What Mufflers to get?

[Steve1968LS2]

For my 69???

Im running a modified LS1 and I want something that flows good and sounds nice (the deep musclecar sound)..

Suggestions on what mufflers to get?

Anything but Flowmasters will be considered (since they dont flow all that great)..



help..

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I'm probably going to go with the 12" Borla XR1s. Either that or no mufflers at all .

[nkopper]

I finally heard what Stainless Works turbo mufflers sound like at the Goodguy's in Columbus. They had a pair or turbo mufflers with the "s" core on a new GTO that sounded fantastic. They are the same style that Mark Stielow put on the Mule. I'm gonna buy me a set for my car when it comes time. They were relatively quiet at idle and cruise speed, but really came to life when the throttle was cracked. Some of the best sounding mufflers I've ever heard.

Nathan

[yody]

dynamax ultraflows hands down, straight through design, no restriction, very quiet, loud when on the gas, you can also get them in stainless i believe go to team camaro or chevelle, and do a search on them

[protour_chevelle]

I'm kind of in the same situation. I want something that is kind of quiet while cruising around then really loud when I get on it.

Figured I'd post here rather than another post on the same subject.

-Matt

[dennis68]

Quiet is for soccer moms, if you want quiet spend some $$$ on interior sound deadening. I want at least 100Db at 10 feet away. I know 2 chamber Flows are way over played, but damn they sound good. Flowmaster gets my vote.

BTW, my purple hornies sound like crap, don't go that route (they are temporary to keep the exhaust out of the way of the rear suspension design).

[yody]

sorry super loud exhaust might be nice for a car you take out once a month for half the day, but if you drive your car every weekend the loud exhaust is annoying, attracts way too much attention even when driving normal and is a little adolescent. and i will never buy a set of flowmasters again for the rest of my life!! i want something that is loud when i am intentionally stepping on the gas, but nice and quiet while cruising.

[zbugger]

Cody, Dennis drives that thing every day. When mine is back on the road, so will I. I have the 2 chamber flows and I love them. I could care less what anyone else thinks.

Steve, I don't remember where, but there is a site that has some exhaust notes on it. If I find it I'll put up the link.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

www.ls1sounds.com

Steve may know about that since he mods on ls1tech though.

[dennis68]

sorry super loud exhaust might be nice for a car you take out once a month for half the day, but if you drive your car every weekend the loud exhaust is annoying, attracts way too much attention even when driving normal and is a little adolescent. and i will never buy a set of flowmasters again for the rest of my life!! I want something that is loud when i am intentionally stepping on the gas, but nice and quiet while cruising.

Drive it every weekend-ha I drive it everyday. If it's too loud, you're too old. I love the attention, bring it on. Adolescent-maybe a little. Perhaps that why my wife tells people she has 4 kids, never quite understood the whole 33 going on 3 comment either. Never grow old and never die. Flowmasters ROCK

[KrisHorton]

I vote Borla. Flowmasters have been diminishing in quality lately. Borla mufflers have a nice tone at idle and really rap when you get on it. It's a nice solid sound. I get a lot of compliments on the sound of my El Camino and it's only a smogged 350 with a cat-back Borla system. I'm going Borla on our Chevelle too.

As far as loud goes, I say go for what will make you happy. Unless you have crabby neighbors or the police crack down on noise violations, you shouldn't have any issues. The only sound I don't like is when a street car sounds sloppy. I like a clean tone, noticable at idle and nothing short of wicked when going through the gears.

Kris

[BRIAN]

Flowmaster 50's not the SUV version. They have nice musclecar rumble and are what I feel not too loud. Don't forget muffler placement in your system and where you exit your tips also play a big part in sound. Crossover pipe gets rid of a little rap on stock cams. I have above 50's on basically stock LT1 F.I. with side exit with simple turn downs. everybody swears there is something under the hood when I hit the pedal. No rap or cheasy tone they get deeper as you get on them. They also come in stainless. It's a muffler don't get crazy unless it is open wheel car or something you are going to throw mirrors under at a show.

[Chevyman73]

I'm leaning towards the new FlowMaster Super 40's, but have considered the Spintechs too. I just haven't heard the Spintech mufflers on anything but a 5.0 Mustang so I am unsure about them. Anybody got Spintech experience?

[ironroad9c1]

flows are the worst flowing muffler out there ,avoid them at all cost.

[Steve1968LS2]

Yep.. no flowmasters for me... Im leaning tword the stainless works turbo muffler but im concerned about the sound.. LS1tech is great for opinions but mufflers sound a LOT different when ran without cats and most guys are running them there..

LS1 with no cats = what muffler sounds best (and still flows good)..

Decisions

Oh, and thanks for all the feedback..

[dennis68]

flows are the worst flowing muffler out there ,avoid them at all cost.

I don't suppose you have any tech to back up that Flowmasters flow the worst of all other mufflers do you (a friend owns a muffler shop and says so does not count)? Just curious. I remeber Car Craft ran a cfm flow rating test several years ago and I thought the 2 1/2" Dynomax turbo was the best flowing of the bunch. I do not remember Flowmaster being last.

[BRIAN]

Everybody has their own opinion but I also find it hard to believe that Flowmasters are that poor of a flowing muffler especially compared to some of the glasspack filled stainless deals. The 40's have a 5" case as opposed to I think 3 3/4" for the 50's which helps tuck them up in your floor. The 40's are the orig and are a bit loud at all times. I would have to say reading a few of the tests by major nags that they were all within a few hp. Are you really that hard up for 5hp? Where are you getting your data from??
Keep in mind that a lot of the stainless pre-polished muflers are useless unless you are going to clamp them on which I wouldn't advise. If you weld you will destroy that polishing you paid for. You will also have to do your exhaust in stainless tubing. I would rather weld up mild steel set up and then have it coated. Last longer and doesn't discolor as easy.

[PeteRR]

My rap on Flowmasters is, they drone unbearably. The first chance I had, I cut them off my BB Dodge P/U.

I went with side-exit Spintechs on the Road Runner. They rumble at idle and howl at WOT.

[brads69]

sorry guys i love the flowmaster sound as much as anybody but classical pontiac put out a test on cd. they ran a bunch of mufflers on the same stock 455 pontiac, the flowmasters only flowed 59% the worst of the test, the dynomax ultraflow welded flowed 101%!!! acutally outflowing a straight pipe. the name of the cd is silent power and comes with a printout of the mufflers, if you can still find it, its worth buying.

[ironroad9c1]

http://www.svtoa.org/articles_006.htm
there is one ....
and here is some real world testing ....
http://www.jr333.com/pontiac/exhaust.htm

and i have had them myself and swapped em out with some dynomax ultra flow welded mufflers and i had to relearn how to drive the truck ,it didn't feel all corked up ,you think about how much friction all the little baffles inside a flowmaster cause in resistance to the airflow and look at some flowmaster ads themselves ,they never say more horsepower ,its always refering to the sound ,mind you they do have a nice sound ,but all show and no go is a bad thing .if your happy with flows ,good on ya ,but for my money i'll use anything but.