Mufflers and Exhaust

[88_AHB]

Hey everyone,

I was curious what people are choosing for aftermarket mufflers on their cars? I realize that depending on the pipe diameter,headers vs manifolds or dual vs single exhaust will change the tone and loudness etc. Mainly just wondering what the members on here are running. I'm currently running dual 2.5" with Flowmaster 50 series out to the bumper. Thought of switching to a turbo style of muffler or a Magnaflow etc. to change things up a bit. Thanks

 

[80mirada]

I'm running Doug's 453 headers, into an X pipe with Dynomax Super Turbos, all 2.5 inch pipe. I went with the Dynomax after watching a lot of Dyno testing with mufflers.

 

[Duke5A]

Magnaflow 2.5" stainless straight through mufflers out to the bumper on mine. Love the sound. 3" versions will eventually get put on. They work great with 400hp levels before becoming a restriction.

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

3" X-pipe into Hooker MaxFlow mufflers, then over the axles and out to the side behind the tires.

Previously the headers on my 360 were a 1-5/8" primary tube diameter. I've gone to a 1-7/8" for my W2 stroker build, so I'm expecting things to get a little louder, maybe peakier given the slightly larger roller cam change.

I love the sound, but at WOT is gets to be a bit...umm..."much"??? LOL

Here, best to let the footage tell the story => 2016 Milan Dragway

 

[LSM360]

I have Walker Quiet Flows on my stroker 360 with Jegs A body mandrel 2.5" dual exhausts and TTI headers. But then I like quiet (obviously much louder than stock with no Cats and headers). Btw I don't drive it very often and they have really lasted! A slightly newer picture would show my beautiful frame ties custom made by Duke5A!

 

[Aspen500]

Dual 2 1/2" from the (Schumacher) headers, through a pair of Vibrant Performance bottle style 12" resonators just behind the flex pipes up front, to Dynomax Ultra-Flo welded 14" mufflers, dual 2 1/2 t-pipes out under the bumper on the right side (left pipe goes up, across over axle and then follows the right side t-pipe out). In "normal" driving it sounds good, a little on the loud side though, and on accel it's not going to sneak up on anybody. Actually louder than I'd like but it is what it is.

Used to have the Dynomax Super Turbo's and I loved the way they sounded but the interior resonance was deafening, on my particular car and engine anyways.

 

[LSM360]

M body your car is a beast!

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

M body your car is a beast!

Thanks man!

I will tell you this, here is the "fondest" memory my daughter and I share of going to car shows: show is done, cars are slowly leaving the parking lot (it was downtown in Windsor at the river-front, so single lane in and out type of a situation)...we are inching forward, but mostly just idling really as cars are barely moving...an old lady approaches the car and says "...wow, what is wrong with your car?...it sounds like a wet fart..."!!!

LOL...wtf???

For a split second I was speechless, I mean this lady was a good 80-something year old grandma for crying out loud...so where did THAT come from???

Anyways, with enough of an overlap and a narrower (108) LSA that cam made for a pretty burbly idle...a full length 3" exhaust with basically a pass-through muffler isn't going to muffle too much of that either!

If there is one thing I am not 100% sure about is that high-RPM X-pipe "zing" sound...the 1/4 Mile pass has a decent audio of it. So consider that my son was at the starting line with our GoPro, meanwhile my ride was nearly down at the end and the whole way through you can hear the motor pick up the RPM, shift, pick up the RPM, shift along with that "zing" sound. Seriously to me it sounds almost a little bit too much like the F1 cars...but at a much lower frequency, heck they certainly run twice the RPM my motor was capable of...lol!

 

[Aspen500]

Forgot I initially had an x-pipe also and really hated the exhaust tone with it. Sounded more like a pair of 4 cyls running than a V-8 (JMO). Hard to explain what I mean. Took it out soon after the car was "done" after the long build.

 

[88_AHB]

I'm sort of surprised that not many have or are currently running a flowmaster product. I know for some it's their resonance or drone inside the car that turns people off them. I've always been a fan of flowmasters (40 and 50 series) probably because the were invented in my area back in the day and still are very popular.What's the differences in the magnaflow and dynomax mufflers internally besides case sizes? For you guys running one of these two products or a turbo muffler, do they eventually get louder or "blow out" over use?

I've also thought of just adding a resonator to the current system. I was mainly looking to quiet/tone it down a notch (Damn I feel old when I say that hahaha). Anyways, you guys running a resonator is it more so effective at cruising speeds/WOT than at idle? was the installation worth while for these purposes? Thanks

 

[Aspen500]

When I added the resonators, it was to tone it down. What I noticed is, they took out the higher frequency notes and gave the exhaust a deeper sound at idle and during cruise. Not sure if they actually lowered the volume but without those sharper, higher frequencies it sounds quieter. Still barks on accel but like idle and cruise, the high notes are muffled. Basically they did what I was was hoping for. They don't restrict much, if at all, since they're straight through. Plus, the polished stainless looks good under the car.

Honestly, I've never cared for the Flowmaster chambered muffler sound.

 

[Duke5A]

I'm sort of surprised that not many have or are currently running a flowmaster product. I know for some it's their resonance or drone inside the car that turns people off them. I've always been a fan of flowmasters (40 and 50 series) probably because the were invented in my area back in the day and still are very popular.What's the differences in the magnaflow and dynomax mufflers internally besides case sizes? For you guys running one of these two products or a turbo muffler, do they eventually get louder or "blow out" over use?

