True Duals or Catback Exhaust???
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Virginia Beach, VA
True Duals or Catback Exhaust??? At the moment I have an 01 Z28 with QTP LT Headers, running Flowmasters.... I wanted to get a set of MagnaFlow Catbacks but cant decide with them or True Duals.... every person I have ever spoke to on here about True Duals say they love them.... is it just the fact of being an ANTI-Y pipe owner lol or the actual performance and sound quality??? I have never heard the different types of True Duals? and which one sounds the best in your opinion???? I will be throwing a Cam in it soon, with an LS6 Intake Manifold, Gears, any other suggestions???
I am looking at putting on either True Dual OR Catback exhaust??? What are the differences if any in HP Gains? Sound? Loudness? Or overall purpose??? Down the road later on which one would benefit me with my setup???
Thanks
I am looking at putting on either True Dual OR Catback exhaust??? What are the differences if any in HP Gains? Sound? Loudness? Or overall purpose??? Down the road later on which one would benefit me with my setup???
Thanks
duals will sound better in most of the cases. depending on your use of the car is the best way to chose imo. i hate the idea of dumped duals as it can be very loud specially with a cam. a proper built Y pipe will give you a very good clearance and matching performance to the duals. search is your best friend, check the sticky and use the search function. u will find lots of pics and sound clips. id go with a y pipe and a 3.5 merge anyday, i hate loudness and scraping.
I had dumped duals for years on my automatic car. nothing sounds better at wide open throttle, but thats it. drone at cruise rpm, everything in the car rattles, and the smell gets old. when i first put headers on the car i didn't have the money for a nice catted y and a catback, so I opted for duals. I'm glad I made the change. now its loud when i want it, quiet at cruise rpm, and no more fuel smell. Just get a quality catted y and a high flowing catback, and you'll be fine.
i love my duals, i had the same questions before i bought mine.....mainly i wanted to know which mufflers behind the duals sounded best.......i read tons of threads, and found a few where people had heard the dynomax/tsp bullets, then heard a similarly setup car with the sweet thunders.....they said they would never have anything else but sweet thunders from that point on......i took this advice and went with the thunders, and from that day on i have been extremely impressed.....my ride sounds evil at ANY rpm, people compliment me all of the time......i get a little interior rattle from the plastic above the rear seats while in 5th gear cruising, but it goes away if i shift to 6th, no problem.........but the other posts above talking about the smell are true.....it does have a rich smell everywhere you go......i plan to weld in a set of spun cats to cure this, but haven't gotten around to it yet......
my clearance has never been a problem, and i'm lowered almost 2".......the true duals will tuck up nicely if you take your time installing them.......
my only problem with sweet thunders is that they are 2.5 diameter on the outside, which means THEY NECK DOWN TO 2.25 ON THE INSIDE......kind-of defeats the purpose of having a free flowing exhaust setup......i ordered a pair of classic chambered 3.5's to go in place of the sweet thunders (same design, but a full 3" inside diameter), but i haven't gotten a chance to hang them yet.......soon as i do i will post a before and after vid.....hope this helps
my clearance has never been a problem, and i'm lowered almost 2".......the true duals will tuck up nicely if you take your time installing them.......
my only problem with sweet thunders is that they are 2.5 diameter on the outside, which means THEY NECK DOWN TO 2.25 ON THE INSIDE......kind-of defeats the purpose of having a free flowing exhaust setup......i ordered a pair of classic chambered 3.5's to go in place of the sweet thunders (same design, but a full 3" inside diameter), but i haven't gotten a chance to hang them yet.......soon as i do i will post a before and after vid.....hope this helps
Last edited by jc98ss; Aug 29, 2011 at 11:34 PM.
Every dumped true dual setup I've heard in person sounded fantastic, but was ungodly loud and had shitty ground clearance. If you ran them out the back and put proper mufflers on them (like Magnaflow 4x9s), they would be just as quiet as an ORY/catback setup but have a great sound to them. The problem is that shops charge an arm and a leg to run duals over the axle.
I say it comes down to what the car is used for versus how much money you have to spend. If your car is a weekend street/strip car, you could probably tolerate the dumped duals. If you want to take long trips in the car or use it as a daily driver, and don't want to spend $1,000+ for an over-the-axle TD setup, go with a quality Y-pipe and a catback with a proper muffler on it (Magnaflow, Hooker, SLP Dual/Dual).
I say it comes down to what the car is used for versus how much money you have to spend. If your car is a weekend street/strip car, you could probably tolerate the dumped duals. If you want to take long trips in the car or use it as a daily driver, and don't want to spend $1,000+ for an over-the-axle TD setup, go with a quality Y-pipe and a catback with a proper muffler on it (Magnaflow, Hooker, SLP Dual/Dual).
