im turning my 89 firebird into a street legal race car so -so i need to keep a good muffler system but as most people know the y pipes cut off a lot of power-is there anyway i can get this car to run duel pipes or straight pipes without the mufflers dragging the ground or me having to raise the car up a bit

 

use the button ive seen topics on here and you should look under exhaust. i think i saw it there and yes you can run true duel without lifting the car

 

How does a well designed Y-pipe cut off a lot of power?

 

You can always run a nice set of headers and 3 inch Y pipe and exhaust all the way back like most of us around here. Thats the easy way to get that power your looking for without all the hassle of a dual exhaust setup. Some have done it but is it really worth it in a 3rd gen for the street?

 

Hooker 1 5/8" primaries 2460 headers, Hooker Y-pipe for it 16767HKR ( cut off the 2 1/2" outlet and make it 3", and a Hooker H.O. Catback 16823HKR. Its a simple fix and an awsome exhaust.

 

For the same money, you can get Hooker 2055's that have a ready-to-go y-pipe. You might want to modify the collectors, perhaps cut off and weld shut the A.I.R. tubes, but that's a lot easier and makes more sense to me than throwing away 50% of a $200 piece.

 

how much would the 3" pipe slow me down from straight headers-whta ive been doing is taking the muffler off while racing then putting it back on when done and its such a hassle-i dont want to sacrifice much more hten 2 tenths

 

How about using an exhaust cutout, MRG-5424, at summit...$46.88. Would definately be more convenient than removing the muffler all the time.

 

Okay, there's an entire forum dedicated to discussion of exhaust systems. Let's move this over there - and while you're at it, why not do a on these things on that forum? You'll most likely find that everything you're asking has already been asked, discussed, done, and documented.

In particular, I'd suggest you search for a thread started by mw66nova regarding his dual exhaust using longtube Hedman hedders and some inexpensive piping & mufflers - produced a very streetable (although not emissions-legal) system with great power capability; and a thread (forget who started it) regarding pictures of single exhaust systems.