Which cat-back?

I'm trying to figure out which cat-back I should go with. My girlfriend is currently driving my camaro cause she can't drive my 5 speed maxima so my camaro is a weekend car. I'm looking for something that is loud but not too loud. I don't want anything loud enough to get her pulled over. She likes the flowmaster but I know that's one of the most restrictive cat-backs you can get. She's all about sound and i'm all about performance. I know the slp loudmouth is the least restrictive in my price range but is also one of the loudest. I also plan on doing headers and ORY eventually so I don't think the loudmouth will work. I read that the loudmouth 2 isn't supposed to be as loud but how is it performance wise? Any suggestions?

I'd get the Loudmouth, but if your planning on getting headers soon probably like Corsca or SLP 2OTL

I have a flowmaster 40 under the middle of the car and straight piping out back in the shape of a LM catback, it sounds good but I am sure the 40 series is holding me back (if not yet, it will in the future)

I would go with something ilke borla, corsa, or gmmg but they are out of my price range. How is the 2OTL as far as performance?

I did a lot of research and chose the hooker cat back system. Its quiet at idle and driving around but sounds really good at wot!

How restrictive is the hooker compared to the loudmouth ll?

Not sure on the restrictiveness of the hooker, but I have it and LOVE it.

FWIW, My car has outrun many with similar mods ... And I am using a "restrictive" flowmaster ... Yes they are not as straight through as other designs. But NO you WONT notice the difference. Back to back dyno results, on more than one occasion on here, with a few different people have shown 2-3RWHP differences. This is negligable.

You could strap your car down, make a run, and put down 300RWHP. Then 5 minutes later make another run and make 295RWHP because its getting a little warm, etc. etc.

I noticed a SOTP difference in throttle responce putting my flowmaster on it. Had I bought a cat-back, I would have likely went with either a Magna flow or a Hooker. I can say this, my Flowmaster is pretty tame sounding at idle. Under any load though my car sounds like it wants to rip someones ****ing head off.

Why dont you go with a flowmaster, then once you mod it more ( Headers, ORY etc. ) throw a E-Cutout on it. Then its quiet enough for when you see the local law enforcement, but when you want performance, its flwoing better than true duals ...

I thought about doing the flowmaster and then doing the headers and ORY with a cutout but that won't be happening for a while. Don't get me wrong I also love the sound the flowmaster puts out but then again I want as much performance as I can get for the cash and from what i've read, the loudmouth gives the best performance gains out of any cat-back for the price. It may just be too loud for what i'm looking for.

Magnaflow?

Not horrendously loud, can be had for about $280 shipped, and made out of stainless. What's not to like?

I believe Hooker has one of the best dyno results.

What about Pacesetters? Anybody know much about them?

I like LOUD so you might want to just ignore my opinion. But I love my SLP Loudmouth. I was running SLP shorties with high flow cats and the SLP Loudmouth. Everywhere I went I got compliments about the sound of the exhaust. It wasn't quiet by any means. My buddy has SLP Loudmouth on his LS1 and it sounds good but wasn't as loud as mine. I would say the only other exhaust I have heard that I liked as much as the LM would be borla. Borla is pricey but it sounds good and its kinda neat you can put the plates in depending on how loud you want it to be. I am getting ready to run LT's with an ORY into my Loudmouth with a nice cam so it should be interesting. :D Cant wait to hear her roar!

Magnaflow?

Not horrendously loud, can be had for about $280 shipped, and made out of stainless. What's not to like?
agreed me and my brother got ours for 285 shipped.

Buy the one you like the sound of, this "restrictive" catback stuff is nonsense between the popular aftermarket setups... You're looking at very miniscule differences between any of them.

I've got the Magnaflow catback and would recommend it, sounds great w/ my shorties and gutted cat. It's also the cheapest catback that is stainless, the other affordable systems are not unless I'm mistaken. I've also had the Hooker catback on my last thirdgen, and it was also an excellent sounding catback for cheap IMO.

I'm want to try something chambered 1 day. GMMG prices are just plain rediculous so I may go with some Sweet Thunders.

Magnaflow?

Not horrendously loud, can be had for about $280 shipped, and made out of stainless. What's not to like?
Thats what I was thinking.

Borla For The Win Hehehehe

I have the Hooker setup and LOVE it. I have long tubes with not cats so at idle its still somewhat loud. However with cats Im sure it would be plenty tame at idle. As far as driving, if the rpms are low enough on my setup its not much louder than stock, once sticking your foot in it though it sounds simply nasty. Good overall design/quality for a fair price.

Aaron

Did anyone actually notice any gains from any of these systems? Also I've been looking up prices and I can't find any cat-backs for under 380 + shipping except for the hooker. Anyone got any good links with some good prices?

I picked up 1mph in the 1/4 using a Flowmaster catback part #17144 (3" single outlet) on an otherwise stock car. That's about what you'll get with most catback exhausts and I guarantee that's still well under $300.

