I am having a really hard time deciding what to do with the exhaust. I am wanting better sound/performance than the heavystock mufflers but on a budget. I have been having trouble trying to figure out what will look good and fit well under the bumper. I am trying to decide if I want either a straight through muffler that comes with a tip, or a flowmaster or turbo style muffler that doesn't come with a tip. Tips can cost just as much as the mufflers, so this route can get pricey. I found nice porsche style tips but they are $30 each in addition to the mufflers and the installation. If I go with a cannister style muffler (similiar to the adamesh mufflers), they come with tips. I'm just wondering how well they would fit under there. I think it would work, it has a 5.5" length tip and the muffler body is 12" long. The stock tips are 8" long. The other option I am considering is the flowmaster style single chamber race mufflers, they are short little box mufflers and come in 2.25 offset inlet/ center outlet. It looks like the stock tips might fit on 2.25 piping but I'm not sure. If I could reuse the stock tips that would make the flowmasters a lot cheaper. I've been having trouble finding a stylish longer tip for a reasonable price so I'm thinking maybe I could just reuse the stock tips, problem is I think the stock piping is only 2" diameter but not a lot of performance mufflers come in 2", most start at 2.25". The other trouble I am having is the shape of the rear bumper muffler cutouts are kind of oval shaped. I was wanting some dual muffler tips, but the width seems to be an issue. There is a cool muffler on ebay that has 5.5" oval tips... I checked today and I think those would just barely fit, but again, it's all kind of a guess. I'm not sure where the muffler would sit exactly. They may have to bring it down a little lower to get it to sit level with the ground.

 

One of the tricks that used to be common place here was taking a hole saw that just barely fit in the outlet pipe. From there, you can put it on an extension to allow you to get the hole saw deep inside the muffler. Then what you can do is to push in the hole saw til it reaches the bend at the far end of the muffler (the front end of the muffler). You can then drill out the elbow that is in there and you are essentially opening up the stock muffler from the first chamber right to the outlet pipe. Frees up the exhaust some and then it only costs you what it takes to get the right size hole saw.

 

remove the resonator in the center first, see how you like the sound.

 

Would removing the resonator and leaving the stock mufflers improve the sound? Thanks for the trick about drilling the stock muffler, I may have to give that a try.

 

Improving the sound is subjective...I did the custom Magnaflow route...altogether cost me $300 with new mufflers, labor, and new tips. Well worth it in my book. For me I like my exhaust to be dead silent on the highway and a smidgen throaty on the city streets.

 

Did you keep your resonator? I could have the shop remove mine probably for about $40 if it would make any difference. My muffler budget is pretty small right now. I don't think I could afford 2 magnaflows with tips right now. That was why I was looking at the flowmaster clones, they run about $35 each or a straight through muffler which includes tips for about the same price.

 

Yeah I kept the resonator, I did not want a loud luxury car...that was cool when I was 17...

 

I suggested removing the resonator first, and keeping the stock mufflers, because you wanted a cheap way of improving the sound. The nice thing is, if you have it cut off nicely and a length of pipe welded back in place you change the sound, and its cheap. Its also just as cheap and easy to have the stock resonator welded back in again if you get mufflers later down the road and then the car is too loud for your liking. I have Mina Gallery mufflers and my resonator removed. I still think its a bit quiet for me, but I really like the sound of these engines. When I first got my car I took the stock resonator out and still had stock mufflers. It was still pretty quiet but you could hear it better when you really got on it.

 

Ok thanks Justin, maybe I will try that. Trying to decide if I want to replace the mufflers and leave the resonator or remove the resonator and leave the mufflers. I was looking at those straight through kind of mufflers, but I like the torque my car has now that it's all tuned up and I'm afraid I will lose some of that if I open up the exhaust flow too much. Not sure though, I would be keeping the stock piping, so I may not really lose any torque by switching to free flowing mufflers.

 

PS I think that oval tip muffler in the first post would be too big to fit in the bumper cutouts after I measured again. It is a pretty big tip... 5.5" x 2.75"

 

Also what about deleting the rear mufflers? I am going through all this trouble to basically make it louder, might as well just get rid of the rear mufflers altogether and just keep the center resonator. Would that throw any check engine codes? It's the back mufflers I am more concerned with being that they are very heavy.

 

one day I should take my mufflers off (since they bolt on and off now) and see what it sounds like. I could clean them up nice too I guess haha.

 

I just don't know if it would sound refined or too harsh. On some cars it makes it sound like it needs a tune up but on some cars it just sounds sporty.

 

If I took mine off it also wouldn't have the resonator either. I don't really have anything that could get a good recording of it though. I don't really think it would have the right sound though. I love the Mina Gallery muffler sound though.

 

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