OK i need opinions, cost not being an issue which one of these systems would give the best peformance. borla has a cutout, nothing beats a cutout for sound. ive never heard the banks, but i heard it flows awesome. heard the same about random tech. but i heard slp is overpriced and doesnt flow as well. anyone whos used or heard these systems please post thoughts, opinions, and the gains you experienced. right now i have the flowmaster american thunder kit with 3" dual tips. i love it and it sounds awesome. but everybody and there brother has flows and im looking for something different. i got a healthy cam (287,287 degrees - .520, .520 lift) so they should all sound pretty good.

 

I vote Spintech.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=208838

 

i've got the banks system. I have nothing but good things to say about it. it's stainless like the borla but it cost has come down alot since it came out. the banks system used to cost about $600 when it came out( around the same as Borla) I just got my system for $350 thats including Shipping from Cali to NY. I used to have the flowmaster sytem . The banks doesn't have the flowmaster drone at an idel but it screams when you get into the gas. I have a friend with the borla system and it's also a nice system but at twice the price I can't see getting it.I ordered mine from banks direct. 1.800.438.7693 (Victor) the part # was 49111.

 

Actually the Banks system has been around since the Mid 1980's.
I should know because Banks used my car as their 1st prototype
exhaust system on 3rd gen cars. I have the paperwork and the docs, to backup that claim. Its a great system and is well made.
Mine was not stainless for obvious reasons and has gone bye bye thru wear and tear over the years. I wish I still had it.

 

Is that banks system single or dual outlet, also what are teh measurements for the piping? thanks...

Mike

 

banks is a 3" system with two tail pipes on the drivers side

 

Banks here too!...as all the posts have said as well as the many I have posted about it, this system is the BEST kept secret out there!...many of us here have bought our banks stuff from ENTEC @ 801 265 0994..eric is a great guy to deal with and gives the forum members some good discounts...for the $$ banks is the best choice IMO

 

Buy banks. Great system. I just bought mine from Entec. Eric is extremely helpful and is very knowledgeable about this system.

 

What does the banks system sound like in terms of loudness. is it deep and bassy or raspy. i know my car sounds mean as hell with the flowmaster. how does the banks compare. i would like a little less interior resonance, but i want it to sound good when i crack it open.

 

If you've got an exhaust setup already, I'd suggest you spend your money elsewhere. You could replace your heads and cam for the price of some of these exhaust systems.

FYI I've got the borla system and it's got a deep sound, especially loud with the plate open, but not so much with it closed. It sounds raspy on unmodified engines. The more air you've got flowing, the better/deeper it's going to sound. Flowmasters are known for sounding tinny and hollow, but that's just because everyone sticks these huge mufflers on stock engines. They do sound good on heavily modified engines.

 

anybody have a pic of the banks system?

 

how much are you guys paying for the banks system from entec. also what type of cat flange does it have do i use a 3: slip on cat or something else. need to atleast do a cat and a catback now may not get to do headers till spring. anyone have a clip of how it soudns mated to a set of hooker 2460s

 

Alright, ive got it narrowed down to borla and banks. I want to know which is best for my setup. I want the best possible flow with a mean sound wide open. My setup is a zz-409 cam (226, 226 degrees @ .050, .555", .555" lift), miniram, afr 187cc aluminum heads with 10.5-1 compression and 1.6 rrs, edelbrock tes headers(slp 1 3/4" soon), and a 3" pipe from the collector all the way back(no cat). i dont really care about the cost, i just want the best.

 

I have to say the Banks has the Borla beat hands down.Granted most of that is based on price (like half),but I am sure you can find something else to by for the ride with the $$$ you are saving!.. If you want,I have a sound clip of the Banks kit..Send me an E-mail and I will forward it over to you.I believe Entec sells the Banks kits for like $300..This system is docile when cruising so you CAN carry on a conversation,listen to the tunes whatever..But,get on it and LOOK OUT!..It screams wildly & heads of all ages turn!....

 

Do you have contact info on Entec? I am ready to place my order. I just need to know who to call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Does Entec have a website? I would like to check out some pics.

