14 Best Exhaust For Mk7 Gti (2023 Updated)

Installed Borla Catback on 2016 GTI, very pleased with the appearance, and sound. The install was straight forward and fits perfectly, filling out the exhaust cutout in the rear valance completely. The sound at start-up is very nice and deep and clearly shows it is not a factory exhaust.

Once warmed up it is extremely quite in the cabin unless you are under hard acceleration when you hear a very nice deep tone. Outside the car you hear a great tone that doesn’t intrude the cabin. Great System.

the exhaust sounds great, subtle when your cursing but has a nice bit when you step on it. Installed it in 30 min with a lift and didn’t even have to use the instruction. It came with a hat and 2 extra “borla” stickers so thats a cool plus.

Definitely recommend but do not get of you want something extremely loud. worth the money.

This is exhaust provides a good amount of sound to the MK7 GTI, provides some crackles and pops as well. Not as dramatic as some you tube videos make it seem like, but a perfect amount I would say. No fitment issues at all! Only took 30 mins to have installed at a local exhaust shop.

Highly recommend for someone that has a MK7 and wants more sound out of the exhaust!.

I have a 2016 MK7 GTI DSG EQT Stage 2 (no crackle tune) – CTS catted downpipe w/ Xforce Varex Catback and res delete, (and many other mods) -INSTALL was super easy, even running the wire to the trunk was a piece of cake, make sure to get some zip ties.

Cool that it comes with the resonator and the resonator delete piping. -VALVE only works with the remote, you can’t make it open and close by selecting Sport or Comfort modes unless you purchase a separate module specifically for that from Xforce.

The only complaint is on the remote buttons are marked “A” and “B”. It’s confusing when you’re driving because you forget which one opens and closes. Should be marked as “O” and “C”. Also you have to press AND HOLD the buttons to fully open/close the valve.

Clicking it a few times will only open/close it slightly every click you make. My exhaust didn’t come with directions. *SOUND* is incredible. Honestly is so dang quiet with the valves closed it passes the “grandma” test 10/10, sounds just like stock.

Valve open it’s very throaty, crisp, it sounds incredible. It is plenty loud with the res delete, you get the DSG blips when shifting, the exhaust promotes these very slight burbles at under 2K rpm’s at parking lot speed, it’s nothing crazy but it sounds so good.

The longer you have the exhaust, the throatier it gets as it breaks in. When you floor it on the freeway and shift while passing someone to get that loud DSG blip, it’s great, tunnels impress me every time, and I can’t get enough of the sound even after a year.

Highly recommend, the valves open vs closed is night and day, its perfect. It can turn heads with valves open. *DRONE* happens around 2400 rmp in higher gears under load until about 3100 rmp only with the valves open.

It is nothing unbearable and you can control the drone by shifting yourself or by closing the valve, tada. You can live with the drone every day with no problem. With the valve closed, there is no drone whatsoever, it’s really really quiet and seriously exactly like stock.

-QUALITY is great. Welds are great, it fits all the hangers just fine, it’s heavier than I thought, not really sure there are any weight savings here. Wish the exhaust tips were 4″ single wall, carbon makes these dirty all the time.

It is hard to know how to review this. I have it on and working and with the MAP Catted Downpipe and Resonated, Valved Exhaust it sounds incredible. A little louder than with just the downpipe, but way deeper and more throaty.

The reasons for taking off a star (thought about taking 2, but I’m still happy with my purchase so only took away 1). It does not fit perfect. As others have said, the pipe that connects to the fownpipe had to be trimmed by an inch or two to fit.

I am also having the hardest time getting the part behind the muffler to not rub against the subframe and rattle. It will be fine until under load and then it rubs and rattles. I’ve adjusted it 3 times so far and gotten it better, but still struggling to get it where it doesn’t rattle at all.

I’m sure with more tweaking I will get it where I need it. Second thing is the varex muffler. They don’t advertise it, but apparently they do not intend for you to drive all the time with the valved close.

If you drive with the valved closed at full throttle you get a weird whistling noise. Upon researching, people have found that the intention is for the valve to only be closed under 30mph or under light/partial throttle.

