Thought a thread with this title might help someone else out down the road. I have an ND 2.0 184. The previous owner took it to BBR for the Super 220. They elected to fit the super sport exhaust on top of the revised manifold and exhaust centre section.
This was NOT wise. Yes, it’s loud but not a nice sound at all. It’s like driving a pneumatic drill under load. The only relief is in 6th on a light, partial throttle.
Swapped now for the Grand Tourer version. Much better. Don’t waste your money on a super sport exhaust if your exhaust is already modified. It will not sound good.
Thanks, my Recaro is going into BBR soon for the turbo, it currently has the optional Mazda/Bastuck exhaust but it’s not loud enough for me, I was debating whether to ask them to change it at the same time but I think i’ll leave it now and see how the turbo changes things before making a decision.
Have to agree 100% that the sport is too loud with the revised manifold and centre section. The BBR website agrees with this too. However when we went for ours, we were advised that as we where having a catted manifold that the supersport should be fine. How wrong, soon changed to the GT and much much happier
I have the same catted manifold. BBR do advise against the SS exhaust via their website as you say. I thought a thread putting this advice out front and centre would assist in people carrying out subsequent searches.
I stress it’s bonkers loud, droney and unpleasant. It’s not magicing up a V8 burble or even making the car sound like some sort of four cylinder high revving vtec. It’s just loud, overpowering and nasty. Don’t do it.
tbh when it comes to exhausts I want the performance but NOT the noise!
my manta (oh god he’s on about the manta again) had a performance jetex exhaust system but the sound was purposely tuned down.
it wasn’t as quiet as a standard system, tho not far off when under 3 and a half rpm, and it wasn’t anywhere near the 90s boy-racer Lancaster bomber noise when over 3 and a half rpm either.
we want performance systems but we don’t want everyone for a mile around to know that we got it!!
I have the BBR catted manifold, BBR mid section and BBR super sport backbox on my Super 175 modified NC 1.8. I don’t find it too loud at all and think it sounds absolutely lovely. When accelerating it sounds sporty and fun. It can drone a little bit if I sit at high revs, but nobody wants to sit at high revs anyway. At low revs, it just purrs nicely.
I have an ND1 with Super 200 and full exhaust system including the Supersport rear silencer and I have to say I don’t find it too loud at all! Great sound to my ears and no problems with listening to the sound system.
My comments all relate to an ND2 with the later 2.0. Maybe the combination sounds different on the older cars? On an ND2, at motorway speeds in 6th it’s like riding a long, perpetual fart.
At load- higher revs in lower gears, it’s just overpoweringly loud. No melody, no soul, nothing emotive. Just blurting, shouty noise. It’s honestly much better with the quieter back box.
I have the BBR GT box on my NC2. I have a decat iL motorsport manifold as well. It’s a lovely sound and fairly quiet when pottering through a quiet village if your gentle on the throttle but really sounds tremendous with plenty of character when working the engine hard. It is however substantially louder than stock but thankfully does not drone on the motorway like Cobra and other box’s can do. I wouldn’t want it any louder it’s just about as loud as I think is acceptable without drawing hateful glances from people when driving past. I walk my kids to school and pretty much every morning a BMW M4 with the most horrendous mettalic crackling popping exhaust passes us on the main road. It’s truly awful, the driver thinks it’s awesome but I think everyone else is wishing he crashed it into a tree somewhere and did us all a favour.
I had a BBR Super sport rear box on an otherwise bog standard 1.5 ND1 and it was loud but the real problem was the pitch at about 3000 rpm, it used to play havoc with my right ear, so I replaced it with a Cobalt and it’s soooo much better. It just goes to show that no matter how much I watched their YouTube video which made the box sound great, it isn’t the same as hearing it in the flesh, but I suppose at the end of the day it is all subjective, and the person in the club who bought it off me hasn’t brought it back and wrapped it around my neck.