MES
Enthusiast
I've been playing around with my exhaust now for about a year, looking for the perfect combination, and I think I found it. I don't like loud exhausts so that was my #1 priority and I don't like to loose power so that was my #2 priority. This set up seems to have become a popular combination as I have seen quite a few others with the same exhaust combination. For those that want it loud and nasty then buy a different combo. Now I'm just talking about the sound volume not the tone or quality, just the overall volume inside the car while driving.
So here it is:
Belanger headers
PartsRack High flow cats 3"
Corsa 3" cat back
Here are some observations on my quest:
Corsa - by far the quietest and most drone free of them all. At WOT the Corsa does get very loud. At part throttle (1/4 to 1/2) the Corsa does have a minor droning sound, it seemed the worst at 2,000-2,500 RPM. It wasn't terrible but it was there and kind of annoying. With PartsRack high flow cats the drone is no longer there and at WOT it's not nearly as loud. Without cats it sounded very unique and hard to describe. Corsa's web site has a very accurate downloadable sound file if you want to hear it. With the cats on (PartsRack), the higher pitched sounds are eliminated and it sounds much closer to a big block Chevy engine then it did without the cats on.
Belanger cat back - EXTREMELY LOUD the loudest you can buy. Had minimal interior drone, but hardly noticeable because IT WAS SO LOUD!! Tried it with and without Roe high flow cats and with just straight through type of mufflers (Dynomax) it was still very loud. If you want a loud exhaust this is the one for you. Oh and did I mention it's LOUD!! The Viper sounded like an Indy car at WOT
Borla - During my quest I used a Borla muffler (same one used in their cat back system) I found it did quiet down the exhaust quite a bit especially at certain RPM's (2,500-3,000) but at others it had a terrible drone. Defiantly quieter than the Belanger, not by much though. Seemed to have a deep low rumble.
Tunable muffler - Not bad to use if you like to be able to adjust the exhaust volume. When open it dampens the sound about the same as a straight through 4" round muffler. When closed in the quiet position it reduces the volume quiet a bit. Downside is you may loose some HP in the closed position (others have lost about 10 HP ) I've never had it dyno checked. It really didn't effect the sound quality much, basically it just lowered the volume.
Roe high flow cats - I tried Roe 3" oval high flow cats first. Here are my opinions (not favorable) The fit was at best so-so they barely fit into the side sills. Had to angle them in, then jam the sill into place to get them to fit. The loss in power WAS NOTICEABLE in both my butt-o-meter and the tire-smoking-meter I never dynoed it so I can't say for certain. I took them on and off 3 or 4 times and replaced them with various straight through type of mufflers. And each time I put them on ****, loss of power. They really didn't reduce the noise at all compared to the straight through 4" mufflers.
PartsRack high flow cats - The first thing that seemed odd was the size, they were really small. About 4" round and only 6" long, the honeycomb inside is only about 4" long. Inside they looked the same as Roe's cats, the same type of honeycomb. The difference between the two I don't know, they looked the same inside. Being so small they fit just fine into the side sill. I really can't tell any difference in power, there may be some but I can't tell any difference. The sound volume was reduced more by these than the Roe cats. These cats also have eliminated the higher pitched sound (UPS truck sound) and made the lower deeper sounds more noticeable. I no longer have my firecracker sounding coast downs when in gear, now it sounds like balloons popping.
Well now that my quest is over, I thought I would share my observations. Keep in mind this was just my experience and my subjective opinions.
Edit: The PartsRack high flow cats were Random Technology brand
So here it is:
Belanger headers
PartsRack High flow cats 3"
Corsa 3" cat back
Here are some observations on my quest:
Corsa - by far the quietest and most drone free of them all. At WOT the Corsa does get very loud. At part throttle (1/4 to 1/2) the Corsa does have a minor droning sound, it seemed the worst at 2,000-2,500 RPM. It wasn't terrible but it was there and kind of annoying. With PartsRack high flow cats the drone is no longer there and at WOT it's not nearly as loud. Without cats it sounded very unique and hard to describe. Corsa's web site has a very accurate downloadable sound file if you want to hear it. With the cats on (PartsRack), the higher pitched sounds are eliminated and it sounds much closer to a big block Chevy engine then it did without the cats on.
Belanger cat back - EXTREMELY LOUD the loudest you can buy. Had minimal interior drone, but hardly noticeable because IT WAS SO LOUD!! Tried it with and without Roe high flow cats and with just straight through type of mufflers (Dynomax) it was still very loud. If you want a loud exhaust this is the one for you. Oh and did I mention it's LOUD!! The Viper sounded like an Indy car at WOT
Borla - During my quest I used a Borla muffler (same one used in their cat back system) I found it did quiet down the exhaust quite a bit especially at certain RPM's (2,500-3,000) but at others it had a terrible drone. Defiantly quieter than the Belanger, not by much though. Seemed to have a deep low rumble.
Tunable muffler - Not bad to use if you like to be able to adjust the exhaust volume. When open it dampens the sound about the same as a straight through 4" round muffler. When closed in the quiet position it reduces the volume quiet a bit. Downside is you may loose some HP in the closed position (others have lost about 10 HP ) I've never had it dyno checked. It really didn't effect the sound quality much, basically it just lowered the volume.
Roe high flow cats - I tried Roe 3" oval high flow cats first. Here are my opinions (not favorable) The fit was at best so-so they barely fit into the side sills. Had to angle them in, then jam the sill into place to get them to fit. The loss in power WAS NOTICEABLE in both my butt-o-meter and the tire-smoking-meter I never dynoed it so I can't say for certain. I took them on and off 3 or 4 times and replaced them with various straight through type of mufflers. And each time I put them on ****, loss of power. They really didn't reduce the noise at all compared to the straight through 4" mufflers.
PartsRack high flow cats - The first thing that seemed odd was the size, they were really small. About 4" round and only 6" long, the honeycomb inside is only about 4" long. Inside they looked the same as Roe's cats, the same type of honeycomb. The difference between the two I don't know, they looked the same inside. Being so small they fit just fine into the side sill. I really can't tell any difference in power, there may be some but I can't tell any difference. The sound volume was reduced more by these than the Roe cats. These cats also have eliminated the higher pitched sound (UPS truck sound) and made the lower deeper sounds more noticeable. I no longer have my firecracker sounding coast downs when in gear, now it sounds like balloons popping.
Well now that my quest is over, I thought I would share my observations. Keep in mind this was just my experience and my subjective opinions.
Edit: The PartsRack high flow cats were Random Technology brand
