2TR-FE (4 Cylinder) Improving Sound

First off, I am a big fan of the third gen, and am really digging my truck, but one mod I would like to move forward with is engine noise/sound.

My previous vehicle, a Saab 900 with a 4 cylinder turbo, absolutely purred and sounded amazing, so I know four cylinders can sound good.

This truck, on the other hand, sounds like a silenced vacuum cleaner, even with the throttle wide open.

Does anyone have any recommendations for hearing the engine a little more? A muffler seems like an obvious change. To restate, Im not really looking for performance improvements per se, just for this engine to be louder, and less restrained.

 

Some cold air intakes really improve the engine sound inside the cab.

 

I should say I am wary of getting rid of the stock air filter, as its my understanding that the filters on the aftermarket intakes do not filter contaminants as well.

 

New motors aren't designed to be loud and noisy, they are engineered to be quiet

 

yeah, I mean i get that, and I would like to change that.

 

Well an intake or exhaust will help but still won't make it sound like a old cammed big block. I don't know what else your expecting

 

Blower

 

Yeah I dont need anything like that - my 2.0L 1992 Saab turbo 4 cylinder burbled at idle, and would growl at 4-5K. Thats what I want, if a swedish car engine designed based on a 1950s design with 200K miles and a 5K redline (admittedly a triumph design) can sound good, I would think this motor could too.

I just want a bit of growl, and be able to tell the difference when Im at 5K versus 2K- Im not looking for anything crazy.

 

I don't think you understand... Good luck

 

Muffler and/or catback is your best bet, check out the 4 cylinder thread for exhaust soundclips and see which one sounds appealing to you.

 

What you're probably looking for is a good intake 'burr' but what made the saab sound good was the turbo. Turbo's have the ability to chop up the exhaust note and tone it down. Making it sound all around better.

 

Interesting, had no idea on that. And yeah thats exactly what Im looking for.

If I had 5K and some change laying around that URD forced induction system would be ordered.

Ha guess Ill have to settle for a K+N at the expense of sucking a bunch of sand into the motor here and there.

 

so after researching a bit, seems the secondary charcoal filter delete in the airbox, as well as the resonator delete (in the fender) increase intake noise, which is partly what Im looking for - also deckplate mod may be in my future - though Im not too keen on cutting a huge hole in my airbox.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2-7-performance-air-intake.126914/