Quietest 3" exhaust?

[MoparMap]

So this will probably sound silly to a lot of people, but what's the quietest 3" exhaust out there? I recently swapped out my 2.5" Borla system for a 3" Mopar race system as my new cam didn't like the 2.5" setup all that much. I loved the tone of the Borla setup, which is why I went with the Mopar race mufflers when I swapped to 3" (they are the same design as far as I can tell, just longer). That being said, after a moderate highway drive my ears are a bit on the tired side when I get home. I was initially going to try putting cats back on it as well, but the Mopar mufflers are too long to fit a cat and I have headers, so really out of room to put one anywhere on the system I have. Curious what all is even out there for 3" systems and if it would even make a difference at this point.

 

[Siciliano15]

So this will probably sound silly to a lot of people, but what's the quietest 3" exhaust out there? I recently swapped out my 2.5" Borla system for a 3" Mopar race system as my new cam didn't like the 2.5" setup all that much. I loved the tone of the Borla setup, which is why I went with the Mopar race mufflers when I swapped to 3" (they are the same design as far as I can tell, just longer). That being said, after a moderate highway drive my ears are a bit on the tired side when I get home. I was initially going to try putting cats back on it as well, but the Mopar mufflers are too long to fit a cat and I have headers, so really out of room to put one anywhere on the system I have. Curious what all is even out there for 3" systems and if it would even make a difference at this point.

You helped me so much when I was researching the Mopar exhaust i got that i wanted to try to see if I can at least offer some assistance... I was thinking to quiet it down no matter which route you take it will probably cost you a little bit of power unfortunately.

If you went back to a catted setup and installed the corsa or belanger 3" exhaust it would probably quiet the car down a little but at a high cost so not sure if that would be worth it.

A cheaper cost would be removing the headers and going back to stock exhaust manifolds would help too but again youre sacrificing power so not sure you want to do that either.

The best option I think where you would lose little or no power and not cost too much would be to remove the tips and replace them with some tips that have resonators in them which should help quiet it down just a little bit and not reduce your power at all. Something like this: 3" Exhaust Tip Resonator

 

[MoparMap]

Hmm, interesting. I was thinking I had seen some kind of insert in the past as well, almost like a trumpet mute if that makes any sense. The tips on the race mufflers are pretty short and have an angle bent and a slant cut on them, so might be interesting to get anything in there that I couldn't just insert in the pipe that's already there. I had wondered if something like a Belanger 3" setup might be quieter, but had my doubts that anything would be as most people go aftermarket for more volume and different tone. I have thought about the stock manifolds as well as I do still have them laying around. They really aren't that bad of a design, basically a shorty header instead of a long tube, but I have heard they are prone to cracking and I think mine had something like 80,000 miles on them when I swapped them out. I'm not sure if I mind losing a little power as long as I still keep things relatively free flowing. The old setup had 3" collectors on my headers into a 3" to 2.5" reducer into my mufflers and it just seemed like it was pushing hard through it. I think having 3" all the way through the system, even if it was a little more restrictive within, is probably still easier on the engine than one definitive choke point. Maybe not, I guess flow is flow and restriction is restriction, but just feels like having it more "spread out" would be easier on things.

 

[SilveRT8]

I have a Gen5 with Belanger Headers and H/F cats.
I found the 3'' American Racing mufflers to be the quietest, only slightly louder than stock, with a nice deep tone.

 

[Kevin M Melisz]

MoparMap, have you spoken yo Lou Belanger directly? He is surprisingly easy to get ahold of and loves talking exhaust for Vipers.

I would recommend giving him a call and getting his advice.

Kevin

 

[my427cobra]

I have found these to be effective at changing the tone/drone without adding backpressure.

Dynateck Vortex cone.

Cheers
Greg

 

[my427cobra]

Hi SilveRT8. Tell us more about the 3" American Racing muffler.

I went to their website and could only find complete systems.

Cheers
Greg

 

[MoparMap]

I have found these to be effective at changing the tone/drone without adding backpressure.

Dynateck Vortex cone.

