LS WON A4

iTrader: (1)

Besides not being the highest flowing, max quality setup on the market, are Flowmasters really as bad as they're made out to be? I'm not going to spend anymore than $550 (shipping included) on a cat-back. And while that opens me up to SLP LMs, I'm not a fan of the sound. Flowmasters IMO carry the best sound, plus I like the way the American Thunder cat-back looks.

And at about $350 shipped, it's an especially attractive piece.

LS-ONE_DAY

A friend of mine was in a similar situation. I advised him to get Magnaflow. He loves it, even more so after his Kooks and ORY.

Magnaflow catback system 98-02 LS1

Price has gone up a little since I told him to order it, but WS6Store is running a special on it right now. Plus its stainless so it won't rust. If my car didn't come with Borla I would have got Magnaflow myself.

I agree Flowmasters sound good but that's all they are. They do little to nothing for performance, some people have actually seen lower numbers than stock with it.

TransAmWS.6

Yes, the Flowmaster Thunder series is not very good because it's their crossflow design. Most likely will not flow as well as the other aftermarket catbacks out there.

udienow

iTrader: (18)

I have never truly seen flowmaster in person, only read they are bad so I cannot comment on that... but if price is the issue... Magnaflow makes a great cat-back for our cars in your price range.

pewter_z28

iTrader: (5)

Dont know how well the flowmaster flows but if I were you I would just buy a used Borla or something else. Should be able to get one for atleast $550 shipped. There is a bunch of good used exhaust floating around the parts section. Just my opinion tho.

LS WON A4

iTrader: (1)

I will definitely hit the classifieds come time to buy. But right now I'm waiting for the bottom end in my, what's supposed to be anyway, DD to get rebuilt.

I also am a huge fan of the way the Flowmasters exit. Note: the $597.12 listed on their site isn't even close to what I'm gonna pay for them, still brand new, elsewhere (if I do go the Flowmaster route).

777

iTrader: (21)

I have flowmaster and like the sound, it came on my car. If I were to buy I'd get Hooker Aerochamber. In fact, if extra money comes around I'll probably replace it with that. It's also fairly inexpensive, so should work great for you.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I have to disagree with this, based on personal experience. About 12 years ago, I put their AT catback on my WS6 and I remember picking up about .5 mph on average over the stock WS6 catback (which already has a marginally better muffler than a base LS1 car). It's one thing to say that there are other mufflers that flow better (this is true), but to claim that their system flows worse than stock is just not correct. Remember, getting the full catback means that you're getting mandrel bent pipes, a 3" I-pipe, a muffler with a true 3" inlet, and dual 3" outlets (stock, base muffers only have 2.25" outlets [2.5" for SS/WS6], and all the stock systems have only a 2.75" I-pipe plus are necked down a bit at the muffler inlet).

Lots of people like to push Magnaflow, but I've had this one too and personally I think it's too quiet with cats, but it sounds decent without cats.

IMO, I prefer to pick an exhaust system based on sound, and if maximum flow is desired for the track, just add a cutout. The 5-7hp difference between various catbacks on bolt-on cars isn't going to make any difference for ~99% of the driving that you do with a street car. On the other hand, you have to listen to the exhaust every second that the car is running, so it's very important to pick a system that sounds good to you. For the other 1% of the time, a cutout can ensure maximum flow and HP.

thunderstruck507

iTrader: (18)

I agree with you about choosing based primarily on sound, but I also wouldn't spend that much money on something that is purely for sound.

I would buy something that sounds good AND flows well without needing a cutout.

LS WON A4

iTrader: (1)

I don't think I'm gonna come out any better with anything else at $350 shipped. At that price I can have a cutout done and still be sitting better financially than if I went with a great flowing, top quality $600+ cat-back.

I'm having a hard time willingly throwing money at this car as it's got pretty high miles and is only worth about $4K. I plan on buying another car this coming summer too, to have on top of my current Z28. Probably a low miles WS6 or SS.

LS-ONE_DAY

The Magnaflow is quiet with cats for a while, if you keep it on there for years it loudens up for some reason. This is based off experience from when I was looking at getting an F-body. I test drove a ladies 2002 Z28, only mod was a Magnaflow catback, stock manifolds and cats, and everything else and it was surprisingly loud for having cats.

As far as the Flowmaster goes, I know I've seen people say it can lower performance from stock, but no I'm not sure how accurate that is. I found this older thread about it that you responded too - https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-o...s-muffler.html

OP, definitely look at the classifieds if you don't want to buy a "more expensive" new system.

LS-ONE_DAY

One thing to note about a catback that cheap though is that it will be aluminized steel, not stainless. That means it will eventually rust. I'm wired to do it once do it right, I went full stainless off the bat to not have to worry about it in the future. You can get a stainless used catback for $250-$500

LS WON A4

iTrader: (1)

It says the AT system is stainless steel though. And as far as audible difference, yeah, I'll also be going with LTs and a ORY so I'll definitely be heard!

But as you provided with that other thread about the flow of Flowmasters, I'm not going from a stock muffler to a 80 Series muffler. I'm going from a completely stock exhaust to LTs, ORY, and Flowmaster AT cat-back.

1badSS

iTrader: (1)

I put a flowmaster cat back on my car back in 03, I love the way it sounds. As far as it chocking out performance. Just put an eletrice cut out in. Thats what I did,couldn't be happier.

777

iTrader: (21)

Hooker Cat-Back from Ws6Store

This is a great cat-back, and unless you live near salt water (or in places that snows) aluminized should be fine.

LS-ONE_DAY

Make sure you get the right part number. I just looked and they make a stainless version and an aluminized version so just make sure you're getting what you want if you didn't know there was more than one version.

Flowmaster stainless part # 817199
Flowmaster alumized part # 17199

bandit1transam01

I put longtubes, deleted the cats, and put magnaflow on my car and absolutely love it! It screams when I get on it and has a fairly loud idle. All in all from longtubes to the tips I think I spent around $300. Flowmasters do sound pretty good though lol!

NC98Z

iTrader: (1)

I've got the Hooker Aerochamber catback and it is very quiet. You can't even tell my car has a MS4 in it until you open up the cutout. But if your looking for that killer sound then this isn't it. Its more like a stealth system for cops that hate loud mufflers. And I usually open the cutout till it sounds like I like it and if you hit a check point you can go silent running for awhile. When I got my car somebody had cutout the factory muffler and replaced it with a Flowmaster. It sounded like crap. A single in/out Flowmasters are ok but the single in/double out are the ones to avoid. Have you gone to www.ls1sounds.com and checked out the site?

Bugsy

iTrader: (1)

Well, when I was shopping for an exhaust, I considered Flowmaster, but I do not like cut-outs. So I asked myself a question: "Do you want to make noise, or do you want to make power?" I chose the power.

LS WON A4

iTrader: (1)

I didn't know there were two versions, so thanks for that! Fortunately the one I found for $335 IS the stainless steel (409S) version!

Now it's a waiting game. Hopefully it'll still be readily available and for that price or close to come time to buy.

Yeah, I've checked out the website. A lot of good clips there. The Flowmaster ATs sound really good IMO.