 

801 265 0994 and speak with Eric over there..I am not sure if they have a website or not?...Great company to deal with though...

 

I've seen flow tests done where borla basically outflowed every other exhaust on the market. Never seen banks tested. I'd go with borla if you want the best performance. You've got a cutout when you want, and anything between wide open and shut whenever you feel like it. I guarantee either exhaust will sound good with your engine.

 

Thanks for the contact info. I ordered my Banks CatBack system from Entec today. Eric was VERY helpful! He gave me some very good advice on which CAT to buy. I will order it tomorrow...

I should have all pieces here late next week. I can't wait to get it bolted on...

Thanks for the help!

 

I am sure you will really like it speedgraphic!...eric is a really cool guy to deal with.

 

speedgraphic, which cat did he reccomend and what did the system cost you i just ordered my headers from jet hot today and am ready to order my cat back

 

I have a catco on mine,but Random probably is the best avail IMO.

 

does anyone have a parts number for the banks system to be used with a slip fit cat i am ready to order.

is entec the cheapest place?

 

ok couldnt wait for you guys to respond, called up Eric at Entec and ordered the Banks catback. cant wait till it comes in. now fore the fun thanksgiving project of full exhaust

 

well done!...Told ya Eric is good people!...Nice to still have some companies go out of there way to help us old car folk!...enjoy it!

 

Firebirdpl,

Which CAT are you going to run with your new Banks catback system. I am still shopping...

Eric, at Entec recommended the MAC Converter. The price of the MAC would be between $230 - 250... I am looking real hard at the CarSound which can be bought new from Ebay at about $35.00

Let me know what you come up with. Anybody else have an opinion or source that would be appreciated too...

THANKS!

 

I just bought a catco, would that work with this system? It is slip 3" on the inlet and a plate on the outlet (stock style).

Thanks, also, where is entec located? and how much did you end up paying total (with shipping) if you don't mind me asking...

thanks,
Mike

 

Great to hear that the Banks catback is still being sold. I just bought an '89 Formula 350 and need to get rid of the exhaust; it's a badly-installed Flowmaster that rasps and drones to the point where I can't take it anymore. The cats have been removed also. I gotta say, after hearing a sound clip of the Banks system on a thirdgen, I fell in love. Going to get one in the next week or so!

I'd also be curious to know what you paid for your catback from Entec. I'm planning to give them a call. Also, I'm thinking I may go with the 4th-gen style muffler/rear section for the dual outlets. Still undecided. Would that change the sound much?

 

went with the carsound off ebay. couldnt resist the $35 price

 

The price from Entec was $292.00 plus shipping. That was for their 3" System. I don't have the total including shipping with me it is on my desk at work, but including shipping it was under $350 shipped to Georgia.

I am looking at a lot of diffrent cats on the market but I am coming to the conclusion that for the money the Carsound will be hard to beat. I will have to decide on the cat in the next couple of days.

 

wow!..If i would have known the carsound cat was that cheap on Ebay,I would have definately gone that way..That is a great deal!..Unless you get a Direct replacement (made to specs) cat for your vehicle,there is always a chance you may need to modify the intermediate pipe that connects to the cat to mount the exhaust because the cat may be a little longer,shorter or have a different flange etc..No big deal,but something to contend with when going to an aftermarket converter....Good deal on the Banks there speedgraphic...Bandit,I have the 4th gen rear section portion with the over axle pipe on mine because I preferred the dual exits on each side...Sound is almost identical & other than a hanger change (like 10 minutes to do) it works great!...

 

Congrats Speedgraphic, that's a great price on the system. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks subzero! I prefer the aesthetic of the dual outlet system so that's probably what I will get. Glad to hear the sound is very similar. I'm really looking forward to this. As far as the hanger change, does it simply involve relocating one of the hangers or must additional parts be acquired?

My current exhaust system is so horrible, anything would be an improvement. My over-axle pipe is laying ON the axle and the tips are clamped so far forward, they bang against the rear valance every time I hit a bump. Arrrgghhh.

