Whos got a magnaflow muffler on 2.5 custom tubing?

[Clint Beastwood]

Nobody is telling you what to run on your car. We’re just saying that you’re incorrect about any DP being a supporting mod for a hybrid. Save your money for a mod that makes a difference.

Yeah that was pretty much the gist. Modern cats flow absurdly well, probably better than the "high flow" ones I used to buy in the 90's

 

[CrystalWhite]

Fine, any kind downpipe is unneeded. I'm going to put one on anyways in my attempt to make peak power considering I'm not 100 percent sure what turbo I'm going to run and it's less then $200 for a quality one.

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[jeffreylyon]

Fine, any kind downpipe is unneeded. I'm going to put one on anyways in my attempt to make peak power considering I'm not 100 percent sure what turbo I'm going to run and it's less then $200 for a quality one.

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Well, then, you definitely don’t want to buy a DP now; the hot ticket for a big turbo is a tubular manifold with a custom DP and a screamer pipe. Wait until you figure out what turbo you want and buy the right supporting mods afterwards.

 

[CrystalWhite]

Well, then, you definitely don’t want to buy a DP now; the hot ticket for a big turbo is a tubular manifold with a custom DP and a screamer pipe. Wait until you figure out what turbo you want and buy the right supporting mods afterwards.

I'm going to be stage 3 until at least the spring, so I'll be running my loud stinky catless until at least then. Thanks for the advice [emoji1]

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[CarGuy]

What a waste...

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[Clint Beastwood]

Fine, any kind downpipe is unneeded. I'm going to put one on anyways in my attempt to make peak power considering I'm not 100 percent sure what turbo I'm going to run and it's less then $200 for a quality one.

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If you're having drone issues now, once you go catless it's going to get pretty bad - you'll also now have to deal with all the high frequency noises the current cat stops. Those high frequency noises are what make cheap rice rockets sound all buzzy - that's exactly the use-case for the Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator, is curing that buzzing/etc. If you're dead set on getting a downpipe, it'll sound a little less harsh with a catted one.

I'm not super environmentally conscious (to the point where I try to impose my will on others), but auto enthusiasts are a much maligned demographic already, and driving around smelling like raw gas and crackling and stuff reflects poorly on all enthusiasts and only gives the anti-car tree hugger crowd more ammo to work with. Just a thought - personally I try to avoid drawing attention to me and what I'm doing most of the time but I recognize that is not everyone's way.

 

[CrystalWhite]

If you're having drone issues now, once you go catless it's going to get pretty bad - you'll also now have to deal with all the high frequency noises the current cat stops. Those high frequency noises are what make cheap rice rockets sound all buzzy - that's exactly the use-case for the Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator, is curing that buzzing/etc. If you're dead set on getting a downpipe, it'll sound a little less harsh with a catted one.

I'm not super environmentally conscious (to the point where I try to impose my will on others), but auto enthusiasts are a much maligned demographic already, and driving around smelling like raw gas and crackling and stuff reflects poorly on all enthusiasts and only gives the anti-car tree hugger crowd more ammo to work with. Just a thought - personally I try to avoid drawing attention to me and what I'm doing most of the time but I recognize that is not everyone's way.

I completely agree with you on crackle tunes and decatted straight pipe exhausts, they sound like curdled ass and are obnoxious. The issue is that I like some of the sounds the catless gives, but dont want the drone and rasp of a straight pipe or exhaust with no resonators. There must be a compromise where you can get the best of both worlds. Properly tuned exhausts sound great. I run a 2 1/4 exhaust with a Vibrant street series muffler, cherrybomb resonator and no cat on my Swift GTi. Along with the big camshafts the noise that car produces is beautiful and I've had multiple people compliment me on how it sounds, it doesn't sound like a fart canned civic in the slightest. A car can be moderately loud and still sound good, it all depends on the quality and choice of components used. I bet a decatted Fiesta ST with a high quality vibrant muffler and resonator would sound awesome, but wouldn't be obnoxious. I'll post a clip when it's all finished [emoji1].

There's also a difference between regular drone, and eardrum popping resonance. I've had modified loud cars for years and I'm used to them, but the Fiesta ST produces something awful around the 3k mark. Even the infamously loud MZR 2.0 MX5 I had didn't produce anything like this.

