TA

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys n' gals:
I'm working on a buyer's guide on after-cat exausts, and would like some feedback from those who own them. Please limit your opinions to those that you actually own and have first hand experience with.

Bassani
JBA
Flowmaster
Doug Thorley
Mufflex
SLP Power-Flo and Loug Mouth
Edelbrock
Stainless Works
Banks
Corsa
DynoMax
MagnaFlow
SpinTech
Pypes
Random Technology
Borla

Please rate from 1-5 (1is least, 5 is most) the following:

Fit and finish
Sound quality
Sound volume
price/value

I probably can't include them all, but let your opinion be known.

TA

iTrader: (1)

wow, nobody has any opinion on their cat back?

88 Ram Air TA

I have the Borla system. It sounds awesome, however, the fit sucks. It is the best free-flowing system on the market for these cars. The flowmaster might sound nice but it is one of the worst-flowing systems out there.

Because of the increase in power and sound I got from my Borla I would give it a 4 out of a 5.

KenV

Had the Flowmaster catback for the L98 (dual-cat). Not long after that I removed the muffler and put in a round welded 3" Dynomax Magnum (not the one that looks like a glasspack). That REALLY woke up the car. I can still have a conversation with the windows down and at any speed, but when the jackass pedal hits the floor the system has a nice roar to it. Unless I go for big power I can't see changing a thing. Once the 383 goes in I'll know for sure, but I'm hoping it's enough for a smog-legal Cali car...

HTH

K

TA

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I have heard that FlowMasters are not really tops for power, but I didn't realize it was so easy to tell seat-of-pants. Any comments or feedback are welcome on anything cat-back related.

transporter

I have the Flowmaster American Thunder with Edelbrock headers and I like it. Have had it almost a year and it has a nice throaty sound when you get on it.

SmallTires

iTrader: (4)

I have this exact same setup and am pleased with it. Though I am not looking for the maximum power out of the car but just a nice driver.

-Small Tires

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

Random Technology...

Fit and finish: aluminized - 4

Sound Quality: smooth at all speeds - 5

Sound Volume: deep and strong, similar to the stock LS1 exhaust system - 5

Price/Value: competitive - 4

And something not on your list, Customer Support: excellent personal assistance, email or phone - 5

I'm impressed with the company and VERY pleased with the product.

V8 Slayer

Have a Dynomax system, the one for $169.99. Nice throaty idle, drony once your in overdrive though. Been on for about a year and is already somewhat rusted on the pipes and muffler. Driven through NY winters of course. Its 2½ mandrel bent pipe and it cake to install. Definatly a minor power gain also..

TA

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, good information. I didn't know anybody produced a cat-back for 170 bucks!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

He has a 3.1l V6, you have a 5.7l V8. You don't want to put a $170 system on your car.

I have a Flowmaster 80 series. Generally too loud, although some people would say it is too quiet. I'll take flow capability over noise production any day of the week.

TA

iTrader: (1)

This information is for a magazine story, and we try and impart information to all levels of our readers. If someone is on a limited budget and his stock exhaust is falling off, the Dynomax is a great deal. We were all budget guys in the beginning, that's where you learn.

Also, FlowMasters in general are pulling down the worst feedback by a huge margin, and in my experience with dyno testing, they are the noisiest and lowest-performing of any "performance" muffler, although some people admit they just like the sound of 'em. Because they are an advertiser, all the negative aspects are usually editied out of the magazine stories, but you might just find that the $170 Dynomax system is quieter and as much power as your FlowMaster 80.

V8 Slayer

Well at this point that $170 Dynomax is the only catback available for us V6'ers

Nate86

Is there any particular reason you left Hooker off the list? I own one of their catbacks and I'd love to give you my opinion of it if it just got left off by accident.

Fit and finish - Hooker supplies all the necessary clamps and piping for the entire catback. The muffler hooks up exactly like the factory exhaust, and from that point it's just a matter of getting it fit correct, which is not very difficult at all if the rest of the exhaust (mostly the y-pipe and catalytic convertor) are installed correctly. Hooker even makes provisions for the car's suspension, adding small indentations where the exhaust needs to clear the suspension at the over axle pipe. At that point, it's just a matter of clamping/welding it all together. The system also comes with dual outlet chrome exhaust tips. I intentionally left these off my car because I'd rather it not be flashy, but for what it's worth, they would look nice on a show car.

Overall - 5 of 5

Sound quality - As is always the case, it's hard to be objective about sound quality since everyone has their own opinions on what sounds good. That said, the Hooker muffler has a slightly higher pitch versus other mufflers such as Flowmasters. It's not necessarily more raspy, it just doesn't sound quite as deep and hollow as Flowmasters would on a similar car. I enjoy the sound of the Hooker system, but others may be disappointed that it doesn't have that deep growl like other mufflers. In any case, at WOT it's particularly easy to tell what's under the hood (V8) and the sound is just as authoritative as any other muffler I've heard on a V8.

Overall - 4 of 5

Sound volume - I was definately surprised the first time I heard the car with the full catback on the car, as it almost seems quiter than even the stock exhaust at idle. When cruising, the exhaust is noticable but extremely far from unbearable when inside the car. Two people could easily talk in soft voices while cruising at 65 MPH on the interstate with the windows up. At WOT, the Hooker muffler is a beast and I would say it could be heard for a good couple of blocks away when the car is being floored. The inside does not suffer from any droning noises that I am aware of, and apparently this is another problem that I have observed or heard about with other mufflers.

Overall - 5 of 5

Price/value - Depending on which catback you buy, Hooker's prices range from $260 to $280. My catback was $269.95 from summitracing.com. Some may feel that the price difference between Hooker's systems and other cheaper catback is not worth it when they basically accomplish the same thing. I feel that the money was well worth it, not only because of the facts stated above, but the installation was basically a "remove and replace" type affair, where as other catbacks may need modifications to fit like the stock exhaust setup. I personally found the reduced hassle to be worth a slightly larger amount of money. The catback is also made of aluminized steel, so it shouldn't rust for a very long time. I haven't had my catback on long enough to make an objective observation on this, but I've read others reviews and so far have not found anything referring to rust on Hooker's catbacks (the chrome tips did have a problem with rusting only a few months after installation, but I believe Hooker has since rectified the situation with that--not that it matters to me anyway, since I didn't use them).

Overall - 5 of 5



Overall score - 4.75 of 5

Hope that helps.

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

JamesC

TA

iTrader: (1)

I should have put Hooker on there to avoid confusion, but I have a great deal of personal experience with their products, and would recommend Hooker to anyone (the right one for the application, naturally). My original intention was not to influence or soil the results with my own opinions, but me not expounding my opinions would be a miracle in itself. I guess you can say I get paid to expound my opinions.