 

just moving the hanger to the other side....really,no big deal...Muffler shop change in a matter of minutes !.....That was the reason i went with the 4th gen muffler section as well,just because I preferred the look of the separate exits...But,the look of the duals on one side and the fully polished tailpipes that banks puts on their kits does look better than some of the other "same side" exits i have seen....all comes down to preferrence man... Actually,if you want to see what the muffler section looks like for the 4th gen I put on my car you can go to : www.torqueandchrome.com and there is a pic of it there...

 

Thanks for the link! It looks great in the pic. Yeah I agree, if I preferred the two-on-the-left exits, I would definitely like Banks' design because it is one of the finest looking out there.

 

Bandit~..if you decide to go with the Banks system,when you place your order just make sure you tell the company you order from that you want the 3rd gen cat back but with the 4TH GEN muffler section and you will get what I have and what is in the pic!...Great system!

 

Thanks man! I've gone through some of the archives here on the board and seen the various comments on the Banks system, it seems like a great value with great performance too. BTW, my car has the dual-cat option (and, thanks to the previous owner, is now sporting two straight pipes instead of two cats) -- is there a separate Banks kit for that type of configuration?

 

looking at the info I have from Banks ,it appears the kit for the Dual Converter option would be part #49116

 

Thanks a lot subzero. You've been a big help.

 

Could someone please post a pic of the system installed on a firebird (preferably) or camaro from the rear? Also, everyone says there is no thirdgen stuff on their website, but if you follow this link you will see a pretty sweet bird up on the wall with a big fat banks sticker on the front!

http://www.bankspower.com/tech.cfm

Mike

 

Subzero, I would like to hear that sound clip of the banks system. if it sounds as good as everyone says, ill order it tomorrow

 

that is a pic of the firebird that still holds some records as the fastest passenger vehicle..a twin turbo 454...

92rsz~I will e-mail you the sound clip!

 

Yep, I didn't look at it but if thats the one I am thinking I read, it was built to go 250mph. I got a old Car and Driver (I have bunches) with a TT TA they built wiht 611 bhp that pushed 196.

 

Subzero, That sounds badass. What engine is that, and what mods does it have (cam,intake,heads?). does it have headers and cats or no cats.

 

Yeah, i read that somewhere else on their website. They also say that they are going to be working on a new twin turbo system for cars (the car they are putting it in is a first gen) Aside from that i also found another vendor which offers this kit. Their name is Torque and Chrome. Has anyone heard of them before? Here is their link:
http://www.torqueandchrome.com/

They quoted me a price via email which is about 80.00 lower shipped than entec. I have never dealt with either company and i would like to know if anyone has dealt with this one before?

Thanks,
Mike Ullrich

 

I only know of them because I saw the system I have on my car there,which I why I posted the link for others to see...I only speak very highly of entec because ALL of us have had great service from them & that is a big factor to me...I am sure Torque and chrome is a good place to deal with too,but I have not dealt with them before?.....$80 is a big difference though,so I would be careful and see if they stock it or what the story is first....

92rsz~..That is a 350 tpi with stock cats,and the Banks exhaust!...No mas!...told ya is sounds killer!!!!!!

 

I have recently gone through researching and purchasing an entire exhaust system for my car. I was looking for the best parts I could get at the best prices. My purchasing decisions were influenced to a large extent by the opinions and reviews of people on this site. To follow are some links to the venders of the parts I purchased.

I won't try to tell anyone that the group of parts I purchased were the best. I don't have first hand experience with other systems so that would not be a valid opinion.

I purchased a set of Hedman headers from American Coating Specialties. They are a ThirdGen.org sponsor and give Thirdgen.org members a discount. My headers arrived today. The finish on them is better than I expected! At this time ACS does not have a web page. I understand that they have one in the works. Their contact info: American Coating Specialties 1329 South Houston Ave., Humble, Texas 77338 Ph 281-446-6203 Email dhamil@texas.net. Ask for Dave.

