I just got the Vibrant Ultra Quiet (affiliate link) resonators installed today and the rasp and snappy-ness is gone! The overall volume of the exhaust is quieter for sure, but the tone is so much smoother. The volume is closer to what it was before I had catted down pipes installed. That said, I know that the tone and volume is likely going to change over the next few weeks so as long as the rasp stays away, I'm good with it getting louder.

As a reminder, my current setup is test pipes, to catted down pipes, to the Magnaflow 11385 xpipe (affiliate link) ​, to the new Vibrant Ultra Quiet  (affiliate link) resonators (in place of where the stock mid-muffler was), and finally the stock rear mufflers. 

And below we got a pretty crappy sound clip. This is after a 25mins drive from the exhaust shop to my house. With the rain and my hvac running, there is just a lot of background noise (sorry). 

 - Amazon affiliate links were used in this post

Next Wednesday (3/24) I'm getting two 2.25in Vibrant Ultra Quiet (affiliate link) resonators installed where the stock mid-muffler used to be. It is going to be a tight fit, but the hope is that this will dial back the rasp I get at moderate to full throttle. Honestly when the exhaust is warm the rasp really isn't that bad... kind of has a exotic sound to it, but when the exhaust is cold, it is just bad. That all said, the current setup has almost no drone, which I believe is thanks to the front Magnaflow 11385 xpipe (affiliate link) and the rear stock mufflers. Another video to come once this is completed. 

 - Amazon affiliate links were used in this post

Update: Oddly I took the J shaped Vibrant O2 spacers off and used some straight spacers that were given to me with the test pipe. Since using them, no check engine light. No need to switch tunes, now. 

With the new custom test pipes and catted down pipes, the O2 spacers I got just aren't cutting it. I got some different kind O2 spacers on order, but I fear I'm always going to have issues with the Check Engine Light (CEL). Sadly my current tune with EPL doesn't offer a "test pipe" tune. I really do love the burble and soft crackle you get with the new adjustable tune they just released. While they have been nothing but super helpful, I feel like my options are limited here. Honestly, I could just go cheap and put a sticker over the CEL and call it good, but then I can't visually know when there is another problem. This also applies when the CEL is always on, unless you go check for errors you don't know when faults start adding up. The 3.0l is a pretty reliable engine so it's not like 2.7t where you might have a CEL on so much that it burns out the cluster bulb. I typically scan for errors once a month via my OBDeleven, but I really like to keep my car running as problem free as possible.

That all said, I know the current battle on the B8 S4 platform has been IE vs 034, but as of lately I've heard more good things from from 034 customers than IE. Also I've really enjoyed the transparency and info 034 offers on their Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/034motorsport/videos

I'm going to reach out to them to make sure they offer a "test pipe" tune, and hopefully in the coming months make this CEL go away. If you run 034, please comment on your thoughts. Thanks all!

Today is the day I get my S4 back. Michael at Apex Performance and Fabrication (also found on Facebook here) just sent me these pictures last night.... and all I can say is WOW, just amazing work. If you live in the PNW and need exhaust or other fabrication (they do lots of stuff) I certainly recommend this place.  

• Catalytic Converters used: MagnaFlow 53956 (affiliate link)

My initial thoughts of the sound? Yes it has some rasp, but the more I drive the more that seems to go away. So far I think I've put many 100-200 miles on it (video is showing zero miles) since I got the car back and every heat cycle the tone has gotten lower and less raspy. I will say this is much louder then before, I'm a little undecided if I like it or if I need to add some resonators back to it. Likely in a month or so we will have true idea of the sound and a update video to follow. Subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

 - Amazon affiliate links were used in this post