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My SBC 350/300 HP....My FlowMaster 40 series needs to be replaced (after 17 years) They held up great....but I want something different. Thought about Borla's ATAK or MagnaFlow. What are your thoughts????
Last edited by vetteguy75; Aug 30, 2021 at 10:31 PM.
I have magnaflows from CorvetteCentral. Bought the entire exhaust as a kit. Bolted in pretty easy, and the magnaflows sounds good. The whole kit sounded 10x better than the stock exhaust with flowmasters. Not sure which specific muffler model the magnaflows are. They are a bit quiet for most, but I like them that way to keep the neighbors happy. I installed electronic cutouts for when I want to let the 350 sing.
Most folks I know and see at car shows have C3’s with magnaflows which is probably the best of the higher mass market mufflers available for these cars. The sound on the higher hp GM stock engines can be fairly loud with 2.5 inch duals and or with LT headers but also has the very traditional American muscle sound.
The flow masters in my opinion are mostly very loud with an unsophisticated muscle car sound that can-rasp and drone at times, better suited and sounding on mustangs with SB V8’s.
I currently have 2 cars with complete SS magnaflow exhaust systems with straight through SS mufflers, not my C3. The sound on the V6 GP is ok and been on the car since 2009. The mustang GT 5.0 1994 is a complete BBK shorty headers system with magnaflow 4 high flow cats X pipe and magnaflow muffler cat back system. This system sounds great especially at higher RPM.
A few years ago I switched out my Monza turbo mufflers on my rebuilt/upgraded 355 L-82 (425+ Gross HP) with 92-96 C4 Borla type S mufflers custom fitted to my 2.5 duals with 1 7/8 inch long tube headers. These Borlas are simply in a class of their own and the cost for them reflects that distinction. They are by far the finest high end muffler I have on any car including my 10C6Z06 with stock mufflers with bi modal flaps permanently open on the 427 SBC LS7. The borlas do it all being fairly quiet at idle (low rumble), super quiet at part throttle cruise, but can VERY loud progressively at more aggressive throttle and load and simply scream with a smoother more sophisticated sound at higher RPM’s (it still sounds very American). I have never seen another muffler that can do these sounds without mechanical aids. The Borlas are that good! I very rarely see C3 with Borlas and almost never with. C4 Borlas with quad square tips like I have on my C3. No pictures since my computer is currently being fixed for a new battery ( a MAC) and no access to my pictures/documents until tomorrow, i hope.
Borlas come as touring, Type S, and ATAK. I picked the Type S and have been VERY pleased.
Last edited by jb78L-82; Aug 31, 2021 at 07:13 AM.
I would also say Magnaflows quieter, sound more sports car where Flowmasters more muscle car. I went to Magnaflows recently, sound good, quiet enough when cruising, sound good on acceleration. Not sure exactly which ones look like the universals, had a local shop fab up.
I have Borla Tourings on my 2016 Mustang GT and agree with previous post - definitely more impressive, no drone, but nice bark when you get on it!
I bought the true dual exhaust system from Corvette Central with Magnaflow hideaway mufflers for my 78. These are louder than normal mufflers so you would need to like the sound. A couple of forum members commented that they can hear me coming into their neighborhood. The only problem for me is with 3.70 rear I am at 3200rpms on the highway sometime I cannot hear my phone gps directions.
Borlas have changed over the years... and while i've not pored over them in great detail since, i just dont trust the changes (literally nothing else has changed for the better in the last 20 years...). Borlas were once amazing, now? I dont know. I'd still trust them over most new brands, but i'd have to personally inspect the thing first. The last Borla i had my hands on, a cheap Mustang unit, i was NOT impressed with. I still like them though, get the right one, and they sound great, and they probably all flow.
I like Spintech personally. Its different. They flow excellent, they bark nice at idle and sound deep, but then howl with a higher, more exotic pitch in the higher RPMs. They can literally make/design you any size/shape/flavor you can dream up.
Flowmasters sound classic, and sound excellent, but they dont actually flow worth ****. Better than a bone stock or a plugged old muffler, but not better than the better new stuff.
Magnaflow i just personally dont like the sound ov, too muted... 'muffled'... for me, but they are among the best ov the best flow-wise. Joe Sherman apparently tested every muffler available in the early Enginemsters competitions... and he liked a certain model ov Magnaflow.
