...Magnaflow 5x8, 3" offset in, 3" center out. Single mandrel bent exhaust pipe. All the rest (Hooker 2055HKR, 3" Pacesetter mandrel bent I-pipe) stayed the same. Installed by a local shop last Wednesday. Now, going down the road, you can actually carry on a conversation with your passenger. But, you still know the engine is running, and with authority. No tininess at any level, especially when getting on it. Last Saturday at test & tune, with previous config, ran a best of 14.61 @ 93 MPH, worst of 14.88 @ 93, with some 14.7's and one 14.68 @ 94 (on street tires) thrown in. Best 60' 2.11. Calm winds, DA 8200' (actually pretty good for here), 5/8 gas tank. Tonight, first run DA 7200', 1/2 tank gas, 5 MPH headwind, ran a 14.33 @ 95.17. 60' 2.07. That's the fastest and quickest I've run in it (previous best was with my son driving, who weighs 60 lbs less than I do, with the gas gage on "E" that one pass). Next TT, DA 6800', 5 MPH headwind, 14.31 @ 95.47 MPH. Even taking DA and fuel level into consideration, that's a good 2 tenths in the quarter. If you still think the 80 series crossflow Flowmaster is a good muffler, then all you must care about is being noisy. (I should be careful what I say, because I had them save the muffler in case someone wants it.)

I love my magnaflow and I can't see ever going back to flowmaster.., I can actually hear my radio now!

I always got compliments on my Flowmaster American Thunder sound, with my old IROC, and the car still does sound pretty good. ( my friend owns it now ) But I'd definetly never go back. Have the LT1 Magnaflow setup on the new IROC. Nice to see proof in actual numbers too

Glad your happy with it. It is wierd how people get completly different results. On Orr's bolt on L98, he switched from a 80 series to a powerstick and really didn't see any increase in MPH.

thats right, i dont think i gained anything goin to a open chambered tube over the flowmaster

Interior noise wasnt bad either with either one, although the powerstick was much louder when on the throttle

I know I have posted up the difference in flow numbers and somebody dyno tested different mufflers on the same car, back to back. But the numbers werent that far apart IIRC. I think maybe 5 rwhp, which isnt didly squat. You can gain 5 rwhp by letting the car cool down.

Perhaps it bears pointing out that we're talking different types of mufflers here. The only similarities are the 3" offset inlet and transverse mounted position. The Magnaflow I put in isn't crossflow, and the Flowmaster I took out wasn't single in/single out.

From my point of view, the exhaust system should route the exhaust out from under the car, control noise, and have minimal impact on performance. I compromised on the 80 series crossflow when I put it on with the hopped-up 305 in 2001 - I am normally a function-over-form guy, but went for the balanced look of its dual tailpipes back then, and figured it would have minimal impact on performance of the 305 (which was probably true). I never did like the sound of it, even though I did get compliments on it (as well as complaints). This Magnaflow accomplishes all of my objectives, which now do not include appearance (this isn't a show car by any stretch of the imagination).

If you want a loud exhaust, or if square tips on each side of the car are your cup of tea, and power capability is low on your list, then this isn't what you're looking for.

FWIW, this is what went in: http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/s...e=main&id=6919

Totally biased post, I vote for Mod removal.

Really though, most of the time when people change there is not much difference if any so I think other things are at work here.

Sure, why not. The paycheck is either late or it bounces, anyway. . .

Perhaps. The '57 was as slow as it was the previous time out, so if it was conditions, it didn't see them. Weight was lower, but even that would only account for about .05 sec (which I included as part of the fuel tank level accounting - something I hadn't mentioned yet, the Magnaflow with single 3" tailpipe weighs less than the Flowmaster with dual 2-1/2" tailpipes). Track conditions should have been, if anything, worse Friday night than the previous Saturday (although I wasn't hearing complaints from other racers either day). Bought gas from the same station, same grade. Same tire pressures.

Guess we'll see if it's any different next week.

In the meantime, I still like the sound better.

thats the reason i changed... i started to hate the 80 series sound

80 series is the quiet one i thought? The american thunder is not an 80 right? I had the 80 on my RS and i hated how quiet it was on my stroker.

80 series is the american thunder

Ok, i just read it in jegs. Force II is the loud one.

50 and 70 series are the quiet ones.

Force II is not as loud as american thunder

I don't know who's louder than what, I just know it was too loud for my taste, and I wasn't willing to try another Flow.

The shop that put on the Magnaflow told me he's seen big block duals cars with healthy cams that were louder with Magnaflows and the Flows quieted them down.

I feel inclined to say this "If its too loud or too fast your too old!!!" lol jk

i love my 80 series but i can see how it could get anoying

I'm old, to be sure, but "too" is a matter of opinion. . .

