i think the original poster of this thread just would like to know who has what and the gains they got fromm it like mpg and powere not a big debate.
Aftermarket exahaust opinions help
- Thread starter kp66
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I was trying to keep it on it with the big post w\ pics I made that explained the differences, but then Dodge replied so it continued...but whatever.
I have the TRD on mine
never had anything else so cant say much about power gain with just exhaust
but when I threw the CAI (TRD model) on there it made a noticeable dif in the low end just seemed more responsive and less lag like off the line feeling
to me the CAI was well worth it
and since I had the exhaust I figured it would
so figure even with the exhaust alone on mine I thought it had a touch of lag feeling and the CAI took care of it so my thought is if you do the exhaust do the intake also
so you might be the same as me with just your CAI on there maybe the exhaust will really help your CAI do its job
wish I could tell you more about others but I am happy with the TRD I figure they know there stuff and made a good product so why not go for it
in my Taco days I liked the TRD sound more than any other also
have to say the nice tone of the engine with the TRD and CAI makes ya smile
never had anything else so cant say much about power gain with just exhaust
but when I threw the CAI (TRD model) on there it made a noticeable dif in the low end just seemed more responsive and less lag like off the line feeling
to me the CAI was well worth it
and since I had the exhaust I figured it would
so figure even with the exhaust alone on mine I thought it had a touch of lag feeling and the CAI took care of it so my thought is if you do the exhaust do the intake also
so you might be the same as me with just your CAI on there maybe the exhaust will really help your CAI do its job
wish I could tell you more about others but I am happy with the TRD I figure they know there stuff and made a good product so why not go for it
in my Taco days I liked the TRD sound more than any other also
have to say the nice tone of the engine with the TRD and CAI makes ya smile
I have the TRD on mine
never had anything else so cant say much about power gain with just exhaust
but when I threw the CAI (TRD model) on there it made a noticeable dif in the low end just seemed more responsive and less lag like off the line feeling
to me the CAI was well worth it
and since I had the exhaust I figured it would
so figure even with the exhaust alone on mine I thought it had a touch of lag feeling and the CAI took care of it so my thought is if you do the exhaust do the intake also
so you might be the same as me with just your CAI on there maybe the exhaust will really help your CAI do its job
wish I could tell you more about others but I am happy with the TRD I figure they know there stuff and made a good product so why not go for it
in my Taco days I liked the TRD sound more than any other also
have to say the nice tone of the engine with the TRD and CAI makes ya smile
From what I've heard (and I've been around the block a few times) the Magnaflow and TRD sound the best. However, the TRD and Magnaflow actually sound a lot alike, the Magnaflow just has a SLIGHTLY deeper tone. The Flows and Cherry Bombs and so forth just sound ricey on our engine. The JBA one sounds pretty nifty though...and that one is glass packed. Guess they did something different.
FWIW, I cut the resonator and muffler off my Borla this weekend and replaced it with a stainless steel muffler from SLP.
The results:
Borla / SLP Exhaust
The results:
Borla / SLP Exhaust
I've found to never trust sound\video clips of muffler\exhaust sounds. They always sound WAY different in terms of HOW loud and the exact sound...the Flowmaster sounded good on their vid\sound clip...sounded like crap when hearing it in person.
If you want something that is not too loud, you don't want the long tube headers or the URD Y-pipe. They are loud. I still say your best bet is JBA. Not too loud when cruising, but it sounds great when you punch it.
URD-Ypipe isn't loud. It's the headers.
I herd them together so all I can say is the combo is loud. It sounds great, but loud.
The URD-Y-Pipe puts a growl at at full throttle\mid but nothing more...nothing that's very noticeable. the headers are the smack daddy. Loud as HELL, mainly because they resonate like a mofo in the cabin. The "drone" aka the "put put" sounds like just a V-8 though...very cool sound. I'll be getting some soon, the way rattles in the car won't bother me
Honestly the TRD exhaust sounds the best...
So I'm going to assume that with a comment like this you have tested every exhaust system available for the FJ Cruiser? Or did you buy the TRD one and are claiming this based upon...?
- Thread starter
- #34
thanks, lol what i want to know it who can tell me what they have and what they gained or lost in : noise, power, MPG, cost. and would you recommend what you did.