If you want a slightly louder than stock car then yeah, a catless is a bad choice. Different strokes for different folks.

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[Clint Beastwood]

I completely agree with you on crackle tunes and decatted straight pipe exhausts, they sound like curdled ass and are obnoxious. The issue is that I like some of the sounds the catless gives, but dont want the drone and rasp of a straight pipe or exhaust with no resonators. There must be a compromise where you can get the best of both worlds. Properly tuned exhausts sound great. I run a 2 1/4 exhaust with a Vibrant street series muffler, cherrybomb resonator and no cat on my Swift GTi. Along with the big camshafts the noise that car produces is beautiful and I've had multiple people compliment me on how it sounds, it doesn't sound like a fart canned civic in the slightest. A car can be moderately loud and still sound good, it all depends on the quality and choice of components used. I bet a decatted Fiesta ST with a high quality vibrant muffler and resonator would sound awesome, but wouldn't be obnoxious. I'll post a clip when it's all finished [emoji1].

There's also a difference between regular drone, and eardrum popping resonance. I've had modified loud cars for years and I'm used to them, but the Fiesta ST produces something awful around the 3k mark. Even the infamously loud MZR 2.0 MX5 I had didn't produce anything like this.

If you want a slightly louder than stock car then yeah, a catless is a bad choice. Different strokes for different folks.

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The problem is probably that there's only one actual "tuned" exhaust for the FiST (the thermal), and there's a lack of room under the car to accommodate a normal quarter-wave chamber - but even then, everything is tuned for the frequencies from the stock cat - going catless screws up all the tuning by introducing new secondary frequencies. Personally, I love doing the acoustic research and math to design new systems but I'll probably eventually just buy a thermal. As-is I have 3 different t304 stainless FiST systems that I built sitting in my garage taking up space lol.

If the car was like 50% bigger (lol) or had twice as much space available in the muffler-well, you could fit two quarter wave chambers in there and knock out almost all of the obnoxious frequencies. That being said, if you go 2.25" mandrel bent, or 3" without mandrel bends you can prevent some of the wave propagation that makes 3" exhaust drone on the FiST.

 

[CrystalWhite]

With my x37 and catless downpipe installed now, it looks like my high quality Vibrant muffler muffles most of the typical sound generated by deleting the cat. It sounds almost identical compared to before aside from some very, very minor grumbling sounds on deceleration at around 1.5k and below in the rev range. It sounds perfect now and I'd recommend anyone who has an MBRP to try a Vibrant muffler.

Unrelated, but holy turbo whistle batman! The sound made by the x37 is unreal with an Injen intake. I almost shit myself when taking around the block thinking I had installed something wrong but apparently they make loads of induction noises.

 

[danbfree]

A lot of good info here, but sounds like simply adding a Vibrant resonator that is the stock length in the stock position would go a long way toward what you're looking for, then maybe add a glasspack muffler too if you need to.

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[Pro5_0nr]

You'd be shocked at how well the cheapo TotalFlow mufflers from amazon work! I bought my car with straight piped factory exhaust but couldn't stand how loud and unpleasant it was (aside from the rally-car pops occasionally, I didn't mind those). So I had a muffler shop re-install the stock components...but I then realized I wanted at least a little noise,so I ordered a $35 18" TF muffler (4x9 2.25", but meant to get a 5x8). I sounds good (but not loud) at the 2500-3500rpm point but it's actually too quiet at all other RPM levels. I am now debating putting in a very cheap $25 res in place of the stock one to increase noise but keep a decent tone. After doing plenty of reading, I have no intention of going with larger diameter piping until I upgrade the turbo, so I'm looking for cheap temp components for now.

 

[Pro5_0nr]

Oh and my car is basically stock other than injen intake so don't mind the slow acceleration . Waiting on my stratified tune some time before the end of this week.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

You'd be shocked at how well the cheapo TotalFlow mufflers from amazon work! I bought my car with straight piped factory exhaust but couldn't stand how loud and unpleasant it was (aside from the rally-car pops occasionally, I didn't mind those). So I had a muffler shop re-install the stock components...but I then realized I wanted at least a little noise,so I ordered a $35 18" TF muffler (4x9 2.25", but meant to get a 5x8). I sounds good (but not loud) at the 2500-3500rpm point but it's actually too quiet at all other RPM levels. I am now debating putting in a very cheap $25 res in place of the stock one to increase noise but keep a decent tone. After doing plenty of reading, I have no intention of going with larger diameter piping until I upgrade the turbo, so I'm looking for cheap temp components for now.

