OK, Good news and bad news, the bad is that when I went for inspection today, they found three holes in the pipe. The good news is that all of them are past the cat and the y-pipe looks good, more good news, my dad is paying to have it replaced. I would like to take this opportunity and get a performance exhaust and the ravin sounds pretty good to me but I'd like to hear from you guys and see what you think.

TIA,
David

btw, the ravin is $109 is this a good price?

 

isn't ravin one of the exausts that are sponsored by ummmm minekee or car x ? not to sure, but i know i've seen them advertised there. I've also seen FLOTEC or something like that at minekee, the FLOTEC thing is supposedly the same setup as Flowmaster without the added Flowmaster price (for the name) but i didn't believe the guy. So, i went to the local perofrmance shop and picked up a flowmaster 80 series. Around here (on the boards) the two main exuasts are flowmaster and dynomax, dynomax is a quieter version, little more toned down, flows are loud as hell (which is what ih ave) and gets ricy above about 3k, below that though, and it sounds mean as hell. haven't heard a dynomax in person, her a superturbo on a FWD 2.8L beretta, sounded damn good also, very mellow, and deep. Never heard a ravin on any car for that matter, but i'm wondering if you're going to buy the whole exaust or just a muffler? just curious. Remember the best out there is borla, but our little sixes aren't going to need that much brething power, but it'd sound nice. Flowmaster is as loud as ur going to get without open pipes, warlock is performance with an open pipe option, dynomax would be the classy performance muffler with a toned down volume. But if ur just replacing the muffler, u've got your choice on any of those, plus the brands that the exaust shops will push for ya, but i'd say go namebrand.

 

I've got two words for ya ...

DYNOMAX CATBACK !!!!

 

Well, the holes are all behind the cat so I was leaning toward a full cat-back system. I downloaded a soundclip of the ravin on a 3.8 or 3.4 I'm not sure which but it sounded very nice to me. The reason I want the ravins besides the sound, is midas was advertising them, and that was practically the only way I could get my dad to pay for what a complete stock setup would cost, and let me pay the difference for the ravin. My only concern is that it seems to be a kind of ***** brand but I personalyl don't care as long as it doesn't come neon green or hot pink and it works.
David

 

Is the full cat-back $109, or is that just the muffler?

If they're charging you $109 for a muffler, run away. That's ridiculous. $20 says that the pipes they're going to put on won't be mandrel-bent, which makes a smooth bend. They'll be crimp-bent, which means there will be little kinks in the pipes when they bend.

The Dynomax super turbo catback comes with the cat-to-muffler pipe (aka "intermediate pipe or I-pipe"), two tailpipes, and a Super Turbo muffler for $160 from Summitracing.com, part # WLK-17493. Buy it, and put it on yourself.

 

Hey David ....I ll sell ya my cat-back system for 109 bucks plus shipping. I just bought a borla cat-back. Let me know.

 

How does that Borla system sound?

 

Dont know yet. Its coming from Cali. So it will be here by Friday. And hopefully my headers will be here by then also. Thank goodness I dont drive my car during the week. Can we say car pool.....lol. Anyways I ll let you know how it sounds. And if David reads this I ll sell him my flowmaster exhaust to help cushion the blow by the Borla buy. But the 1st one that flashes cash in my face gets my cat-back system.

 

Dad says it's the ravin or stock so if they'll do the ravin well, mandrel bent and all that, I'll put my cash in too. If not and they want more money, I'll just let my dad buy the stock and I'll save my money for something else.
David

 

I got the flows 80 series and it sounds like an 8, just a short while till i get my Hi-Flo Cat hehehehe

 

David, you didn't answer my question! Is that $109 for the muffler, or $109 for the whole complete system?

If it's $109 for the muffler, you're getting ripped off. Print this out and show it to your dad. The Dynomax #17493 is a mandrel bent, aluminized steel cat-back, and costs $160 from Summit. Plus you guys can install it yourself, in your driveway. It's not rocket science! And if that shop says "welding is better", well, guess what- you don't need to weld pipes together, clamps work just fine for an exhaust.

Oh and if you click on "search", i've got messages posted in the V6 forum on how to install the dynomax (I guess look for "install dynomax") system. But, whatever you do, good luck!

 

Tom's right if you are just paying for the muffler then you are getting screwed w/ out K.Y. We all are just trying too steer you in the right path as far as cost wise.

 

I really appreciate all the responses and you guys' help. I'm headed down there with a few questions in a few min so I'll be able to tell what I want to do better. The dynomax sounds like a great idea but it just doesn't seem to faze ol' dad. I think he's really more worried about me hot rodding it more than cost actually. He was a cop for 20 years and he's been telling me stories about traffic work *sigh*. I'm thinking if I don't get the ravin, I'll just save up for something else, though I really hate to pass up the opportunity when it has to be replaced right now.
David

 

Oh, okay, then... I just hate to hear people spending more $$ than they should. See if they'll let you supply your own muffler. Summit sells that Dynomax super turbo muffler by itself for under $40. Let us know how it goes! (And my dad is a bit the same way.. he'll tell me "just leave the car alone, it runs fine and looks fine", but ya know what? He's always liked everything I've done to it. In fact I'll kid him every now and then about how he didn't think he'd like the bigger tires, or exhaust tips, or etc...)