It’s not a huge issue as I love the sound with the valve open, just seems odd they don’t list that up front so you are aware before you purchase. All that being said, I would still purchase again. If you want it quiet (valve closed) you probably aren’t driving that hard anyway.

driving hard, you’ll want to hear it with the valve open. The slight fitment issues I think I can solve by tweaking a little more, and the sound (and look of the tips) is awesome so, no complaints there at all.

Just understand the limitations of this exhaust. For the value you are getting, this exhaust is hard to beat.

First of all, big shout out to Summit Racing, the shipping speed was incredible! Ordered this exhaust after many beers and hours of research on a Saturday night, it was shipped on Monday, and I had it at my door on Tuesday.

I’m extremely happy with Summit Racing, and I’ll definitely be ordering everything I can from you guys moving forward. Regarding the exhaust system itself, it looks to be a quality system for the price.

I was looking for a variable exhaust, something that would allow me to go from mild to wild with the push of a button, and I stumbled upon Xforce and their Varex electronically actuated mufflers. Seeing as the next valved exhaust candidate was over double the price of the Xforce, I decided to give it a shot, and I’m very glad I did, because this was exactly what I was looking for.

I took everything to my trusted exhaust shop, Warner’s Muffler, and had the system installed to my exact specs. I went with the straight pipe instead of the resonator, and man, it’s LOUD! It might be too loud for some, but I really like it.

I absolutely love the ability to go from a 3″ straight pipe to barely audible exhaust with just the touch of a button. When leaving for work super early in the morning, I close the valve so I don’t wake any of my neighbors, then I open it on the freeway.

The system is surprisingly bassy; I did not expect such a deep tone from my 2. 0T; my GTI sounds possessed. Even light stabs at the throttle sound evil (I do have a little something extra coming off the turbo into this exhaust *wink*).

At around 3-4K rpms, it’s insanely loud, and it does drone and reverberate through the cabin pretty intensely, so be mindful of that if you’re sensitive to NVH. It’s actually what some would consider obnoxiously loud with the valve fully opened, but if you’re a car guy, you’ll certainly appreciate the sounds your car makes with this system in straight pipe mode.

What were once DSG farts are now full-on cracks on upshifts, and the downshifts sound nice and aggressive. This exhaust has amplified my driving experience by a considerable amount; it’s definitely what was missing.

The awesome part is that if you get tired of ripping around with an open exhaust (slap yourself!), you can dial it back by modulating the position of the butterfly valve. With the valve fully closed, it seems like it may even be quieter than stock, although it maintains that bassy background tone.

The difference between valve opened and closed is shocking! One thing to keep in mind: I see some reviewers giving this exhaust a bad review because with the valve closed the exhaust makes “air rushing” noises.

It only does this if you get on it with the valve closed, which isn’t a very good idea since the exhaust gas pathway is impeded, creating back pressure and the resulting air whooshing sounds as you work your turbo extra hard to force the exhaust gases through the restrictive muffler.

If you’re getting on it with the valve closed, you’re missing the whole point of the exhaust, and you might be short a few brain cells. If you drive the car chill, or even just normally with the valve closed, you don’t get much, if any, of the air rushing sound, and instead you get something close to a Prius mode, as in “nothing to see (or hear) here.

” *wink* To summarize, this is an awesome exhaust system–good quality, bolt-on, great tone and sounds, amazing functionality–I highly recommend it. If you know your intent, and you “get it,” then get it.

If you “don’t get it,” and are likely to get frustrated when using it incorrectly, don’t get it. Overall, this exhaust is 5 stars out of 5 for me.

This exhaust is very tamed when cruising and gets loud when you floor it. It definitely changed the tone from my oem exhaust w/ a muffler delete and got rid on that drone between 2-3k rpm. Installation was simple and took about 30 min upon the vehicle being on jacks.

I have this exhaust paired up to a cts catted DP and it’s quiet on idle. Must cop if you want to change your oem exhaust!.

Sounds fantastic and arrived quickly, but I had lots of issues. The exhaust itself seemed to have been manufactured badly, because not only did the exhaust not reach the downpipe, but one pipe was shorter than the other at the end of the car.

