turn downs

Hello everyone - After skiing behind an American Skiier for MANY years, I now have a 1991 Comp. It seems noisier to me than the Skiier, especially after it planes and the exhaust pipes get up out of the water, so I am considering turn downs.

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Does anyone have experience with them? Do they work? Important - will they affect the wake? My son and I both ski at 36, and he shortens the line (I don't). We have been spoiled with the small wake behind the Skiier all these years, so I do not want to increase the Comp's wake at slalom speeds.

I did read through Olivier's posts from a few years ago, but I haven't seen anything here about the turn downs yet. Any opinions will be appreciated.

Welcome to the comp world, there are plenty fans here.

I have turn downs on my Response and it is louder than my 91 comp. On plane they don't touch the water and won't affect the wake any. We are skiing 33-34 mph. My comp has a silencer coming off the risers over the tranny and is the quietest supra I've ever skied behind. It is definitely the boat to take out if it is super early. There is another on the forum with the same exhaust that says his is loud. A similar muffler could be found if your interested in less bark or have noise restrictions.

Do you have some pics of both boats? Everyone enjoys eye candy. I've skied a correct craft American skier circa 77' but not an American Skier

The American Skiier is shorter and lighter - terrible in rough water, but a very small wake. I love the look of the Supra, especially in the water.

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Do you think the turn downs made a difference on your Response? And, tell me more about the silencer, please. The noise on my Comp definitely seems to be coming out the exhaust rather than under the cover.

What you are probably experiencing is the exhaust sound getting "trapped" between the water and the platform. The composite platform doesn't help the situation much because it is solid front to back. There are many options available to try and help soften the blow when it comes to exhaust noise. Prior to my restoration that I am currently wrapping up on my comp, I had no mufflers whatsoever. From the exhaust manifolds it was straight pipes all the way to the transom and out the back of the boat. It wasn't loud except at certain speeds and throttle settings when it would reverberate off the water and the platform where having a conversation in the boat just wasn't going to happen. That speed is usually around 15 MPH to about 18 MPH or so if my memory serves me right. If you are truly wanting the quietest boat on the water that isn't a sail boat, look into FAE or Fresh Air Exhaust or make your own version of one if you have the ability as that is the only way I can think of making your boat as silent as possible.

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My Response came with turn downs on it, so I can't give you a before and after opinion. Here is the picture of "silent rider.. Quiets the competition " aka glorified muffler. Is your comp straight piped like jetlink's? I would assume it would be like my 91. If so, maybe just research a new marine muffler. I do agree with Jetlink, there is a speed around 18mph that seems to have more of a reverberation.

Jet link - makes sense, and I have the same noise distortion as you somewhere around 15-20. I have read about the FAE elsewhere and ran across several comments about the distortion to the wake it causes. Any opinion there? Are you adding mufflers to your comp as part of your restoration? I would be interested in knowing if that makes a big difference.

I do have mufflers under the cover, NoWake - not sure how good they are - but it does seem as if most of the noise is coming from the back - it's not terribly worse when I lift the cover.

Yeah, I went ahead and added mufflers to my boat both to quiet it down a bit which was what my wife really wanted but also a huge weight savings as well. What I ended up using is only available if you rip up the entire floor as they run almost the whole length from the transom up to the engine. Anyways, going from straight pipes to now running mufflers has definitely mellowed the tone from the exhaust, it isn't as "sharp/obnoxious" as it used to be, at least when I have run it on the hose on the trailer. As for the mufflers under the doghouse, those might have had the baffles either broken out by a previous owner or worn out and that is why you have the noise issue.

Tr, I apologize for my dementia. I was wiping the transom down after skiing this a.m. and noted I don't have the full "turn downs" on the response. They are stainless at 45 degrees and without any baffles. Hope I didn't steer you wrong in any way. Just surprised Jetlink didn't already call me out on it. I didn't look close enough at your first pic. Let us know if you go with turn downs and the results. I got carried away about the American Skier... Pretty sharp looking by the way!

Well, there won't be any turndowns to report back on this year. I blew a head gasket and may need a new engine, so no money for frills.

Sorry to hear, we'll hope for a simple fix!