[ELSSIX]

I am going to have a new set of duals installed on my '70 Chevelle. What do you guys think has the best sound? TIA for any responses.

[65lkey]

I have 2 1/2" flowmaster 40's on my car. they sound awesome at idle but anything over about 2000rpms they sound horrible. I'll never go flowmaster again. Pypes is probably your best bet

[BillyGman]

I've heard Flowmasters on some cars that sounded like they were being exhausted through a tin can. Really sounds like garbage. But a co-worker's Nova that has Flowmasters on it sounds pretty good. So I don't know why that is. Maybe some Flowmaster models sound better than others. But I recently bought the Pypes Race Pros for my car (haven't installed them yet). The reason I chose the Pypes Race Pro muffs is because they have the same design as the Magnaflow Stainless steel wide open muffs which have no baffles in them, but merely a perforated pipe running through the center of the case, and with steel mesh wrapped around the perforated pipe for sound deadening. I like that design, because it won't restrict the exhaust flow like baffled mufflers can, and yet they're not too loud.

I've yet to ever use the Pypes Race Pro muffs, and I've never personally had Flowmaster muffs on any of my cars, but I have used the Magnaflow wide open muffs on one of my cars which also have the perforated pipes running through the center instead of baffles, and they sounded real good, and they weren't too loud. I've always wanted a performance sound that sounds nice when you wind up the engine, but one that isn't annoying and too loud during idle. The Magnaflow muffs made my car only slightly louder during idle, but when I stomped on the go pedal they got louder.

But for this car that I'm building this time around, I needed a bare minimum of a 3.5" diameter exhaust pipes, and Pypes is the only one I've found that make an offset/offset type of muffler that has the perforated pipe running through the center in a 3.5" inlet/outlet size.

It seems to me that mufflers that have baffles in them are either gonna be waaay too loud for street driving and attract too much attention from the local PD, or they're going to be very restrictive and choke out a lot of power. I like the design of the Borla XR-1 race muffs since they too have the perforated pipe instead of baffles. But they do not have the inlet/outlet in the offset/offset positions. And as far as I know, when you're running the exhaust over the axle tubes and back out to the rear bumpers on Chevelles, you need the mufflers to have the offset/offset inlet/outlet. Ofcourse that isn't a concern if you're merely dumping the exhaust out before the axle tubes. But I just don't want to be driving through a dust cloud in every parking lot that I drive in with my car due to dirt being kicked up all over the place from 90 degree exhaust turn downs dumping out underneath the car. So that is the reason for my choice to run the exhust over the axles and out to the bumper.

I hope that my long review helps you. Sorry if I gave you more than you were asking for. But I guess when you're digesting this long review, you can just use what you need and do as they say, "chew the meat and spit out the bones".

[andrew T]

If you go with violators they should be louder than 40's and still give you the chambered tone with a straight through design.

Straight through is better for performance, I have heard guys on another forum though, argue that chambered muffs are good on NA cars because NA cars need more backpressure but what do I know!

good luck

oh and BillyGman, have you thought of facing the dumps towards eachother in an X shape to get rid of the dust kick up? or pointing them towards the tires (although that would be very loud!)

[BillyGman]

Originally Posted by bassinyoface

oh and BillyGman, have you thought of facing the dumps towards each other in an X shape to get rid of the dust kick up? or pointing them towards the tires (although that would be very loud!)

That's a valid question, and one that I've pondered over in the past. I should point out that there is another reason that I didn't want to have the exhaust on my car end before the axle tubes, and it's something that you've also made mention of.... when the exhaust exits underneath the car you get more cabin drone at low RPM operation. A little bit of drone doesn't bother me, but with some exhausts it's very intense at around 2,200 RPM. And that can drive me and my passengers crazy while cruising through Sunday afternoon traffic around town.

But for me there's also a 3 rd reason why I decided to run the exhaust all the way out to the bumper.......and that is the shape of the floorboards. They're tucked-in and are higher up right where the mufflers get placed in the factory location. And the rear cross member on the frame has a higher location then the frame rails do on the sides because the cross member connects to the part of the frame rails where they begin to arc up over the axle tubes. Therefore, when you route the exhaust in the factory locations, you have more ground clearances just about everywhere than you do if you route the tailpipes or the muffler pipes anywhere else.

For instance, on GM A-body cars such as Chevelles, if you have the turn downs or the muffler extensions headed towards the tires, you either have to let them end before they get to the tires in order to avoid the frame rails and the lower control arms, or you have to hang them in a lower position to clear the frame rails. The former routing would still have the exhaust exiting underneath the car, and that's still creating more noise inside of the car which is what I want to avoid. The latter method will have the tailpipe or muffler extensions (which ever term you prefer) hanging too low, and it kills your ground clearance.

