What’s INSIDE a RESONATOR??? ONE THING surprised me!

Let's cut open a PERFECTLY good resonator and see what is inside. With this visual, I hope to help people get a better understanding of how both resonators are constructed, but also how they work.
Check out the links below for some quality resonators to add to your system!
Some links provided are affiliate links. Purchasing through the provided affiliate links may result in this channel earning a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Links may include Amazon affiliate links or eBay Partner Network links. Thank you for your support.
Vibrant Bottle Resonator: amzn.to/3atutSX
Vibrant UltraQuiet: amzn.to/3p3Vi4f
FlowMaster FlowFX: amzn.to/3nxFo1R
Borla Pro XS: amzn.to/3apiGoT

[@gyaboygg9586]

Just asked you about resonators on another video and 30 mins later u drop this vid!! Number 1 channel on vq’s for sure

[@Based_F22]

So crazy because yesterday I found out the metal mesh(best guess) inside my Borla X-pipe vibrates sometimes at a certain frequency. Then he uploads this today😂. This dude reads minds I swear!

[@pc6336]

Very good video, thank you for sacrificing the part and time for the display!!

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Definitely worth it!!

[@Jose.r47]

Great giveaways! And great video as well!🔥🙏

[@LayzeLyfe]

Cool vid. Now you can use the perferated core as a small fire container.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Ah interesting

[@emsea7279]

Thanks for sharing

[@tinypurplefishesrunlaughin8052]

The early 65 - 66 Ford Thunderbird resonator is both low profile and large and I bet it’s built better too. It was often used on rods that needed to tuck neat exhaust systems without compromising flow but used as the only sound suppression with no actual muffler.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Very interesting!!

[@tinypurplefishesrunlaughin8052]

@@SpeedCultureStudios yep sometimes mounted directly after headers on early Camaro hot rods.

[@L35inColorado]

Cool!

[@GettingthruLife]

answer is: primarily sound deadening material like old school home attic insulation. I've been repacking my 2-stroke dirtbike mufflers since the 1980's.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

That’s correct ! I’ve explained this in earlier vids, but thought I’d go ahead and cut one open for people today.

[@robbyrob8349]

That old lady’s hair material looks like Don King got stuck through the exhaust pipe😁

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

😂

[@jackmorrison5875]

Gettin itchy just watching you pull the material out. Lol

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

😂

[@ThungStudios]

spoiler: they're glasspacks (some also wool packed - like this one). The N1 Style mufflers/fart cans that all us JDM vros like to use are also straight-thru glass/wool packs. Some use continuous long fibers- like the $300 Tomei mufflers- and others fragmented fibers- like the $20 cherry bombs you get at autozone. The other main factors are just the amount of glass/wool, and the perforation of the core (how many small holes are punched in it, and how large each of them are). The type of fiber mainly affects the life span, and the amount of fiber/shape of the body are what change the sound. It would be interesting to compare a $70-100 vibrant resonator to a $20-30 cherry bomb around the same size/shape (most of each are bottle-shaped), and see the difference in sound. Edit: btw, this is all based on research I've done and the manufacturer themselves. I believe Vibrant mostly just vaguely says they use "advanced sound absorption materials" (or something like that), while brands like Tomei, Tanabe, and HKS are all pretty open that they use fiber glass/wool packing

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Cherry bombs and what are normally referred to as glass packs have a different core compared to resonators like these vibrants and others like flowFX and upower etc. Rather than these small perforations/holes drilled throughout the core, they have what are essentially louvers that “grab” the exhaust flow and direct it to the packing. This is where you get that weird clapping noise that squat boys love so much.

[@ThungStudios]

@@SpeedCultureStudios I thought they got rid of the louvres? I saw people talk about and show them on the original cherry bombs, but I think they caused too many performance issues, so they switched to a smooth perforated core. It's hard to find good pictures, but if you go on Amazon reviews on their Cherry Bomb listings people show the insides and they look smooth, whereas pictures on google of the original ones have all the crazy looking louvres

[@ThungStudios]

​@@SpeedCultureStudios I was tempted to go to Autozone and buy a couple to do the experiment myself, but eh... I just got a Magnaflow Resonated X-Pipe, with a perforated X-Pipe core surrounded by fiberglass (maybe wool too, not sure. I heard in forums it's fiberglass). I believe Motordyne uses a similar thing in their exhausts, but it's basicallyhalf normal Y-pipe to a resonated Y-pipe muffler instead.

[@ryancalhoun4671]

@@ThungStudios Cherry bombs doesn't use louvers. They might've at some point, but I bought some 2-3 years ago and it's a perforated core. Magnaflow is the same thing, just costs more.

[@fleichy6425]

i love u man

[@BoostInMotion]

I like this

[@Wavy_be_mxbbin]

oh hello boost

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Something a little different!