Thanks
Ok...by design, Magnaflow will have the cleanest flow in terms of mufflers, therefore the most gain. As I said it sounds a LOT like the TRD Muffler, but with a deeper growl. Stay way from Flowmaster because it just doesn't sound right on a V-6, regardless of the exhaust modifications\engine mods you do. Cherry Bombs will be louder than Magnaflows, Flowmasters, and of course Borla (TRD exhaust) simply because it is glass-packed. That is the type of muffler you see little civics running around with that go reerrrputputput and they think is cool, it's not. If you want, I can take a vid\sound clip of how my Magna sounds. If you were local I'd give you my old TRD muffler as I have no use for it.
KP66,
You're asking for too much if you think exhaust is gonna make a noticeable difference in MPG and I doubt that anybody has dyno'ed their own exhaust. The power claims that manufacturers make are largely exaggerated/garbage. For my flowmaster 40 series, I paid $200 installed with a custom outlet that does not hang below the frame rails. Nothing fancy but it won't get smashed on rocks. It's basically a copy of the All-Pro's 3" outlet pipe except that it's 2.5". The muffler shop chopped off my stock muffler and connected three different mufflers and allowed me to choose based on their sound. I chose the Flowmaster over some magnaflow and another muffler that I can't recall.
The 40 series sounds good to my ears, burbles just a small bit when you close the throttle, and most importantly - does NOT drone on the highway. I have no reservation recommending the 40 series although if doing it over again, I'd go a bit more aggressive, with a bit more burble, as long as it didn't drone on the highway.
You're asking for too much if you think exhaust is gonna make a noticeable difference in MPG and I doubt that anybody has dyno'ed their own exhaust. The power claims that manufacturers make are largely exaggerated/garbage. For my flowmaster 40 series, I paid $200 installed with a custom outlet that does not hang below the frame rails. Nothing fancy but it won't get smashed on rocks. It's basically a copy of the All-Pro's 3" outlet pipe except that it's 2.5". The muffler shop chopped off my stock muffler and connected three different mufflers and allowed me to choose based on their sound. I chose the Flowmaster over some magnaflow and another muffler that I can't recall.
The 40 series sounds good to my ears, burbles just a small bit when you close the throttle, and most importantly - does NOT drone on the highway. I have no reservation recommending the 40 series although if doing it over again, I'd go a bit more aggressive, with a bit more burble, as long as it didn't drone on the highway.
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Exhaust is a way to tune the motor's output, there are some tricks to headers, but from there back it’s about how much cfm it flows. If your motor flows 500 cfm at full rpm, an exhaust that flows more will do zero good. Slightly restricting it will move the power band down to where most driving is done, making for a more drivable rig, putting more power where it's normally used.
The components make little difference, the motor doesn’t know or care what brand or type of construction, only what flow they deliver. Back when I built motors, I stuck a bunch of mufflers on the flow bench. The results were surprising, some cheap mufflers flowed close/the same as high dollar bling mufflers and some huge stockers were very close. If 2 1/2” corrugated pipe flows the same as 2 1/4” chrome plated stainless steel mandrel bent pipe they will perform exactly the same.
Not necessarily, a properly designed chambered muffler can flow the same.
All of the glass packs that I have seen are straight through designs? Yes, some have louvers, holes, screen wrapped, bigger ID causing speed up/slow restriction, etc. But for all practical purpose they flow very close to the same.
What are these “acoustical fibers” the one that I cut apart looked a lot like fiber glass? Metals that absorb the sound, most metals that I’m aware of reflect sound? In my experience chambered mufflers are by far the most reliable, long lasting, they are metal plates welded into the muffler, if well made there’s not much to fail. All mat, packed type mufflers tend to get debris packed into them, blow out and/or settle become packed in the lower part of the muffler.
Are you a Magnaflow sales rep, or just read too many advertisements?
The truth is that most performance mufflers are very close in performance. For the record I not a fan of ether, when I wheel, I prefer to hear, my spotter, if the rig scrapping rock, the birds, etc, not some loud rig. Got over the loud car thing, a quiet one can perform just as well, just doesn't attract as much attention. Found that most of the attention came from people that I didn’t want to talk to, the type with flashing lights and my ticket collection is complete, so have no need to talk to them!
Thank you, Tools R Us. Wonderful explanation and , most importantly, no f!#@ing bombast.
