I just got the tacking email. Fedex says it has a scheduled delivery date of July 11! I should have it put it by that weekend if thats the case. Until then....

 

im anxious

 

me too, hee hee

 

I got the muffler today, it doesn't look as bad as I was expecting, actually I am kind of impressed. Aside from the puny *** silencer and the bracket inside which I am assuming is to steady the silencer when it's installed (I am going to try and take the bracket out) it is very solid, lightweight, and looks pretty good.

I will post up picks of the install if I can get my g/f's camera. If not, I will post up some final pics after it's all done and we go home again (I am house sitting this week, if you didn't read all the posts). I will pick up some metal cutting tools from my house and see if I can't do the install before work on Thursday.

I went to a development (under construction, no houses, no street signs, nothing but fresh pavement) down the road and set up a test to see how far it took me to tach out second gear. I will go back tomorrow and do it again so I have a good control and then install on Thurs. and test again to see if I get to the redline faster and that will be my "dyno" of sorts. At least I will know if it was worth it or not. I am sure I will get something, I just hope it will be as much as I am predicting due to my other mods. Hopefully I won't be dissappointed.

 

I stand by the cheapy ebay mufflers... mine is amazing, it sounds and looks great, so what if it doesnt add horsepower on an n/a car the exhaust isnt gonna do **** anyway rite?

 

If RRM claims that the magnaflow axleback adds HP, and I usually trust what they say, then the straight flow cheapy muffler will add just as much.

All I want to accomplish with this is to complete the highflow exhaust system I have and get rid of the stock muffler because it rattles alot. I assume it rattles so much because of the additional flow I have given it, since it didn't rattle before I started messing with the other parts of the exhaust.

I bought the DP to get rid of the sharp bend, the highflow cat to keep it legal, and now the muffler. Very little restriction in my system. Next I will be looking at the resonator, but have no plans right now to remove it.

As planned I am leaving for work a little early to get my metal working tools and will install this tomorrow before work.

 

clamps and brackets? Doesn't this involve some cutting and welding?

 

Only at the final stage. I won't have it welded until I am sure I am going to keep it. When I had the high flow cat welded I had it clamped up and ready to go. I took it to meineke(sp?) and told them exactly where to weld it. I want to be able to remove it so I only had them weld two joints and left the other two clamped. It cost me 30$. I don't imagine I will pay any more for the muffler, but probably won't pay less due to the "minimum" most places charge.

I am not concerned about cutting. I have all the proper tools for that. I would weld it myself but I don't have the equipment.

 

can't wait to hear out it works out. i got a little gain out of the ebay muffler i used for my axleback, so you should see a little something.

Did you make any of the exhaust piping a larger diameter? and does it make a huge difference at this point if you did? (NOOB ?s)

 

It would make a slight difference, but if I were to go anything more than 2.25" I would start to lose torque. Really, I wouldn't benefit from larger piping until I changed the header and downpipe, and don't need to do that because I only have a CAI, piggyback, UD pulley and downpipe(stock diameter is 2" also, no change in pipe size). Not enough engine mods to take advantage of larger piping. My goal when I started modding the car was to attack the weak points. The stock exhaust system had three, two of which I have taken care of.

Two main reasons to go to larger diameter exhaust piping. One - you have all breathing mods done including port and polish, which means 2" (stock) is now restrictive. Two - you go turbo, in which 2.25" would be a little small too. You are forcing air in, which means technically you are forcing air out as well. The Turbo creates more power and torque than you could gain by keeping the pipe size a little smaller, so you let it breath however it wants to.

My whole exhaust system, front to back, is/will be after tomorrow: stock header, RRM dowpipe (2" version,) 2.25" Magnaflow High flow Cat, stock piping, stock resonater (tiny bit of restriction here, under consideration after muffler swap,) stock piping, 2.5" inlet muffler with 3.75" tip.

RRM downpipe eliminates a huge restriction in the press bent stock downpipe, and gets rid of the giant stock cat. The 2.25" high flow cat has two benefits. One is the fact that it is designed to be very efficient. Two, the 2.25" piping allows for even less restriction than a 2" high flow would have. The straight flow through muffler offers little to no restriction at all, and the larger diameter is because you don't have much to choose from for $5.88 USD on Ebay

I decided to do the cheap muffler after I DIY'ed my CAI. It seemed like the next step in a complete makeover of the aspiration of my monster, err.... car. It just sounds like a monster.

 

Super loud. Not as loud as the single 30 minute jaunt I took with no muffler, but very loud. Can't really tell too much of a difference in lower gears, but when I got to open it up in third there is a little difference. I came in about 20 feet in front of my marker in third and pretty close to the same marker in second.