[@sloww_q50]

@@SpeedCultureStudios will you ever do a video of your exhaust by putting a camera on the rear bumper to hear your exhaust. I recently did your scs catback exhaust and I’m experiencing a little rattle at higher rpms and at low rpms sound good

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

@@sloww_q50 I have a few videos with the rear camera and several with the car doing drive bys

[@kambyoformamotovlog1556]

Thanks for breaking those resonator for us.. now I have an idea what is inside of them. I have just bought a resonator 10inc short stem avanza from asian brand and planing to put it on a motorcycle. I don't know if will make a difference.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

I’d be interested to hear that!

[@zahari_s_stoyanov]

AFAIK, these tend to collect water(if they never heat up enough) and the perforated core rusts out, thus allowing the wool and fiberglass to fall out

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

The only way they wouldn’t heat up enough would be if you start the car and let it idle for 10 minutes and shut it off. This happens in corvettes for example where people like to start the car up in the garage during the winter because they think it’s good to keep fluids running through it but it doesn’t heat the exhaust enough to burn off the condensation. Other than that I have never had a quality resonator fail-and I’ve used MANY

[@tutuy-mm2be]

Great video! I'm on full exhaust on my civic 8th with 2" pipes. It drones so bad at around 2k rpm. Already have one 18" resonator in the middle and another 12" right before the muffler. And currently using an s-type copy muffler (its a bit S-shaped on inside and not straight through). I used to have freeflow but changed to that s-type but almost no changes on the drone level. There's also some noticeable vibration when accelerating at the rear panel where the speakers are located. Any ideas how to eliminate or at least lessen drone? Do I need to go fully chambered muffler? How many chambers? Replace resonator(s)? Place some sound deadening stuff on the trunk?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

I would start with adding some sound deadening material. It's much cheaper than adding resonators or swapping mufflers. A lot of drone just comes from vibration in body panels. If you tap around in the trunk area or under the back seats, you will hear how hallow the areas are, which can cause drone. A little sound deadener goes a long way!

[@tutuy-mm2be]

@@SpeedCultureStudios appreciate the response. Sound deadening was actually what I was really considering. However I must say they ain't cheap in my country. I have found one that's cheaper but I'm hesitant as it might not be as effective. They only use acousti pads (the one that's like chrome/silver). Do you think that would be helpful enough in my drone issue inside the cabin?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

@@tutuy-mm2be look up Noico It is a brand of adhesive time deadener with a foil backing.

[@bilaltariq7819]

I've got a weird open ended question: do you know of or have any idea how you could convert this style of resonator to a valved/bypass system? i.e. switch between silenced and unsilenced. I have a single long resonator and no space near it to run a parallel pipe and need to somehow have it electronically controllable. Open to any suggestions

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Other than electronic cutouts and just having them dump I’m not sure what you could do.

[@bilaltariq7819]

​@@SpeedCultureStudios Thanks for the reply, at the moment my idea is to redesign the inner punched hole tube so that I have one outer tube and one inner tube that can rotate to cover the holes of the outer tube. I'm not sure what design of holes/strips would be best yet, I was thinking maybe square holes for both. Then at each end, I'd put a slide pin on the inner tube to limit it's movement so in one direction the two tubes would cover eachother sufficiently to stop the sound waves from reaching the insulating material. I'd add an additional fine mesh just to stop the material falling into the inner tubes. The other option is to fabricate a much longer but thinner resonator than I already have (the one I have is already about a metre long) and then maybe I could run two pipes next to eachother with a traditional butterfly valve to switch the path of the exhaust. I'll keep working on this, make a CAD model to show the mechanism and hopefully make a prototype to see if it's feasible and works as intended.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

@@bilaltariq7819 oh wow you’re talking like serious custom setup. I really like the idea! Sounds quite complex but I’d love to see the project completed!

[@JohnSmith-td9pp]

That is a cool idea. A more simple solution would be a second pipe in parallel with the resonator and an electric cutout to switch between the two. I usually have complex ideas like yours though. Need a cad job?

[@guava24k96]

Just ordered the borla dual inlet dual out. It came in pretty bad shape and also is it supposed to have a hole in the middle when you look inside . Looks like someone pried mines open

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

That's terrible! They will replace it for you--just let them know!

[@AM-vn1tf]

Got a small resonator a while ago, car does shoot flames and exhaust started having a tinny metal sound every time I step on gas. Could this be a blown / worn out resonator?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Yes indeed

[@eze8024]

I've always heard people say resonators help get rid of drone, but do they do anything to sound volume?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Small ones won’t impact volume at all. Larger ones can tone down the weird frequencies, which can make it sound a bit quieter.

[@jamesg8246]

Definitely. When we installed a large straight through design one like in this video it deeoend the tone, killed the drone and definitely made it a touch quieter.

[@vroomvroom6066]

That old person's hair looks like Don King's hair when he got sucked into the engine and got stuck on his way out the exhaust pipe lol.

[@Nexuses_]

Winning the giveaway would be nice

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

totally! I wish I could win it!

