Soundaktor

[46neil]

What's Odis self-diagnostics? Can I do it or does it need to go back to dealer?

Hi everyone, I hope this helps, I have just disconnected the Sound Actuator on my 5 day old MK7 GTI,

this is how I did it, open the bonnet and look at the plastic cover (water tray) underneath the wipers, it is held in place by small metal clips,
on the passenger side, remove the 2 clips on the passenger side, and lift up the cover a little bit, you will see the Sound Actuator right in the middle of the the car, underneath the plastic cover, its a small round cylinder, remove the small round plug that is plugged into it.
This only takes about 5 minutes.
This is my first post, so I hope I have bee helpfull

[Adam84]

Hi everyone, I hope this helps, I have just disconnected the Sound Actuator on my 5 day old MK7 GTI,

this is how I did it, open the bonnet and look at the plastic cover (water tray) underneath the wipers, it is held in place by small metal clips,
on the passenger side, remove the 2 clips on the passenger side, and lift up the cover a little bit, you will see the Sound Actuator right in the middle of the the car, underneath the plastic cover, its a small round cylinder, remove the small round plug that is plugged into it.
This only takes about 5 minutes.
This is my first post, so I hope I have bee helpfull

Hey mate,

How does it sound now? Can you give us a comparison of before and after at different speeds etc?

Thanks,
Adam

[REGS12]

Thanks to neil46, I now have the silence I hankered for. The round plug he told us about was a bit hard to flick off and has now fallen away never to give any trouble I hope. The difference is like chalk and cheese, the motor now sounds as it should with none of that resonating loud induction type noise generated by the soundaktor. The car now sounds slower, which means I can sneak my foot down a little further before I hear a squawk from the driver. [I'm only the steerer] All good!

[Paul_R]

There were a few Mk6 owners who put a switch in their Soundaktor cable and ran it to one of the blanks in front of the gear stick. I think this should be a standard feature as part of the customisation setup. It would be very nice in Eco mode, or for some people just switched off all the time.
That said as the Soundaktor only amplifies engine noise and therefore has absolutely no effect on the rear muffler you will still get the crackle on over-run. Although that might be modifiable too as I think it is controlled by an electronic by-pass valve which only opens under higher revs?

What is it with all of us buying sporty cars and then trying to make them quieter? 20 years ago we were all buying cheap base models (because that's all we could afford) and doing the opposite...

[REGS12]

I agree that the soundaktor effect should be optional.
Many years ago we had cars with tiny restricted exhausts. We fitted a nice free flowing system to improve performance with the side benefit of a nice note that could be heard by other people, and with the window down and head hanging out. We never tried to make our cars noisy inside.
Anyway, my GTI now sounds as a superb car that it is should.

[Mk7GTi]

Is this worth doing ? Can you hear the turbo whine when it's removed ? I'm used to hearing that from my old XR6 Turbo but can't hear it at all on the GTi. All I can hear is the fake Subaru flat-four sound from the Soundaktor.

I removed the two clips today but there doesn't seem much room to get you hand under the water tray without possibly breaking it. I don't feel like removing the wipers to take the whole tray off either. Not even sure if I'm seeing the right connector, is it the small one on the RHS of the Soundaktor ?

If anyone has photos that would be great.

[46neil]

Hi

the water tray is in 2 halves, so you won't need to remove the wipers, to remove the passenger side water tray,
and you won't break the water tray, just slip your hand in and unplug the round connector, mine unplugged very easily.
I can't comment, on the before and after, as I disconnect mine only after a few days, not having pushed the engine.

cheers Neil

[Mk7GTi]

Thanks Neil, so that's would be the small connector on the right of the Soundaktor ? I only had a quick look in my "not so well lit" garage so may not have seen it correctly (can't remember what shape it actually was)

[Adam84]

Hi guys,

I disconnected mine last night and took the car for a spin afterwards.

I wasn't overly impressed with the result. While the engine was quieter it seemed to magnify the suspension and road noise instead. For me the jury is still out.

Disconnecting and reconnecting is simple enough though - follow the steps listed by others above. If you have difficulty removing the plug I suggest using a screwdriver to push down the top of the plug and it simply slips out beneath.

[46neil]

Hi,

the Soundaktor only creates an artificial engine noise, its not the engine you are hearing from it. So now you are hearing the real noises that the car makes, on the subject of road noise, I am considering Yogohama decibel, V551 215 45, 18in (low noise Tyres), as I hate Tyre noise.

cheers Neil