CORSA vs AWE Catback Exhaust

[tallguyinataco]

Hey everyone! I’ve been going back and forth for a while on what exhaust system to get. I know a lot of people have opinions on installing an exhaust on a 4 cyl…

All I have seen so far is videos from YouTube on both the Corsa and AWE products. From what I can tell Corsa provides deep loud tones but may have some droning issues; while the AWE is sort of a trade off for tone with lack of drone in the cabin while driving. Looking to see if anyone who has either of these systems could give some helpful feedback to assist in my decision making. Right now I’m leaning towards Corsa just because the tone is closer to what I’m used to hearing on my old vehicle, but I could sway either direction.

Also if there are any other products you think I should consider in addition to these two please feel free to recommend!

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[Bravada]

I have the AWE, it drones at certain RPM's, I've got Corsa on my Corvette, it can drone too. So I'm not sure you are going to find a drone free system. That said I love the sound of the AWE, I wouldn't have it any other way. I intentionally was willing to suffer a little drone for a louder aggressive exhaust.

I do have an alternative thought, the Toyota axle dump or SXTH Element Off-Road Trail Pipe goes in behind the muffler, eliminating the resonator. That could be less to no drone, but not the loudness or tone of the aftermarket exhaust. Something I wish I had tried first, just to see if it scratched that itch, before I decided to go down the path of Overland Tailor Tuning.

If however you are going to do a tune to your truck, it would be better to go with AWE or Corsa just to better accommodate a tune, or other upgrades like intake, intercooler, charge pipes, and turbo.

 

[MERAKIAUTOWORKS]

We do sell a lot more of the AWE than the Corsa for the Tacoma.

-Josh

 

[Panda Motorworks]

As far as exhausts go, AWE is our best selling Tacoma exhaust. We also carry MagnaFlow, aFe, and the Cobb. If you need help choosing or ordering, let us know and we can certainly assist!

https://www.pandamotorworks.com/collections/tacoma-exhaust

 

[tipsyjam]

TL;DR - went stock (duh), TRD, AWE, Tanabe, and TRD again. No experience with Corsa. TRD is my current exhaust and i love it. AWE was lots of fun but not to my taste or living situation in the end. Will not get anything that is similar personally. Tanabe is my preferred non-OEM exhaust if TRD needs replacing in the future.

Drone:
I am willing to bet that all other exhausts aside from completely stock will drone to some extent as it was in my experience. Recommend to turn off your cabin ANC and ESE if droning is bad to see if it helps. Also, I haven't found any youtube videos that really do the sounds justice for any of them, unfortunately. Just not enough audio or sensory information in the videos. For example, you can't feel the exhaust tones through a video unless you got a full audiophile speaker setup in my opinion. Need the full frequency response and subs moving enough air for you to feel the bass tones. Even then YouTube audio is compressed. That's a discussion for another forum, though. Anyways...

Tone:
AWE is an aggressively loud, deep, rumbly, growly, snarly sound. Lots of fun. Tanabe is a deep, rumbly, electronic bass tone combo kind of sound and pretty similar to TRD just not so throaty. Very mature sound. TRD is a deep, throaty, growly type sound. Very refined to my ears, as it should be.

AWE reminds me of a loud snarling wolf with clenched teeth. TRD reminds me of a far away lion roar. Tanabe is hard to explain, but i think it takes the mid and high frequencies of the TRD, is not as throaty down low, but still has bass and I would say is bass focused. It makes me think of electronic music with bass like the newer TRON soundtrack for some reason, like if daft punk made an exhaust track.

Volume:
AWE is loudest for sure. Tanabe is like 5% louder than TRD all around but not louder than TRD at max volume. TRD is like 10-15% louder than stock and can get louder on harder acceleration. Tanabe and TRD are like 70% at max compared to AWE max volume, and I'd say less than 50% of AWE all around normal driving. Tanabe may be good for manual transmission if you like TRD tone but want it slightly louder to hear rpms better.

Driveability:
AWE and Tanabe are similar in that they are both basically straight piped 3-inch diameter tubing. Felt some pep lost in normal driving, but truck kept pulling harder right to redline when flooring and under heavy boost. TRD most responsive in normal driving, pulls pretty hard then drops off right before redline. All are noticeably better than stock in my opinion. All this is butt dyno though, so take it with a grain of salt.

Install:
AWE i didnt like the install with slip fit and band clamps. Thought the last joint is in a weird place so angle your clamps for ease of torqueing. Tanabe and TRD easy install with gaskets and fasteners. Prefab the Tanabe before lifting into place. Install Tanabe tailpipe from front of truck toward aft. Tanabe heaviest. AWE lightest. Tanabe has axle dump like trailhunter if you prefer.

