Exhaust System From headers to exhaust tips

Have Flowruster - Might switch to Magnaflow - Convince Me

Old 03-14-2008 | 07:58 AM
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Have Flowruster - Might switch to Magnaflow - Convince Me

I've been out of the mod scene for a few years and I'm trying to slowly get back into it. One of the things that's really driving me crazy is my exhaust. I have a '97 Z28, with Mac mid length headers, off-road Y-pipe, and Flowmaster exhaust. I liked the Flowmaster until I put the headers and y-pipe on, but now I hate it. It's just too throaty and raspy. Not to mention that it resonates inside the car big time.

I've been hearing a lot of good things about Magnaflow. Although it would seem the prices have went up a little since I've looked the last time. Used to be Summit was the cheapest around for it, now the cheapest place I can find it is the Performance Peddler.

The car is basically all bolt-on. (K&N, 3.73's, headers, y-pipe, Flows, MSD, and a custom tune from Madwolf.)
Does anyone else have this similar setup with no cats, like mine? Do you guys think it would sound better if I switched to Magnaflow??
Old 03-14-2008 | 08:01 AM
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The Magnaflow offers a good, clean tone, but is a little mellow until you have the throttle mashed. The other nice thing is that it is stainless steel, that was one of the perks that caused me to replace my Edelbrock catback with it.
Old 03-14-2008 | 08:26 AM
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You'll gain 10rwhp or more switching from Flowmaster to Magnaflow.
Old 03-14-2008 | 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted by 2000GTP
The Magnaflow offers a good, clean tone, but is a little mellow until you have the throttle mashed. The other nice thing is that it is stainless steel, that was one of the perks that caused me to replace my Edelbrock catback with it.
Cool, thanks.

Originally Posted by JakeRobb
You'll gain 10rwhp or more switching from Flowmaster to Magnaflow.
Cool, but will it sound good?
Old 03-14-2008 | 08:50 AM
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i think mine sounds great, nice and quite at idle and cruise and wicked at WOT
Old 03-14-2008 | 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Jon97Z
Cool, but will it sound good?
I'm not the right person to ask; I hate the sound of Flowmasters. Too raspy. Magnaflow has a much cleaner, mellower sound, and it's not raspy at all.

I love the sound of Magnaflow. Borla and Corsa sound better IMO, but for the money, you can't beat Magnaflow's sound.
Old 03-14-2008 | 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Jon97Z
s[nipped]
I liked the Flowmaster until I put the headers and y-pipe on, but now I hate it. It's just too throaty and raspy. Not to mention that it resonates inside the car big time.
I really wish I knew which model Flowmaster I have, and I know that
folks say, "oh, Flowmaster XXX sounds great, but Flowmaster yyy
sounds raspy".

I have the one that doesnt sound raspy. As a matter of fact, I have
people ask me at lights what muffler I'm running, and in a couple of
instances, I've had folks follow me into parking lots to stop and talk
to me about the exhaust. If Flowmaster gets a bad rap (raspy?),
I think it's for that "other model #"
Old 03-14-2008 | 11:55 AM
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Flowmasters dont have a good rep because of there design, not because of sound. If you ever see a flowmaster cutaway you will see why.
Old 03-14-2008 | 12:26 PM
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Well, IMO, the Flowmasters were great for a more 'stock' car. Back in the day, I had just added the Flowmaster cat-back to my car which still had the stock manifolds, stock cats and stock y-pipe and it sounded awesome. Once I added the headers and off-road y-pipe, it sounded horrible.
Old 03-14-2008 | 02:25 PM
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i love my magnaflow! has a very nice tone. when just cruising around town you nudge the gas and it has a nice v8 sound to it
Old 03-14-2008 | 02:43 PM
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Here is the one i'm thinking of getting. $323 w/ free S&Hhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Magna...3286.m20.l1116
My Flowmaster sounds just fine but i believe all the things i read about it. The restriction is too much for my mods.
Old 03-14-2008 | 06:02 PM
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Originally Posted by mrmint69
My Flowmaster sounds just fine but i believe all the things i read about it. The restriction is too much for my mods.
That's what I've read about Flowmaster. Everyone likes the sound, but they are way too restrictive for heavily modded cars. I personally don't like them, way to quiet IMO. I feel it's my duty as an LT1 owner to let everyone on the block know I'm coming back from work .
Old 03-14-2008 | 06:22 PM
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Yeah, switching from a Flowbastard to a Magnaflow is a no-brainer.
Old 03-15-2008 | 10:24 AM
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Here's a page with a bunch of sound clips from various exhaust systems.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/ex...en-f-body.html
Old 03-16-2008 | 02:58 AM
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I had pacesetter lts,ory and a flowmaster catback on my 93 and it wasnt as loud as I thought it would be. Plus I could tell the flowmaster was holding me back a bit. Id switch to the magnaflow then just add a cutout when you want it really loud.

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