I've always preferred to be faster than I appear, rather than the other way around. I've also never bought into the noise thing - it doesn't equate to power. Next time a new luxury SUV zips past you on the on-ramp, listen very carefully to how loud it is.

o yeah i know noise aint power case in point hodas with fart cans.....i love my cars sound, that deep deep tone nice lil rumble at idle, god it just sounds intimidating, then u give it gas and can wake the dead lol.... yeah i took my girl friends car to the track its a stock 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe 3.5L V6 and it ran beside my buddys LT1 camaro....his is loud hers is quiet as can be, had some people shocked how quick it was but when you look at the numbers its not that big of a surprise its got 270hp and weighs 3200 lbs... whats that like 5hp less the then lt1 and about 200lbs less

I just dont know why my flowmaster was so quiet, for as much power as i was making. I know straight pipe does it justice.

i dont mind loud, its just got to have good tone. i have heard loud that sounds like crap

My straight pipe is not bad inside during normal operation, under WOT it is louder but not annoying really.


Actually, here is a cip of me running another car, you can hear the flowmaster on it, the window was even down.

In case you thought it was a fluke, it clicked off a 14.34 and 14.39 with a 15 mph headwind in time trials, and a 14.32 with a 10 mph headwind (unfortunately, I didn't trust it, and dialed 14.40 for that run). DA was in the 6000' range, but humidity was higher tonight. According to the track scales, it was 15 pounds heavier than last time, which I believe because the gas gage was at 5/8 tank. I tend to think the scales were incorrect for that test & tune, as the car has never weighed that much before, even with me in it.

So, still not exactly back-to-back, but regardless, I still like the quietness better, and it certainly hasn't hurt performance. . .

Did I mention my gas mileage has gone up, even though I've also gone from 2.93 to 3.23 gears? 18.1 last tank, which included 80 miles highway, 240 miles commuting, and 6 passes down the 1320 (along with some aggressive driving, just for good measure). Was above 18 mpg the previous fill-up as well. Was getting 17-ish before.

Open headers sounds ****ing awesome. I had a guy I raced on the street ask if I had a BBC, when I had 305 SBC, Jet Stage 2 carb, and Pertronix distributor... And no, I'm not a young ****, at 24, though I feel older, because I'm in the ARMY, soon to get out...

Open headers sound like something the Board filter will **** out, and if open at the collector, actually reduce power.

24 old? In 5 years, you'll be half my age. . .

(FWIW, US Army, '73-'82, SSG, honorable discharge)

Don't header collector extensions help the torque band, if tailored properly? I love the sound of open headers, but have heard that if you tune the collector lengths, you can tune the powerband, and levels...

Yes, that was my point.

I love my 80 series. Idle, cruise, WOT, it's just too good. Setting off car alarms is always funny, and parking garages with the echos.......orgasmic.
Your motor has a lot to do with the sound too. I'm running a Comp Cams 280 magnum, so yeah, it makes a difference too.

The only problem I have with my 80, is that when I gutted the cat, I got this annoying rattle sound when going part throttle 2200-3200 rpm. Annoying as hell. But I'm gonna end up putting a test pipe anyway.

man, i remember when i was at the exhaust shop and the guy was telling me about magnaflow and flowmasters. when he gave me prices and what tips to put on i was like mag or flow, mag or flow. then i figured well they dont make exact kits for our 3rd gen's and everyone and their dog has flow so ill go with the magnaflows, when i started it up it was very quiet i thought something was wrong and the guy said "give it a while and they tend to get better with more miles" im guessing cuz of the packing thats inside, starts to wear down. i just recently stood behind it while my buddy revved it up and man, sure sounded good! im actually glad i didnt go with the flow's all i ever hear is ppl complaining about them. is the sound's really that loud in the interior? i mean like turn your radio up hella loud type? big fat huge difference when i drove it right after though, i love em!

i love the sound of my 80 series but its what people want when i want a smooth quiet ride i just jump into my 07 Tahoe and cruise with windows and moon roof open

With the Flow, I had to turn my radio down at stop lights.

This is a DD/weekend warrior, I don't need to be hearing the noise all the time.

People keep talking about "that old muscle car sound". Sorry, the Flow just isn't it. This Magnaflow is as close to that sound as this car has ever been.

my 80 series wasnt that loud. BUT at around 2500 rpms it came alive at part throttle and you could hear it. interior noise wasnt that bad. My chambered tube catback was louder and had abit more interior noise than the flow. I just grew tired of the flow's sound and wanted something different

a permanent vote for magnaflows here...will never use a flowmaster again. My setup netted 21hp and 3.2mph increase!

