Strider74

I finally have the spare funds to start work on my exhaust and I have read nearly every thread on the topic but I still have questions that I cannot find the answers to.

My car is a low budget daily driver (stock internals) and what I am looking for is the best sound for the money. I really don’t care if the exhaust I install hinders the car’s performance as long as it has that deep V8 tone, clearance etc are not my concerns just the sound. However almost every thread here is focused on performance and not sound so here is where I need your experience.

I am assuming that the larger the diameter and longer the exhaust system the deeper the tone (like a tuba) so I assume that long tube headers and a larger pipe will give a better tone, but I am not basing that on any actual facts and internet audio clips are always deceptive. So here are the general questions I have; Will I get better sound with LT headers over ST headers? H-pipe vs. X-pipe? Dumped vs. going all the way out? Will the extra length of going over the axel vs. going under make an impact? How do cats impact the sound etc?

Performance aside if you had to design an exhaust for sound alone, how you would you go about it and why? What have your experiences been?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

there is alot of questions in this post. Im gonna warn you that you will get alot of different answers on this topic. One exhaust might sound like the best in the world to one person but to another it might sound like crap. I'm not an exhaust expert but I will tell you that whatever makes you happy is the best for you. Also another thing is the mods you have done to your car. Heads, cam will all have an affect on the sound of the exhaust you choose. you can click on my fquick page for videos of my car. just food for thought. good luck!!!!!

Strider74

Wow, small world. I was just watching those vids last night during some more research (it sounds awesome on my system at home)

In a way I do hope to get a range of opinions as I can find all kinds of discussion on things like long tube performance vs shorties but no one seems to discuss the sound difference (if there is any)

Midnight02

iTrader: (8)

Good Thread here -- truly focusing on sound.

This one is tough because its difficult to describe sound accurately and our only other option (audio and video clips on the internet) tend to be a bit deceptive.

Here are a few things I can offer from my experiences:

1. Cats do have an impact on the sound. I find that it doesn't have much impact on tone (because that's usually determined more by the muffler), however it will change the volume.

With my Corvette (C4), I started with a catback. Liked it -- nice tone but still too quiet for me. I gutted the cats and it opened up nicely from a sound standpoint. Still not enough, so I added LT headers and an off-road y-pipe. That removed almost all of the restriction within the exhaust. The car maintained the nice tone of the catback (Borla Stingers) however it was now much louder. Pulling those restrictions out (cats and pre-cats) really help with volume control.

2. For flexibility, I would recommend the following: If you go with a low restriction setup -- long tube headers and off road y-pipe into your catback -- you can always throw an adjustible electronic cutout in the intermediate pipe. I went that direction and what's great is that I can partially open the cutout to get more flow and much, much more volume, however there's still air flowing through the catback to give it a nice tone (rather than just a raspy, loud mess).

3. It's getting tougher and tougher to find, however if you can find guys who only have catback exhausts as a mod, it would be a great basis for comparison. That tells you a LOT about tone. As stated above, there are plenty of things you can do to play with the volume, however tone comes primarily from the catback. Borla tends to have a deep, rumbling type of tone, while Flowmaster has a slightly higher pitch. Drone is also an issue to be aware of.

4. Your future mod plans will have an effect on the sound. Adding heads and a cam to a free-flowing exhaust will really change things. I wanted a sound similar to an old big block with a monster cam -- took a lot of work however we finally got there.

Hope this helps.

sscamaroburn02

iTrader: (14)

Thanks!! I can tell you I started off with just an SLP catback and LID and car sounded really good with stock ypipe. After adding heads/cam/headers I had the TSP catted ypipe with SLP catback and it was louder but was REALLY RASPY at anything above 3000 rpms. Now with no cats and my xpipe the tone is ALOT deeper and less rasp. Exhaust does smell alot more obviously because no cats but tone is soo good.
If your ever in North Houston pm me and I'll give you a ride and let you hear it.

Strider74

Thanks for the help, and does anyone know how the length of the pipes change the sound. For example does running the pipes over the axle and out the back make for a deeper tone then dumps before the axle?

Arc00TA

iTrader: (17)

I can add a little input to your question as well. I have run several type of exhaust on my cars, usually with the same mods so I can compare the sound.

- Length of the tube and cats/no cats will effect volume but not the tone as much. Tone is primarily controlled by resonators or mufflers.
- In general an H-pipe will have a deeper, more mellow tone than an x-pipe in the same system. I had a car with Pacesetters, no cats, h-pipe to moroso spiral flows and out the back under-axle. I then later changed to an x-pipe on the same setup, and the tone was more aggressive and metallic sounding. I much prefer the sound of an H-pipe between the two as far as tone is concerned.

- If you are trying to get maximum sound out of your car, long tubes to true duals is the best bet in my experience. Cats or no cats depending on how loud you actually want it. The muffler choice will pick the definite tone that you want.

brian_rs/ss

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...installed.html

^thread on my set up. i love it. i will say i liked my dumped TD's better. but TD's ran out the back doesn't sound as good as dumped(IMO). for what ever reason the exhaust echoing under the car makes it deeper. however it also makes it really hard to have a convo while driving, the drone is really loud BUT it's the most awesome sounding drone ever power was a big concern in my thread, but sound and deep tone were a very close 2nd. and the vids don't really do my exhaust justice at all, trust me it is MUCH MUCH deeper in person. anyways it's your decision, not trying to force anything on you, if you have any questions about my set up feel free to ask

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

A few more sound clips to help you out.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/multimedi...pics-vids.html

Strider74

Wow I am very supprised at both of those 4" setups. I would have never guessed you could get that kind of a sound out of a y-pipe setup nor that a 4" pipe would have such an impact. (other then the obvious clearance issues a 4" true dual setup would have to sound rather amazing)

How did you make your muffler choices? For me at least it feels like picking a muffler is a lot like trying to describe what in instrument sounds like that hasn't been built yet. What were some of the key features you were looking for in a muffler? (single chamber, multi-chamer, flow through etc)

02sslayer

iTrader: (4)

look into a truedual with sweet thunder mufflers. they have the best clearance you can get for lowering your car. they are quiet while cruising with no drone, and they are about the loudest thing you can get at WOT. they also sound amazing.

here are a couple pics of mine to show you the ground clearance, and here is a video also, however this vid does not do the car justice


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_YFEOy018k

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

I have heard a version of a sweet thunder made by stainless works. They do sound really good.

OSU Football Fan

iTrader: (23)

As far as sound goes, I wouldn't trade my GMMG with cat converters for
anything. To me it's the closest you can get to the classic deep muscle car
tone out of an ls1 powered f-body.
I've heard some cammed true dual setups that sounded awesome too though.