I've also thought of just adding a resonator to the current system. I was mainly looking to quiet/tone it down a notch (Damn I feel old when I say that hahaha). Anyways, you guys running a resonator is it more so effective at cruising speeds/WOT than at idle? was the installation worth while for these purposes? Thanks

I ran 40 series with my 360. I still love the sound, but despite the name they don't flow all that well. There is a chart somewhere on Moparts that shows the differences.

Straight through mufflers with fiberglass packing are the best performance wise.

 

[jasperjacko]

Ran a 3" flowmaster delta 50, sounded great but terrible performance. It was a single exhaust but had 3.5-4 psi of backpressure and I could feel the engine struggle after 4000 rpm. Switched to a Borla pro xcess muffler and resonator, perfect. No performance loss, no drone, and easy to have conversation inside unless at full throttle.

 

[Mikes5thAve]

I think the mufflers and sound depend on what people use their car for. My truck is loud and while I like the sound i wouldn't like it in a car if its one I use regularely. I like full sleeper mode that you know the power is there but don't have to tell everyone around you.

 

[brotherGood]

When the headers went on my AHB, I got the A body kit from Jegs and a pair of Summit branded Magnaflows, and had turndowns just before the axle.

The sound of that car is the biggest point of sellers remorse I have.

 

[Aspen500]

Also we can't forget, the sound a certain exhaust system makes depends on the size of the engine, the compression ratio, compression pressure, cam profile, pipe diameter, etc. What may sound good on one particular set up, might sound like crap on something different. It could be relatively quiet on a stock engine and loud on a modified one. My old '81 D150 with a stock 318 sounded awesome and wasn't really all that loud with dual 2 1/4" exhaust and a pair of Super Dynomax mufflers, more like a nice deep roar. Same exact mufflers on my Aspen and it was 3 times louder, along with the interior resonance. The Ultra-Flo's are louder yet (wish it wasn't AS loud though) without interior resonance. On a different engine and different car, the Super's may be fine with no interior resonance. All kind of a crap shoot.

 

[88_AHB]

I've heard from multiple people that flowmasters are more restrictive than other brands. Now, whats the difference or benefit from say a turbo style of muffler such as a dynomax compared to a straight thru design muffler with packing like the magnaflow? I know there's multiple factors involved, would one sound more like a glass pack than the other etc? One thing that I do dislike is the glasspack sound with the crackling and popping.

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Here is what I have saved in my Tech Library:

Muffler benchmark results
=====================

Results based on 5.0 Mustang Magazine December 2002 issue (page 55). Test car is a '90 Coupe with 370 HP and 11 second potential. A number of 66 pulls were made to compile this information.

The results in HP order:

1.Flowtech Warlock (open) 374.2 hp/ 333.1 tq
2.Bassani Real Street 373.7 hp/ 333.8 tq
3.Hooker Maxflow 373.5 hp/ 333 tq
4.Borla XS 373.3 hp/ 332.6 tq
5.Magnaflow 372.8 / 332.5 tq
6.MAC 372.3 hp / 331.5 tq
7.Flowtech Afterburner 372.3 hp/ 330.1 tq
8.Hooker Aerochamber 372.1 hp/ 330.4 tq
9.Bassani 372 hp/ 333.5 tq
10.Spintech 371.6 hp/ 332.2 tq
11.Edelbrock Performer RPM 370.9 hp / 331.3 tq
12.Borla XR1 370 hp/ 334 tq
13.Flowtech Terminator 369.5 hp / 331.3 tq
14.Dynomax Ultra Flo 369.4 / 333.2 tq
15.Flowmaster 369.4 hp / 331.8 tq
16.Flowtech Warlock 366.3 hp / 325.3 tq
17.No muffs 365.2 hp / 330.1 tq

Sound Off in Quietest to Loudest (Decibels):

1.Borla XS, 80db at idle, 90db at 2,000 rpm, 110db at WOT.
2.Hooker Maxflow, 80db at idle, 90db at 2,000 rpm, 120db at WOT.
3.Magnaflow, 82db at idle, 91 at 2,000 rpm, 114db at WOT.
4.Flowmaster, 82db at idle, 93 at 2,000 rpm, 115db at WOT.
5.Flowtech Warlock, 83db at idle, 92 at 2,000 rpm, 112db at WOT.
6.Dynomax UltraFlo, 83db at idle, 94 at 2,000 rpm, 113db at WOT.
7.Borla XR1, 83db at idle, 96db at 2,000 rpm, 118db at WOT.
8.Bassani Street, 83db at idle, 96db at 2,000 rpm, 120db at WOT.
9.Edelbrock RPM, 84db at idle, 93db at 2,000 rpm, 118db at WOT.
10.Bassani Real Street, 84db at idle, 96db at 2,000 rpm, MAX. (120+db).
11.Flowtech Afterburner, 86db at idle, 94db at 2,000 rpm, 115db at WOT.
12.Flowtech Terminator, 86db at idle, 94db at 2,000 rpm, 119db at WOT.
13.Hooker Aerochamber, 87db at idle, 94db at 2,000 rpm, 114db at WOT.
14.SpinTech, 87db at idle, 97db at 2,000 rpm, 116db at WOT.
15.MAC, 87db at idle, 98db at 2,000 rpm, 119db at WOT.
16.No Muffler, 91db at idle, 103db at 2,000 rpm, MAX. (120+db).

I bet you could find that orginal article out there somewhere...

 

[Duke5A]

Here is the chart I was thinking of.

 

[LSM360]

That's a cool father/daughter story M Body!

And as far as the old lady's comment; you should've yelled back "you would know"!