Exhaust Upgrade

[TheNiceLips]

Hey all,

So I've been searching the forum for a while, but can't seem to find a good thread, so I figured I'd start this one:

I have a '99 SE, and am looking to get a better exhaust note with it. I want something a little louder that'll turn some heads, but I don't want something obnoxious, and definitely not rice-y sounding...Are there any solid upgrades I can perform to make the exhaust a little more "meaty", but not stupid loud as I'm driving along normally? Thanks in advance.

[nos4blood70]

Replace the muffler with a Magnaflow or a Flowmaster and you'll be happy. Leave the resonator be.

[TheNiceLips]

Any particular one you'd recommend, or any features I should look for/stay away from?

[Dannyg420]

i have 03 se with magnaflow and it gives it a little bit better lower roar pretty nice sounding actully and just recently replaced the resonator with a glasspack didnt make to much of a differncae but it sounds nice id reccomend doing so with what ever muffler you thinks sound best

[yourgrandma]

I have a built motor with high compression, bigger can and high ratio rockers and I couldn't hate my magnaflow any more. I also replaced my res with a glass pack as part of stepping g everything up to 3". The tubing size is probably another reason it sounds so bad but with my mods the flow is helpful.

[95se]

I did a walker sound fx on my 95 and its just a little louder than stock

[Dannyg420]

ive come to realize no matter what you do its till gunna sound like the 3800........not well

[MattStrike]

NIC...

[00Beast]

[younggunls1]

I have had dynomax turbo mufflers on my 3800 monte carlo and now thrush turbo mufflers on my bonneville..both deepened the tone and the thrush actually got rid of the stock raspiness my bonne had.

I say any turbo style muffler..magnaflow, dynomax, thrush, borla etc.. is a good bet.

I have flowmasters (also have a nice size cam and headers) on my GTO and it sounds awesome..but thats on a v8 in my opinion Flowmaster does not belong on a 3800 V6, just doesn't sound right and will be obnoxious I would think

[nos4blood70]

Mine are pretty quiet and very deep. There is also NO rasp. But I do have the stock res.

[younggunls1]

Mine are pretty quiet and very deep. There is also NO rasp. But I do have the stock res.

I stand corrected

Definitely leave the resonator on tho.. I think that is what keeps the rasp down. I have a video of mine before and after let me dig it up

[younggunls1]

Here you go just so you can see what the Thrush turbo mufflers sound like

Stock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJoFoL ... ata_player

Thrush turbo mufflers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3okpUHc ... ata_player

Driving video part of it shows the Bonneville
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4dhrcS ... ata_player

[WhiteArrow3800]

NIC...

Your car sounds mean as hell, it's awesome. Definitely planning on going with the NIC cam over S1X when the time comes.




Another one that sounds amazing for a 3800 is Eric's (Yonkerse) I forget what the setup is on his '05 SLE but it's the best sounding 3800 I've heard. He told me what he had done a few weeks back at the Michigan meet but I've forgotten.


For just a basic muffler change though, I've heard and have both Flowmaster (on the '93) & Magnaflow (on the '01). I'd go with Magnaflow, while the Flowmaster IMO sounds awesome at idle, it sounds extremely raspy and stupid at anything other than idle, and the drone on the highway is terrible. The Magnaflow mufflers aren't quite as deep sounding as the Flowmaster is at idle, but it's less raspy elsewhere and next to no droning on the highway.

[1oldman]

ive come to realize no matter what you do its till gunna sound like the 3800........not well

The '92 I have sounds more like a Chevy 350 than a 3800 or split manifold six. All that was changed is a Maremont stock made to fit muffler. You can judge for yourself. The video doesn't do it justice.




- BC

[younggunls1]

^^^Sounds real nice at an idle thats for sure. but no way it sounds like a V8 when driving or going wide open..that's when you hear it most..not gonna happen with any v6..especially the 3800.

IMO the 3800 is no where near the top of the list of good sounding v6's...its just meh..I don't think I have ever heard one that I thought sounded amazing..but everyone has their own tastes..I prefer a big cam V8 sound over anything..some people prefer a 4cyl with a coffee can sound..they are smoking crack, but hey they can like what they want lol.

[MattStrike]

Here, even though photobucket makes it sound muddy:
http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/matts ... b.mp4.html
http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/matts ... f.mp4.html