Just be careful - it's kinda hard to tell from the pics but it looks like those seams welds aren't great. I've had inexpensive mufflers "pop open" where those seam welds are (my grand national blew quite a few mufflers totally apart before I ponied up for good ones lol). Inexpensive mufflers are generally really thin metal so where the seams are welded are sometimes not welded super well, or the really thin metal overheats during welding and becomes brittle so it can fracture. If it fractures, you could get an exhaust leak under the car without noticing. I'd say just pop your head under there every couple months and look for soot

That being said - it sounds pretty dang decent for a cheap muffler.

Are you talking about removing the center resonator and replacing it with a cheap one? Are you still running the stock center resonator?
If so, realize you're removing a well engineered part that is specifically designed to subdue or cancel the most obnoxious tones our cars can make and replacing it with a very generic component. Most people that swap the muffler and leave the stock resonator are ok, and people that remove the resonator and leave the stock muffler are ok, but if you install an aftermarket muffler and remove the resonator that is "tuned" for the frequencies specific to this car you are likely to get drone.

Sidebar - I don't live somewhere snowy but the FiST looks badass in your vid with the monster truck tires!

I have been through I believe 6 different exhaust systems at this point, and am currently back to stock with a resonator delete. I sometimes work really weird hours and the stock + resonator delete lets me drive around the 'hood in the middle of the night without feeling like a butthead waking up babies and stuff. It also fatigues me a lot less on a long drive - I've gone OC to Tahoe and back on emergency contracts a couple times with different exhausts and the stock exhaust + resonator is the best option for a little sound without the road fatigue (for me). Maybe I'm just getting old, but I find loud exhaust is fine and fun around town but on a long drive I wind up putting in some attenuated earplugs - which kinda kills the point of having exhaust. I will say, the stock exhaust + resonator delete sounds worlds better from the outside than it does from inside the car, the deep "hum" inside the car is a little bothersome. I may install a Vibrant resonator in the center section where the stock resonator was, or I might even put the stock res back on - at the end of the day, I like induction/turbo noise a lot more than exhaust noise.

 

[danbfree]

I had good luck leaving the exhaust system all stock except change the rear muffler to a MagnaFlow glasspack... Sure, it was only $35, but at least it's a quality name brand piece for a simple glasspack, but leaves a nice deep tone that is just right in volume.

 

[Pro5_0nr]

Just be careful - it's kinda hard to tell from the pics but it looks like those seams welds aren't great. I've had inexpensive mufflers "pop open" where those seam welds are (my grand national blew quite a few mufflers totally apart before I ponied up for good ones lol). Inexpensive mufflers are generally really thin metal so where the seams are welded are sometimes not welded super well, or the really thin metal overheats during welding and becomes brittle so it can fracture. If it fractures, you could get an exhaust leak under the car without noticing. I'd say just pop your head under there every couple months and look for soot

That being said - it sounds pretty dang decent for a cheap muffler.

Are you talking about removing the center resonator and replacing it with a cheap one? Are you still running the stock center resonator?
If so, realize you're removing a well engineered part that is specifically designed to subdue or cancel the most obnoxious tones our cars can make and replacing it with a very generic component. Most people that swap the muffler and leave the stock resonator are ok, and people that remove the resonator and leave the stock muffler are ok, but if you install an aftermarket muffler and remove the resonator that is "tuned" for the frequencies specific to this car you are likely to get drone.

Sidebar - I don't live somewhere snowy but the FiST looks badass in your vid with the monster truck tires!

I have been through I believe 6 different exhaust systems at this point, and am currently back to stock with a resonator delete. I sometimes work really weird hours and the stock + resonator delete lets me drive around the 'hood in the middle of the night without feeling like a butthead waking up babies and stuff. It also fatigues me a lot less on a long drive - I've gone OC to Tahoe and back on emergency contracts a couple times with different exhausts and the stock exhaust + resonator is the best option for a little sound without the road fatigue (for me). Maybe I'm just getting old, but I find loud exhaust is fine and fun around town but on a long drive I wind up putting in some attenuated earplugs - which kinda kills the point of having exhaust. I will say, the stock exhaust + resonator delete sounds worlds better from the outside than it does from inside the car, the deep "hum" inside the car is a little bothersome. I may install a Vibrant resonator in the center section where the stock resonator was, or I might even put the stock res back on - at the end of the day, I like induction/turbo noise a lot more than exhaust noise.