 

I checked summit and they're out of stock with a "tentative" ship date of the 2nd of next month. This has to be done as soon as possible cause my inspection is due this month. As soon as I get a steady job and I get some headers I might look into the dynomax. Everything I've heard about it is good on a v8 or a 6. Thanks everybody for all your help, I'll let you know what I decide and how it sounds if I get the ravin. I'm thinking about recording the exhaust how it is and then comparing.
David

 

Here David here is a shop here in Houston . They sell The muffler Tom is talking about. The number is 888-996-0303. This might help. And last week when I called they had them in stock. Of course it was before I dished the cash for the Borla. But give them a call and see what they say.

 

It looks like I'm gonna be going for the ravin in a day or two. The qoute of 109 was for the chrome muffler AND the two tail pipes. I only wanted one so got a qoute for that and it's gonna be less than I first planned and since dad's footing most of the bill, I'm only going to have to put in about 40 of my own money, that leaves 30 dollars for something else. I'll let you all know how it turns out by the end of the week. Thanks again.
David

 

Am I the only one that drives around 2-6 months past inspection before I get the car inspected , Yeah guys I know its bad , but Im just curious cus I always hear " the car is due for inspection this month and how can i pass the sniffer or , the car is due this month for inspection and I need to get it fixed . Im riding around right now and my inspection is 6 months pass due .. Im ganna get it done before I go back to school , right now im not driving the car that much .

Oh and David , IM NOT suggesting you put off inspection , GET IT INPSECTED so you dont get a ticket !!!

 

Luckily we don't have smog tests here yet so no worries there, it just bothers me to let anything go past due or be late for anything. Maybe I'll get one of those strut tower braces with the extra money I've got.
David

 

There's just too many cops around and too few f-bodies for me to do a late inspection. Although I usually put it off until the last couple days of the month!

 

The Ravin went on the day before yeast. and I got to say, it may sound a bit ***** around 2k, but man does it rev now! The CAI alone gave a sotp improvement but now that both ends are breathing better, it's even more apparant. I think my cat may be shot though cause there seems to be a hesitation at almost exactly 3k rpm. Unless I work the gas some, it goes right to 3k and then waits there till I guess the torque converter locks up and it starts climbing slowly. Next on the to do list is a major tune up with new coil and wires and plugs and maybe even rebuilding the dist cause I'm sure it was never touched in it's life.
The only problem with the new exhaust is that now my bird is about 8% import with the apc filter and now this. As long as it's not rice I'm fine, I don't even have a chrome exhaust tip, from the outside it looks completely stock still, just the way I like it. If any of you are interested in hearing a clip of the ravin I'll try to figure out some way to record it.
David

 

I'd be Interested, Except I dont want a cat back, I'm just gonna buy a muffler and tips.. I'm 15, no job right now, I was working outside in 100 degree heat...for 6.50 CANADIAN an hour.. **** that noise. lol.

 

eww i hear ya, thats what i was doing when i was 16 for 6.33/h, anyways i got my flowmaster 80 series muffler with stock tips, but now im thinkin of just going totally custom
i want to change it all up to a Hi-Flo Cat a 40 series Flow and a 3 inch pipe for the whole thing comin out through the right side ground effect
my freind has this done on his 91 t/a and it sounds really good

 

You just got the flowmaster muffler to put in the stock pipes? is it dual out? Is it 2 1/4 inlet and 2x 2 1/4 outlet? Whats the part number? How much did it set you back? Is that us dollars or canadian coin??? Can u still hold conversations at cruising speed with the windows down?


Sorry for all the ?'s, but thanks a lot in Advance


-MiKe

 

Kinda yea.....If you are looking for one PM me and I ll hook you up. I just redid my entire exhaust.

 

yeah i just had the stock muffler switched out with the same flowmaster, the single inlet, dual outlet, it set me back about 200$ and now im wishing i had waited on it cuz now one of the sponsers for my car club could could hook me up with one for about 1/2 that!
i can still hold convos at crusin speed, my freinds say it loud when i gun it off the line, and when i have it floored all the way down the track, maybe i should let one of them drive it sometime so i can actually hear it

 

It looks like the only way I can record the exhaust is a little hand-held tape recorder then feed that into the computer thanks to having a really old sound card but the quality will really suck and now I can't find the cable to hook it up to the computer. I still have some boxes to go through from when we moved so I hope it's in there.
David

 

aiight

 

David, congrats on the mod! And as long as you don't rice your car out, there's nothing wrong with a few ***** brands. Some of them are pretty well-made.

 

No worries there Tom, I couldn't keep but laughing at the NOS bottle they had on the rack marked up %30 from anything online. And those neon tubes! I can't believe anyone would put that junk on their car.
david