Another Magnaflow vs. Flowmaster Thread

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1998K1500

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Mine sounds like the gates of hell idling.

My apologies for the questions but I got at least a few more coming, bare with me haha

Did yours have cats on it, and do you know if the magnaflow XL mufflers like you have are louder than the regular mufflers? It sure seems like it but it's tough to tell for sure on video
 

SixSpeedSS

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Which magnaflows did you have on?

Magnaflow makes a complete kit for '64-72 GM Abodies. These came with it. They are 2.5" offset in/center out and really short. When I opened the kit and saw how small they were I figured the car would be rather loud. I wasn't looking for super loud, but wanted a nice throaty sound. I installed the system (fits the car really nice), but didn't fire the car for another 6-8 months. I was rather let down by the sound and have been unhappy since. I think the X pipe makes it sound odd too.

The main reason I went with Magnaflow was because of full stainless and the mufflers were polished (the entire undercarriage is detailed) and I wanted it to look good for a long time. At the time Flowmaster did not have a complete setup in stainless (my 454SS has a complete mandrel bent, fabricated exhaust and I wanted an out of the box system for the GTO). I have always been a Flowmaster fan. I have 3" flowmasters on my 454SS, and ran them on many cars/trucks over the years. The 454SS sounds pretty bad ass and also has an X pipe, but also has a whole lot more motor. My 5.7L Vortec K2500 I just did a Dynomax UltraFlo daul 3" in/out with 3" tailpipes and 4" tips at the back. It sounds pretty good, but a little too loud for me. Everybody comments on how good it sounds.

I have heard dead stock GTOs with gardner reproduction 'stock' mufflers that have sounded way better than my car sounds. I have never really heard anything else with Magnaflows.

Here is a shot of the underneath of my GTO. It still looks about the same after 6k miles. It's a ***** to keep this clean though.

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Oh and BTW I never heard about the lack of drone when standing the mufflers on end. My 454SS they are stood up and there is no drone at all. My K2500 has all types of drone and the muffler is lying flat.
 

chevyman0191

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Personally I like flowmasters, I have duel 10 series on mine. Had 40s before these and loved the sound of them, 10s are quite a bit louder. Crappy video as I had phone laying in bed, but start up, idle and take of in video.

http://youtu.be/1ci6RLJRQVQ
 

1998K1500

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Magnaflow makes a complete kit for '64-72 GM Abodies. These came with it. They are 2.5" offset in/center out and really short. When I opened the kit and saw how small they were I figured the car would be rather loud. I wasn't looking for super loud, but wanted a nice throaty sound. I installed the system (fits the car really nice), but didn't fire the car for another 6-8 months. I was rather let down by the sound and have been unhappy since. I think the X pipe makes it sound odd too.

The main reason I went with Magnaflow was because of full stainless and the mufflers were polished (the entire undercarriage is detailed) and I wanted it to look good for a long time. At the time Flowmaster did not have a complete setup in stainless (my 454SS has a complete mandrel bent, fabricated exhaust and I wanted an out of the box system for the GTO). I have always been a Flowmaster fan. I have 3" flowmasters on my 454SS, and ran them on many cars/trucks over the years. The 454SS sounds pretty bad ass and also has an X pipe, but also has a whole lot more motor. My 5.7L Vortec K2500 I just did a Dynomax UltraFlo daul 3" in/out with 3" tailpipes and 4" tips at the back. It sounds pretty good, but a little too loud for me. Everybody comments on how good it sounds.

I have heard dead stock GTOs with gardner reproduction 'stock' mufflers that have sounded way better than my car sounds. I have never really heard anything else with Magnaflows.

Here is a shot of the underneath of my GTO. It still looks about the same after 6k miles. It's a ***** to keep this clean though.

You must be registered for see images attach


Oh and BTW I never heard about the lack of drone when standing the mufflers on end. My 454SS they are stood up and there is no drone at all. My K2500 has all types of drone and the muffler is lying flat.

I've heard someone else mention that they thought an X pipe made it sound funny. My current set up has a Y pipe and I think if anything it's helping the sound, so I'm definitely keeping that. Which magnaflow muffler was it, the XL or universal?

