he guys. i was wondering what kind of aftermarket cat back do you guys got. whats size is it. i have heard the hooker aerochamber 3" is real good.

 

The 3 inch is too big(unless you got a turbo/Super charger). Go dynomax 2.5. Summit, 140ish.

 

V6camaroman....i have the aero-chamber muffler installed on my car (1990 3.1 'bird), and i have to agree with hunter, 3" is too big for a 6 car. i even talked with the guys at holley over the phone and they recomedded not going any larger than the stock 2.25" but i knew i def. want to go 2.5" and everyone runs 2.5" with great success and results.

why did i buy a hooker aero-chamber instead of the flowmaster and dynomax. i personally don't like flowmaster.....i just don't like their sound (but thats just me). its very raw and very loud. and there is no arguement...the dynomax setup is a great value and from what i hear a great working system. i haven't heard one yet though. i bought the hooker because it was different, i heard great things about them, and really liked the sound when i heard it on an 8. so i bought the hooker last year, and bought the muffler for the 4th gen (same dimensions as 3rd gen version, but accepted a 2.5" i-pipe). then i brought it to local muffler shop that i knew did good work and had a custom 2.5 stainless steel mandreal bent setup installed. the muffler ran me all of 80.00 from summit, and i paid 300 for the stainless steel, labor, and welding.

yea, i may have paid a little more, but i absolutely love the sound, and like being unique. the performance gains were noticable....car has had lot more pep. the aero-chamber has a nice low rumble at idle, and very nice deep "throaty" sound when you get on it. interior resonance is great too....its no problem holding a conversation in the car at night with a girl, but you know the exhaust is back there. i couldn't be happier. now i am thinking of getting a random tech cat and custom y-pipe to open up my exhaust some more. we will see. i have a sound file that i can email to you.

and i am sure you have been here but here are some charts to look at:
http://www.holley.com/HiOctn/ProdLin.../ESM/Aero.html

 

im wondering how come 3 inch is too big?
is it cuz it doesnt fit or will drag on ground or is it juss cuz its too open diameter for a v6? even so i thought if U could get bigger then U could go as big as the body of the car permits?
im confused i always thought bigger diameter pipes was better

 

this i show i understand it to work:

easy part first: whether or not the pipe will fit under the car or not isn't the issue.....what it boils down to is how much back pressure your exhaust setup is creating to effectively get the exhausts gasses out of the engine and through the pipes.

generally speaking, the larger the pipes, the less restrictive the exhaust will be because they can carry more air (volume) and the bends are less extreme. as a result, air wil travel much more easily, letting the gasses escape more easily. this creates more hp beacuse you are getting rid of the bad much more quickly and making more room for the good.

exhaust pipe diameter is looked at as a direct correlation to horsepower. the more horsepower you are creating, the more exhaut you are going to need to get rid of. if your engine isn't creating enough horsepower for a certain diameter pipe, you are going to lose "back pressure". i believe back pressure is how much pressure is pushing the exhaust gasses out of the pipes (correct me if am wrong).

a LOOOONG while back, i saw a post in the exhaust forum showing reccomended pipe diamters fore certain hp ranges. unfortunately, i don't remember exactly what it was. but .5" per every 100 hp might be a good start (i could def be wrong).

120 = 2.5"
220 = 3"
320 = 3.5" <-------JUST GUESSES!!??
420+ = 4"

don't quote me on that, i am just trying to make some sense for you. but if you go too wide you loose back pressure and in turn lose hp. maybe someone else can better explain what back pressure, but that is your main consideration when looking at an exhaust setup. if you put a 3" flowmaster setup designed for a v8 (225 hp) on a 6 (140 hp) you see where there can be an issue. you won't be creating enough exhuaust gasses to effectively move it through the system; in the end with less back pressure you will LOSE performance.

its kinda tricky, for those who can explain it better please do....and correct me where i am wrong.

 

i've had my aerochamber muffler on for about an hour and i can't get enough of it. hooker all the way and forever... hmm... i think i'll go sit in my car some more...