I cant Sleep Until I Decide (CATBACK)

MAC all the way.

25thmustang said:

Pypes is louder than Mac from what I heard...

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Heard from what? Video clips? Others' reviews? In person?

Violators are loud if you're standing behind the car, but beside, in front of, or inside the car, they're really not loud at all. Magnaflows and most other straight-through's are very similar in nature. Chambered muffs like MACs, Flowmasters, and so forth tend to resonate in a non-linear direction, sort of radiating out not just from the tailpipes but from the case of the muffler, itself, and thus they tend to drone a lot and give a lot of interior noise in general.

Darkwriter77 said:

Heard from what? Video clips? Others' reviews? In person?

Violators are loud if you're standing behind the car, but beside, in front of, or inside the car, they're really not loud at all. Magnaflows and most other straight-through's are very similar in nature. Chambered muffs like MACs, Flowmasters, and so forth tend to resonate in a non-linear direction, sort of radiating out not just from the tailpipes but from the case of the muffler, itself, and thus they tend to drone a lot and give a lot of interior noise in general.

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Thats the same way my exhaust is. BBk 1 5/8 long tubes, BBK o/r h, and mac cat back. Beside for in front of the car you can't hear it. But behind it or driving down the road its loud as hell.

Darkwriter77 said:

Heard from what? Video clips? Others' reviews? In person?

Violators are loud if you're standing behind the car, but beside, in front of, or inside the car, they're really not loud at all. Magnaflows and most other straight-through's are very similar in nature. Chambered muffs like MACs, Flowmasters, and so forth tend to resonate in a non-linear direction, sort of radiating out not just from the tailpipes but from the case of the muffler, itself, and thus they tend to drone a lot and give a lot of interior noise in general.

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Heard in person and have video but cant load them online.

Can't say for sure if Violators would overall be louder than MACs for sure, but I can vouch for the fact that they don't drone like MACs do, FWIW.

I've been meaning to get proper video/audio FOREVER of the Pypes Violators on Frankenstang's Notch. Only clips I have of it are with the UPR cat'ed X-pipe in place, which TOTALLY kills the sound (both in volume and tone). One of these days I'll get off my lazy arse and do it... If/When that ever happens, I'll be sure to post up links on here.

"Loudest" as far as which mode? WOT, idle, or cruise? At WOT, they're all pretty loud.

If you go by decibels, the straight-through design mufflers tend to be the loudest at WOT, but also among the quietest at idle and cruise. Comparing straight-through mufflers, I'd have to say the order goes, from OVERALL loudest to not-as-loud:

1. "S-mufflers" (basically just two 45* bends welded together, plus a hanger, essentially NOT a muffler at all ... yet they cost like $50 apiece through Summit)
2. Dynomax Race Magnum Bullets (hardly even qualifies as a muffler)
3. Pypes Violators
4. Borla XR-1
5. Magnaflows
6. Dynomax Ultra-Flows/Hooker Maximum Flow (almost identical in design/sound)
7. Glasspacks of any type (Thrush, Cherry Bomb, Patriot, Summit, etc.)

Of course, pretty much all straight-through mufflers with lots of insulation packing tend to get louder as they "break in" with time and use, but Violators sound just about the same forever from the day you bolt 'em on - I think mostly because there's not much insulation packing inside the muffler case, at all (very loosely-filled). Bang on one sometime with your knuckles and compare that to, say, a Magnaflow muffler and you'll see - the Violator makes a "bong" sound, whereas the Magnaflow makes a dull "thunk."

Chambered muffs are usually "loud" to me because they're friggin' obnoxious at cruise because of the drone, but they're not much louder at idle and they're usually quieter at WOT than straight-throughs. The worst-droning mufflers, IMO:

1. Flowmaster two-chambers (40 series) and generic rip-offs of same design
2. MAC Flowpaths
3. Dynomax Super Turbos (funny because they're generally almost stock-quiet, but they still drove me nuts with the throbbing drone at cruise)
4. Cheaper "turbo" style mufflers (Cherry Bomb, Thrush, Afterburner, Terminator, etc.)

Supposedly the Hooker Aero-Chamber muffs sound good and don't drone, but they don't look like they'd flow too well, and I've never actually heard a set of 'em on a 5.0, so I have no idea how they sound. FWIW, they're not too expensive, either.

Only other oddball maybe worth mentioning is the Moroso Spiral Flow muffler. It looks like a short glasspack (like 16" or 18" total length), but it's got this weird corkscrew outer chamber with a smaller tube running right through the middle of it. Doesn't seem more restrictive than any chambered muffler with S-shaped or delta-shaped internal baffles, and doesn't have any packing material to blow out. They're kinda quiet, actually - probably falls somewhere between chambered muffs and straight-throughs - but I guess they'd be handy for someone looking for something to plug in a performance muffler where space is restricted, and they're pretty cheap (about $40 last I checked). FWIW, I had one on an '87 Formula Firebird and it sounded pretty good ... up until an old guy pulled an illegal U-turn in front of me and destroyed the car. Probably best left used by F-Bodies, MN12's (replace the rear muffs with straight pipe and plug a Spiral Flow in-line behind the 3rd cat), or someone just wanting to run dumps on a Fox (it'd be kinda hard to rig up tails to fit these).

Geez you guys are really nit picking this one. I agree though, what does "loudest" boil down to? Do you wanna be obnoxious all the time and wake your neighbors when you start the car or do you want it just loud under WOT?

Also what have you done to your engine? Is it bone stock or..? This has a lot to do with how loud an exhaust is. My buddy is using the same exhaust he had on his car when it was bone stock (all Mac) but now it's making 400hp all motor and it's unbelievably loud all the time when it used to be pretty quite for a Mac setup.

I wouldn't put so much thought into "loudest", just get what you like the sound of best. Also the internet can be deceiving when it comes to sound clips. I was worried that i wouldn't like my Magnaflows based off of some of the clips i saw, but they sound nothing like the videos in person.

Oh and to add something about drone....with tail pipes i don't have ANY with the Magnaflows. When i had dumps on them i still would say it was more like a very tolerable rumble than a drone. Now at highway speeds (and mind you i've got 4.10s so my highway speeds are 2500rpm) all i hear is a growl back behind the car...none of that resonating drone crap you get with Flows or Bullets. When you step on the gas it instantly goes from growl to scream. You really can't ask for much more than that. They're loud enough to get a ticket over at WOT and tame enough at cruising speeds to get overlooked by the cops.