How much louder do stage 3 cams make your car?

JMetro64

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I recently just bought my 2nd 04 cobra. My last one I modified from stock, but this new one has had a lot of prior work done. the problem is, it was done 9 years ago. it has an mmr street mod 900 motor(4.6), and unfortunately, mmr, the previous owner, nor the shop that did the rest of the work know the details of all the parts/specs in the motor. all I was told is that the cams are "stage 3", whatever that means lol. I feel that the car is just too loud for me at idle(has similar exhaust setup to my previous car and i don't remember it being this loud), but before I have the motor taken out and get a different set of cams im wondering if anyone has any recommendations as to what the best step would be. Im just afraid of having everything pulled apart and find out that I need to change valves springs and other parts due to the cam swap. would a comp stage 1 or 2 cam be quieter but still give some performance benefit? that loud lopey cam idle just isn't my style but don't want to lose a bunch of power. any recommendations are much appreciated!
 

Mojo88

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Well, bigger cams are most certainly going to increase exhaust loudness and typically give choppy idle.

But I had to read your post twice, as I was confused (still am, LOL). Why in the world would you pull the motor if your only apparent complaint is that the exhaust is too loud at idle? Play around with the exhaust, maybe try x-pipe, or just some quieter mufflers, or smaller pipes, etc, etc.

Another thing to consider is that the tune may deliberately be adjusted to emphasize that lopey idle. Some guys (like me) absolutely LOVE a lopey idle, which is why I like to slightly retard my timing at idle. Perhaps you can adjust your tune a little by advancing the timing at idle and that will eliminate enough of the choppy idle to make you happy. Advancing the timing at idle usually smooths it out a bit.

Seems like pulling the motor should not be a consideration for this concern, unless I am mis-reading the post.

Anyway, good luck!!!! ;)
 

biminiLX

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Yes, stop and save yourself a huge headache and money. Work with the exhaust NOT inside the engine.
What is the current exhaust setup?
Simply adding cats or a set of resonators should have more benefit and cost less power than swapping cams.
Even a retune as above can help some.
Good luck.
-J
 

JMetro64

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sorry I probably should have gone into more depth. I changed the exhaust from a 3 inch H with 3 inch mac catback to a 2.5 inch x with a borla stinger catback(Catless). I kept the JBA mid length headers that were on the car. I did quiet it down a decent amount. On my previous cobra I had a very similar exhaust setup that I currently have now(BBK Longtubes, BBX catless X and borla stinger catback) and the car was definitely not this loud. I don't mind the volume at WOT and as much at cruising, but the idle its just so much louder than my previous car.
 

01yellercobra

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Your other car was probably just as loud. You just don't remember it. Stingers are loud. Put a normal muffler on it and you'll get a quieter car.
 

Weather Man

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The only thing quieter than Borla Touring is stock. If the vacuum at idle is acceptable, try the Borla touring with adding on some resonators.
 

DSG2003Mach1

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It was surprising to me but I've read a few times that longtubes are actually quieter, the mid lengths may increasing the volume as well. Get a good quality high flowing set of cats or add resonators as mentioned.
 

NateDogg

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Off road x pipe and stinger catback is a loud set up no matter how you cut it. Cams will will make it more aggressive.

I'd recommend the bassani catback. You can put the muzzels in them to really quite it down.

Btw, if you want to sell that borla set up. I'd be interested.

My last cobra had borlas with Lopey cams and it was pretty loud. Switches to bassani and it was great sounding at idle and really screamed when I went WOT

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 

biminiLX

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I had off-road X and Stingers on my ‘01 Cobra for a very short time because it sounded terrible everywhere but WOT.
Swapped out the Stingers for Borla ProXS mufflers. When I swapped the cat back to my ‘04 Cobra I did a MAC Prochamber to the 2.5” Borla ProXS mufflers but had the exhaust guy tie in a crossover pipe (like an H or X pipe) under the IRS.
I thought it was the best Cobra exhaust I ever had, nice a deep idle, mellow cruise and great WOT.
Sounds like your problem is simply muffler related.
-J
 

Mojo88

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Hey man, nice find on that video! That seems to demo the volumes (and idle characteristics) very nicely. The guy did a good job taking before and after vids. I MUCH prefer the 'after' version, LOL................. ;)
 

GodStang

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That video does not even remotely show a comparison. The "Stock Cams" have catalytic converters while the "Comp Stage 3" has an off road pipe. The cats will drastically change the sound/volume.



this I guess answers my question lol, get a good comparison of the difference in volume.

Hey man, nice find on that video! That seems to demo the volumes (and idle characteristics) very nicely. The guy did a good job taking before and after vids. I MUCH prefer the 'after' version, LOL................. ;)
 

Mojo88

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That video does not even remotely show a comparison. The "Stock Cams" have catalytic converters while the "Comp Stage 3" has an off road pipe. The cats will drastically change the sound/volume.

How do you know this? He states in the vid description on YouTube;

"Stock cam" car has bbk longtubes, high flow h pipe, Borla stingers.
"Comp cam" car has bbk longtubes, off-road hpipe, Borla stingers.


No mention of cats, unless high flow h pipe can be construed to mean that pipe has cats?? I totally agree with you that, "The cats will drastically change the sound/volume."
 

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