[@BigSouthOutdoorsTV]

Just seeing your video. Great info but, from what I saw, a "resonator" is really nothing more than a fancy glass pack. Only difference I saw was the resonator has the steel wool like material where a old fashioned glassack doesn't. Wouldn't a glasspack have the same effect? Being they're similar in construction, I would think so.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

A glass pack is a resonator, but not all resonators are glass packs-if you see what I mean. Glass packs often have louvered cores. The result is that “clapping” noise you hear in squatted trucks.

[@162mikey]

What's up bro. I have a random question. Do you think of we swap our top screens with a 2015 top screen we can add an android unit to it? Thanks in advance.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

There is probably a way to do it, but this kind of stuff is beyond me lol. I've never been an electronics guy so I really can't say for sure. But there are definitely clever people out there when it comes to this kind of stuff, which is why I say it could probably be done. Sorry I can't be more help!

[@162mikey]

@@SpeedCultureStudios yeah I know electronics can be tricky. I might pull the trigger and give it a try. Thanks bro! Waiting on that brake upgrade video!

[@milenkogt]

What resonator brand was this that you cut open?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Vibrant

[@marc-doodyvivatotency3451]

Did Saturn ion don't come with no converter?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Is it electric?

[@marc-doodyvivatotency3451]

@@SpeedCultureStudios no electric

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

@@marc-doodyvivatotency3451 I’m sure there is a cat. Probably built into the exhaust manifold

[@411knowledge]

which exact brand and model# is this resonator?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

I could not tell you the specifics at this point. This unit was a couple of years old already at the point of filming this video. Something I can help you with?

[@RaJahDathurr]

Can you do any research or reviews on an 02 i35 ?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Sure. That could be a fun video

[@RaJahDathurr]

@@SpeedCultureStudios I will be waiting for that day👍

[@IsaiahJONESnij]

So the borla muffler, and then two flowmaster resonators? can I get the full exhaust set all the way through?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Yes all of the exhaust is replaced

[@torvarrisevans7846]

Does deleting ur resonators for straight pipe causes loss in torque

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

No. You might notice a slight low end loss if doing a muffler delete though.

[@torvarrisevans7846]

@@SpeedCultureStudios thank u

[@torvarrisevans7846]

@@SpeedCultureStudios reason I ask because I deleted my invidia Gemini exhaust resonators for straight pipe and mainly for sound purposes which it did but it felt like I loss some low end tq

[@82brummy]

Will this rob horsepower?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Will what rob horsepower? Resonators? Resonators are free flowing. They will not negatively impact horsepower.

[@snowfall1771]

Will removing resonator make me lose performance ?

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

No

[@snowfall1771]

@@SpeedCultureStudios can the same be said for muffler ?

[@snowfall1771]

@@SpeedCultureStudios thank you for this I've been researching this the past 2 days alot

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

@@snowfall1771 many have noticed a loss in low end torque with a muffler delete

[@snowfall1771]

@@SpeedCultureStudios so maybe if I leave the resonator off an install a magnaflow muffler I should be good to go ?

[@Hondacbr600rrish]

It's like a big silencer for a rocket launcher lol 😆

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

haha pretty much

[@jd2931]

I don't see anything different inside resonator then inside of a MagnaFlow muffler

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

That’s right. A lot of performance mufflers are just large resonators like this.

[@mattford4736]

I want to know what is in a stock resonator. I know what's in a glasspack.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

A glasspack is a resonator. It’s just a different style. And a factory resonator has the same thing inside as this vibrant resonator. “Resonators” have these perforated cores, while glasspacks basically have louvered cores-see cherry bomb. The amount and ratio of each packing material can vary from one style, version, and/or brand, but the contents are basically the same.

[@the7cantlose]

You'd think they'd place the gap in the insulation over the welded non-perforated section of the core. Then again, these are made as fast as possible and less than $150 each right? Can't profit if they spend hours on these lol.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

That’s right

[@anthonywalls3281]

It looks just like a glass pack muffler like a cherry bomb or any of them.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Sort of. glass packs/cherry bombs have louvered cores that pull the exhaust up into the packing material. They can restrict flow a bit, but also tend to give vehicles that clapping sound like a squatted truck. But they are essentially the same thing--at least the same concept.

[@anthonywalls3281]

@@SpeedCultureStudios okay learn something new everyday thank you. 👍👍

[@daos3300]

that's a glasspack.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

It’s technically “packed with glass” but glass packs typically have the louvered cores, giving them a unique tone. Resonators have a perforated core.

[@daos3300]

@@SpeedCultureStudios all the glass packs i've seen have perforated cores. not saying every single one is the same, but it's still a glass pack, in this case being used as a resonator together with another muffler.

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

@@daos3300 it’s all semantics. A glass pack is a resonator is a muffler. It’s like a square vs rectangle. A square is technically a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square. This was a vibrant resonator. Not a glass pack

[@fahd61841]

Gg

[@skipperball6496]

All that is is a glass pack muffler

[@SpeedCultureStudios]

Glass packs do not generally have a perforated core-they have the louvered core, but very close to the same thing yes.