I was wondering what would sound better on my car, I have a 86 Trans am that I would like to put a 3 inch cat back on. I am looing at the hooker aerochamber catback or looking at making a custom 3 inch bullet cat back. The engine is a 305 carb with stock manifolds and no cat. The qustion is which exhaust will perform better all through the rpms. I like the hooker system but I am unsure if it will be loud enough for me. I want a great sounding loud exhaust but not to loud that I will get a ticket everytime I start it. Is the hooker aerochamber loud without a cat and stock manifolds and or does a bullet sound good on a small 305. I want a good sound and not just noise. I currently run a small 2.5 custom flowmaster I rigged up and it sounds ok but I want louder and more performance. If there are any other good cat backs under $400 that perform well and are quality built let me know. NO FLOWMASTER! Any and all input is welcome. Thanks

Oh and on the Hooker catback which part number would I need. 1986 305 carb, single cat without cat installed!

 

swap out the manifolds for longtubes, and the 305 for a 347, and it'll sound great with any of thoes mufflers.

 

I'm not sure performance-wise, but my Hooker felt like it opened up a lot when I installed it.

It's not load at all INSIDE the car, but sounds awesome outside. Not super loud, but when you get on it, it sounds great. I was disappointed at first, but I had my dad drive the car down the street and I listened to it, and started to love it. I'm sure it would be much louder without a cat.

Not sure if it even helps you, but just my 2 cents.

 

Well, for right now I cant afford a 347, but when I get a new motor it will be a 355 or 383 with a T56. Also I am just going to wait for headers until I get the new motor. Hey MJH91RS which hooker cat back did you orer... part number wise and did it come with tips? Thanks for the replies so far. Does anyone have a sound clip of a bullet on a 305?

 

The Aerochamber muffler has a nice tone without being too offensive. The bullet is barely a muffler, I had a 3" true dual setup with an X pipe and bullets. way too loud. I had to reduce and go up and over the axle and add some magnaflow 5X8's granted this is a 355 with higher compression.
I would say go with the Aerochamber.
Do you have the converter still on it?

 

No the cat isnt on the car and I dont want or need one. Columbia city doesnt check for that stuff. But I think I am going to go with the hooker cat back. Can you tell me which part number I need. I want full 3 inch I pipe and dual 2.5 tips. I will just slip fit the I pipe to where the cat use to be so I dont need any flanges. Do all the catbacks from hooker come with tips because those tips are great looking! Thanks for everything.