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From: Austin, Tx
Every dumped true dual setup I've heard in person sounded fantastic, but was ungodly loud and had shitty ground clearance. If you ran them out the back and put proper mufflers on them (like Magnaflow 4x9s), they would be just as quiet as an ORY/catback setup but have a great sound to them. The problem is that shops charge an arm and a leg to run duals over the axle
Car is not lowered however
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clearance depends on who did the work and/or the install but dumped will drone, fact. i just put my stock catback on (to pass car registration, no emissions here 
i get to be legal with an ory) and i cant be happier with the quiteness!! i cant believe how comfortable the car is when quite lol i might stick to a 3.5 cutout and weld stock muffler on
i get to be legal with an ory) and i cant be happier with the quiteness!! i cant believe how comfortable the car is when quite lol i might stick to a 3.5 cutout and weld stock muffler on LS1 Tech Stories
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my tsp duals has great clearance and the sound is killer,if you want the loudest best sounding exhaust go duals, i will never ever go back to a y pipe, i have ST ,if you installl them right ,and flip the fuel lines you should have no clearance issues ,unless you have eibach sportlines on there
ive got LT'S, 2.5 inch non-mandrel bent over the axle X pipe duals, with flowmaster 2 chamber 40 series. i paid $371.45 (already had mufflers) 2 weeks ago for mine and it sounds great! its a bit throaty but personaly i love it. its got a great tone from idle to 6200rpm's. i have amazing ground clearance and no problems with speed bumps,pot holes, man hole covers...ect. IMO dumps are a cheap way of making noise, it is much more aggresive to have the true duals.
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I used to have a hooker system on mine with a 3" Y pipe way to quiet. Now I run a custom true dual setup. I did loose some ground clearance but it sounds a lot better IMO. I have dynomax bullets they are 4 inch around and 3 inch pipes. Pretty loud but everyone thinks it sounds good. I live/work on a military base and have not gotten pulled over for it yet and I daily drive it.
I have had Loudmouth, Flowmaster, Dynomouth, and Magnaflow. I am currently running TSP duals dumped with bullets and it ***** on all of them. It is pretty loud, but tame. My exhaust note is not raspy at all. Definitely the sound of pure muscle for sure. It definitely puts a smile on my face.
Magnaflow is a great catback but too damn quiet. No intimidating sound at all. Loudmouth was loud but very raspy. Dynomouth was basically a toned down Loudmouth.
Magnaflow is a great catback but too damn quiet. No intimidating sound at all. Loudmouth was loud but very raspy. Dynomouth was basically a toned down Loudmouth.
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From: Michigan
Agreed with the duels.....I've wondered the same for awile.... Until I went to a huge car show in Michigan. I had heard a few camaros and Birds with TDs 2 of which had TSP TDs...So ******* sold right then and their for this fall mods... The sound quality towers above the rest imao...Loud, but the best loud, hardly any rasp, more aggressive sounding than any catback I've ever heard. I really can't wait to pass the vettes and the stangs and just fking blast them with some sweetthunders..
My vote goes for true duals, hands down!
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Wichita KS / Rancho San Diego
Even if they're over the axle and out the back, TD's tend to be LOUD. A lot of guys on here have grown weary of that and gone back to catbacks. So just be prepared for it. If you want a civil, reasonably quiet system, TD's aren't going to get you there.
Agreed with the duels.....I've wondered the same for awile.... Until I went to a huge car show in Michigan. I had heard a few camaros and Birds with TDs 2 of which had TSP TDs...So ******* sold right then and their for this fall mods... The sound quality towers above the rest imao...Loud, but the best loud, hardly any rasp, more aggressive sounding than any catback I've ever heard. I really can't wait to pass the vettes and the stangs and just fking blast them with some sweetthunders..
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From: Michigan
All I know is that when I've ever passed a mustang, some vettes ( If the driver isn't grandpa) other TAs/Camaros, it's all neutral wot revs. I've blown some away, but have also been blown away.Never again after tds...
If you can't race them right then and their, atleast do the next best thing, send vibrations through their car, it will shut everyone up, and they'll never rev your way again.
If you can't race them right then and their, atleast do the next best thing, send vibrations through their car, it will shut everyone up, and they'll never rev your way again.
My eyes burn enough from the ory and borla cb so I wouldnt want dumped duals. Originally I was going to do them but decided against them for that reason and also I wanted a catted Y (gutted) to pass visual emissions if needed.
Also after the stall I cant imagine tds on the street going past cops.
Also after the stall I cant imagine tds on the street going past cops.