This past weekend I installed my AS&M Headers, today I had them hooked up to the exhaust with the stock cat. As you can see in my sig, I am also running borla cat-back system. My exhaust is so quiet now I can bearly him the car running, it's quieter than my stock exhaust. My question is does the stock cat make it quieter? I am debating wether to remove the cat now. The muffler shop that hooked up my exhaust said that headers don't make the exhuast any louder, only if you have an exhaust leak. Which that don't make any since to me. I think that something is wrong. Does anyone have a setup like mine? IF so, can they tell me how it sounds to them, did after installing your headers did you exhaust get any louder? I'm very disappointed. Any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance to all who reply.


Tuff.

 

Headers GENERALLY make your exhaust sound louder, as the headers are thinner in composition than manifolds, and you are moving a greater deal of exhaust gases.

That being said, the Borla cat back offers adjustment plates. If you want it louder, why don't you put in a plate that directs less flow through the muffler?

Buy headers to make horsepower, not to make it louder!

 

I have a differant seup (see sig) but I remember my exhaust being louder when I installed headers to the stock exhaust. Even louder when I put the catback on. I also run both cats.

HF

 

I am running the cat-back wide open and it is so quiet it's just tickin' me off. It was a lot louder before I put the headers on. I'm just wondering if the muffler shop did something to the catalytic converter, he mention that he put a silencer in it or something like that. Is that possible, to put a silencer in the cat? Well, we will see soon if it also gave me a performance gain. I headed to the track this weekend.


Thanks
Tuff.

 

Sounds to me like you are running the full block off plate in that Borla, try running it without any plate and see what happens.
Ok then if its wide open then the cat could be the reason its so quiet.

 

Mine didn't get any louder/quieter with headers, just smoothed out the tone, less raspy. A cat makes a noticable difference, and most car's i've heard don't sound so hot without one.

 

My car actually got quieter after I put my headers on too. But I have taken care of that problem now.

 

mine got quieter with headers...its due to the evening out of exhaust pulses instead of that jumble that the stock manifolds produce...

 

I would get in contact with whoever did your install and check on what they meant when they said they put a silencer in. It sounds to me like he put the restrictor plate back in your Borla catback. If that is the case it will be an easy fix. He may have also put something in similar to the 'cone of silence' to try to quit it down. If he did something else I would hope that he would remove it for free for you since you never requested having a silencer put in. Hard to believe they would believe that you would want it quieter.

 

Mine got noticably louder

 

I have Hooker long tubes on my car and i run it through my stock cat back with a cut out. When the cut out is capped, the car sounds bone stock. With the cut out open it is more quite at idle then before the headers. When i get on it though i think it is alot louder, but sounds a hell of alot better then before headers.

 

obviously you are like me and want to be able to hear the exhaust and watch people on street corners tremble when you sit at stoplights and so on. heres my advice, my old pickup with a built SBC has full length headers and true duals and of course no cats, cummon its a 1968, now lemme tell ya, that thing is loud, itll set of car alarms in the parking lot, no joke. now i think either your cat is restricting you or your exhaust guy put something somewhere that screwed you. ask him wtf he did and have him fix it. other than that you can put a cutout in there if you want some serious noise. hope this helps.

CR

 

Thanks everyone for your replies, I found out today that he did in fact put a cone silencer in there. Well guess what he is removing it for free tomorrow. Boy, it pisses me off when people do things that was not requested. He thought that I didn't want a noisey exhaust, well I told him that I would like to hear something, instead of something quieter than my stock exhaust was. I could hardly hear my exhaust it was so quiet. Again thanks eveyone.



Tuff.

 

Good for you!!

 

mine got alittle quieter but I kind of like it. I like the sleeper aproach. It gets loud a full throttle though.