Ground clearance might not be any big deal for a trailered drag car, but if the car is used for the street, then you don't need tailpipes that exit out the side of the car on Chevelles, because that can spell problems while negotiating speed bumps with one or two passengers in the car while driving through shopping store parking lots, workplace parking lots, or condo parking lots. All of which a street driven car will be exposed to. And I'm not talking about the type of "street" car that only gets driven twice a month 5 or 10 miles down the road to a cruise night or car show.

So in light of these things, I conclude that there is good reason why the factory routed the exhaust on Chevelles in the way that they did. And that is precisely why I like places like the Torque Tech exhaust company which manufactures mandrel bent 2.5", 3.0", & 3.5" diameter exhaust set-ups for the Chevelle that retain the factory routing despite the bigger diameters. For me the Torque Tech company was a no-brainer since I needed a 3.5" diameter set-up, and there aren't very many places that mandrel bend exhaust that big. Furthermore, the Torque Tech set-up comes with very good band clamps as well as pipes that are bull-nosed so that they slide together, and no welding is required if you use the band clamps. I've used those clamps on another car I had, and they never leaked. here's the link to Torque Tech. I found them to be excellent people to deal with, and I don't say that about very many aftermarket companies at all, since that just isn't usually the case.

http://www.torquetechexh.com/

[andrew T]

BillyGman your posts are always meg-informative!

I love it. thanks for the info

[BillyGman]

Originally Posted by bassinyoface

BillyGman your posts are always meg-informative!

I love it. thanks for the info

You're very welcome. Anytime.

[wildman926]

Love my Pypes Race Pro's.

Straight through design, using stainless steel construction throughout, including internal matting, not fiberglass matting to deaden sound as some do. They will sound the same from day one.

[dpvoiceguy]

Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but having the name "Race Pro" are these mufflers excessively loud for street driving? I've got a friend with a pickup that has Flowmaster short-case "race mufflers" and they're SUPER loud. In fact, I think they're intended more to satisfy a technical requirement of simply having a muffler rather than open exhaust. Now don't get me wrong...I love the sound as much as the next guy, but there's a happy medium when talking about a street car that you want to enjoy driving for an afternoon.

[PickSS]

I had the Flowmaster 40 series and hated them because they had too much drone at 2200 to 3000 rpm's. Switched to the 50 series and have no issues plus everybody loves the sound.

[musclecarjohn]

I have Super 44's on both Z/28's and love them,I must be the oddball though,alot of guys say they hate them...but most say that about AR TTII's too...and everybody has those.

[LS_5]

Originally Posted by dpvoiceguy

Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but having the name "Race Pro" are these mufflers excessively loud for street driving? I've got a friend with a pickup that has Flowmaster short-case "race mufflers" and they're SUPER loud. In fact, I think they're intended more to satisfy a technical requirement of simply having a muffler rather than open exhaust. Now don't get me wrong...I love the sound as much as the next guy, but there's a happy medium when talking about a street car that you want to enjoy driving for an afternoon.

I've got 3" race pros on my car and one of things I love about them is that they are very tame, IMO, when street driving. But like Billy says, when you wind up the motor all hell breaks loose. I like them alot!

I've had zero issues with cabin drone. My son had Flowmasters on his Mustang GT and I couldn't stand it inside. Got an instant headache. Not sure all the fm's are that way, or not, but his were bad!

[BillyGman]

Originally Posted by dpvoiceguy

Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but having the name "Race Pro" are these mufflers excessively loud for street driving?

Originally Posted by LS_5

I've got 3" race pros on my car and one of things I love about them is that they are very tame, IMO, when street driving. But like Billy says, when you wind up the motor all hell breaks loose. I like them alot!

I've had zero issues with cabin drone.

Your question wasn't ignorant at all. it was applicable. Look what it says on the Pypes webpage about their Race pro mufflers...


http://www.pypesexhaust.com/mufflers.html#01





2.5" 3" Race Pro 453 655 Straight Pipe 485 705
Sometimes you just gotta have the best of everything. When it comes to flow, you just can't get anything better than our Race Pro Muffler. This baby features a 'straight through' path with throughput that can be 95% of straight pipe! The throaty sound is surprisingly tame considering the absence of any impedance when you look down its barrel. At idle and low rpm cruising, you will not draw much attention, but upon acceleration, bystanders lookout! The Race Pro’s aggressive sound is the result of applying a layer of stainless mesh around a unique internal perforated tube, accompanied by a healthy stuffing of basalt insulation before the unit is sealed. Highly recommended for the track where every 1/10th counts. Of course, there are plenty of these mufflers hidden under some fine street machines too. Think of these mufflers as large inhalers for your car. Sound Rating = [7.0]

[amartinson]

Anybody have a sound clip of a BBC with the Pypes Race Pros?

[Kevin R]

Originally Posted by amartinson

Anybody have a sound clip of a BBC with the Pypes Race Pros?

My sound clip is starting my chevelle.
I went from 2 1/2" flowmaster to 3" race pros and wow they are absoutly the best sounding muffler IMO.