Our 2010 Saab 9-3T is a great car, no question about it. Too many positives to list. In fact, I can only think of one negative: the exhaust is too loud. It's 100% OE, and does not leak. It's not a single-speed drone, it's just loud across the board. Mama wants it to be quiet. So, that means I want it to be quiet. I'm not afraid to spend OE money to make it so, and I'm thinking an OE muffler from another 2.0 Ecotec might be the way. Any suggestions? I'll probably take measurements of OE piece and wander the junkyard looking for suitable donors.
I realized I was old when I admitted to myself that I hate loud exhausts. It's a big part of why I'm leaving the Mercury alone. Sure it could make more power and be proper fun, but it sure is nice on the road, smooth and quiet, and I don't want to ruin it.
Angry, is there room to add a glass pack or two to the current setup? That would remove some decibels.
A turbocharger is the only muffler a car really needs. That and a cat quiet it right down.
Peabody
MegaDork
3/19/22 11:17 a.m.
barefootcyborg5000 said:
Angry, is there room to add a glass pack or two to the current setup? That would remove some decibels.
My thoughts as well. It would probably be easier to either fit a resonator in there or replace a stock one with a quieter one. I understand Vibrant makes some quality quiet pieces.
Is it single or dual exhaust? Whats the resonator look like? A quick search showed either single or dual exhaust, depending on 4cyl vs v6 I think, and a model that skipped the resonator and had a "rumble box" at the y split to the two mufflers.
If its the one without a resonator, the factory resonator for the single exhaust looked longer than the one for the dual exhaust. No idea about diameters but it looks like there is space for a pretty long resonator under the front half of the tunnel.
Edit-if its dual exhaust maybe you could try plugging one side post muffler for fun. I would be curious to hear how that goes.
E39 540i had a really interesting single sided dual muffler that was pretty quiet.
2.0 turbo. There's a mid-pipe with resonator, pre-discount price at RockAuto is about $60. This feeds a muffler mounted fore-aft between rear suspension and rear bumper. $82 pre-discount at RA. Both are Wagner. Pic shows crinkle bends in mid pipe. :-(
Sonic
UberDork
3/19/22 3:26 p.m.
Fitting as large a muffler(s) as you can, and having multiple different designs to cat the different kind of sound waves should help. Get under the car with a tape measure and see where you have extra space. Then, Summit has an excellent online tool for mufflers where you can enter the piping size and orientation, case dimensions, etc, and narrow it all down.
Are you assuming the reason it is loud is that the stock stuff is just worn out?
It looks like that rockauto resonator is a walker 2.5" in, 2.25" out, 5" body, 16" case round resonator.
If your stock setup is the same as the walker replacement, a straight pipe after the resonator leaves plenty of room for welding in resonator with a longer body. Off to Summit I go!
The only muffler/resonator I could find with a longer body and proper inlet/outlet sizes was this Magnaflow with a 22" case, but sadly only a 4" body. If my past experience with Magnaflow still holds true with their modern design that resonator probably has a 3" core inside so you get a puny 1" or absorption material.
If you are willing to search 2.5" in/out you get a lot of choices. One interesting one that pops up is this Jones exhaust turbo tube muffler. It is listed as a 2.5" in/out, 5" body, 24" case resonator, but if you look at the specs and search the Jones site it is really a blank with no stubs with a 2.25" core. That is a lot more length and depth of absorption material than factory or magnaflow, that has potential to fit in the stock resonator location. It looks like ebay may be a cheaper source, but it is mess to search so I couldn't find a specific example.
I tried searching 2.25" in/out, but I mostly got muffler/resonators with small cores and/or cases.
The final muffler in the rockauto replacement seems to be a walker quiet flow with a single offset 2.25" in, dual 2" out, 13" long, 11" wide, 5 1/2" case. I focused on resonator alternatives so you are on your own with a final muffler alternative.
In reply to MrJoshua :
Thanks for the info. I did order the Walker resonator pipe and muffler. For under $200 shipped, it will be a good first step and I won't feel bad about cutting it up if I choose to add a better resonator later.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
How did this go? Did the walker factory replacement stuff do the trick?
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
So you are saying the Walker exhaust is amazingly quiet! 
In reply to MrJoshua :
Or that it made no difference at all.
1988RedT2 said:
A turbocharger is the only muffler a car really needs. That and a cat quiet it right down.
My Abarth tends to disagree with that statement.
