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Following the trend: Exhaust system questions!

  • Thread starter Thread starter DARCA
  • Start date Start date Mar 11, 2009
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DARCA

New Member
Nov 19, 2008
61
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Tacoma, WA
Mar 11, 2009
#1
  • Mar 11, 2009
  • #1
Ok, fast and simple.

I have a friend that says he can gut my cats for me as I still have the stock H-Pipes. Keeping emissions out of the picture I have very little money to invest in my car at the moment. Will this increase performance at all or just make it loud and illegal?

Other question, I am lookin at getting a pair of MAC 2.5" dumps. Its a good deal I know that much, just want to know what people think about them. Performance wise and sound wise.
 

cenok is family

15 Year Member
Jun 25, 2003
1,409
69
79
Norman, Ok
Mar 11, 2009
#2
  • Mar 11, 2009
  • #2
gutting your cats will probably net you a few HP at most, and that's if the cats were clogged or becoming clogged. more for sound purposes really, it'll make your car louder. the mac mufflers are some of the best available right now, as far as performance AND sound. they're one of the louder ones out right now.
 

Darkwriter77

Resident Ranting Negative Nancy
5 Year Member
Jul 1, 2005
314
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134
Apache Junction, AZ
Mar 11, 2009
#3
  • Mar 11, 2009
  • #3
Don't do it. Save your money, and at least buy a used off-road H- or X-pipe from someone off Craigslist or eBay, or save up about $125 and buy one from Jeg's or Summit. Hollowed-out cats create more turbulance than a straight-through piece of pipe, so your gains in flow will be minimal. You can sell your stock H-pipe to someone needing it for smog inspections and thus recoup your expenses.

ANYTHING with dumps will be fairly loud, and most will tend to drone. If all you want is something obnoxiously loud for the "cool" factor, then buy some cheap "turbo" style mufflers from any local parts place (usually Raptors, or something made by Thrush) and clamp those suckers on behind the stock flowtubes.

If you actually want to do your exhaust up RIGHT, then you're going to have to invest a bit of money into it. It doesn't have to be outrageously expensive to sound good, but hollowed-out cats on a stock H with dumped muffs is something that will actually SOUND cheap.
 

DARCA

New Member
Nov 19, 2008
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Tacoma, WA
Mar 11, 2009
#4
  • Mar 11, 2009
  • #4
Haha, ok thanks for the info. lookin for X-Pipes on craigs...
 

blackened88lx

Active Member
Aug 9, 2006
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Connecticut
Mar 11, 2009
#5
  • Mar 11, 2009
  • #5
It's not worth the time to hollow out the stock h-pipe imo. Look around on the classifieds here and on the corral too for an o/r X. You will definitely get a decent performance gain going to an o/r pipe from a stock catted H. There's not much if any difference between one with high flow cats though. Macs are definitely one of the best sounding mufflers out there for one of these cars imo.
 

Metalcop

Active Member
Jun 6, 2004
148
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New Hampshire
Mar 12, 2009
#6
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #6
Dumps are one of those things that have absolutely no business on a street car. They are 50 state illegal since the exhaust doesn't exit past the passenger compartment. Not to mention, they are just plain obnoxious. You can get a good sounding full exhaust, that will also be legal.

dumps for the lose....
 

DARCA

New Member
Nov 19, 2008
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Mar 12, 2009
#7
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #7
IDK about being obnoxious. I drove behind a guy who had um and his car sounded absolutely fantastic.
 

stykthyn

I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.
15 Year Member
Jul 6, 2006
5,232
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gainesville
Mar 12, 2009
#8
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #8
dumps on a truck are ok, dumps on a car make it sound like a truck
 

dcurtis

10 Year Member
Jan 19, 2006
688
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Mar 12, 2009
#9
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #9
Don't know how much salvage yards are paying for them now but when I went to a offroad h-pipe, I removed my stock h-pipe, cut off the four cats and the salvage yard gave me 100 bucks for them, I used the money to buy a offraod h-pipe from summit, the summit h-pipe is only 109 bucks plus I had a 20 dollar off offer from them so I got it for about a 100 even after shipping. Basically it was a free upgrade
 

Darkwriter77

Resident Ranting Negative Nancy
5 Year Member
Jul 1, 2005
314
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134
Apache Junction, AZ
Mar 12, 2009
#10
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #10
DARCA said:
IDK about being obnoxious. I drove behind a guy who had um and his car sounded absolutely fantastic.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but being INSIDE the car, dumps sound TOTALLY different. Droning exhaust noise FTL.
 

