So i was at work today and i was asking a guy that custom builds cars and has had heaps of experience and he said that if i wanted to make my car sound a bit better and a little grunt that i should get my rear muffler removed and replaced with a straight pipe with a chrome tip and it will make a difference. Is this true or was he full of it?

I don't think that would sound very good, it will have a nice loud rasp to it when you hit the resonating RPM, it's worth it to just get a high flow sports muffler

Removing any muffler will make the car sound louder but not always better. Get your exhaust guy to cut your rear muffler off and turn the car on. If you like the sound get him to just weld some pipe in. If you don't, replace it with a smaller muffler.

Okay i will. Wil it cost much more to add a smaller muffler in there?

Okay i will. Wil it cost much more to add a smaller muffler in there?

muffler cost + $50 welding i'm guessing. If they just sue a general straight through sports muffler probs $200

edit: or weld the old muffler back on for barely anything.

Someone on here did this to their Magna and said that it wasn't too loud.

In my case, the rear muffler section attaches to a flange, so would be two bolts to remove.
I tested this on my previous car - a 2.5L V6 Eunos (Mazda) - it sounded great on acceleration, but when you lift the throttle it was horrible.

If it's just two bolts, instead of cutting a pipe, give it a go and see what happens (aka what Hayden said)

Okay i might get under it this weekend and have a look then. Thanks guys

I unbolted mine out of the centre muffler a few weeks back, there is the flange just before the rear axle. undo that and the see if ya like it.

I did that and it sounded Tough! and pretty much exactly how i want it. Having said this I do have an after market centre muffler, just gotta replace the rear muffler next....

But it was very loud in first and didnt drone too much at all.

+1 for straight pipes!

Some good points here :) question...

i got a bought a bolt on straight through muffler for $275 incl labor

it wasn't loud enough, so they put a replaced my front muffler with a straight through pipe.

People say doing this will reduce fuel economy? why?
If i wanna make it a bit louder you guys reckon i should trash trash that $275 rear muffler and get a straight through OR
should i replace the front pipe with somethign else? are there such things as front mufflers?

Sorry to bombard this thread :P

the amount of muffler's you have will not affect your fuel economy if they are straight through mufflers. It is the exact same thing as a pipe except it will make the noice resonate and cancel some of it out. The more mufflers, the less sound, the bigger the mufflers, the less sound. It is hard to get a loud exhaust using a magna's stock rear muffler because it is quite large. In my ralliart i replaced this and left the rest of the exhaust stock and now it has a noticable note.

So wats the consensus, just have the rear muffler detached and a straight through muffler attached with chrome tip, for the 3.5L?
I can get that done for around $180

I tested this on my previous car - a 2.5L V6 Eunos (Mazda) - it sounded great on acceleration, but when you lift the throttle it was horrible.There's your solution; twin pipes, one a muffler the other straight pipe, both attached to a Y with a diverter solenoid; solenoid switches to pipe on depression of the accelerator, muffler on release.
Easy.

So wats the consensus, just have the rear muffler detached and a straight through muffler attached with chrome tip, for the 3.5L?
I can get that done for around $180

I think it sounds crap with no reAr muffler, especially if it's auto it will probably give you a headache. Get the muffler replaced with something a little smaller, there are plenty of threads on suitable brands for the magna. Lukey, Redback ect have been popular in the past.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAngryNoob?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/fIuQxYmHGcQ
This was my ralliart exhaust when i first got it. All i did was replace the rear muffler with the smallest thing i could find that wasn't a cannon.
Since it has settled in it has lost the 'crackling' sound as the revs drop however still sounds pretty good in the high revs.

So i was at work today and i was asking a guy that custom builds cars and has had heaps of experience and he said that if i wanted to make my car sound a bit better and a little grunt that i should get my rear muffler removed and replaced with a straight pipe with a chrome tip and it will make a difference. Is this true or was he full of it?

Full of it, it will sound like complete cr*p.