Been considering going with a magnaflow and ditching my flowmaster.This thread has made my mind up.I`ve read the 3"sinle in/3"single out is better for performance,but couldnt you get it modified to have dual 3"outlets if you wanted to keep the dual look.

i'd get a magnaflow 4x9 muffler. Tuck it up in front of the rear diff and run over the axle with a magnaflow y pipe splitter just like i did with my chambered catback. basically the same as SLP loud mouth, but without the resonator muffler.

magnaflow 4x9 would be a tight fit, may lose alittle clearance but they sound great and flow like crazy. with it mounted in that location you can keep dual outlet look with the y pipe splitter over the axle

ELSE you could run straight pipe to the axle and over the axle into a y pipe splitter and run dual outlets that way. on each leg put a magnaflow. it will be much quieter tho with 2 mufflers

american thunder is the quiet 80 series.. if you get the original 80 series, its actually a 40 series design.. here is a sound clip of mine.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DDzzl-jdRA

about the quiet but fast suv post lol my yukon xl is quiet and a lot faster than my 86 t/a was stock with a 80series lol. kinda irrelavent but funny

Since I brought it up, I'd call it relevant. You make my point.

My son ran the car last Friday. He would run 14.5's-14.6's last year, dipping into the 14.4's as the night air took over. His slowest run Friday was a 14.42 in time trials, first round he ran a 14.399 on a 14.40 dial (with a .008 light), his last run was a 14.309 (unfortunately he dialed a 14.39. . .).

He likes the way it sounds and runs now, too.

i have an 80s series, and when i had manifolds/dual cats it was VERY quiet now that i have headers and no cat single 3" its much much louder but i still would not consider it a "loud" muffler at all. IMO it sounds like crap, tinny, rattley, poppey droney it sucks. I love the tone of magnaflow but im afraid it will be too quiet even if i delete my tailpipe and dump it at the rear. Looking for something louder any suggestions??

I'd have to agree with five7kid on the performance difference after ditching the Flowmaster. I recently got rid of mine and put on Pypes Violator muffler 3"in/out(Rolled the dice trying to be different). I immediately felt a difference. I wish I had taken my car to the track first before I changed it to see what the difference b/t the two muffler actually was. My car definately picked up some power ,however I hate the way my car sounds. Too crackly for me. Next muffler I am going with is either the Magnaflow or an AeroChamber.

I've got a super 40 single in/single out. It is very LOUD ALL THE TIME. Thinking of switching to a magnaflow.

I was asked about this thread, so I thought I'd update with a couple of things.

One, I discovered while disassembling "Berlinetta #2", which was quiet and had a nice tone to it (very much to my liking), actually had a Flowmaster in it. I don't know which type, except it was single in/dual out. It had 2-1/2" inlet but that was actually necked down from the 3" inlet, which you could use if you cut off the necked down piece. Outlets were 2-1/2". The I-pipe was just 2-1/2", and was crimped down pretty severely over the axle. It also had a 2-1/2" universal cat in the system. As best I could tell looking into the inlet, it has the same guts as the 80 series I took off "Berlinetta #1", the subject of this thread. For whatever reason, #2 was a lot quieter than #1.

2nd, the performance of #1: My son ran it through the summer, and times stayed down. He went back to school in mid-August, so I ran it for him after that until the season was over. Even with me driving it, it would click off mid-30's, even dipping down into the high 20's a couple of times. I got a lot of runs September 26th, 2 time trials and 8 rounds of eliminations for a race win - the first one in the Camaro. DA was still up around 8000' that time.

Still love the Magnaflow.

kinda old thread but remember it i still love my magnaflow set up and miss that sound as im currently swapping to the better 350 tpi cant wait to hear that beast and see what numbers i can get at the 8th mile track when she's all done.

Old thread?Thats nothing.Wait till you see them pop up from 2001.This ones barely 3 months old.I`ve followed threads that lasted about a year.
Back to topic though,I`m going to be trying the 5x8 or 4x9 after I get my 2460`s and custom y-pipe on.I`m so glad I can finally ditch these flowjunk headers.

Here is the one I used, but you have to fab up the tail pipe system. #12288

The single in and out is #12259 (18") 12289 (24")

wow, so if i ever wanna feel older should i join the army??

There seem to be plenty of people who need to grow up, especially when it comes to loud exhaust.

U.S. Army, 1973-1982, SSG, honorable discharge.

First off I'd like to thank you guys for your military service. My brother is in the Marines & whenever I visit him on base I feel Very Proud to be American.

After reading five7kid's first post I knew I had to go for the single out magnaflow. I also had a Flowmaster 80 Series. I've been wanting to do it for a long time & went with an 18in long muffler.

five7kid said:
Now, going down the road, you can actually carry on a conversation with your passenger. But, you still know the engine is running, and with authority. No tininess at any level, especially when getting on it.

I could'nt agree more. It kinda reminds me of my 72 Nova It had a great tone but was'nt annoying.

I had the muffler installed @ a local exhaust/fabrication shop. I was talking to another customer there who owned a 70 Buick GSX and was telling me about the Flowmaster exhaust on his car & how great it sounded. When the owner of the shop backed my car off the lift, the guy I was talking to could'nt believe I went with a single out with a hidden tailpipe. I told the owner of the shop now no one knows what I have and he gave me a smerk.

It's a tuned sound instead of raspy annoying sound. I'm only 34 so I'm not to old. it's kinda nice to here V8 sounds instead of noise.