Hedman headers: http://www.hedman.com/

Catalytic Converter: Sure I could have gone without one. I do not remember there ever being any emissions testing done in South Georgia. I went ahead and got a cat for two reasons. 1) I wanted the car to be emissions legal when I got through modifying it, and 2) I thought the inclusion of a cat in the system signals the diffrence between someone who is doing the job right and some jackleg just messing with his car. - That comment was not intended to offend anyone. Leaving off the cat for many is a conscious decision based on performance. If I were purchasing a car and the cat had been removed I would be suspicious of other things that might have also been done. I believe the resale value would be negativly impacted by leaving out the cat.
I bought the Carsound part number 94019. The cat was purchased off Ebay and cost about $47 including shipping. You can do a search on Ebay using Carsound as a keyword and find them. Here is the contact information: http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=60497141&ssPageName=L2
Emailerformancepeddler@mail.coms Web: http://www.noahperformance.com/

I had questions about the Carsound cat and I finally found their web page. It wasn't as easy to find as you might think. Here is the link to the CarSound web page: http://www.car-sound.com/

I follwed the CAT with a Banks Catback system which I purchased from Entec. I bought from them based on recommendations from this board. I spoke with Eric who is the Third Gen expert there.
Contact info: ENTEC @ 801 265 0994..eric

I had some questions about this Catback system that had to do with the connection to the CAT so I went to the Banks website: http://www.bankspower.com. I spoke with a specialist there who sent me a very good PDF showing installation etc. His contact info: jwilcox@bankspower.com
Jason Wilcox
Power Consultant
Gale Banks Engineering
546 Duggan Ave.
Azusa, CA 91702
Ph (626) 969-9600 Ext. 4112
Toll Free (800) 438-7693
Fx (626) 334-1743

As we speak I am waiting for the Catalytic converter and the Catback system to arrive. When I start scraping knuckles I will post on how it goes...

I have the headers here now and am very pleased with them.

My car is a '90 RS Vert with a basically stock LO3. I had some worries about fitment around the TDS/Alston Sub Frame connectors and spoke with a number of people to be sure there would be no problems there.

Like I said before, I would not try to characterize this as the best system. It is the system I purchased... I hope the contact information provided here can help someone else who might be going through a similar process in finding the parts they need.

Speedy

 

While I haven't saved any money on my car insurance lately, I got good and bad news today...

The Bad:

I ordered my Banks Catback system on November 17 and was told by Entec that I would probably have the system in by the end of the week.

It seems that the Catback for the Thirdgen had dropped out of production and was being built on an as ordered basis. Entec did not know this until yesterday. I called Entec and Banks today trying to find out the status of my order. Some of the pipes were being outsourced and they could not at this time give me an extimated ship date. They hope to be able to tell me something tomorrow. If the delay is too long I will have to cancel the order and get something else. I have limited time to install due to my work load, and I am riding around with a muffler that I patched with JB Weld...

The Good:

Banks is trying to revive the Thirdgen Catback. It has been re-designed and will have dual outlets. One on the right and one on the left - like the beloved Flowmaster... This was a look that I preferred but was willing to go to the dual outlets on the left side to get an affordable stainless steel catback. The photo I saw has rectangular ends on the exhaust tips much like the ends of the fourth gen exhaust systems.

I need to do something very soon so I hope they can give me some good news tomorrow.

 

Agghhh! Just when I was going to order a Banks system....

Actually, news about the all-new, redesigned thirdgen catback sounds GREAT! I hope it goes into production! Please keep us posted as to any news you might hear, no matter how small. I will not have the money to place my order until January but I would settle for getting on a waiting list for the new-style catback if such a thing was made available. At the very least, I could call Banks and voice my support for the product.

 

haha speedgraphic you beat me to the post. got the same call from entec this morning, kind of dissapointed as my ignition components and headers will all be hear tommorow. hopefully they said it should have shipped tonitie or will tommorow. keep me posted.

 

forgot to mention, thanks to the accident my father had with my bird, it's still in the body shop.

The Good: The whole front is being repainted, so the mismatched bumber will now match.

The Bad: Went to pick it up today discovered the left fender shamsed in. body shop says they will fix it hopefully tommorow, also hope they can find me the nose emblems from somewhere they say they are discontinued