i'm not going to dispute whats best, because it doesnt matter. This isnt a pissing contest. I'm only going to make a suggestion. if you bought the flowmaster kit without the tips that only has turndowns. whip out the sawzall and hack those turn downs off so the remaining pipe is straight out the back. 2nd you shouldnt really be at 2.5k rpm all the time i dont think unless you got 4.10's anyhow hacking off the turndowns will change the sound. you may also want to try tuning the sound of the exhaust a little bit with the tips. and if you just got the muffler i've heard those, they dont sound too good. and when you say you have a 3 inch pipe if its factory any good aftermarket piece thats mandrel bent is where most of the gain is in the system just my .02

 

Another vote for the SLP 2 OTL, nice deep rumble at idle and great sound as you step on it.

 

5 years ago, when i was a ricer with an Eclipse GSX, I longed to hear the drone of a 10.5:1 V8 through a Flowmaster. I can't say I can associate with your dissatisfaction. I will tell you that you will be dissatisfied with the rust on that Flowmaster if you keep it.

A friend of mine recently installed a SLP LM on his Z and it does sound awesome though!!!!

Good luck
Scott

 

yep its safe to say that flowmasters are a waste of money...i have 2 sittin in my basement that i got for free and are bacically new hehehe

i'm just waitin to replace old muffler on my 84 ta with it only b/c its free hehe

 

I had a flomaster on my car for a year and a half and finally got fed up with it. It is just too loud for daily driving and it even hurts horsepower!!!! I replaced it with a stock ls1 muffler and now it sounds good and quiet. It also got rid of all that crapy backfiring noise!

 

I brought this one up even though I am sure the decison has already been made.
I am a auoxer my self so thought I may offer my advise. You have two ways to go. Light as possible to reduce weight=Loud Mouth. Or heavy as hell to help the crappy weight distributoin.

FWIW I had a Flowmaster 40 series 3" in 3.5" out muffler w/3.5" tip. Sounded fine. I switched to a Borla becuase of the looks and because they sound great on an LT1.
My but meter aint' that sensitive so I could not tell a difference. FWIW as I get more serious I find my self taking every advantage there is. So I am going to dyno the Flowmaster vs the Borla. I may go to the flowmaster because it is about 25lbs lighter!!

BTW I have seen an independant test of several mufflers. Borla, Magnaflow, Hooker, Dynomax, and a couple others. All were within 5hp and 10lbs torque. W/ the Flowmasters prodcing the same amount o max HP w/8lbs more torque.

 

definately go with the hooker aerochamber. i gained a 10nt and almost 1mph just by going hooker over my old flowmaster. and it is quiet at cruising rpms, but as others already stated....it screams when u want it to.

 

I'm very partial to my MAC setup. I cut the resonators off the back, so it doesn't look like I have giant sewer pipes on. I never did car for that slash back tip either. Sounds quite lovely at idle, just a bit noisier than stock. Makes a good sound when I romp on it, and NO drone.

 

If I close my cut out I cant even hear my car anymore...

 

I, as well as most people who hear it, like the sound of my Flowmaster. Not only does it sound good, but it has helped make my car the 9th quickest stock motored LT1 in the country. 12.82 with stock exhaust manifolds! It's obviously WORKING well...LOL

 

Well here is my .02.

I like the sound of my Flowmaster. I am running it through Hooker LTs and no cat. I have no drone and it really wakes up when you lean on it.

As far as hp losses. I just returned from the dyno last week. You want to guess the amount of loss, flowmaster vs. cutout?

Guess...

ZERO!!! I had absolutely NO loss throught the exhaust. Granted I have some tuning issues some knock retard to get rid of and some O2 sensors to replace but the dynoed the same with full exhaust or open. Just thought somw of you might like to know that.

 

Can anybody actually produce a video'd dyno run comparing stock exhaust vs Flowmaster catback vs Brand X catback that shows, without any doubt, that you in fact lose horsepower with a Flowmaster system?

So far all I have seen are people saying they don't like the sound, and jumping on a discussion board bandwagon rumor that a Flowmaster muffler will cost you power. I challenge anyone who makes these claims to actually come up with some actual evidence to prove this. Otherwise, your claims should just be dismissed as heresay.

Sound wise, whatever tickles you is what you should get. Just remember that the Flowmaster mufflers don't use any sound deadening material, so if you don't have a catalytic converter, you will get some very annoying popping.

 

This debate can go on till the cows come home.Personally I think my flowmaster is highly restrictive,adding noise to the inside of the car.When I had this installed,the muffler guy welded the pipe over the drive shaft(dumb),(had the high flow cat done at the same time),And for the past 4 years or so,the weld keeps breaking loose,letting exhaust exit though this hole.Now my car sounds tough and I get compliments constantly,but this is because the muffler is too restrictive.It's nothing for your muffler man to re-weld a different muffler in.I think flowmaster mufflers are for sound,and not for performance.My02

 

1 3/4 headers, no cat, Borla cat back with open plate! and a LPE 219/219 cam

 

I agree the debate can go on forever. I too have "heard" the FlowMasters rob horsepower but have never seen any "proof". The only thing I can go on is my dyno session where there was ZERO loss. But, my particular setup has the American Thunder muffler, maybe the othere series mufflers do cause some loss. Anybody "know"??