Any thoughts on interesting sounding mufflers?

[Clint Beastwood]

I’m having exhaust done tomorrow morning, t304 3” downpipe to tailpipe. Vibrant 18” bottle res up front and vibrant ultra quiet in the rear. I have every expectation that it’s going to be absurdly loud without a muffler so I’m having them leave a spot for one should it be required. I can easily fit a MagnaFlow or vibrant (pref. Vibrant) muffler, but I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on especially interesting sounding mufflers. I’ve used lots, Flowmaster, spintech, dynomax, etc. - anyone have thoughts on mufflers with a unique or especially interesting “character” to them? I feel that sound is a big element of a car’s character, and after my Abarth the vacuum cleaner quiet of the ST wasn’t making me happy. A friend recommended a Borla xr1, the last Borla I had was on a vw golf 5 cylinder and it sounded great, can’t find any examples of a xr1 on a turbo 4 though. This is all speculative, so feel free to discuss. Bassani is near the shop I’m having it done at so I might see if they offer anything interesting.

I’d love to go dual exhaust but haven’t found any oem looking rear skirts with dual cutouts.

 

[dmb]

i'd love dual's that look factory, but looking underneath looks like a no go unless you change alot of stuff. can't wait to see what you do. i was thinking dual S&S spark arresters side by side like i had on my XR750 clone.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

i'd love dual's that look factory, but looking underneath looks like a no go unless you change alot of stuff. can't wait to see what you do. i was thinking dual S&S spark arresters side by side like i had on my XR750 clone.

lol i was looking at some yoshimura pipes in my garage like "hmmmmmm"

ew could you imagine an ST with supertrapps lol

 

[Dpro]

lol i was looking at some yoshimura pipes in my garage like "hmmmmmm"

ew could you imagine an ST with supertrapps lol

God Forbid, lol talk about how to sound ricey.

 

[HBEcoBeaST]

How much did the 3" system set you back?

Listened to a 3" system with just an ultra quiet resonator and it was definitely loud. Not droney, just all around loud and raw sounding.

I'm looking into a custom 3" vibrant ultra quiet resonator and vibrant performer muffler. I like quiet, but I want more flow and throatiness. Eventually going hybrid turbo so planning ahead.

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[HBEcoBeaST]

Haven't heard the vibrant mufflers on our platform but seems like a good option for quietish low burbly sound.

I know the Borla or Magnaflow 'race' mufflers have a throaty, low bassy sound, not fart can at all, but they lose packing kind of quickly. On the opposite ricey fart can sound would be the spintech(horrible sounding on 4cyl except subies), flowmaster (street series) and the Magnaflow that comes with their catback.

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[M-Sport fan]

I've never heard an XR1 on a small 4 banger turbo car, but the one I had installed into my Mufflex stainless 3.5" system on my '00 Z28 was WAY TOO LOUD for my tastes (and to try and save what little hearing I had left at the time), so I swapped it out for the biggest 'motorhome spec' Magnaflow that would fit in that transverse position the factory muffler sits in, in that car (THEN it was bearable and sounded good).

When Borla says "race muffler" THEY MEAN IT, as it is only designed to attenuate the exhaust pulse noise by ~3 decibels or so, just enough to get you under any sound limits any sanctioning bodies may impose.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

How much did the 3" system set you back?

Listened to a 3" system with just an ultra quiet resonator and it was definitely loud. Not droney, just all around loud and raw sounding.

I'm looking into a custom 3" vibrant ultra quiet resonator and vibrant performer muffler. I like quiet, but I want more flow and throatiness. Eventually going hybrid turbo so planning ahead.

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Labor and materials around 500 since I had some very specific requests (backpurge welds etc). Price doesn’t include the vibrant resonators, I burned off some Amazon gift cards buying those. If it’s too loud I’ll probably go vibrant muffler if I can’t find any other compelling options. I really don’t want MagnaFlow, I don’t like their deep low sound signature.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

They’re doing exhaust on an sl55 amg, so of COURSE it had to be started with open exhaust lol - sounded awesome

 

[XanRules]

That's a great price. Pretty much sealed the deal for what I'm going to do for my own exhaust.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Update: Ok got it all done - I drove home with the rear seats down (which I've have never actually done) and it seemed *really* drone-y. Can't test with the rear seats down until my neighbor gets home to help me remove the stock exhaust from the hatch (one arm is still in a cast, can't lift anything). Once the stock exhaust is out of my trunk I'll put the seats up and go for another drive and see if it still drones. If it does, I'll look for a muffler to fit in there. I'll also plug the symposer to see if its exacerbating the resonance. Sounds good so far, really deep and smooth. I am remarkably impressed with the Vibrant ultra-quiet resonator, it smoothed things out almost too much.

 

[M-Sport fan]

That's a great price. Pretty much sealed the deal for what I'm going to do for my own exhaust.

That's a PHENOMENAL price for back-purged 300 stainless wire welds, and 3" 304 pipe!!

 

[Clint Beastwood]

That's a PHENOMENAL price for back-purged 300 stainless wire welds, and 3" 304 pipe!!

Just remember that doesn’t include muffler/res. I think I might remove the ultra quiet and install a vibrant street power muffler, leaving the front bottle res. I got the stock out of my trunk and put the seats back up, still drone-y. I added mass loading foam to the spare tire well and to any other metal in the hatch that sounded hollow when knocked on, sounds solid as heck back there now. Will do another test drive and see if it drones a bit less. I have a hose clamp removal tool on its way so I can do the symposer delete, with the in-cabin oscillation I think it’ll help.

 

[dmb]

just a thought. i get it. Ew? rice? pile on guy's, i'm a fat old man 65 in a tiny car= thick skin except my arms that comes with age. earned it the hard way, too much sun.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Just remember that doesn’t include muffler/res.

Mufflex charged me ~$1200.00 for a 3.5", all 304, ONLY y-pipe back, single pipe, system for my Z28, WITHOUT ANY MUFFLER included!

 

[M-Sport fan]

I added mass loading foam to the spare tire well and to any other metal in the hatch that sounded hollow when knocked on, sounds solid as heck back there now.

Is this that 'egg crate' style, sound/recording studio wall stuff, or just what is used for 'delicate item' shipping packing?

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Is this that 'egg crate' style, sound/recording studio wall stuff, or just what is used for 'delicate item' shipping packing?

It’s heavy adhesive foam designed to kill resonance. Like dynamat, but I buy rolls of ducting silencer used for big air vents. Roughly the same stuff but way cheaper I use the stuff for everything, network server room doors, etc. stick some on something made of plastic and it’ll sound like wood when you tap it. Drastically reduces sound transmission through hard surfaces.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Gotta measure and see if this’ll fit where the stock resonator was https://vibrantperformance.com/cata...id=38&osCsid=fe49666e433309731f91243440df98bd

 

[VuDoo]

Have you done the symposer delete? If not, do it. It will help. I replace my muffler with a porter steel pack muffler. I wont say it drones, but it is deep and kind of loud. Things quieted down inside when I did the symposer delete. It has the same tone so it was like exhaust surround sound. I also did RAAM mat and ensolite in the trunk. Can't say it did much.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

That’s next up, waiting on a hose clamp tool to do the symposer delete. Have my handy whoosh symposer sittin on my workbench