I ended up taking it to a shop to have them weld extra piping to make it reach the downpipe and stuck one tip out farther than the other to make it look even. Would give less stars if not for the sound.

Exhaust sounds great adds a nice deep tone cleaned up a lot of the rasp I didn’t like when it was just a down pipe. however one of the slits on the piece that has the mufflers was bent. The mid pipe wasn’t nearly long enough to mate up to my cts downpipe so if you have an aftermarket down pipe be mindful of that.

I received 3 exhaust clamps so I was able to put the exhaust together but need to go buy an additional two so I can put the tips on.

I was seeking an exhaust with great tone and have a quality look and build. I have been more then pleased with my recent purchase. This exhaust has a nice deep tone that is present when you want it to be and not when you don’t.

Highway cruising and idling it purrs. While under load/exceleration it is deep and not offensive. Installation was straightforward and fairly simple. Two people is quite helpful. Fitment, perfect. Couldn’t be happier.

I’m sure I’m one of many happy BORLA customers.

I was initially a little disappointed at two things when I first attached this part to my ’12 GTI. First they use a sleeve to connect 2 same diameter tube together. I think it’s a dumb design but it’s something you’d have to deal with for any aftermarket exhaust.

The second issue was the the tone of the exhaust at around 2800 rpm would get a little buzzy for the first week or so but now that it’s a little broken in, it sounds better every day.

I honestly wanted something that wouldn’t tick my neighbors off in the mornings. I also however wanted to hear my car open up when I let loose. What sold me on this exhaust was in fact the reviews! The price is a little high.

Honestly, after buying it, and installing it. I can say it was 100% the money. Its not super loud. Don’t expect much of a gain in power. We all know that a catback is just for looks, and sound. I paired this with a Unitronic intake.

The unitronic intake actually made my exhaust get a little louder and I love it. At about 700 – 1100 Rpm its a very suttle, but agressive deep sound. At 1500 – 2500 RPM you can hardly hear it. Which makes it great at high way speeds and going through neighborhoods at night.

When you go above 3500 boy it lights up. Its absolutely amazing. Im planing on getting a Unitronic down pipe here soon. Hoping it will make it just a little louder when opening up. All in all an amazing exhaust for a fun daily driver.

Or a sleeper.

I had this installed at my VW specialist shop. They had zero issues and noted it didn’t need any tinkering to get it to fit correctly. Driving after the install. Exactly what I was looking for in noise.

A definite change intone and a little more noise but not a cart box noise. Cruising at highway speeds has the faintest drone when letting off the gas but it’s only noticeable with music set to low. The Jackal and Hyde slogan the company used is pretty accurate.

This product was designed for a MK6 GTI. However, this system mounts perfectly on a Beetle!! All mounting points and hangers are exactly in the in same positions. Great sound and perfect fit!

I had a DB Performance by Corsa on this truck and it was just too loud for me. Before that I had two different Magnflow mufflers welded into the stock system. They both drowned terribly. But sounded great.

The DB was not as deep a tone as I was looking for. I ordered this and it was at my house 4 days later. I installed it this morning and honestly I can’t believe how much better it went together than the DB.

I had to fix all the openings on the DB as every one was dented. Not on the Borla. Everything went together amazingly well. Install took me only about 45 minutes working on the ground with hand tools and a cordless impact driver.

This system is top notch quality. Fit was perfect for my truck. The sound is exactly what I was looking for. Deeper rumble but quieter in the neighborhood. It when you punch the gas I opens up! You can just barely hear it in the cab, but no drone on the highway at 70.

May be too quiet for some folks but for me it was the perfect choice. Thanks Stage3!!!.

It’s always tricky buying an exhaust system based on sound clips and reviews, but I took a chance with this system based on some of the things I read about it being for the ‘sleeper crowd’. This is my daily driver, and although it’s a supercharged 5.

0 crew cab F150 I like it to draw minimal attention and also not annoy my neighbors when I leave the house at 5 AM for work. For those reasons I went with the touring level exhaust from Borla. Honestly to me it’s perfect, the black chrome tips look great and there’s a nice little bark upon start up but no heavy drone or obnoxious sound at idle or cruising speed.