No I'm not just assuming! And no I haven't tested every single exhaust system, that would be idiotic! But I do have many friends with FJ's, with many diff mods including exhaust. Out of everything I've heard my personal opinion (which happens to be a poppular one
) is that the TRD exhaust sounds the best!P.S Aren't we all here to learn? Why try and start sh*t with people on a forum? Are you a cop? Cause you should totally be one! But hey, I like hiding behind my computer too!
P.S Aren't we all here to learn? Why try and start sh*t with people on a forum? Are you a cop? Cause you should totally be one! But hey, I like hiding behind my computer too!
Yeah...no, it's biased comments which are on every forum. "This one is the best nana" with no solid back up point. Such as you, bought a TRD FJ, and clearly love the TRD design, so it's kinda easy for me to assume you haven't listened to any other mufflers on your truck, NOT that I'm saying the TRD one is bad, it's one of the better ones. No, I'm not a rep for Magnaflow, but their muffler design is solid, and will outlast ANY chambered muffler design, and it sounds sweet while doing it too.
And my point was, that with the design of the muffler (true-straight-shot) it clearly has more flow than chambered mufflers. As I said, before I cut off my TRD muffler, it was fine, the FLOWMASTER sounded horrid in comparison to the sound of the TRD, to "putty" big mistake on my part. But then I went "Magnaflow" which REALLY has the trd tune mixed in with growl, with just the TRD, it sounded a LOT like the Infinity FX-35 to me.
I'm just stating quality\sound match best bang for buck, what will last you the longest, and what will make a sound that you would ENJOY, and a sound that won't change a year down the road, as it won't degrade like glass-packs and chambers (which get louder over time) I'll be posting of a vid of an example of my current system in terms of sound. Mine has two. Straight out red neck loud, or mellow growl. >.>
All tools r us, once again, just by LOOKING at a straight-shot design of the Magnaflow (and I'm sure there MUST be others with the design) you can tell how it would flow better. The gasses aren't pinging around. They are going straight through it and out. I'm speaking of the product so highly because I used to like FF and CB until I started realiziing how bad their design really was. Though I will admit, I still like the Borla muffler on the TRD system, then again, Borla is known to make some of the best balanced systems in the world. And no, Magnaflow is not packed with fiberglass, fiberglass is what is in GLASS PACKS which ricers use and degrade very quickly. Magnaflow uses "Rockwool" which technically could be categorized into a type of fiber-glass muffler, but is nowhere near as delicate and is quite different.
Here's a long, but informative post about their choice of Rockwool, FYI I didn't even know this was what they used until you made me want to look it up :-D
"One of the great debates raging here was about one of the elements of all of our mufflers: the Rockwool. Just what exactly is Rockwool? Why do most other companies use a fiberglass packing in their mufflers and we choose Rockwool? Couldn’t we save a few bucks by using fiberglass?
We searched the web for answers because we didn’t believe what we were hearing from the bosses…how much better could Rockwool be than just using cheap old fiberglass? After all, they’ve been stuffing fiberglass in glass pack style mufflers since the 1950’s…ok, so fiberglass melts off , breaks down and blows out after awhile and makes the muffler really loud, but its’ cheaper, right?
Well, according to a UK-based website that sells Rockwool for a wide range of applications (everything from wall insulation to roofing materials), we learned some interesting things. Apparently, this stuff is a stone-based insulation, as the name implies. How the heck does anybody turn stone into wool? Read on.
It is sourced originally from lava deposits found in volcanic rocks which are melted in a cupola furnace (sort of a man-made volcano). The lava rocks, taken right from volcanic areas that have experienced recent eruptions, are dumped into the giant furnace which heats to a couple thousand degrees. When the re-melted lava comes out of the furnace, it is spun, sort of like cotton candy and a special chemical treatment is added to give it water-repellant characteristics, then the whole spun material is bound together in a wool-like fleece. It basically becomes stone wool, which is ideal for thermal insulation, fire protection and acoustic control.
Hmm…exactly the characteristics you’d want from a muffler. These fire-resistant and acoustic considerations coupled with a natural tendency for water repellency, Rockwool seems perfect for higher quality muffler designs. Since H20 is a by product of combustion and this water is a primary reason why cheaper $49 Taiwanese mufflers rot from the inside out, you can see why smarter consumers may want to choose a muffler not just on price, but on overall design and quality considerations. "
Video\sound link: Clearly a mic on a camera isn't going to do justice, and revving in park dosen't get you a true feel for the sound...but I'm lazy, so there. Vid link taken down
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