if you are refering to me, of course every developer does some sort of reasearch. Just because Flowmaster does doesn't mean that the other developers don't. Each muffler has its benefits. I find that chambered mufflers limit flow at high rpms, and i have had ill luck with 40 series flow masters on my 99 GT. Personaly a good strait flow muffler such as dynomax, borla, any of the others, use more reasearch than flowmaster who just puts walls to create muffle.

 

Now if only all you dudes would have answered my questions a few months back! Damnit! I was going thru this exact delimma. I have an 80 series Flowmaster muffler on my 2001 SS and it sounds great.... satisfied with the sound but the looks from the rear are not very appealing. I hate the way the muffler just hangs there. My 80 series wasn't 2 weeks old and it started to turn a s___ brown on one side for no apparent reason. I kept hearing I lost horsepower from grease monkeys in my city. They all said "slowmasters suck". Also the 80 series does drone at low and middle rpm ranges, especially after a few hours of freeway time and this makes your head rattle.

I bit the bullet and bought a GMMG cat-back. Have not yet installed it due to time restraints and I'm polishing up the system. It was a royal pain in the a__ to order it. GMMG screwd up the order, box was ripped up, they wrote down my wrong address, etc.

I'm still confused. I like my Flomaster muffler but the drone and brown color it makes I don't like. I'll put on the GMMG and test it out. Hell, I may send the GMMG back.

BTW, I also called Flowmaster a while back and he told me the same thing- "stainless steel sucks", "Flowmaster has the best exhausts in the world", "everybody is jealous of us so they resort to slander via the internet" "We're the best", etc.

 

mine turned brown too.
usually you have to paint them before you put them on, and they wont do that.

get some exhaust paint. it will make a WORLD of a differce for looks. you may jsut leave the GMMP in the box

its only a few bucks for a can, and i garanty you will like the results!

 

About 3 days, $0, and a few dyno figures of before Flowmaster catback and after another catback like Borla, B&B, or Corsa runs on the dyno. A few guys on here have complained about there results after Longtube headers or any header and their 1/4 mile times being the same as before headers or barely a gain at all. And then finally changing out the Flowmaster catback to Borla or something less restricted like a cutout and gaining there extra 2-4mph on the 1/4. That and Dyno numbers is plenty proof to me.

 

Cory-

I thought about painting my 80 series Flowmaster muffler. What brand paint did you use? I can assume I would need a high temp spray paint. Autozone, Pep Boys?

This is a great thread.......and I wonder if Flowmaster is looking in.

Is a GMMG exhaust cat-back better than an 80 series Flowmaster as far as horsepower, good mean sound with NO drone(interior resonance)? I'm begining to think I made a big mistake buying a GMMG cat-back.

I think those Flowmaster techs are told what to say. Really guys, do those "Techs" know a lot about exhaust flow technology or are they $9.00 an hour guys who answer compaints all day from "non-in the know normal people"?

 

Hmmm... Maybe it's just me, but I find it hard to see my Flowmaster from the back of my car. Is it that the rear on the TA is lower than that of the Camaro?

 

well, the guy I spoke to knew about Mufflex and several other exhaust makers. I tend to think that if you are into something, then you will know about names like mufflex.

He listed the different grades of stainless.. he also mentioned what grade of stainless they were using for theirs. He also told me that they have broken many of their test mufflers that were stainless as well.. most customer service people would never state anything negative about their products right? especially if they are going to be sold for more $. I am a potential customer every time I call in. He also explained to me that the only reason they make the dual tail pipe setup is because so many people are into the "looks" over true "performance". Something that I whole heartedly agree with. I would much rather prefer a single large dump over two pipes exiting the rear single 1 single large out flows 2 smaller..

Like stated on page 1 of this thread, take it with a grain of salt.. but for me.. I am looking at doing something different.. I am not totally sure at this moment what.. but I have been kicking around an idea of using a 3" round 30" long sweet-thunder chambered exhaust spliced into my I pipe then having the rest of my exhaust follow over the rear axels then dump down a few feet away as I was told that the tail pipe affects the overall "loudness" and a longer pipe will quiet it down.

 

I put a flowmaster on my explorer with a K&N filter and I felt the difference. Now I have a 98 z and want to know how much horsepower will I get if I do the same. I want to bring up my car to about 380horses, but do it over time. I won't be trying to be the fastest, but I won't a little more than stock power. Now if someone knows how much horses I will get on a stock ls1 98 tell me. If you know of better mufflers and the horse gain I will get please include the price. Money matters.... I don't want to spent 700 bucks on a muffler with only a horse gains of 20. I may be exagerrating with the price but you get my drift. If the flowmaster is going to give me a good amount of horses with good price the f*&^ it thats what I need to get. However if you know for an extra 75 maybe to a 100 I can get 50% more over the flowmaster with a different muffler then tell me the name.

 

any cat back system will get you closer to gain of 20 rwhp. this will put you closer to your actual stock number of like 340 hp or so. oh with an K and N air filter you will notice a diff but may gain like 2 hp if your lucky. its hard to feel a chnage in hp when you pull 320 already. easier on your explorer.

also yes flow willl get you doog numbers for a cheaper cost. many people dont like the flowmaster. I see them as generic and everyone around me has them. I want something diff, so im gonna go the 700 dollar route.