However when you want to open it up this thing screams just enough to let people know it’s definitely not stock. If you want a healthy sounding exhaust note but don’t want to hear obnoxious drony noises when you’re stuck in traffic then this is the system for you.

great exhaust system, i love the sound , not to loud and absolutely no drone inside the cabin. the welds look good quality and the exhaust tips look amazing. The only bad part about this exhaust system: if you don’t buy the awe downpipe, you will have a hard time installing this as the lengths of the aftermarket’s downpipes are different.

This is a quality exhaust. With the stock down-pipe, the track edition is not excessively loud as many people have said. It’s just the right amount of sound increase I was looking for. Wait a few hundred miles before judging the sound as well.

It settled in nicely after breaking in. The tips look great. This picture is before I got them perfectly aligned, which is possible with some patience, and minor tweaking. Very happy, and my kids enjoyed the blow pop included with the tips.

5/5 because this system sounds incredible, exactly the sound I was hoping for. I went with the Touring Edition and paired it with an ARM Motorsports catted downpipe. The sound is deep and rich. Under hard acceleration, it has a beautifully aggressive tone without being obnoxious.

I am beyond satisfied with how good this system sounds on my Mk7. 5 GTI. Within 5 minutes of driving around after having the system installed, a guy in a WRX rolled up next to me, threw out a big ol’ thumbs-up, and yelled, “sounds awesome!”.

And as we know, WRX drivers mostly only compliment each other, so that’s saying something. I do, however, seem to be one of a few people who have had fitment issues with this system. I had an auto shop install this for me since I recently moved to a big city and no longer have my own garage.

They said the AWE system came up about 2-3 inches short where it should meet up with the downpipe. Fortunately, they had no problem welding on an extra bit to make it fit properly, but that’s definitely not something I’d be able to do if I had installed this on my own.

The fitment issue ended up being a very easy fix for me and because it sounds so good, I still give it 5 stars. Just a word to the wise, there does seem to be the occasional problem fitting this system.

Once you get it all hooked up though, again the sound is perfect, at least to my ears. Also, the chrome tips look awesome.

Great exhaust set up! Have this paired with an Integrated Engineering downpipe and exactly what I’m looking for. Not obnoxious and no drone on the highway! Wish it was a tad bit louder but think it has to do with the IE downpipe.

On other cars with the same exhaust but different downpipes its sounds excellent!.

Great exhaust and it takes 500 miles or so to really break it in To get a true sound which is normal, but there was a 10 or so inch gap that they blamed on my Downpipe but it’s the same length as stock so I don’t see how that makes sense but other than that it fits good and the chrome tips are way better than the black, black looks cheap in person I’ve seen them.

This exhaust brings out the very best sound in my mk6 gti. The whole install only took an hour and a half. Mostly because of the clamp bolts were giving me a tough time. The hangers fit perfectly on the flanges as well.

The tips look amazing, shiny with the COBB logo etched on them look fantastic! The sound is just perfect, a deep gurgling growl that really has a jackal and hyde personality when you step on the gas.

It is louder than stock, but not too loud that will give you a headache. Just PERFECT for a daily driver. I was able to put the adapter piece on because i have the stock downpipe and it fit perfect. No leaks, no loose parts.

Overall this is a ten out of ten buy. Would recommend to anyone!.

For Christmas, I surprised my husband with a new exhaust for his car. Purchasing this item was beyond easy and the staff I worked with was absolutely astonishing. I purchased this with 10 days left till Christmas and Received it 2 days later.

Thank y’all so much for the wonderful experience. I will be surprising my husband with more parts soon from here. With these pictures you know he was happy.

I’m very impressed with the Cobb Cat-Back Exhaust. The construction quality is obvious by the appearance of the welds, fitment of the flanges and attention to details (polished muffler, laser engraved name plate and tips).

Installation was easy with simple hand tools. The exhaust note is not obnoxiously loud – just loud enough that to know it isn’t stock. And it looks great! Very happy with my purchase and highly recommended.