I recently just got a 92 firebird formula tbi all stock i want to buy the flowmaster 80 series american thunder exhaust system will this increase my horsepower and is it something i could install myself with little knowledge of cars? also are their any other good exhaust systems out their, better than flowmasters?

 

there are tons of systems for these cars just do a search

 

Just about anything is better than Flowmaster IMO... unless you get their high end mufflers. I'm partial to Hooker (the exhaust ) myself. A muffler shop could easily put it on for you in about an hour.

 

Flows, TurboTechs, or Borla. I want a burble kinda loud at WOT but not cruising. Can someone post some sound clips of the differents types. 305 Carbed stock manifolds. First thing first hedders any good suggestions. Have to kind of budget minded. Thanks

 

Very minor increase. Ditto for any other system you might install. The stock manifolds, y-pipe, and cat are the bigger restrictions.

Basic hand tools. Removing the old exhaust is the harder part.

 

the blowmaster will not do much of anything. five7kid said it best. not to mention that blowmaster catback will sound nice purring, but sound like crap when you rev it up. don't waste your money. invest in everything for your exhaust then install. it makes things so much easier when you do it all at once instead of a cat back here, headers there, just a p.i.t.a.!

 

Flowmasters make the third gens sound like a V6 at higher rpms. They are laughable, and don't flow that well.

 

The 80 series sucks, the American thunder os ok, but the force II sucks, i myself would stay away from the 80 series force II, it will sound ok with anything else, goodluck, i have a 80 series on my 89 RS but it is a 450 HP 383 so it kina forces it to sound bas a$$.

 

A muffler that sucks would be a good thing - reduces the back pressure, don't ya know. . .

 

I have a force II and I'm happy with it...
I like to hear a nice exhaust, but I don't really want a loud *** car when I'm driving / riding in it, I wanna hear the radio...

It's a low rumble & plenty loud when you get on it... Plus it's a 1 in / 1 out design that flows better than the 1 in / 2 out design...

But it was installed after the new Hooker 2055's & Y pipe, etc...

Raf

 

Hey I have a flowmaster on my car and I think it sounds pretty awesome for a 305. Does have a small cam though and MSD igniton. Nothing beats the PURPLE HORNIES though!!

 

I have the american thunder series flowmaster on 88 5L tpi. Personally I think it sounds pretty good when compared to the other exhaust systems. But you have to remember at the end of the day its just a catback system. Which means performance gains are at a minimal and that goes for all the aftermarket catback systems. Like mentioned earlier you should first install a new set of headers with a y-pipe (most headers if not all come with a y-pipe) thats where you'll see the biggest horsepower gains. Then you replace the cat and catback to have the benefits of a high flow exhaust system.

On a personal note (i did this last year), i installed a high flow cat with a catback system and the results were maybe 5 - 10 hp but then i installed a set of SLP headers and the results were noticable about 25 plus hp, you really notice the power from 3500 rpms to redline. The car sounded mean (although it was only 200 hp at the wheels). Also, i recently had to replace my high flow cat with a 3inch universal OEM because of emission testing and personally i don't notice any performance difference. The sound was the only difference i noticed, the exhaust sounds a lot smoother / better with the high flow cat when you rev over 3500 rpms.

I know you mentioned your on a budget, so what i would do is replace the manifolds first with the headers because those manifolds are your biggest performance robbing enemies. Then get the rest. Or if you can get the whole system and install it all in one shot. Labour wise if you are getting a shop to do it for you, your looking at about 3 hours for the installation of the entire system.

Hope this helps

Pat

 

Since it is a stock 305 TBI, go with what you think sounds the best.

 

i like my american thunder cat back....at first, but now it seems every car, truck, and VAN has them and they all sound the same, even after header install. so i might change mine out this summer.

but on the plus side you cant beat the price, good luck with your choice

 

I've installed that catback before and gotten quite good results, the difference in power between it and another aftermarket system is going to be negligable on most any street engine. It's got a pretty balanced sound too, some good throaty idle, doesn't get too close to a glasspack at high RPM's and it doesn't drone while cruising like some systems.

 

Well the manifolds i have on the car have tubes coming out the top of them. I think emissions shi*. Anyhow they just took the tubes and bent them over. The guy i bought the car from did a lot of shi*** rigging. Cant moan much $50 bought the car drove it home broke shifter cable all thats wrong. So yes I plan on changing the manifolds to hedders and i might buy a exhaust kit for so i can do it myself might take to the muffler shop.

 

force pro series muffler, all else stock, same as a flow but aluminized and $35
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oid=2012117019