Hi, I'm pretty unknowledgeable when it comes to cars, and although I have done a bit of my own research, I am no closer to an answer about how to modify my car. I have an 89 rs with the 5.0L 305 v8. I'm looking to make my car a bit louder as even though I can hear the exhaust currently while driving it down the road, the sound is not quite loud enough, and its exhaust note simply isn't that pretty. I'm not looking to terrorize the whole neighborhood with hundreds of decibels of volume, nor do I expect my car to be able to do that, but I want more oomph in the mid-range and at lower RPMS. Is a performance muffler my best option (or is this a crap option)? On this forum I've read recommendations of Magnaflow mufflers, which is something I'm considering. I'm looking towards this as an option as it is cheaper (compared to a whole new exhaust system), but would I be better off aiming for a different type of modification, like straight pipes or a full exhaust system? Nothing has been done to the car performance wise besides regular maintenance. Any recommendations or bits of knowledge are greatly appreciated. On a side note I'm not concerned with increasing the performance of the vehicle, I'm really only after a better sounding and louder exhaust note.

 

Aftermarket headers will be louder; stock cast iron manifolds dampen the most sound. If you want just a little more sound, a catback is a good choice. Go on YouTube and listen to some different ones, a lot of people like magnaflow, flowmaster, borla, hooker, dynomax all of those are pretty common and should be louder and a little more free flowing than stock.

 

Thanks for the response. From what I understand with headers, I would achieve a more attractive exhaust note and it would be louder since the factory headers are made of a heavy sound dampening metal. Would this achieve the increase in sound I'm looking for? I assume the more complete package is the cat back system as it changes the actual exhaust note and includes changing the muffler (I think). Being too loud isn't the worst thing I'm just looking for the most price efficient change. If a cat back is really all that more significant than say aftermarket headers and muffler, then that will probably be the option I take.

Once again thanks for the info!

 

Start with the cat-back and go from there. Although headers do free up some power, you may get what you need from the cat-back (if better sound is all you want right now). In the end power is what makes sound. The 305 TBI is unfortunately in that category.