Motkari

Thought I'd ask the collective, hopefully somebody could answer this long-standing question for me. I have a 2016 S7, and have been looking to do something about the sound of the exhaust, done some research and there some interesting ideas that I have come across. Now I know that in the US the sports exhaust is an option on the S7 and the S6 facelift models, here in the UK though we only get one exhaust. My question is here in the UK is that single exhaust option what in the US is the sports exhaust option, the regular exhaust? I also know that in the US the sports exhaust has asymmetric flap positions, as in in on one side the flap is before the backbox/muffler and on the other side its after the backbox/muffler. I have looked under my car and thats how it is, one flap before on the right (looking at the car from behind) and the other flap on the left is after the backbox on the left most exhaust tip. This might be a simple answer but then the spanner in the common logic is that in the US the tips for a similar config are black, mine are silver. So the question is . . . . do I have the sports exhaust or not? I ask the question as it has a bearing as to which way I then decide to mod the exhaust and get closer to the sound I would like from it. I'm hoping other UK S7 owners can chime in and describe what they have and what they have been told or have found out.

Sorry about the longish post, I did try to shorten it . . . .

Thanks in advance for reading and for your input.

jkwelsh

Motkari

Thank you jkwelsh for your response, I notice you're in the UK and also have a 2016 S7, could I trouble you and ask if you know the positioning of your exhaust valves on your car? See I have a theory that what we in the UK have as the standard and only exhaust option is actually what in the US is the upgraded sports exhaust, only difference is that the tips here in the UK are not black? Wishful thinking . . . . maybe, but then consider that the UK S7 has the sport differential as standard, part of the cost option Sports package in the US.

The point of all this, is that I was considering retrofitting that US spec Sport exhaust in order to improve the sound coming from the car, but would feel pretty idiotic if I did that only to find that I had the sports exhaust all along
I have listened to youtube clip comparisons of the two exhausts, trouble is it very difficult to tell from that which is which as sound quality varies from clip to clip.

You have done the x-pipe thing, and removed your resonators, my worry is that I might end up with a something I might find too much, too loud and then there is the issue of drone so do you have any clips of your setup? Ideally I would still want the refinement of the current exhaust but just perhaps 10 - 15% louder, I'm too old for anything raucous and brash at least thats what my wife tells me, and its never a good idea to rub the house-dragon the wrong way.
thanks again JK.

jkwelsh

The OEM specifications vary across countries, and you'll get a headache trying to translate the UK spec models to US/Canada/Europe...
I believe the only difference between the Sport and non Sport versions of the exhaust is that the back boxes are more "free flowing" and have black tips.
YouTube is good visually - most of the time, but from an audio point of view it varies hugely depending on the original recording device.

My exhaust (had) two valves on the back. Drivers side was just by the tailpipe, passenger side is before the rear exhaust box. I replaced the rear boxes with free flow ones with carbon tips.

Removing the front resonators and replacing with straight pipe, and the centre box with an X pipe crossover, is the most cost effective way of improving the exhaust note. And if you leave the rear boxes and valve in place, you still have control over the overall noise level.

Its really not too noisy, and gives that wonderful V8 burble when you gun the accelerator.

This forum is actually very quiet, suggest you pop over to Audizine

Cheers,
John.

jkwelsh

Green_Meany

Dragging up an old post, but recently had the same quandary. So I bit the bullet and shipped from the US a pair of used sports mufflers, black chrome tipped, for my ‘15 S7, C7.5
I can confirm the difference is more than cosmetic. There is a subtle improvement in the sound, volume wise, especially if you do the mid muffler delete (suitcase). You now hear the crackles on overrun, downshifts in manual or sport shift with Dynamic active. And even in other modes your can now discern the V8 in the cabin without having to get on the gas too much!
I may still down size the front resonators at some point, similar to the S5 ‘Audi enhanced exhaust update’ for the 3.0 tfsi V6.
For me it’s met my goal of being able to hear the V8, but not be obnoxious, and still have some civility when required.

This link on YT, was what is was hoping for and that is what was achieved!


Audi parts list versions for both pre and post facelift, C7 and C7.5 as well as for the S6 pre/post models. Both valves on the tailpipe for pre. For the post, valve before on the left muffler and after on the right.

I can also confirm the S6 muffler fits the same as the S7 as that is the case for the sports mufflers I bought.

And finally before anyone asks, no I don’t have a before and after sound clip to post.