I believe I bought my Hooker setup through Summit if I remember right. I really dont think you can go wrong with it. The overall build quality is good and it fit very well. As far as performance change, I can't really say because I installed long tube headers shortly before so there was pretty good gains with those.

Aaron

B&B triflo
hands down.
looks the best.
IMO sounds best.
not very restrictive.
expensive though
I ran a 13.56 with a Moroso Cai and catback in my red 94 before I did any other mods.
never did a baseline =[
see pics in linky.

I picked up 1mph in the 1/4 using a Flowmaster catback part #17144 (3" single outlet) on an otherwise stock car. That's about what you'll get with most catback exhausts and I guarantee that's still well under $300.

One of my friends actually had this system. I talked to him about getting the dual outlet flowmaster an he told me that system suck and the single outlet was much better. I just really like the dual oulets and don't really want to do single. I'm probably just gonna do the loudmouth ll system and then figure out down the road what to do about the sound when I decide to do the headers and ORY. I'm just trying to get the most performance I can get out of a cat-back and I think the loudmouth is the most straight through design you can get for the cash.

I just really like the dual oulets and don't really want to do single

Yeah, that's why I have a dual outlet Dynomax Ultra-Flow Welded Race muffler on my car now. However, if I had a Camaro and not a Trans Am, the single outlet thing wouldn't bug me at all.

Plus, you could go to an exhaust shop, have them weld in a pipe just ahead of the muffler, put a flange and a plate in there, then another tailpipe - basically make it like a Borla setup....

I was just curious. I noticed that some of these systems have dual 3 inch outlets and some have 2.5 inch outlets. Does this really make a difference in flow for an almost stock motor?

I like LOUD so you might want to just ignore my opinion. But I love my SLP Loudmouth. I was running SLP shorties with high flow cats and the SLP Loudmouth. Everywhere I went I got compliments about the sound of the exhaust. It wasn't quiet by any means. My buddy has SLP Loudmouth on his LS1 and it sounds good but wasn't as loud as mine. I would say the only other exhaust I have heard that I liked as much as the LM would be borla. Borla is pricey but it sounds good and its kinda neat you can put the plates in depending on how loud you want it to be. I am getting ready to run LT's with an ORY into my Loudmouth with a nice cam so it should be interesting. :D Cant wait to hear her roar!
do you buy chance have a clip of your shoties/LM? I'm debating buying a LM

Na bro sorry I don't. It sounds mean though. Id go for it. Has sorta of a gargle noise when you let off the gas but I liked it.

Did anyone actually notice any gains from any of these systems? Also I've been looking up prices and I can't find any cat-backs for under 380 + shipping except for the hooker. Anyone got any good links with some good prices?


Email any and all eBay sellers, and tell them you want the Magnaflow system of your choice shipped to your zipcode and you don't want any "free" catalytic converters. They should reply with an offer less than $300.

I really like my borla catback exhaust. It has a very nice sound at idle and it doesnt sound like a poorly tuned race car. But when you start to rev the engine on the road or still. Well lets just say you unleash the beast but the sound is deep and strong not high and raspy.

That comment about the single out flowmaster being a better design than the dual outlet ...

I'd have to question that. All the Flowmaster mufflers, other than their race mufflers have baffles in them to produce the sound they make. I dont see how there could be "that" much of a difference between them.

Go with what you like the sound of most. THey all flow so close that it makes no real difference in power. And when you get to the level where it would make a significant difference, the real thing holding you back will be that it is not true duals ... And you will run a cut out anyways,or do true duals.

I see no reason to choose one cat back over another from a performance stand point. If it matters that much, dont buy an exhaust now, save the money, and put it towards a true dual set up with nice straight through mufflers.

I've been doing a lot of research. Like Hardcore said the cat-back seems to be more for sound than anything. I also listened to a bunch of sound clips. I personally liked the sound of the flowmaster the most out of anything I can afford. The hooker sounded pretty nice too. Actually most of them sounded nice it just seemed some were louder than others. I'll do some more research and find one I like and just throw a cutout in with it for better gains. My only question now as stated above is does it really matter if it is a dual 3 inch or dual 2 1/2 inch outlet?

No. This wont really limit horsepower. It may make a sound difference? I know changing tips can really change the tone even ... But as far as flow goes, the dual 2 1/2 inchers will flow more than the single cat back 3 inch line does

I just put together a nice exhaust for cheap!! I bought a set of 3" intermediate pipes and over the axle for 50$, Dynomax race oval muffler center in and out for 60$, and a bullet 3" to put in the intermediate pipe for 40$. This is going to sound friggin bad ass with my pacesetter off road y pipe. I decided not to go with the true duals I have and go with the stock route of the exhaust as I dont wanna have trouble with the emission guys.

But as far as flow goes, the dual 2 1/2 inchers will flow more than the single cat back 3 inch line does

Wrong answer dude.....this is not true in the factory "crossflow" muffler configuration. However, if you're talking about, say, the SLP 2OTL, you'd be absolutely right though.

