New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - Is it worth it to change just the muffler?

Just got my '98 Z28... stock tone is nice but i'd like something a little more aggressive, but not crazy. I'm thinking about installing just a muffler, like a hooker or something... is there a huge difference between doing an entire cat back and just a muffler?

And will I see any power gains at all from just a muffler?

I doubt you will notice any power gains but it will sound better. but most people will tell you to go ahead and get the whole catback.

slp loudmouth and tsp rumbler have a nice sound for stock-mildly tuned f-bodies. check out ls1sounds.com

both systems are on the cheapside too and can be done on jackstands. i plan on doing either the slp or tsp soon

exaust is one place you have a little freedom. ls1sounds.com and board info will guide you in the right direction. depending on your financial situation and expectations, i would would opt for a true dual set up. if you have the cash then throw in a decent cam to get a good sounding lope + cams are great for big hp gains which are what you should really be concerned with

My exhaust is bone stock, except the muffler has been hacked off.


Honestly, if you're going to change it anyway, cut it off before you spend any money. If you like it, you've got the sound for free. If you hate it, you can always get the muffler. Since it's still running through the cats, they quiet it down quite a bit. Mine sounds pretty good for what it is.

Gains? How about losses? Knocked around 30lbs from my car's weight. There was already a cut-out installed that couldn't be covered, so I didn't see the point of having a muffler hanging there that didn't do anything.

i went with the magnaflow c/b and love it. but my buddie just chop his muffler off and left it open, and suprizingly DOES sound good!!

A lot of catted cars do sound good with the mufflers hacked off!


A friend of mine went out and blew all kinds of money having a Magnaflow welded onto his 5.0 Mountaineer, and was pissed that it was to quiet. I warned him before he did it, but he just wouldn't listen. The other night we were all drinking and he decided to let us hack it off.


Well...


He's been smiling ever since, and sold off the Magnaflow today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr17AsxgPFM


There's better videos out there, but youtube has a few if you look for them

ya my magnaflow is alil louder then stock.... but i did my research before i bought it and opted for it because when i put the l/ts and the ory on it will be just where i want it.

True duals X pipe rocks

Just got my '98 Z28... stock tone is nice but i'd like something a little more aggressive, but not crazy. I'm thinking about installing just a muffler, like a hooker or something... is there a huge difference between doing an entire cat back and just a muffler?

And will I see any power gains at all from just a muffler?

A lot of people don't realise this but the stock exhaust pipes are 2.75", stainless steel and mandrel press bent. Catbacks are 3" pipes, stainless steel and mandrel press bent. So at the end of the day you gain a whopping .25 of an inch by going with a whole catback.

The biggest power gain comes from the high flow muffler that come with that catback. Our exhaust is choking us at the manifold, cats and muffler. So to answer your question, no there is not a huge difference between a high flow muffler and a full catback. The gains will be close to the same (7-10 rwhp)

All that said I would still do a full catback if you can afford it. If you want to save a few dollars though you can go with just a magnaflow muffler, hooker muffler or if you like loud then the dynomouth is awesome! I went with the dynomouth setup (see sig) and it only cost me $140. Sounds bad ass, flows like a mofo (no muffler just a bullet in the I-pipe) and it gained me decent HP.

Good luck.

well if you are on a budget, then yeah, you get sound and a little hp, do what you can

May I piggy back on this thread?

For a person on a budget, with a Fully stock Car, I'm looking at the SLP Loudmouth II.

LS1Sounds had only a few clips, and there were a few videos I researched on here as well. Some sounded Raspy, and rattly, and a few sounded Low Mellow, and muscular.

For those members that have Fully stock cars, and swapped in the Loudmouth II system - what does it sound like (in your opinion)? Raspy and Raw, or Low and Mellow?
It looked to be the biggest bang for the buck.

I'm not out to win races, I just want a bit more sound than the "Specifically tuned low restriction exhaust".
Most Importantly - do you need to Tune for these products?
Loss of throttle response? Driveablilty?

My experiences with Flowmaster were poor. YES - the sound was GREAT!! However the poor throttle response and poor daily driveablilty wasn't worth the swap.
My 96 LT1 TA Lost all throttle response (Yes, I think it was the 80 series crossflow), and my 99 Sierra 5.3L Lost all throttle response and got very poor mileage with the Super 40 side exit.
Granted - neither vehicles were tuned with a power tuner, but You'd hope that with just a moderate muffler swap, you wouldnt have to re-invent the wheel.

I went with the loudmouth I for my first exhaust and it sounded raspy and raw, ive heard the loudmouth II and its alot less rasp but still rather raw. I would opt for the loudmouth I because i thought it was too quiet so i went with duals.

For the threadstarter, i ran open y pipe for months and i loved the sound it made. Sounded real mean

I just put a Hooker aerochamber on today... just the muffler.

the stock cat back slipped right into the 2 1/2 inlet on the muffler, re-used stock tailpipes... sounds stock at idle, and pretty mean when I get on it!

Glad to see you finally got around to it! :D



What's next on the agenda?

Was gonna say Loudmouth II's sound the best by far, I switched to it... but nevermind.

If you have the money do true duals! Ive had loudmouth then borla, and now im gonna go with true duals.

I put a Magnflow muffler only on my 98 Formula a4, 2.73 gears. ($80.00) It sounds almost stock until you get on it, then it wakes up as you get the rpm's up. The biggest problem is I'm breaking the speed limit by the time it starts to rumble. I added a lid at the same time and the seat of the pants tells me that this woke up performance a little. My best guess is about 15-20 hp gain. This is a DD so I'm not planning any other mod's right now.

Only difference you'll make is in sound.

My car is an A4 99 Z28 and I had just the muffler replaced with a flowmaster knock off sitting next to a real one u can't tell the difference the sound is great but I don't think it gave me any power anyway it only cost 75 bucks and its been on for about a year

Throw a cutout on the exhaust.... Go from loud to quiet in a matter of seconds, easy as that.

Throw a cutout on the exhaust.... Go from loud to quiet in a matter of seconds, easy as that.

There's the best answer I've heard yet! :stupid:

you will see no gain from a cat back setup vs an aftermarket muffler setup, both will gain you the exact same power as long as you have the factory y pipe! Remember even a 3" catback is still necked down to 2 3/4 or less where the factory y turns into an i pipe and it attaches. So the gain from a catback vs a muffler is almost non existant because the damage is done at the factory y. Trust me.

I had a '97 Z28 that I just replaced the factory muffler with a 3-in Flowtech Warlock muffler with a built-in bypass (cutout); it comes with a plug that you have to crawl down and unbolt if you want to go straight pipe. I bought it from Summit for 60 bucks and another 40 to install. Only thing is that it is a single outlet, BUT the beauty of it was that I attached a DMH electric cutout valve to the bypass and it was an easy 10hp on the dyno when the cutout was open.