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Old 12-29-2020, 10:01 AM   #21
Nick M3
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This thread makes me miss the s54. Not great sounding without help but a great engine nonetheless.
I'm glad I got to hear Chuck Stickley's S54 in person. One of the greatest engine noises I've ever heard. That was an unlimited cost engine build by an engine builder for himself. North of 400 at the wheels, around 500hp at the crank. (Maybe more.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmFrO_3Kft0

At the start here, you can see him outdragging 911 GT cars and Turbos. OK, fine, a long time ago, but still. Normally aspirated S54. The video does not convey just how absolutely insane the noise was coming and going, though. There's very little that makes the induction noise an S54 can. And even less that can make the noise that this one could.

The video does a pretty good job of conveying how insanely fast the car was, especially to anyone who has driven Summit Main. It was only OK in the corners. And Stickley was a not young guy who'd had, IIRC, quadruple bypasses. But holy crap. It MOVED.
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Old 12-29-2020, 10:34 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by equ View Post
This thread makes me miss the s54. Not great sounding without help but a great engine nonetheless.
Apropos, what about the M Performance exhaust you put on your 340? Did you conclude it was worth the effort/expense?
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Old 12-29-2020, 02:15 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Nick M3 View Post
I'm glad I got to hear Chuck Stickley's S54 in person. One of the greatest engine noises I've ever heard. That was an unlimited cost engine build by an engine builder for himself. North of 400 at the wheels, around 500hp at the crank. (Maybe more.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmFrO_3Kft0

At the start here, you can see him outdragging 911 GT cars and Turbos. OK, fine, a long time ago, but still. Normally aspirated S54. The video does not convey just how absolutely insane the noise was coming and going, though. There's very little that makes the induction noise an S54 can. And even less that can make the noise that this one could.

The video does a pretty good job of conveying how insanely fast the car was, especially to anyone who has driven Summit Main. It was only OK in the corners. And Stickley was a not young guy who'd had, IIRC, quadruple bypasses. But holy crap. It MOVED.
That's awesome. Which mufflers are you using on yours? Have you done any work on figuring out specifics of how it will sound? I'm just sort of curious about whether there's a way to engineer out some of the less pleasant sounds from the S54, or if it's just a happy accident that comes from less restrictive mufflers or whatever.
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Old 12-29-2020, 02:47 PM   #24
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Apropos, what about the M Performance exhaust you put on your 340? Did you conclude it was worth the effort/expense?
Ah! Yes, it's quite good. Probably sounds better than my stock s54 with the Dinan catback, though apples/oranges, turbo vs. NA motor... No complaints and worth it for me. The engine was insanely quiet before.
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Old 12-29-2020, 02:50 PM   #25
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Apropos, what about the M Performance exhaust you put on your 340? Did you conclude it was worth the effort/expense?
I did score a slightly used deal for an almost new part, so that made it a no-brainer. Not sure whether I'd do it for full price. Probably, if not feeling cheap, it helps the drivability of the car, hearing it.
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Old 12-29-2020, 03:44 PM   #26
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That's awesome. Which mufflers are you using on yours? Have you done any work on figuring out specifics of how it will sound? I'm just sort of curious about whether there's a way to engineer out some of the less pleasant sounds from the S54, or if it's just a happy accident that comes from less restrictive mufflers or whatever.
A lot of the stock sound came from the US headers with the cats plugging them up. The Euro exhaust was much less of a chainsaw-in-a-blender.

Certain mufflers also didn't work at all. Borla has a peculiar tone that sounds absolutely awful on an S54 with headers. (You might remember the TMS Grand Am cars. Just awful.)

I'm running a pair of Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers on this exhaust. They're kind of a "least bad" choice of what's out there. They flow weirdly well for what they are (according to tests, better than many straight through mufflers), and actually provide something approaching an adequate level of sound deadening. The downside is that they refuse to make a stainless version, which is infuriating. In the real world, for the kind of use that my cars see, that's not a major issue, mind you.

The catalytic converters are E90 M3 secondary cats. I love these things because they work really well, are very high flow, are very tough, and because people cut them out of M3 exhausts, you can pick them up cheap if you're patient. I'm running them on my E36 as well now.

Unfortunately, in a perfect world, I would have liked to run a center muffler behind the cats. I just couldn't find the space to do it in a way that would make sense. So... This is going to be loud. Hopefully not insane. If it's really insane, I may have to accept a ground clearance penalty and put a small x-pipe muffler where the current X is.
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Old 12-29-2020, 05:01 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by Nick M3 View Post
A lot of the stock sound came from the US headers with the cats plugging them up. The Euro exhaust was much less of a chainsaw-in-a-blender.

Certain mufflers also didn't work at all. Borla has a peculiar tone that sounds absolutely awful on an S54 with headers. (You might remember the TMS Grand Am cars. Just awful.)

I'm running a pair of Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers on this exhaust. They're kind of a "least bad" choice of what's out there. They flow weirdly well for what they are (according to tests, better than many straight through mufflers), and actually provide something approaching an adequate level of sound deadening. The downside is that they refuse to make a stainless version, which is infuriating. In the real world, for the kind of use that my cars see, that's not a major issue, mind you.

The catalytic converters are E90 M3 secondary cats. I love these things because they work really well, are very high flow, are very tough, and because people cut them out of M3 exhausts, you can pick them up cheap if you're patient. I'm running them on my E36 as well now.

Unfortunately, in a perfect world, I would have liked to run a center muffler behind the cats. I just couldn't find the space to do it in a way that would make sense. So... This is going to be loud. Hopefully not insane. If it's really insane, I may have to accept a ground clearance penalty and put a small x-pipe muffler where the current X is.
Oh yeah? Deride the Fox bodies all you want, but 30 years ago the Walker Dynomax was the hot ticket in the Mustang world, IIRC. So at least you're period-correct?
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Old 12-29-2020, 05:04 PM   #28
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The catalytic converters are E90 M3 secondary cats. I love these things because they work really well, are very high flow, are very tough, and because people cut them out of M3 exhausts, you can pick them up cheap if you're patient.
On the Camaro6 forum, there are a near equal mix of threads of people trying to give away their primary and secondary cats as there are of people saying this play or that place gave them $200-$600 for them. It's very, very weird.
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Old 12-30-2020, 06:14 AM   #29
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Super cool.
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Old 12-30-2020, 10:09 AM   #30
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Ah! Yes, it's quite good. Probably sounds better than my stock s54 with the Dinan catback, though apples/oranges, turbo vs. NA motor... No complaints and worth it for me. The engine was insanely quiet before.
Good to know. I could see doing this down the road a bit, as a way to rejuvenate the 2 experience. No rush, though. I suspect it’s already louder than your 340 was in Sport and Sport+.
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