25thmustang

Mustang Master
Sep 5, 2003
2,021
85
99
Montgomery, NY
Mar 12, 2009
#11
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #11
I run dumps and it has NEVER been mistaken for a dump truck, or any kind of truck???

Only ever been complimented on it.

I agree that I hate dumps and really would love some 3" tails, just don't have the time and energy to make them work.
 

Strippt88

New Member
Nov 24, 2006
81
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0
Cedar Lake, Indiana
Mar 12, 2009
#12
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #12
Dumps done right, like 25ths car(everything on that is done right, imo), don't sound bad. Hollowing out the stock H would not be done right. Too many inexpensive, proper systems available to use this, uh, backwoods, method. I won't complain about droning, I love my o/r H and 40's!
 

blackened88lx

Active Member
Aug 9, 2006
0
4
28
Connecticut
Mar 12, 2009
#13
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #13
Dumps = A little less weight and a little more power. Plus it drones (no pun intended) out the squeaks and rattles of a fox
 

Darkwriter77

Resident Ranting Negative Nancy
5 Year Member
Jul 1, 2005
314
281
134
Apache Junction, AZ
Mar 12, 2009
#14
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #14
blackened88lx said:
Dumps = A little less weight and a little more power. Plus it DROWNS out the squeaks and rattles of a fox
Click to expand...

Fixed.

--The Grammar Nazi
 

blackened88lx

Active Member
Aug 9, 2006
0
4
28
Connecticut
Mar 12, 2009
#15
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #15
I was kinda mixing meanings here, give me a break. I'm a bit of a grammar nazi myself.
 

Jaswir

Member
Mar 31, 2005
578
0
18
Orlando, FL
Mar 12, 2009
#16
  • Mar 12, 2009
  • #16
dumps sounded better then the 3 inch tails i had! Way to quite!!!
 

RUNINAGT

Member
Oct 3, 2005
237
2
18
CHARLESTON S.C.
Mar 16, 2009
#17
  • Mar 16, 2009
  • #17
No to the dumps, had them and then fixed it right. I had dumps with the stock hpipe and it drove me nuts. I then added my h-pipe and @ the same time had the shop put the stock tails back on and man it was much better. I added my headers after all that and I really like it. I keep hearing about these MAC mufflers?? Are they better sounding than the Flomo's?
 

Aliate X

Member
May 9, 2005
602
1
18
Rockland NY
Mar 17, 2009
#18
  • Mar 17, 2009
  • #18
blackened88lx said:
Dumps = A little less weight and a little more power.
Click to expand...


i think you could take more weight off the car by taking a **** instead of hacking off your tailpipes.


ive had both dumps and tails, i really hate dumps. And macs sound good, theyre loud, i have them, but they are among the worst as far as performance goes, but youre talking like a 5 hp difference.
 

DocG

5th graders > me. They're not bant
Sep 25, 2005
8,297
1,358
194
Cincinnati area
Mar 17, 2009
#19
  • Mar 17, 2009
  • #19
I run Mac dumps as well.

I've never had anyone think my car was obnoxious or sounded like a truck. Perhaps its the cam and the idle lope, but it sounds like a mean ass muscle car. If anything, when it lopes, you can feel the concrete vibrate from the pulses. Again, a stock 5.0 may not sound quite like that....

On the other hand, the dumps are pretty annoying. The drone doesn't really bother me....nor the high level of exhaust noise.

Its the dang stench that comes into the interior that'll drive ya nuts!

But then again I don't have any sound deadening material under the carpet, it was all removed to save weight.


I agree though, don't bother with hollowing the cats. If nothing else, bend up some pipe and weld it in if you don't have the cash for a new midpipe.
 

DocG

5th graders > me. They're not bant
Sep 25, 2005
8,297
1,358
194
Cincinnati area
Mar 17, 2009
#20
  • Mar 17, 2009
  • #20
Tell me this sounds like a dump truck to you....and I'd have to question your hearing.

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