I did solve the rattle issue. It sounds more like a racecar than anything now, with no rattle/raspiness anymore. I sounds real neat at idle, and when you open it up it's loudest at the lower RPM's and pretty steady in volume from 3500 on up. I would definitely not car this a typical "fart can." This may have more to do with the engine displacement than the muffler though.

I would like a deeper tone, and after some more driving (I have gone only around 50 miles today) I may start saving for something else. Too soon to judge really, especially since the ECU usually catches up at around 75 miles or so.

Install was a pita, but thats to be expected with a "universal" ebay muffler. I need to do some more work, I am using 5" round muffler hangers with wire to hold it. I will change this when I have more time to plan, as it bangs around when I go over large bumps such as poorly made railroad crossings, road humps, and speed bumps. It fits pretty snug in the hole in the bumper, which is a small concern. I want it to stick out a little further and sit a little lower than I have it.

It took me about 20 minutes in Advance Auto Parts to figure out how I was going to add 8 inches or so and go from 2.5" OD to 2.125" OD, there are less options than you would think. After that it took me around an hour for the install, so I would say planning, removal, cutting, installation, and cleanup took 2 hours total. Not including driving 20 minutes to the nearest auto parts store. The people I am house sitting for live in BFE.

I will update when I do more work and get pics, and I will let you guys know how this holds up every so often when I remember. Quality of the product seems pretty good so far. It was definitely stainless steel, computer welded as advertised so I would imagine it will hold up pretty well.

 

worst case senario(might no be spelled right) : you get what you pay for and its cheap so i wouldnt worry about it,

 

I have an Ebay muffler on the catback I am selling and it has held up just fine. Sure you get what you pay for although exhuast is nothing crazy so don't feel bad about going cheap if sound and tone are not much of a priority.

Dan,
I have now run two 2.5" CB systems on the RA and had no loss in TQ/Hp from the butt dyno. This is with both the stock DP and aftermarket RRM DP. The setup has worked well and I would not be against a 2.5" setup. I am more looking for the furue with this setup and I am sure as more mods come it will complement the setup of the exhaust size. I mean really if the DP was 2.5" I could imagine TQ loss although the 2" DP is a good setup to go to a 2.5" CB. The 2.5" is OD anyways so really my 2.5" CB are really 2.25" - 2.5" MAX ID. This is such a small difference that you mine as well go 2.5".

Also in the setup such as RRM there are cost savings to their 2.25" system because they can purchase a muffler setup that is prewelded with the tip already in place. This eliminates work and machine welding is better than hand welding so it is a better piece anyways. A 2.25" OD system is really a 2" ID system.

 

You're right about the pipe size for sure. as a matter of fact I agree with pretty much everything you said. The only thing I dont' agree with is the "small difference" comment. When it comes to air flow an 1/4 inch is alot, even an 1/8 inch is alot. The most torque loss does come from the downpipe. If you are planning for the future, 2.5 is a good choice. If the future is now and you know you won't be doing anymore breathing mods then I wouldn't go more than 2.25, not enough airflow from a lightly modded engine.

As an example, by roommates mustang svt has dual 2.5" exhausts, and his motor is gigantic, roars to 7000RPMS and eats my car alive in the 1/4 mile. If you have FI you should let the turbo/supercharger breath how it will, but if not you should plan aroud what you have, or will have.

 

Although dual 2.5" pipes with an X pipe is a whole different setup. You can't even began to compare that to anything for a 4 cylinder based car with better designed valvetrain and exhaust port flow. No comparison.

Ok lets look at the stock system. The stock system has a horrible downpipe design that bumps, curves, and twists the air into horrible propulsions. It gets better in the catback until it hits the muffler which bangs the air through a baffle design which is designed to limit noise, and not make power. So anything you can do to the exhaust will benefit power.

The biggest thing to hurt torque down low is the removal of a catayltic converter. The back pressure in an NA setup is required although at the point that you don't have a catlytic converter these small differences are null to the total benefits over the stock design.

Furtheremore as exhaust gases are first spewed from the head into the header they are traveling faster and the molecules themself are expanded. If there was not a benefit to a better header RRM would not have made one. A better header to a properly made catback exhaust system will net big benefits over a stock setup. If anything it is better to have less back pressure towards the end of the exhaust so the spent gases can leave the system, not having another restriction somewhere else.

Furthermore even in NA mode approcahing 200 crank HP having a 2.5"OD exhaust will work out just fine. You have more in your favor to open it up, not too much, although a proper muffler and resonator will ensure some backpressure although not limit flow when you really need it.