Exhaust without headers? - Exhaust - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

Cadillac · 05-15-2005, 02:17 PM

As much as anyone, I know how irratating it is to see the same questions hashed over and over again. On the TBI boards is the open air element debate. On the PROM board it is "how do I get started?". You know the drill. Well, I'm going to ask this question and know it has been asked before so my apologies in advance.

Bonuses get paid next week. I've been toying with getting a new exhuast for a while. I'm primarily interested in sound (want more growl) and then secondarily in performance gain. Increased fuel efficiency would be a plus.

Can I get the second thing with just a cat-back exhaust or would I have to get headers for a new exhaust to really open it up from the stock 2.5 pipe? If I just want the growl, I am assuming the cheapest thing to do would be to get a different muffler. Is this accurate?

Thanks TGO brothers and sorry for the forehead slaps many of you might be experiencing now.

fin170703 · 05-15-2005, 03:33 PM

hi there. i was in the same sort of position as you about a month i.e just didn't know what to do. the best piece of advise i can give you is to research research research. after all the guys on the forum cant guess what sound your going to like. you need to listen to sound clips, other peoples cars to find out what sort of tone your after. Any sort of catback system is going to be better than your stock one and from the posts already posted you will find endless information on topics such as tube dia, mufflers, headers. myself i went with hedman headers with 3" y pipe i removed my cat and then went straight into a 3" flowmaster american thunder cat back system. and for me it was perfect but i know for a fact that some people would hate the sound. as for fuel economy well if you improve flow then you improve the way your whole engine runs and performs. bottom line is think what your relistic goals are in terms of Bhp and try and go for a exhaust system that will accomodate them. hope that helps mate

ShiftyCapone · 05-15-2005, 09:06 PM

A catback alone on a TBI car will make it sound a lot louder. You will like it and it is not too loud by any means. You should see some quantifiable gains at the track but your butt dyno may not feel much. It is a step in the right direction to allevating your car of the straw size piping. If and when you do headers you will have to cut the reducer off your cat-back to make it a full 3". No big deal.

ScottyRS · 05-15-2005, 09:10 PM

The headers will open her up a little more, thus giving it more growl, as well as the obvious performance gains. The catback will pretty much do the same. Put the two together, and it's a beautiful thing.

Cadillac · 05-16-2005, 01:39 AM

Thank you all for the indulgence.

Now back to the TBI board and doing what I can to stem the open element thread tide.