Thermal 2.5 or awe 3" exhaust....

[Cfreeze15]

Does anyone have a cold start video of the the new awe 3" touring exhaust? I finally got to hear a thermal 2.5 in person, and it sounded absolutely amazing! I'm not looking to do many upgrades just want some more noise from this beast!

 

[Scalarrthu]

Can't speak on the AWE since I haven't heard it in person yet, but I do absolutely love my Thermal 2.5 with CVF downpipes.

 

[GearHead_1]

I also like my 2.5" Thermal exhaust. That said, if you're going to compare it to a AWE 3", you might want to listen to a Thermal 3".

 

[Cfreeze15]

I also like my 2.5" Thermal exhaust. That said, if you're going to compare it to a AWE 3", you might want to listen to a Thermal 3".

I do agree, but I've also heard the 3" thermal has a drone on the highway. Can you confirm? I met a guy at the "st experience" that had the 2.5 thermal and said absolutely no drone at highway speeds

 

[Cfreeze15]

Can't speak on the AWE since I haven't heard it in person yet, but I do absolutely love my Thermal 2.5 with CVF downpipes.

I absolutely love the way it sounds! I'm just torn like I said, I don't plan on doing much upgrade wise I just want more noise when I get on it

 

[GearHead_1]

I do agree, but I've also heard the 3" thermal has a drone on the highway. Can you confirm? I met a guy at the "st experience" that had the 2.5 thermal and said absolutely no drone at highway speeds

I cannot first hand confirm or deny drone from the Thermal 3" system beyond what I've read on this forum, and it seems to be a hit with no drone for those who have installed it. I may have read where one member pulled it off for drone but it didn't seem that this was what the crowd was saying.

I can confirm that the Thermal 2.5" system on mine has zero, and I do mean zero drone. I've said this many times before but even my wife really likes the way it sounds. If it had any drone, she would have told me about it.

 

[THNX SVT]

Have had both Thermal exhausts. Zero drone with either, including later after I added CVF downpipes.

 

[Cfreeze15]

I cannot first hand confirm or deny drone from the Thermal 3" system beyond what I've read on this forum, and it seems to be a hit with no drone for those who have installed it. I may have read where one member pulled it off for drone but it didn't seem that this was what the crowd was saying.

I can confirm that the Thermal 2.5" system on mine has zero, and I do mean zero drone. I've said this many times before but even my wife really likes the way it sounds. If it had any drone, she would have told me about it.

I'm loving the way the thermal sounds on a cold start.... I'm thinking I might go with that one

 

[Cfreeze15]

Have had both Thermal exhausts. Zero drone with either, including later after I added CVF downpipes.

I do love the cold start sound on the thermal!

 

[Cblue]

The 3 thermal

I do agree, but I've also heard the 3" thermal has a drone on the highway. Can you confirm? I met a guy at the "st experience" that had the 2.5 thermal and said absolutely no drone at highway speeds

3 in alone didn’t drone on the highway, the 3 in plus downpipes definitely drones on the highway, you get over it. I have an awe on my sti, sounds great but thermal has waaaay better quality. Customer service is equal, the awe will be louder as it doesn’t use a center muffler like thermal does. Both drone with down pipes. It’s gonna come down to personal preference.

 

[Eljaber]

I do agree, but I've also heard the 3" thermal has a drone on the highway. Can you confirm? I met a guy at the "st experience" that had the 2.5 thermal and said absolutely no drone at highway speeds

I have seen mixed reports about the 3'' drone vs no drone on the highway, your best bet is to find someone with the 3'' to be sure, since this can be very subjective.

I have the 2.5'' Thermal and recently took a road trip to FL from IL and no issues with my kid or wife sleeping in the car the entire way to FL, going 70-85MPH. Not once have they complained about the exhaust. Compared to my "no drone" turbo-back exhaust on my MK6 GTI, on the highway, there was a bit of drone at a certain speed (85ish) and my kid eventually got used to it.

 

[Teck Nick Kolor]

I have not heard the Thermals in person but I thought that the 2.5 was perfect as is and would have a little more turbo sounds with DP’s. But this was based on videos I saw. I thought the 3” thermal sounded a little rowdy and a little too much especially paired with DP’s.
With that being said, I saw the videos of the new 3” AWE and thought it sounded more exotic and pulled the trigger on the set. Bad mistake. It is loud! Cold starts, semi cold starts, it’s loud. It gets a weird hum and reverberation to it. Once the car and the exhaust is up to operating temp it has a nice hum at idle but I think it is still on the louder side.
The system creates so much interior drone from 0-40 or 50 mph depending on which mode it is in. Normal mode drones and is obnoxious on the inside till about 40 mph on throttle. Low speed pulls up hills or driveways is bad especially longer inclines. Pulling a trailer in trailer mode is pretty bad. Always seems to be in that idle range where the mufflers drone bad plus the sound bounces off the trailer and bounces back in the interior can’t help that part with different trailer designs.) Slippery mode seems to be the worst up to about 50 mph because it holds the vehicle in lower rpm range longer.
Lots of burping and back fire pops more pronounced in normal mode. I don’t mind that all that much as it isn’t too loud. Down shifts sound pretty good and it cruises nicely in sport mode at 60-80 or so. Has to be the right gear but it quiets down then and sounds good.
I’ve had a coworker behind me getting onto the freeway and she said it is super loud and does not sound good. Sounds kind of off. Personally I think the 180 technology isn’t quite right for this particular vehicle. Something is off on it and my observations from my system don’t match other reviews I’ve heard from other folks.
The system looks good. I think the right side pipe leading up to the muffler could come up about a half an inch.