Extras:
Noticeable that people would try to race me or drove aggressive around me with the AWE, even if doing normal takeoffs from a stop. Passengers would request for me to floor it so they could hear it. Tanabe has been complimented on the nice tone and deep but clean bass. Nobody notices TRD unless they are curious 4th gen owners.

__________________________
Following is based on my experience, YMMV:

Started with stock (duh), then quickly went to TRD performance twin tip tail pipe and center pipe, then got curious. Had AWE with dual tips installed for about a 6 month stretch shortly thereafter. This was following weeks of research on youtube and other social media, simar to you. Life showed me i shouldn't have the AWE, so after AWE, i went to Tanabe Revel Medallion Trail Hart for a short stint, probably a month. Life again said Tanabe not in the cards. Finally, ended up with TRD center pipe and performance dual tipped exhaust and still have it almost a year later now. No experience with Corsa, but one of my mechanic homies said he noticed that most aftermarket like this are pretty similar with only slight differences in tone and volume (e.g., AWE, corsa, borla, magnaflow, MBRP, carven, etc., are all pretty similar). Cannot personally verify the claim but can tell you my exhaust journey.

AWE -
I think the youtube videos on this one don't do the tone of it justice but do ok showing the volume of it. AWE's video is definitely the closest all around, but you miss a lot of the bassiness and rumbliness of it still in the video. Motoroso video is bass boosted for sure, but does a great volume comparison. Gotta kinda combine them to understand how it sounds.

Has a very nice and loud aggressive tone. Nice loud cold start, deep rumbly elevated volume idle, aggressive/growly/snarly on acceleration. Clearly hear shifts. Lots of laughs and requests to floor it from passengers.

I personally had droning with it if ANC and ESE was still turned on in the cab at around 2000-2500 rpm accelerating in a high gear or climbing a hill at constant-ish rpms. Never went away no matter what I did as far as driving. Had to floor it through that rpm range every time to minimize droning. Turned off ANC and ESE and it alleviated it to an extent. Turned out it was like a feedback loop with the speakers and ANC/ESE. The exhaust is so loud with no ANC that it may as well have been droning. Thought it was pretty obnoxious when driving honestly.

Seemed to lose some pep down low in regular driving, but truck seemd to enjoy the larger diameter exhaust tubing when flooring it and full boost.

Didn't like the slip fit and clamp solution for exhaust pipe sections, but this is just my opinion from my experience only. Didn't like doing double work as i messed up install of tailpipe at first. If the tips dont tuck close to the bottom of your rear bumper, or if it looks like the tips are leaning toward the ground at all, it means one of your joints is not tight enough and needs to be pushed together more. Last joint in exhaust path especially (tailpipe joint) is in pretty a weird spot - recommend putting truck on a lift if you can or having a friend assist during install to hold joints together while you torque. Angle your clamps for easy torqueing.

All around it was obnoxiously loud in my opinion and just didn’t suit my living environment or daily schedule after awhile. It is basically straight piped. That being said, I had a really good time for the 6 months I had it installed. Just loved starting the truck up and ripping around everywhere to hear the sound of it. Noticed a lot of people, especially other trucks, would try to race me or drive pretty aggressive around me even when taking off normally from a stop, which was interesting. Highly recommend if your situation allows the aggressiveness and volume of this one. Will probably be similar to all the others like it on the market.

Tanabe -
Their YouTube video is a terrible representation of this exhaust if you've never heard it in person.

Has an excellent and refined, mature tone and I will go with it again if it becomes a need based on performance upgrades in the future if TRD cannot handle. Cold start sounds good and not too loud. Deep and rumbly idle similar to AWE but significantly subdued in volume. Polite, yet still elevated volume growl on acceleration. Similar tone to TRD but less throaty. Bass focused. I hear it like an electronic mixture of bass tones like some of the newer TRON music in combination with the higher frequencies of the TRD exhaust or stock exhaust.

Similar max volume to TRD exhaust, but only slightly louder all around during normal driving if that makes sense. TRD exhaust only like 10-15% louder than stock all around but can get loud when you push it. Tanabe was maybe 20% louder than stock all around, but when pushing it, either same or slightly less volume than TRD exhaust max volume. Both Tanabe and TRD significantly less volume than AWE. I'd say max volume of both no more than 70% of AWE, but normal driving gotta be less than 50% of AWE.

Had some similar drone as the AWE drone when first installed even with ANC and ESE off, but it went away after like one week...? Not sure how that happened, but it did.

Same driving feel as AWE, which I attribute to it being same tube diameter and also being basically straight piped as well.

No problems with install since it was gasketed and fastened joints like oem so pretty easy. Can assemble most of it before hand and lift into place, however, it was significantly heavier than oem or AWE due to thickness of tubing and joint flanges so keep that in mind. Wipe down after so your fingerpints don't burn into the pipes or polished muffler. If installing tailpipe, it will go easiest if you install it from forward towards rear of truck.

