ok, i have narrowed it down to these two, what do u guys think is the best out of them. The Borla Stainless Steel 500. The Flowmaster American Thunder, 300. The flowmasters are lookin nice cause they are 200 bucks less, that 200 could go into headers which are the buy. I have heard awesome things about how the Flowmasters sound and how Borla's put out lots more HP than most anything else. I am looking for the best of these two. If i have to give a little HP for better sound ok but i would like to be tops in both. thanks

 

It pretty much boils down to what you are looking for in an exhaust system.... sound, or performance?

You said you'd like to get both, so let's take a look here...

If you have a 350cid engine and money to spend, Borla is the way to go. They sound AWESOME on a 350 car, especially a manual. They aren't too impressive sound wise on a 305, but they do up the performance. I've heard they can be tricky to mount on a 3rd Gen though...

Flowmaster is a great system as well, for both 305cid and 350cid platforms, you just can't go wrong with em... factor in their cheap price and you get one hell of a deal. The are by far the most popular brand, and for good reason. You'll get a decent horsepower upgrade with em if you add in a high flowing catback.

I guess my only question when it comes to deciding what to roll with is... do you have a 350? or a 305? is money a factor?

-ONE2FLY

 

i have got a 305, sorry i forgot to click the box that puts your signature up. Money is some what a factor, i have got almost enough saved up for the flowmasters so if i decide to go borla's i will have to wait a few weeks. How much hp gain am i looking at with these systems respectively and then how much with hooker headers, the pro comps i believe that is their name. thanks

 

I would go with the Flowmasters since Borla won't be worth the money on a 305cid...

Horsepower wise, assuming you add a high-flo catback, you'll probably get about 10-15hp out of a Flowmaster system. With Borla, it would probably be a solid 15hp gain...

In order to really wake up an exhaust system, you'll need to go with headers as you mention... the Hookers are pretty good from what I hear, and aren't too expensive. Can't give you an exact hp increase estimate, but you will notice a big difference in throttle response.

-ONE2FLY

 

Flowmasters suck, they sound good only on ******* trucks. Borla is just better in every way except price. If you want cheap exhaust, get dynomax or hooker. They will sound better and outflow flowcrappier. Borla is fine on a 305 or a 350. The plates make it pretty nice, you can go from open exhaust to flowing fully through the muffler.. you can even make custom plates.

Borla sounds better than flowmaster in every car I've heard. And it performs better. Price is all that matters, if you can't afford borla go with hooker. Even hooker is better in both categories.

 

Hmmmmm. No opinions in that post I guess. Whatever.

Flowmaster sounds better than Borla to me, and they are for musclecars and always were, its not their fault they are so liked that people without musclecars want them on whatever it is they have too.

 

do you just have some bitter hate for flowmasters or something???? did you used to work at there factory and they fired you??? something i mean dang what's your problem with flowmasters??? i have heard flowmasters on my friends T/A 301 and they sounded great, nice deep sound and sounded even better when you got on it. i have no hates to borla other than their price and hookers i dont really know much about. i just know they make pretty good headers. I hope to have enough money to buy the flowmasters and maybe hookers by my birthday, nice birthday present for myself, i got just over a month. does anybody know what kind of hp increase the hooker headers put out??? i have heard in the 10-25 range. do i have to smog test i dont remember, cause if i dont i might just gut my cat or maybe just buy the hi-flow cause i dont wana mess with mine and could probably get better performance out of a new one.

 

I like the flowmasters myself but it is all a matter of personal preference. Some people like the hookers some like the flowmaster. Get what you think sounds better to you.

 

I had flowmaster on my car, it sounded tinny and annoying. My brother had flowmaster on his car, it sounded the same. It sounded even worse on his 4th gen. Of all the exhaust I have heard my favorites are gmmg(corsa), slp louthmouth, borla, hooker, dynomax. I'd never buy flowmaster again. Yeah, it's just my opinion..but make sure you hear it on a car similar to yours before you buy it.

Any headers you buy are going to help out performance.. you just need to decide what you need. Again, money is key. The most expensive is likely the best in any case(SLP). If you plan to mod your engine a lot buy good quality headers, otherwise quality will not matter so much. You may want to look into ceramic coating as well, it can reduce underhood temps and has been proven to slightly increase performance. All I can tell you is read and listen before you buy.

 

if you dont like flowmaster dont buy their products then. personally i love my flowmaster, it sounds great, not tinny at all. with the chrome tips extending just past the bumper the interior sound level is a little lower then i may like, a nice loud V8 makes my blood pump. but from outside the car or even with the windows down it is extremely pleasant. i have recieved plenty of questions as to what i have and where someone can get something similar, matter a fact just earlier this week some asked me about my exhaust at the gas station.

as for performance i highly doubt it could possibly be hurting my nearly bone stock car, so wether or not this muffler may flow slightly better then that 1, so what. i am no where near a point that my muffler will matter much and even so ever heard of a cutout?

 

personally i am really sick of borla... it is quality stuff and built well, but i dont think that justifies spending that much on em. i think they sound like crap actually (sounds like expensive straight pipes to me) i have had both dynomax and flowmaster. if you like your car to sound wimpy and stock go with the dynomax. i personally love the sound of flowmaster i have no idea where people got that "tinny" idea. they sound deep and powerful and not too anoying like the borla would get w/ out restrictor plate (i have never seen anyone do anything else.) definatly get the flowmaster catback i dont think u will be disapointed.

 

I have a flowmaster on my Camaro, a few of my friends have them on their 3rd and 4th gens and they all sound good! The Borla is cool too, especially the adjustable plates. There are a few F-bodys at the SCCA , here that have the Borla system they sound awesome. If I were you I'd go with what you like sound wise, as far as power goes there shouldn't be such a difference on a pretty much stock motor. Like you said the $200 can go other places..Just my two cents.

 

If you want, e-mail me and I'll send you a video of a car with Borla on it. I have Ravin' on my car, but thats cause thats what it came with. I might switch to Borla cat back and Hooker headers, or Hooker all the way back. I don't care for Flowmaster much, I've heard they sound too "tinney". The only car I've heard it on was a 30th anniversary Trans Am, and they sounded alright I guess. I wasn't that impressed though.

 

Hooker, sounds better and flows better than Flowmaster and is about 50 bucks cheaper.

 

Yeah, Borla or Flowmaster. Personally I'd go with Flowmaster, I have one, plus they have a great reputation with a lot of the people I talk to who are big into cars and drag racing. Plus they have a better bang for your buck.

Also, I like the sound of them way better than Borla, but that's personal opinion. To whoever the guy who said it was tinny or whatever, maybe there was an installation problem or something, because there isn't any tinny sounds on any Flowmaster, just a great low-end sound and rumble. Borla may be a little better on performance, but like I said, I don't like their sound and I don't think that little extra you MIGHT get is worth all that extra money.

 

exactly and if you use a cutout for racing and max performance whats the difference, besides bucks. you could build a dual super trap kit with adjustable plates for less and still play with the tone and performance.

 

Though Flowmaster and Borla are both great, I say Hooker Aerochamber cat-back it the best choice for your 305. It packs the same punch as both of the other cat-backs, and, in my opinion, sounds awesome (especially on a 305...still very nice!). You can save money and get the Hooker!