 

[EDWYER]

@Teck Nick Kolor Thanks for the feedback, I will stick with Borla.

 

[Scalarrthu]

I absolutely love the way it sounds! I'm just torn like I said, I don't plan on doing much upgrade wise I just want more noise when I get on it

If you're just looking for more sound I would consider a Gibson axle-back, which has a great sound and is quite a bit cheaper than doing the full exhaust system. It's what I had installed on mine first (before I decided to actually mod my ST) and it sounded great.

 

[88lx50]

I’m happy with the 2.5 Thermal. It has no drone and is quiet on the highway. Perfect for long trips with the family.

 

[ARC]

I have had the 2.5in thermal setup for 20k plus miles.
No problems, no drone, and it still looks and sounds great!
I did the downpipes about 5k ago and it sounds about the same, maybe a bit more burble from the back pressure...

 

[Sara/AWE]

I have not heard the Thermals in person but I thought that the 2.5 was perfect as is and would have a little more turbo sounds with DP’s. But this was based on videos I saw. I thought the 3” thermal sounded a little rowdy and a little too much especially paired with DP’s.
With that being said, I saw the videos of the new 3” AWE and thought it sounded more exotic and pulled the trigger on the set. Bad mistake. It is loud! Cold starts, semi cold starts, it’s loud. It gets a weird hum and reverberation to it. Once the car and the exhaust is up to operating temp it has a nice hum at idle but I think it is still on the louder side.
The system creates so much interior drone from 0-40 or 50 mph depending on which mode it is in. Normal mode drones and is obnoxious on the inside till about 40 mph on throttle. Low speed pulls up hills or driveways is bad especially longer inclines. Pulling a trailer in trailer mode is pretty bad. Always seems to be in that idle range where the mufflers drone bad plus the sound bounces off the trailer and bounces back in the interior can’t help that part with different trailer designs.) Slippery mode seems to be the worst up to about 50 mph because it holds the vehicle in lower rpm range longer.
Lots of burping and back fire pops more pronounced in normal mode. I don’t mind that all that much as it isn’t too loud. Down shifts sound pretty good and it cruises nicely in sport mode at 60-80 or so. Has to be the right gear but it quiets down then and sounds good.
I’ve had a coworker behind me getting onto the freeway and she said it is super loud and does not sound good. Sounds kind of off. Personally I think the 180 technology isn’t quite right for this particular vehicle. Something is off on it and my observations from my system don’t match other reviews I’ve heard from other folks.
The system looks good. I think the right side pipe leading up to the muffler could come up about a half an inch.

Hey Nick, sounds like something is up as that was not my experience with the system whatsoever.

Have you been in contact with our customer support team yet?

If not I can get you over to that area so we can troubleshoot.

 

[Teck Nick Kolor]

Hey Nick, sounds like something is up as that was not my experience with the system whatsoever.

Have you been in contact with our customer support team yet?

If not I can get you over to that area so we can troubleshoot.

I reached out right after installing it and noticed the thumping reverberation. I did this through Performance SUV and also through the AWE website
Their response was to wait for the correct collets for the hangers to come and that should fix it.

Sara, I did send this review I posted here in this weekend through your website and am waiting for some response from them but if you can help speed up a resolution that would be great. I bought through Performance SUV and don’t know the proper procedure to make a complaint like this. I want to like this system but so much of it seems off with some bad tuning or something. Plus the almost $200 price difference right after I bought and neither Performance SUV not AWE do any sort of refund or credit.

I’m trying to get some GoPro video of it but some of the higher pitches and drones don’t come through on video very well.

 

[Sara/AWE]

I reached out right after installing it and noticed the thumping reverberation. I did this through Performance SUV and also through the AWE website
Their response was to wait for the correct collets for the hangers to come and that should fix it.

Sara, I did send this review I posted here in this weekend through your website and am waiting for some response from them but if you can help speed up a resolution that would be great. I bought through Performance SUV and don’t know the proper procedure to make a complaint like this. I want to like this system but so much of it seems off with some bad tuning or something. Plus the almost $200 price difference right after I bought and neither Performance SUV not AWE do any sort of refund or credit.

I’m trying to get some GoPro video of it but some of the higher pitches and drones don’t come through on video very well.

If you run into any hiccups during installation, it is best to come straight to AWE customer support for a resolution, we are here to troubleshoot and get any issues you may have resolved.

As far as a price difference you would have to go through your dealer since you did not buy through us directly and work with them on that.

Shooting you a PM to get your personal info so I can look up your ticket with us.

 

[Teck Nick Kolor]

If you run into any hiccups during installation, it is best to come straight to AWE customer support for a resolution, we are here to troubleshoot and get any issues you may have resolved.

As far as a price difference you would have to go through your dealer since you did not buy through us directly and work with them on that.

Shooting you a PM to get your personal info so I can look up your ticket with us.

I can’t seem to be able to respond to your message on here. Reach out to me at tecknickkolor@yahoo.com
Thanks