I was just wondering if anybody knew why all the websites are selling the American Thunder catbacks for $100+ what they used to sell for?

Are they re-designed or something, or did flowmaster just jack the cost to the vendors?

Hopefullu its not discontinued. It was the best sounding and best looking on any thirdgen.

 

Probably just your normal inflation. $100 doesn't buy what it did a few years ago, especially with gas at $3.50 a gallon.

 

Yeah well now they are just that much more expensive than every other system. Kinda stupid if you ask me.

I had my heart dead set on getting a flowmaster this summer, and now I might not be able to afford it. But IMHO hooker, magnaflow, edelbrock, nothing even comes close to the quality of the flowmaster.

 

The 40 series went up 30 bucks as well. I got a deal on them and managed to get the set I have been eyeballing for the last year on amazon fro 79. That was the lowest I could find them.

 

Not sure of the part #'s but I've seen 2 different cat-backs. One with straight back stainless tips and one with regular turn downs. Price difference was about $100.

 

Those are not the american thunder systems. They are the 1OTL systems.

 

It seems like everything is going up these days. You would be better off buying the 3" I pipe from Summit and buying the 80 series muffler seperate. It would save you some cash. You won't get the tips though if you wanted them.

 

im thinkin about just getting some kind of catback system 3" to 4" pipe my buddy has 350 with hooker shortys and 80series and that Shi* sounds perfection. idk about all theese prices eaither even ebay is expensive, lol and for gas prices im prepared, i just bought a 4 banger for this summer when we start seeing 4$ gas prices

 

And what guarentees me that it will all fit together perfectly, and the muffler will be centered? Every muffler has different length and width, so its not like I could by dynomax pipes, and a flowmaster, and expect it all to hang up...

I think the flowmaster tips look the best on these cars. Although I have been toying with the idea of either the "camaro" tips that are rectangle, or the Trans Am tips that come out behind the rear tires like the bandit car.

 

If you don't have dual converters it should fit. It's made for our cars. Nothing needs to be modified. IROCZTWENTYGR8 has that exact combo and it fits perfect. Buying a cat back for your car doesn't mean you're guaranteed that it will fit perfect and not need any tweaking.

 

On my hooker cat-back, I had to make a few cuts on the tubing to make everything fit correctly. Even though you buy a cat-back made for a certain car doesn't mean that you won't have to make any modifications to make it work. As with any modification, be prepared to do some sort of fabrication work

 

I thought the whole point of a cat-back was not to have to cut and weld pipes? If that is the case, I would be better off waiting till I get a welder, and just buying some sections of mandrel bends, straight pipe, and a chop saw.

 

lol thats what i did with my duels, shi* its a lot cheeper

 

Well you don't really have to weld. They are usually slip fits, even the 3" Dynomax pipes they sell separate. My exhaust has been clamped for years. Still tight and no leaks.

 

My exhaust is also clamped. I have had no problems with it. I didn't have to do a bunch of cutting. I just had to cut an inch off of the passenger side tailpipe to get it to fit into the muffler and clear underneath. I also had to take an inch off of the driver side tailpipe to get the tips even.

 

probably b/c metal prices are going up and that flowmaster is a heavily advertised "name brand"

 

i know i got lucky when i ordered mine
i got it here last febuary and for about 350 and when somebody asked me wat i got i showed them on summit and the price had skyrocketed

its and awesome system and a great deal for 350 but for wat it cost now i think i would have just hung my head and gone with something else

 

That's your opinion. My car came with a flowmaster when I bought it. I put a Magnaflow muffler on it, and you couldnt pay me enough to put a flowmaster back on it.