Cheers
Greg

Hmm, that's pretty interesting and seems like it would be easy enough to possibly put in a tip. May have to look into that one some more. I'm also curious about the American Racing mufflers. I'm just very wary of cats at this point with my new cam. When I put cats back on my 2.5" system after the cam swap they ran so hot there was usually a burning smell in the car after trips. One day the cabin even started getting smoky or something when running errands, so I just don't think my tune and cam get along with them.

 

[Siciliano15]

Hmm, interesting. I was thinking I had seen some kind of insert in the past as well, almost like a trumpet mute if that makes any sense. The tips on the race mufflers are pretty short and have an angle bent and a slant cut on them, so might be interesting to get anything in there that I couldn't just insert in the pipe that's already there. I had wondered if something like a Belanger 3" setup might be quieter, but had my doubts that anything would be as most people go aftermarket for more volume and different tone. I have thought about the stock manifolds as well as I do still have them laying around. They really aren't that bad of a design, basically a shorty header instead of a long tube, but I have heard they are prone to cracking and I think mine had something like 80,000 miles on them when I swapped them out. I'm not sure if I mind losing a little power as long as I still keep things relatively free flowing. The old setup had 3" collectors on my headers into a 3" to 2.5" reducer into my mufflers and it just seemed like it was pushing hard through it. I think having 3" all the way through the system, even if it was a little more restrictive within, is probably still easier on the engine than one definitive choke point. Maybe not, I guess flow is flow and restriction is restriction, but just feels like having it more "spread out" would be easier on things.

you would probably have to cut about 6" off the tips in order for one of those resonator tips to bolt on without sticking out too much. id try to find a resonator tip like the one i attached where the inside diameter is still around 3" while the outside diameter is only about a quarter inch more or so that way it will still fit out the hole in the panel. there are many 3" outside diameter ones that reduce down to 2.5" and even 2.25" but that would be a restriction for sure. Other thing u can try is if you wanted, I can send you those things that came with my mopar race exhaust that i cut out... not sure if you remember they were like reducers inside the tips. Maybe that would quiet it down without causing too much restriction since the reduction as at the end of the exhaust where the temps are cooler and denser and not like right after the headers where the temperatures are still hot. youd have to probably tack weld them in there like they were.

 

[MoparMap]

I've have to think about it. The other thing I found out the other day (well, I guess I already knew, I just didn't really think about it that hard) is that if I just drive on the highway in 5th instead of 6th it's actually not bad at all. Cruising at 70-75 in 6th is what really does my ears in. Just super low tone that really overtakes everything else and wears out my ears. In 5th it's not bad at all and I can even hear the radio and stuff pretty clearly. I'm not sure it would really even affect my gas mileage, so I might just try that for a while and see how it works out. The noise doesn't really bother me around town because I'm constantly changing rpm, so it's never in one spot for too long to really get annoying like when cruising on the highway.

 

[Siciliano15]

Oh ok yea if you could find a way to keep your setup as is that would be the best option lol; it will keep your hp numbers and gas mileage at the best possible scenario.

 

[my427cobra]

You can buy those Dynatech Vortex cones separately without the pipe shown in the picture. They come in different sizes to slip into existing pipes.

Because of the large surface area of the cone and the large number of holes, the "effective area"
(the area the exhaust gases can pass through) is high and therefore the flow loss/additional back pressure is low.

But the cone shape reduces the noise and drone. That's my experience on other cars at least.

Cheers
Greg

 

[MoparMap]

You can buy those Dynatech Vortex cones separately without the pipe shown in the picture. They come in different sizes to slip into existing pipes.

Because of the large surface area of the cone and the large number of holes, the "effective area"
(the area the exhaust gases can pass through) is high and therefore the flow loss/additional back pressure is low.

But the cone shape reduces the noise and drone. That's my experience on other cars at least.

Cheers
Greg

Those do seem like a pretty interesting drop in option. Kind of what I was hoping might exist, and I think there might be just enough room in the tips for them. If they aren't too much I might pick up a pair just to try them out. The ARH setup is waaaay expensive, so that's certainly off the table for me at the moment, lol.

 

[Greg114]

Shove some bananas up in there, saw it once in an 80s movie on smaller pipes, killed the car but maybe it'll do the job for you.