Comes with axle dump tailpipe if you like that, ends up just like trailhunter stock exhaust setup.

Honestly loved this one, but sold it due to cash needs at the time. According to the guy i sold it to, it is great for manual transmission if you dont want super loud, but like TRD tone and want louder than TRD or stock to better hear rpms. Miss it sometimes, but it is in good hands. Highly recommend if need a quieter more polite and mature sound.

TRD exhaust with center pipe and twin tip tailpipe -
My favorite tone out of any I've heard in person. I could use like 10% louder all around for sure, but i think it is great as is. Definitely the quietest all around of the bunch I've tried aside from stock.

Love the cold start of the TRD still to this day. Similar growl on acceleration to awe, but the AWE has more of a snarly sound to it. TRD exhaust is a throatier sound. I think of a wolf snarling loudly and aggresively with clenched teeth for AWE, and then like a lion roaring from far away for TRD.

Felt peppier than stock with normal driving, can hold its own when flooring it but evidently is not as free flowing as AWE or Tanabe when pushing it. Acceleration rate feels like it starts to drop up top near redline when really flooring it, whereas with AWE and Tanabe, I felt like it kept pulling harder right up to redline.

Droned for me with ANC and ESE on similar to the others, but completely went away when turned off.

Easy to install (OEM).

Comparitively expensive to any aftermarket exhaust for sure.

Nicest looks and design wise in my opinion, especially if you have ARB rear bumper. The body lines just match up perfect with the exhaust tips, and no need to guess if you installed it correctly like AWE. Tanabe hangs just kinda in the general area but tucked higher than stock for sure. If you go axle dump with Tanabe though it is basically same as trailhunter at that point so cannot see it.

Long post but hope it helps. I really enjoyed and still am enjoying my exhaust journey. I am happy with the TRD exhaust and highly recommend it to others, but it really depends on what you want. If you want louder and more aggressive, the aftermarket is the answer. Corsa was my second choice based on youtube videos at the time when i got the AWE, and after hearing the AWE in person, I am willing to bet the Corsa sounds great, too. If you are leaning that way I would just try it. Would recommend to keep your stock exhaust for a bit if you decide to try another so you have something to hold you over. I made the mistake of selling my first TRD exhaust right after installing AWE, so had to recoup funds before trying again.

Also, I wouldnt listen to anyone else who says to keep it stock because it sounds bad because not V8 or V6, etc. Even V8s can sound bad if you put a bad exhaust on. Literally not their truck or their money, too, so do it if it makes you happy.

I personally love hearing upgraded exhausts on trucks except for at 3am, which is what I was doing to my family and neighbors for those very fun 6 months with the AWE and why I had to switch it once I understood. I'm now kind of stealthy with the TRD exhaust and also kind of like that. It was pretty fun to burn a 3rd gen TRD pro with a relatively silent exhaust compared to theirs. All that noise going nowhere, just like us, but definitely going nowhere slower than we can. Now to making the turbo sounds to where i want it...

 

[lauren01]

It was an exhausting read, but well worth it. Glad you are happier than in the beginning.

 

[Bravada]

Long post but hope it helps.

How long did that take to type? Totally awesome, tallguyinataco, I'm not sure your going to get a better reply than tipsyjam gave you, very thorough.

 

[tipsyjam]

How long did that take to type? Totally awesome, tallguyinataco, I'm not sure your going to get a better reply than tipsyjam gave you, very thorough.

Took almost two years!

 

[Madmez]

I have the AWE, it drones at certain RPM's, I've got Corsa on my Corvette, it can drone too. So I'm not sure you are going to find a drone free system. That said I love the sound of the AWE, I wouldn't have it any other way. I intentionally was willing to suffer a little drone for a louder aggressive exhaust.

I do have an alternative thought, the Toyota axle dump or SXTH Element Off-Road Trail Pipe goes in behind the muffler, eliminating the resonator. That could be less to no drone, but not the loudness or tone of the aftermarket exhaust. Something I wish I had tried first, just to see if it scratched that itch, before I decided to go down the path of Overland Tailor Tuning.

If however you are going to do a tune to your truck, it would be better to go with AWE or Corsa just to better accommodate a tune, or other upgrades like intake, intercooler, charge pipes, and turbo.

How's the AWE at cruising city speeds? Is it really that loud?

 

[gmalkmus]

How's the AWE at cruising city speeds? Is it really that loud?

I have the AWE, really not too loud just cruising around town, but when you romp on it, it gets a bit louder. About as loud as a stock mustang on track mode.

 

[ThatBronze4G]

How's the AWE at cruising city speeds? Is it really that loud?

been running my AWE for about a year and around town it's fairly quiet unless you get on it. also in sport mode or manual mode, occasionally the exhaust will pop between 2500 and 3000 rpm. it's quiet when it needs to be but also pretty rowdy when pushing it.

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