I was waiting till I had the funds to do some exhaust work but my muffler has a leak and I need to get a new one to pass emmisions. So I was looking for some recommendations. I did a search and found some info on performance but I also would like something with a good sound. I would like something a little louder than stock but I don't want the ricey sound. I don't have a ton of experiance with exhaust so something that would bolt in and not require welding may be better. I was checking out Cattman SS muffler. I have used Flowmaster in the past on my other car and love the sound but not sure how it would sound on the max. Would I be better of doing a catback system or ok with just the muffler for now, until I have more cash flow?? I will be doing a new intake and possibly the y pipe in the near future. I have only had the car for a few months and it is basicly stock right now. Thanks for any help!!

 

Magnaflow universal mufflers are pretty good for both performance and sound, and they are fairly inexpensive.

 

what performance??? If you call sound performance..........

OEM is free flowing already so if you must buy an aftermarket catback, I would get Frankencar since it's the quietest out of all aftermarket exhaust system. It's louder than OEM though.

 

By "good for performance" I mean that they won't hurt performance like some other mufflers. Some aftermarket straight-through mufflers have louvered cores which can actually impede the flow of exhaust gases. Magnaflows have perforated cores, and they don't sound ricey. We all know that the OEM muffler flows well already, but this guy's OEM muffler has a problem, so it must be replaced. He didn't say he wanted to get a full catback system, or else I would've recommended something like the Frankencar. He just asked about replacing the muffler alone.

 

If you're going to get a y-pipe down the road, then you might want to get a full catback. If you don't think you have the money for a full catback exhaust right now, you could try replacing just the muffler for now and then you could get an aftermarket b-pipe later. The b-pipe is the pipe between the main cat and the muffler.

I'm not saying you should buy THIS catback necessarily, but this link has a diagram of the exhaust setup from the y-pipe to the muffler.

http://www.customenterprise.com/view.../vts/design004

 

Yeah, I have to replace the muffer but depending on the price I may do the full catback. It looks like the weld on the original muffler let go where the pipe is going into the muffler. My emissions is up at the end of this month so I don't have a choice in replacing the muffler.

I will check out Frankencar. Any opinion on the Cattman??

 

Cattman makes quality parts. They are louder than Frankencar from what I hear and more expensive. Can't go wrong w/ either.

 

Thanks Ammi. I think I am going to go with the Cattman. After reading some other posts it looks like Frankencar is sometimes slow with their shipping and since I need something to pass my emmisions test I can't risk waiting on it.

Thanks all!!

 

Here we go again...

I got my Frankencar w/in 4 days of sending the money via Paypal....

 

totally off track but i have a borla exhaust with a magnaflow tip and i love the sound, performance and all. Just wanted to add my .02 cents in there - good luck though

 

Did you order it recently? I just hear that they are a smaller operation and work other jobs. So I can under stand if they would be a little slower. I just can't wait. Maybe I will try to contact them to see if they can tell me how long it would take. I do like Frankencar and less $$. Did you put it on yet? I have read it would be a good idea to use different hangers for the Frankencar muffler becuase it is heavier and original hangers can cause it to rattle some. Any input on the hangers?

 

I'm very happy with FrankenCar shipping and customer service,
I've ordered B-pipe on Monday and I've just received it couple of hours ago today, Wednesday (less than three days).

 

Cool. Glad to here that. Maybe I will reconsider going for Frankencar. I can get the catback for a little more that what I would pay for just the Cattman muffler. Thanks!!

 

This may be the wrong thread, but could anyone tell me whether or not the OEM cat. converter is bolted on or is it welded?

 

I ordered it in December... just before Christmas...

I called Scott and left him a voicemail and he responded within a couple of hours... it was shipped a day after I Paypaled...

Its on the car and I like it... they will enclose hose clamps in the box to help beef up the stock hangers, and they work pretty well. If not, you can always get some stiffer hangers from someplace else.... mine doesn't rattle or hit the cross brace... never did, even w/o the hose clamps. I thought it did once, but it was because I didn't tighten the nut on one of the hangers so the washer was making noise.

 

See? There are people on here with good Frankencar experiences...

 

Its bolted on... but it doesn't have any real bolts.... what I mean by that is the bolts are welded onto the cat, so you just tighten it with nuts. At least, that's how it is on the y-pipe side... I forget how it is on the other side towards the cat-back....

 

So basically, if I was going to install a high flow cat, I would have to cut my stock cat off? Or can it be unbolted?

 

you can un-bolt the cat if they're not rusted together

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i have a generic SS muffler and it sounds a little throaty around 2k but the rest is fine.

i also have a stock cat-back otherwise and had some fittment issues..

 

Just go to a local exhaust shop and I'd bet that they can just fix the weld that broke on your stock muffler. Prolly cost 30 bucks. Seems like this is starting to become a common problem among 5th gens. I think I've seen at least 2 other threads about this.

 

Thanks!! I may have to do some strengthening on the hangers. I live in pot hole heaven. The highways around my area suck and it is almost impossible to avoid all the pot holes!!

 

Thanks for the advise. I was thinking about doing that and I did see a thread that mentioned that part of the weld rusting out. I have wanted to put new exhaust on the car anyway so I figued what the hay. But if I can't come up with the funds for the whole catback I may just do that. But right now the Frankencar is looking good!

 

I was a bit hesitant about buying a Frankencar cat-back after reading some posts here about long shipping times...but after reading the posts in this thread, I decided to go ahead and get it. Placed the order last night, received Fed-Ex shipping notice that the package will be hear TODAY. I couldn't expect anything better than that.

 

Wow... really? That's the best I've heard... mine took 2 days and frickin Fed-Ex messed up the delivery when it was already in VA and that took another 2 days... but then again.... can't complain about 4 day delivery... esp for something so large....

Enjoy it...