I totally understand your thought process and I'm almost in the same boat with the odd work hours (and getting old). The welds on the totalflow mufflers are quite decent and overall it's a solid piece! I never took many pictures of the one I bought but I'm attaching a pic and vid from a dual 3" to dual 3" I bought last year for my mustang. I was impressed with the quality for $45 back then so I've been recommending TF to anybody on a budget.

I am running the factory resonator now and want to replace with something less effective because the muffler works a little too well right now. I would even try for a res delete but it may give me too much drone at 2500 rpm. These 1.6L don't put out the nicest exhaust tones either, so I would rather keep it fairly tame if I can... but want a tad more noise than I have now. In the acceleration video, you don't actually hear the muffler much, that's 90% the engine making that noise.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I had good luck leaving the exhaust system all stock except change the rear muffler to a MagnaFlow glasspack... Sure, it was only $35, but at least it's a quality name brand piece for a simple glasspack, but leaves a nice deep tone that is just right in volume.

Yeah as long as you leave the front resonator it should be relatively livable drone-wise.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I totally understand your thought process and I'm almost in the same boat with the odd work hours (and getting old). The welds on the totalflow mufflers are quite decent and overall it's a solid piece! I never took many pictures of the one I bought but I'm attaching a pic and vid from a dual 3" to dual 3" I bought last year for my mustang. I was impressed with the quality for $45 back then so I've been recommending TF to anybody on a budget.

I am running the factory resonator now and want to replace with something less effective because the muffler works a little too well right now. I would even try for a res delete but it may give me too much drone at 2500 rpm. These 1.6L don't put out the nicest exhaust tones either, so I would rather keep it fairly tame if I can... but want a tad more noise than I have now. In the acceleration video, you don't actually hear the muffler much, that's 90% the engine making that noise.

I'm reminded of the old school Thrush turbo mufflers.

 

[danbfree]

Yeah as long as you leave the front resonator it should be relatively livable drone-wise.

Absolutely, I totally stand by simply replacing the rear muffler for an inexpensive high flow muffler or glasspack as giving more nice deep sound without much added drone at all. Perfect to go with a Symposer delete to keep sound very reasonable but add enough and in deep manner that it is actually classy with some natural pops and gurgles on shifts! Of course, you will want to consider a bit more if you go with a turbo upgrade, but really just a high flow catted DP would be all you need to still help max out the 2 1/8" tubing, maybe also delete resonator at that point for a higher flow one as long as it doesn't mess with the intended frequencies too much.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Absolutely, I totally stand by simply replacing the rear muffler for an inexpensive high flow muffler or glasspack as giving more nice deep sound without much added drone at all. Perfect to go with a Symposer delete to keep sound very reasonable but add enough and in deep manner that it is actually classy with some natural pops and gurgles on shifts! Of course, you will want to consider a bit more if you go with a turbo upgrade, but really just a high flow catted DP would be all you need to still help max out the 2 1/8" tubing, maybe also delete resonator at that point for a higher flow one as long as it doesn't mess with the intended frequencies too much.

Waaaay back in the day I had the most unique sounding fiero in my car club (before I did my V8 swap lol) and it went 2.25" to a 2.75" chamber of pure pipe back to 2.25", into a flowmaster 40 series, then out the back to the stock quad tips. It had the neatest hollow..... fake v12 sound I have ever heard. Didn't rev high, but it created this resonance that really made it sound like a lot more than a 2.8 v6.

I still think that if you did a dual-exit 2.25" exhaust and looped one of them to be 50% longer you'd get a fiat abart-like burble with the out-of-time exhaust pulses. It wouldn't be as snarly, but I think it'd get that grumpy snorty sound.

Exhaust, and acoustics, are WAY more interesting to me than I thought they'd be. It's so much harder to make them quiet than it is to make them loud, and its worlds harder to make either of those sound "good".