I have Mac mids, high flow cats, Y-pipe and SLP loudmouth for an LS1.

It's loud. It's "attitude". You either enjoy that sound and have an aftermarket stereo and speakers, or back down a few decibles to a Borla. I got me .5 second and 4 mph at the track. +15rwhp on dyno.

How come Harleys don't get harrassed by the Sunday noise police? :lol:

Onebadponcho: Even on an aftermarket crossflow, they will flow so close to what a single 3" pipe does, I would think there is little to no difference. Any name brand aftermarket crossflow with dual 2.5" outlets will flow very similar if not the same as dual 3" outlets. He was meaning the dual outlet size, not what you mean, just the outlets. And this would make such a little differnece its not worth considering.

Thanks for the info. I only ask because it seems that there is a dramatic price difference between dual 3 inch and dual 2 1/2 inch outlet systems. The 2 1/2 inch systems cost much less than the 3 inch system. If I went with a 2 1/2 inch system, I could use the extra cash that I would have spent on a 3 inch system on a cutout.

I got one more question. I know this will be down the road but I spoke to my friend about headers. The guy he bought his car from told him that in order to put headers in, you have to take the a/c out and thats what he did. He stated its not possible to put headers in an LT1 camaro without pulling the a/c. It sounds like BS but is this by any chance true?

That guy is full of crap....

NOT!!!!

The only thing we pulled out mainly was; Alternator, Steering shaft, starter, dipstick tube and the AIR connections to the manifold. We put back in; Alternator minus a bracket just because, Steering shaft minus some of the plastic guard pieces, starter, the dipstick after most everything was bolted up (ouch!).

Never touched the A/C. It's still in there and functioning.

http://www.97transam.com/headers.php

She likes the flowmaster but I know that's one of the most restrictive cat-backs you can get. She's all about sound and i'm all about performance.

Why not keep the Flowmaster catback for her during the week, and spend $200 for a DMH e-cutout (http://www.dmhperformance.com) for you on the weekends? This way, you can choose when to be loud, and when to be mild.

I picked up 6hp and 2ftlbs torque on back to back dyno runs (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/491988) with the cutout open (I have the factory cat-back). It's cheaper than another aftermarket catback, will net you more gains, and you can keep the sound your girlfriend likes with the flowmaster.

Thomas.

Why not keep the Flowmaster catback for her during the week, and spend $200 for a DMH e-cutout (http://www.dmhperformance.com) for you on the weekends? This way, you can choose when to be loud, and when to be mild.

I picked up 6hp and 2ftlbs torque on back to back dyno runs (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/491988) with the cutout open (I have the factory cat-back). It's cheaper than another aftermarket catback, will net you more gains, and you can keep the sound your girlfriend likes with the flowmaster.

Thomas.

Thats what I was thinking about doing. I was looking at their systems and thats why I asked previously if there is really a difference in 2 1/2 and 3 inch outlets. They sell both but one is much cheaper than the other. Since its going to be for sound I didn't know how much of a sound difference there would be between the 2 1/2 and 3 inch. I'd just throw a flowmaster in for my girl and throw in a cutout for me and call it a day.

I was looking at their systems and thats why I asked previously if there is really a difference in 2 1/2 and 3 inch outlets. They sell both but one is much cheaper than the other.

It's the same price regardless if you order a 2 1/2" or 3"? The 3" one is a good fit for the stock Z28 pipe. What size pipe does your flowmaster catback have?

Any decent exhaust shop should be able to weld up the 3" flowtech piece into your pipe for about $30. Then you install the valve/motor and wiring harness yourself.

Thomas.

I think you should get Magnaflow with an e-cutout.

Corsa has the best sound (IMO) and the best flow (of the single-pipe 3" options), but it's expensive. The previous owner of my car installed my Corsa cat-back, so I didn't have to pay for it. I guess I lucked out. :D

Yes it is a year later, but I own the 95 Z28 in question now. The Edlebrock cat-back he bought sounds like ass and looks like ass (pipes are crap), so stay the hell away from it. I would rather have a stock system than this raspy crap, the thing resonates like hell.

The guy that owns the shop here in town hooked me up with set up i bought the flowmaster 80 crossflow. for like 60 to 70 dollars from his vendors and he hooked me up with 3 inch pipe from the cat to the outlets. for 150.00 dollars thats for everything. cheap as heck.

The guy that owns the shop here in town hooked me up with set up i bought the flowmaster 80 crossflow. for like 60 to 70 dollars from his vendors and he hooked me up with 3 inch pipe from the cat to the outlets. for 150.00 dollars thats for everything. cheap as heck.

I had a Flowmaster setup when I had my Mustang and actually like the sound. I may go that way and get rid of this thing.

i say go with a borla, thats what im running, and with MAC mids it isnt that loud and it performs well (im pretty sure one of the smaller plates is in)

also, theres a gmmg catback for sale on ls1tech for only 450, id go for that if i wasnt set on exhaust already