i had real bad misfiring and then I got a new opti, new plug and wires, and also got a Delteq system. After all of this the misfiring got alot worse but would go away after driving the car about 5 miles. I took the opti back off and went and exchanged it and put another new one in. Then the misfiring goes away completely but then I had what sounded like either valve train noise or a real bad exhaust leak. My first thought was timing so I pulled it back off and reinstalled to make sure the opti was lined up perfectly. No change. Another thing I noticed is the exhaust was ALOT quieter than normal with the cutout open so my next idea is exhaust leak. So I check the header gaskets and sure enough the passenger side gasket had blown out on my initial test drive after redoing the opti. So I replace the gaskets on both side with better quality ones and the noise goes away copmletely. Now the car runs very smooth but its a crap load quieter than it used to be w/ the cutout open. It sounds basically as if the cutout is closed. Otherwise seems to be running great but I really miss the loudness of the cutout. Any ideas? thanks.

 

Sounds like you had issues causing the car to sound louder than it should be. I would take a perfect running quiet car over a crappy running one that makes a lot more noise. I had a bad exhaust leak and it sounded cool but the cars performance was down until i fixed it.

 

But even before the exhaust leak and w/ the car running great it just used to be ALOT louder w/ the cutout open.

Basically my question is, if the timing is retarded, could it make the car quieter? Ive heard that when the timing is retarded it could seem like the car is actually running smoother.