Walker/ Dynomat VT series muffler review
05-14-2010, 02:48 PM
#1
Walker/ Dynomat VT series muffler review Let me start with a quick description of my car- 95 BMW M3 with 2004 GTO LS1 engine, trans, etc. TSP 228R camshaft, block hugger shorties- 2.5" out of headers to a 3" Y- 3" all the way out. Muffler is mounted at rear of exhaust, 5" tip/ section of pipe that takes the exhaust just past my rear bumper. In addition tothe VT series, a 12" and an 18" bullet/ resonator inline before the muffler. VT series muffler is 3" offset in/ center out- specific 4.0L+
1st impressions- VT series is much quieter than previous setup. I would say 60% in noise reduction at idle. This was good. On the flip side, the flapper valve in the muffler is very obvious. It sounds like the exhaust is rattling on the body (it isnt, I double checked it). When the engine comes off of the cold start idle it subsides a little. The idle sounds very plugged up (you have to expect this) and is due to the flapper valve obstructing exhaust flow.
Initial test drive- the tip in throttle response is horrible. It actually feels like the car has a slight misfire, once you have enough exhaust flowing to open the valve it runs pretty normal. I went through all ranges of the gas pedal, a full throttle run seems slightly down on power but this may be my imagination. Overall sound at WOT was very comparable to my old muffler.
The dreaded "drone"- I give this muffler an 8/10 for improving/ eliminating the drone. It truly works well. I have no problem with using my cell phone cruising in 6th gear at about 2k-2100 rpm. With the old setup this was almost impossible.
Overall rating- 5/10. I hate the sound of the flapper valve. It is so bad I get looks from people sitting next to me at a stop light. Before I had people looking at a BMW that sounded like a Corvette- they had looks of disbelief. Now the look is more along the lines of what the hell is wrong with the POS. I am returning the muffler on the 90 day guarantee they offered. Not happy with the sound at all, performance is ok.
My honest .02 on this- if you have a car that has full tailpipes and the mufflers mount under the passenger compartment- IE a mustang, truck, etc you probably wont hear the flapper valve and will enjoy the setup. If you have a vehicle that mounts the muffler near the rear bumper- a BMW, GTO, G8, etc steer clear!
1st impressions- VT series is much quieter than previous setup. I would say 60% in noise reduction at idle. This was good. On the flip side, the flapper valve in the muffler is very obvious. It sounds like the exhaust is rattling on the body (it isnt, I double checked it). When the engine comes off of the cold start idle it subsides a little. The idle sounds very plugged up (you have to expect this) and is due to the flapper valve obstructing exhaust flow.
Initial test drive- the tip in throttle response is horrible. It actually feels like the car has a slight misfire, once you have enough exhaust flowing to open the valve it runs pretty normal. I went through all ranges of the gas pedal, a full throttle run seems slightly down on power but this may be my imagination. Overall sound at WOT was very comparable to my old muffler.
The dreaded "drone"- I give this muffler an 8/10 for improving/ eliminating the drone. It truly works well. I have no problem with using my cell phone cruising in 6th gear at about 2k-2100 rpm. With the old setup this was almost impossible.
Overall rating- 5/10. I hate the sound of the flapper valve. It is so bad I get looks from people sitting next to me at a stop light. Before I had people looking at a BMW that sounded like a Corvette- they had looks of disbelief. Now the look is more along the lines of what the hell is wrong with the POS. I am returning the muffler on the 90 day guarantee they offered. Not happy with the sound at all, performance is ok.
My honest .02 on this- if you have a car that has full tailpipes and the mufflers mount under the passenger compartment- IE a mustang, truck, etc you probably wont hear the flapper valve and will enjoy the setup. If you have a vehicle that mounts the muffler near the rear bumper- a BMW, GTO, G8, etc steer clear!
