View Poll Results: Which aftermarket catback sounds nicest?
GMMG
186
20.74%
Borla
164
18.28%
Flowmaster
79
8.81%
Loudmouth
129
14.38%
2OTL
34
3.79%
Hooker
97
10.81%
Magnaflow
109
12.15%
Corsa
62
6.91%
Mufflex
37
4.12%
Voters: 897. You may not vote on this poll
Best Sounding Catback
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 9,339
Likes: 3
From: NYC metro area
Originally Posted by Orange Terror
Anybody have an opinion on the Flowmaster American Thunder after cat system. I will post my thoughts tomorrow if all goes well. Also, I found this site yesterday and registered today, very cool, nice to meet you all.
Welcome to the forum
just bought a 95 Z with the 3" Borla and I don't think I've heard anything sound better. Might need a cutout since i don't think there's a plate, or it may be the largest one there is. either way, it's bad *** all around.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
From: St. Peters, MO
The loudmouth sounds like *** imho on a cammed, LT, ORY. It pops and is very raspy on an LT1. The GMMG has a very refined muscle car style tone to it. Here is an over-generalization of sounds...borla, slp, stock on a cam, LT, ORY LT1 sounds like a truck with straight pipes. The gmmg, corsa, magnaflow sounds very old-school muscle car style...deep, powerful, and aggressive. The corsa and gmmg are a little higher pitched, think drag car at high revs. Very attractive sounding imo.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 337
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Just put a Flowmaster American thunder cat back on my 99 Z28 last night. Love the sound, not obnoxious, nice throaty aggressive tone. Noticable difference in throttle response and power, not huge, but enough to notice. After getting under there and getting a good look at things, I think a Y-pipe is in order. 
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 337
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Originally Posted by Jordan57
The loudmouth sounds like *** imho on a cammed, LT, ORY. It pops and is very raspy on an LT1. The GMMG has a very refined muscle car style tone to it. Here is an over-generalization of sounds...borla, slp, stock on a cam, LT, ORY LT1 sounds like a truck with straight pipes. The gmmg, corsa, magnaflow sounds very old-school muscle car style...deep, powerful, and aggressive. The corsa and gmmg are a little higher pitched, think drag car at high revs. Very attractive sounding imo.
I've heard all of the exhausts in person, though all the cars had different modifications, and in my personal opinion the best sound was out of the 20TL and the GMMG. Loudmouth sounded alright on a stock car, but nasty with any amount of mods. The sound of Borla to me is just horrible, especially with any modifications, but others seem to like it. The flowmaster I had on my car when I bought it sounded decent, but it droned like crazy at almost any RPM, and I gained 2mpg just by switching to the SLP dual/dual. The Corsa sounds nice, and the tips look great, but for that type of money I'd definately go with GMMG. If you're on a budget, it's hard to beat the magnaflow or hooker, both sound good and flow well. The mufflex sounded like a blown-out flowmaster, I really wouldn't recommend it unless you need a 4-inch system and don't want the 4-inch flowmaster.
Tom
Tom
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I think my magnaflow sounds really good, especially how it is quiet at lower RPMs and loud as hell above 3500 or so.
Was also very cheap and stainless, hard to beat!
Dunno what i would get if money wasnt an issue tho.
Was also very cheap and stainless, hard to beat!
Dunno what i would get if money wasnt an issue tho.
Originally Posted by Orange Terror
Just put a Flowmaster American thunder cat back on my 99 Z28 last night. Love the sound, not obnoxious, nice throaty aggressive tone. Noticable difference in throttle response and power, not huge, but enough to notice. After getting under there and getting a good look at things, I think a Y-pipe is in order.
What would the point be in getting a y pipe...the stock y pipes flow decent enough as it is. You will see about 2 HP difference if you got it and put it on...Just get long tube headers, that way you're not limiting yourself to what headers you can get with just a regular y pipe.
I think Borla and Flowmaster are overdone. The flowmaster sound ok, but the flow isn't great. I am not a fan of how Borla's sound, and I hate those ugly *** tips. I have a loudmouth/headers/orp and despite what some people say, I think it sounds great. No one that has heard my car in person has said they didn't like the tone. Most people say that they don't know why others say that combo sounds bad.
If you want a real nice, cheap setup with an actual muffler, I like the hooker catback, real good crisp sound. But if you want to spend more, you can't go wrong with GMMG.
If you want a real nice, cheap setup with an actual muffler, I like the hooker catback, real good crisp sound. But if you want to spend more, you can't go wrong with GMMG.
Originally Posted by BGImportkiller
I think Borla and Flowmaster are overdone. The flowmaster sound ok, but the flow isn't great. I am not a fan of how Borla's sound, and I hate those ugly *** tips. I have a loudmouth/headers/orp and despite what some people say, I think it sounds great. No one that has heard my car in person has said they didn't like the tone. Most people say that they don't know why others say that combo sounds bad.
If you want a real nice, cheap setup with an actual muffler, I like the hooker catback, real good crisp sound. But if you want to spend more, you can't go wrong with GMMG.
If you want a real nice, cheap setup with an actual muffler, I like the hooker catback, real good crisp sound. But if you want to spend more, you can't go wrong with GMMG.
I get comments all the time at stop lights, in my neighbourhood etc on the way my car sounds. GMMG, Pacestter LT's, ORY, CC306 cam....etc...etc. IMO its the best sounding LT1 ive ever heard.
Originally Posted by Bandit 1
hooker + !cats is the best hands down. i know a blackbird that has the GMMG and its way to quiet. borla is overpriced and raspy. dont waste your money on a name.
On The Tree
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
From: Upstate NY
I love the sound of my flowmaster, with my setup it sounds better than anything else IMO. Although I wasnt a hugh fan of the sound when everything else was stock, once I put the headers on, gutted the cat, installed the cam, ect... I couldnt believe how good it sounded. Awesome sound at idle and WOT, without any sort of rasp or drone. I really couldn't car any less about the flow issues, people dont realize that a better flowing cat-back would only be good for another 5rwhp or so. I'm not that picky.