Exactly how much does an intake improve the engine tone?

[I used to vtec]

I was very fortunate to be able to get a ride in a local guy's fl5 yesterday (shout-out Chris in Tampa if you're on here). Amazing car and really helped me feel comfortable commiting a down payment on one.

Other than a somewhat firmer ride than I expected, which I'm okay with, my only real criticism of the car is the engine noise is probably the worst I have ever heard from a performance -oriented car. I watched the YouTube videos and read the reviews and it still didn't prepare me for how wimpy it sounded in person. I come from the k-series motor days of my 07 civic SI, and the FL5 was definitely a disappointment there.

I'm curious, other than making the engine louder, do intakes improve the tone much? I was less disappointed with the how quiet it was and more disappointed that it did sound like a small kitchen appliance.

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[madbikes]

Unfortunately, most turbocharged 4-cylinder does not have a great soundtrack on its own without pumped-in engine noise/soundaktor. An intake usually improve some sound, but people are still developing FL5-specific intake at this point. The temporary quick fix for now is to replace the stock air filter with a high-flow one so you can hear the turbo more.

 

[machimself]

There are FL5 intakes. K&N which I have noticeably improved sound. In the other thread about this word is the Sprint (makes the Spoon filter) sounds even better. Sprint also has a $300 one that is supposed to be 3x better than the regular $110 one!

https://www.civicxi.com/forum/threads/drop-in-k-n-filter-available-for-fl5.51414/page-4#post-854764

Enjoy!

Edit: I guess you may be asking about the exhaust sound after re-reading this? It won't help with that but the whoosh whooshes are real cool.

 

[CTRifecta]

No Forced induction 4cyl with integrated exhaust manifolds sound great in my opinion. All very bland.. drop in filter might help and is very cost effective though.

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