I emailed magnaflow asking which was louder the universal or XL muffler and they said the XL is louder but is higher pitched and more raspy but the universal is deeper a throatier. From the videos I've seen, the XL seemed deeper, but I'd trust this guy over what I've seen online.

Personally I like flowmasters, I have duel 10 series on mine. Had 40s before these and loved the sound of them, 10s are quite a bit louder. Crappy video as I had phone laying in bed, but start up, idle and take of in video.

http://youtu.be/1ci6RLJRQVQ

Was the drone bad on the 40 series? I've almost entirely ruled out the 40 series because I heard so many drone complaints with it
 

88GMCtruck

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My apologies for the questions but I got at least a few more coming, bare with me haha

Did yours have cats on it, and do you know if the magnaflow XL mufflers like you have are louder than the regular mufflers? It sure seems like it but it's tough to tell for sure on video

No cats. I have no idea if they are louder than the regular magnflow, but based on how loud mine are I would say yes.
 

1998K1500

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No cats. I have no idea if they are louder than the regular magnflow, but based on how loud mine are I would say yes.

After watching tons of youtube videos on the regular magnaflows and the XL ones, I decided to email magnaflow and ask them.

This is what I was told:

"The XL series mufflers are typically going to be louder than the universal series, however they will make much different tones. The Universal series will be the straight through design which will produce a smooth deep tone, where the XL series is a chamber style muffler that will produce more of a high pitched raspy tone, so it depends on which tone you are looking for. Both mufflers will be aggressive with that Chevy 350."

From this, I'd much more prefer the universal for the deeper tone, but after all the videos I had watched, I was under the impression that the XL series was, in fact, the deeper sounding muffler. Hmm...
 

1998K1500

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I wouldn't call mine raspy or high pitched at all. It's very low and rumbly. Take in mind mine is a cammed 454 with dual 3" exhaust.

Yeah, I agree. From the sound of yours I would see it as purely deep and rumbly. I'm thinking the cats being off has a lot to do with it as well.

My concern is that the standard 14" magnaflow will either be too loud or too quiet. I really have no clue what to expect. Maybe time to talk to an exhaust guy....
 

Chris6060

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Sorry for taking so long to get back to you.

I don't know exact case length of my buddy's magnaflows, but they're really similar in length to my FM 40's.

Also, as far as exhausts on V8s go, for sound, I don't think ANYTHING compares to true dual mufflers.

Same guy with the magnaflows says my truck is about an 8/10 on the loudness scale at full throttle. I'd say pretty much the same for his.

If I were you, I'd be putting either Spintechs on it, or maybe even Borla's. Those are the two I'm looking at to replace the FM's with, as I'm not a huge fan of the their sound.

As for ruling out the 40 series because of drone... My buddy's Magnaflows drone more than my 40's do and they're mounted in almost the exact same place.

As far as I've been told by the local exhaust shop, removing the cats on these trucks is what gives them the gross poppy glasspack sound (gross to me, its subjective, I know).
 
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Pontiacs-r-us

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Hi Guys, I'm a just catching up on this thread.I may have missed it,but didn't see it in any of replies?Need a little more info on your truck before making an opinion. Is it a reg cab or extended cab?Short or Long bed?I think I did see that truck will be using a cat convertor? It's been my experience that the FM short case muffler on xtra cab will almost always have bad drone.Have replaced w/long case and it improves quite a bit. On my current truck(88 reg cab,short bed) I have changed muffler 3 times with not much change in overall sound level. I have Y pipe into single hi-flow cat(Perfection brand?)thru 3in pipe to single muffler 3" in and 2 21/2"out & 2 tail pipes(2 1/4)out right side(like oe) First had a 40series,then a Gorelich,& now 50series. All were short case.Really no change.I have no drone with any of them. I think it's the cat flows so well,the mufflers can't quieten down any more without going to something that's going to choke it down? May consider a convertor change if you want it louder? Here in my state,Y pipe into single convertor is mandatory. I have considered using two mufflers side by side like pictured in one of the replies. It's not obnoxious loud at all,but would like little mellower tone... Also I read some of guys saying installing mufflers on side or vertically helps with drone,I'm not sure on that?My concern is placing box style muffler on there side would hold the condensation bad,& shortening their life dramatically? Anyway good thread.I have enjoyed reading and watching videos.KD


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