I have plenty of 380 mufflers here which can be modded to fit a Magna, also have 1 Lukey set up here ready to bolt on

Straight pipe would sound aweful and no doubt get you picked up in a flash for the noise

I've got a Lukey rear. With a standard center muffler it sounded okay. I thought it could've been louder. Recently had my cat replaced and thought I see what no center muffler would sound like. Sounded like SHIT. Horrible sound. Great volume though. In the end the muffler shop added a hotdog style resonator to it. Sounds very nice. Loud, but not enough to attract the fuzz, or making the car painful to drive.

Fuel economy in my case has gotten worse, not better. But, I'm pinning that on the cat converter.

The part number for the "hot dog" resonator - SL9-225

I have plenty of 380 mufflers here which can be modded to fit a Magna, also have 1 Lukey set up here ready to bolt on

Straight pipe would sound aweful and no doubt get you picked up in a flash for the noise

How much are you chasing for the 380 mufflers Mal? also how much for the lukey?

Sorry to change the the thread topic.

Well ive had a straight pipe setup done on my magna for ages i reckon i sounded better then when i had my 2.5inch catback with one rear muffler and one middle muffler. Sounded really nice i recommend it definatly not to loud or raspy.

Ive got 2 videos when my car used to have a straight pipe one rev video and one drive by.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcbIQz_q2Eg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV2MALmBc0E&feature=related

Ive got 2 videos when my car used to have a straight pipe one rev video and one drive by.

Doesn't sound too bad. The cops might not agree though.

But, for me, I'd rather a deeper note.

Ive got 2 videos when my car used to have a straight pipe one rev video and one drive by.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcbIQz_q2Eg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV2MALmBc0E&feature=related


I think that sounded quite good actually.

Please for the love of god don't go straight pipe.
May sound good under load if you want your car screaming its nut off but try living with it everyday??
Chow had a straight pipe on his, loved it for a few weeks, then scrapped it for a system its just too loud.
Seriously spend a little bit more money, get a new rear muffler (weather it be 380, vrx or a shorter straight through muffler) and save for a set of extractors.
Will get you a much nicer, cleaner note..
And trust me if your car is stupidly loud the boys in blue will hassle you all the time, and its just not worth it :)

so a lukey muffler rather than a custom straight through

Thanks for all the feedback, I just want to take it off to have a listen, and people were saying there is 2 bolts on the flange or something, This means nothing to me as i dont know much about underneath, Could someone tell me how i can just test it out

I think that sounded quite good actually.

I agree, it sounded real nice

So wats the consensus, just have the rear muffler detached and a straight through muffler attached with chrome tip, for the 3.5L?
I can get that done for around $180

I can get it done for $60

I can get it done for $60

:)
really, standard or mates favour

Standard. But im not talking about putting a muffler in im talking about just straight pipe

You asked what the flange is - it's a joint in the exhaust.
My AWD has one just rearwards of the back axle/driveshaft.
I think the FWD has one infront of the rear axle.

This pic of a catalytic converter has a 2-bolt flange on each end so you can see one:
http://www.insidesocal.com/crime&courts/catalyticcoverter_01.jpg

If you do have a flange on your exhaust and you get a straight pipe made, then keep your original exhaust so you can switch it back yourself if you get sick of it, or defected :)
Also, if you've got a straight pipe made up and you want to switch it to a muffler, half the work is already done and you get the shop to cut the pipe and add a muffler. Easy.

Okay thanks,On the flange on my one, The pipe is welded to it at either side, Theres probably two different metal plates and the pipes are probably welded to either sides of them? Or will it just be welded to the one plate of metal?

Hi Aurnob,
We usually don’t sell Lukey, as there are better alternatives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpFssPb-hwY

The Lukey one is Nil Stock at the moment and around $220 supplied plus fitting if we can get one.
The Lukey one is a chambered design, which causes turbulence and tends to be barky, whereas we would recommend a straight through design which tends to be a smoother sound and doesn’t lose power with the turbulence. One of these would be $180 fitted plus chrome tip.

I may have a 304 grade stainless muffler and pipe work upstairs, but I would have to check to see if it has the correct flange plate.
It would be $350 fitted plus tip.