]

My side exit Magnaflow drones at certain RPMs. But the quiet at other RPMs makes the drone tolerable OVERALL...i.e. it doesn't piss me off enough to get rid of it Plus both a Dynojet and my butt dyno says the exhaust made a significant difference!

[Djackman777]

Wanna hear drone.... Flag some compact racer kids with a huge can of exhaust that you can hear a block away and ask to ride with him on a freeway doing 70MPH on top gear.. You'll hear a certain hum in the exhaust note that you can hardly have a conversation. Drone is not to be confused with a Ferrari doing a 8500RPM type of exhaust note or frequency.

[GlennTundra]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

No...it is more like

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRR...

If you want to prevent drone, there is a real easy fix:

Don't mess with your exhaust!

I'm sorry, but you people crack me up. You spend all this money on a really nice truck with an amazingly sturdy, quiet, well engineered exhaust, then you modify it and then complain about it.

How many threads do we read over and over about people messing with their exhaust, getting nothing from it other than noise, then complaining about the noise. What do you get from the modification? 1/2 a horse power? 10 Horse power? 20? Is it worth it?

Personally, I love how quiet my truck is. I like that there is no wind noise, no engine noise, no tire noise. It is really nice to be able to listen to my music at a low level and hear every note. When I am on the phone, using my headset, I do not have to yell or have someone yell so I can hear them.

If you want to mess up a perfectly good exhaust, don't come here complaining about it when you are not happy.

[mxsjw]

I like to complain about people complaining about people who complain about their exhausts.