is he SERIOUS?!

[darkthoughts5000]

ok, get this... so i was pricing the cost of cat-back exhaust instalation around town, and i came to one of our most respected exhaust shops. i went in and asked how much a cat-back install would be on my 01 camaro v6? he said well, a whole cat-back wouldnt be a very benifical... "being that i had a v6". he said all i really need to get the same horsepower gains is a new muffler connected to my stock exhaust. whaaa? say again? i brushed it off and left, after he gave me some prices( about $200 for dual magnaflow+install ). but later i started to wonder, he really had nothing to gain by telling me this knowledge, just money to lose. you'll probably all want to slap me before its all said and done, but come on, now im stumped. could he really be right? please, be gentile. [img]graemlins/omg.gif[/img]

[Dominic]

He is right in the fact that a new catback without changing the 2.25" S pipe and 2.25" outlet cat will not be beneficial - its extra piping for no reason [img]smile.gif[/img]

You need a 2.5"-3" cat and then pipe it on back...

[*K*night Rider]

I disagree...I still have the stock cat and S-pipe and i gained a good bit.

(I am running a 15.1 on intake and exhaust)

But then again, I do have an Edelbrock....which we all know ownz... :D

[darkthoughts5000]

so would you recommend just a new muffler, like magnaflow or edelbrock? im not looking to go down to the track every weekend, im just trying to beat the little honda/crochrockets down mainstreet with more of a beefer sound... uhhh, while still maintaining the speed limit of course... ya. ;)

[ChikNz]

guy at one of our 'most respected muffler shops' around here told me the same thing...that wasnt what I wanted to hear so I ended up doing my own 3" exhaust from s-pipe back.

[jhkcam]

I seriously don't think you'll gain much of anything w/ just a muffler.... you're really not changing anything but the sound. I agree with Dominic... go for a minimum of 2.5" pipe. I am very happy with my 3" cat-back. :D

-Justin

[satellite98]

Larger piping might not benefit you much, until you upgrade your intake. That, I think, is when you'll notice/need either the 2 1/2, 2 3/4 or 3 inch piping.

right, guys??

[cb1101]

If you only have an exhaust, whether you get catback or just a muffler, the gains will not be noticable. What are you looking to gain with exhaust?

[RATTLERMAN]

From what I hear hp gains wont show up unless you do a complete intake/exhaust upgrade and then the gains are minimum. I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do in regards to performance because lets all remember we do have v6's and v8 performance might be unrealistic.


Just my $.02 worth

[Dominic]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by RATTLERMAN:
From what I hear hp gains wont show up unless you do a complete intake/exhaust upgrade and then the gains are minimum. I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do in regards to performance because lets all remember we do have v6's and v8 performance might be unrealistic.


Just my $.02 worth<hr></blockquote>

You haven't been here long I can tell.

2.25" piping is only effective until ~4800RPM, after which it becomes a restriction. Sure, less restriction in the muffler is great, but if you don't get rid of the pipe problem you will never get 100% of the power out of the engine.

For sound, a muffler swap is enough.
For performance, do the whole deal - cat and all.

[MrCoffee]

I was told the same thing...
they said that stock pipes are fairly good, and cat backs are generaly thought to be the best solution because of older cars actually needing them tp provide gains. Newer cars have good enough piping and a muffler and tips is only really an appearnce/sound mod, with few low hp gains.

[camaro_speedemon]

I thought that anything much larger than stock would hurt unless you had a power adder, because lack of back pressure

[cb1101]

the very 1st thing i did was my exhaust, and from my experience i noticed that the car lost bottom end b/c of no back pressure. It did feel healthier in top end range but hurt out of the hole.

[Jeff Pristelski]

All I did was swap out the muffler on my car for a flowmaster and I did notice a difference. I would have to take it to the track to say just how much, but I could tell...

A full cat back system doesn't do very much anyway... The muffler should be the most restrictive part of your exhaust system as the only way to muffle sound is to restrict it...

-Jeff

[jhkcam]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Jeff Pristelski:

A full cat back system doesn't do very much anyway... The muffler should be the most restrictive part of your exhaust system as the only way to muffle sound is to restrict it...

-Jeff<hr></blockquote>

The stock pipe itself is the most restrictive part. Going with wider pipe (mandrel bent) will give much more gain than replacing only the muffler. [img]smile.gif[/img]

-Justin