You can pretty much forget anything designed 20-30 years ago... like stock stuff, baffled stuff, chambered stuff. Exhaust tech is like tire tech, if you're serious, you cant even consider anything that was 'good' 20 years ago.
Here my 92-96 Square Tipped C4 Borlas Type S-I found them as an open box and stole them for $400 for the pair. One muffler had a VERy slight bent tip that I straighted easily. These Borlas below are made superbly, top notch quality:
If you like a raucous sound, here's my Magnaflow exhaust. I mellowed it out (the after) with an H-pipe crossover, but it's still pretty loud whenI get on it.
Any straight through perf core muffler will have the lowest restriction but have a deeper tone. Flowmaster is junk aka crapmaster as most like the loudness which I dislike and I’ve tried lots of mufflers on many different cars not to mention the flow like dog ****. I have run borla, flowmaster, thrush chambered, flowtech afterburner, Jones max flow, vibrant street SS, dynomax ultraflow SS, hooker aero chamber, walker, carven, different resonator style SS mufflers etc.
Best sound is straight through perf core and best sound and quality per dollar is Jones max flow SS. Same as most brands SS but it’s 409 not 304 but it’s $40/muffler and what I run on my C3. Straight through perf core has one of the lowest DB at idle and it’s a deep tone that doesn’t hurt your ears like a chambered muffler.
here is a video of my C3 with dual 3” with xpipe and 3” Jones max flows.
here was a comparison of 3 different styles and they had multiple brands for each style. Shows max HP, idle DB and WOT DB. The highest HP was a straight through perf core.
Last edited by 78vette5.3; Sep 1, 2021 at 10:31 PM.
I just picked up this lil' sexy today. Came on a truck a friend bought, and he gave it to me. Gonna buy a matching mate for it, and end up with a pair ov Spintechs for under $200. These are pretty much zero-loss mufflers, and they sound SIIIIICK. Gonna hack off the brand new mufflers the last owner just put on (stock Corvette mufflers), and just weld these right in, with stock tips. That'll do until i can hack the whole thing out, and do a mandrel 2.5" Dr. Gas X-pipe system with these. Only problem is... these suckers are LOUD. I would not have bought these, i'd have bought the bigger versions (like i had on my Charger). My (now-ex) girlfriend had these exact mufflers on her 96 Mustang GT (with a whopping bone-stock 215HP), and the Dr. Gas X/2.5" mandrel system... and it was LOUD. I could hear her coming half a mile away. She loved it... but for me, there was no conversing in that car, and tons ov the wrong kind ov attention.
Might not be a good system right off, but it'll sound good.
Most folks I know and see at car shows have C3’s with magnaflows which is probably the best of the higher mass market mufflers available for these cars. The sound on the higher hp GM stock engines can be fairly loud with 2.5 inch duals and or with LT headers but also has the very traditional American muscle sound.
The flow masters in my opinion are mostly very loud with an unsophisticated muscle car sound that can-rasp and drone at times, better suited and sounding on mustangs with SB V8’s.
I currently have 2 cars with complete SS magnaflow exhaust systems with straight through SS mufflers, not my C3. The sound on the V6 GP is ok and been on the car since 2009. The mustang GT 5.0 1994 is a complete BBK shorty headers system with magnaflow 4 high flow cats X pipe and magnaflow muffler cat back system. This system sounds great especially at higher RPM.
A few years ago I switched out my Monza turbo mufflers on my rebuilt/upgraded 355 L-82 (425+ Gross HP) with 92-96 C4 Borla type S mufflers custom fitted to my 2.5 duals with 1 7/8 inch long tube headers. These Borlas are simply in a class of their own and the cost for them reflects that distinction. They are by far the finest high end muffler I have on any car including my 10C6Z06 with stock mufflers with bi modal flaps permanently open on the 427 SBC LS7. The borlas do it all being fairly quiet at idle (low rumble), super quiet at part throttle cruise, but can VERY loud progressively at more aggressive throttle and load and simply scream with a smoother more sophisticated sound at higher RPM’s (it still sounds very American). I have never seen another muffler that can do these sounds without mechanical aids. The Borlas are that good! I very rarely see C3 with Borlas and almost never with. C4 Borlas with quad square tips like I have on my C3. No pictures since my computer is currently being fixed for a new battery ( a MAC) and no access to my pictures/documents until tomorrow, i hope.
Borlas come as touring, Type S, and ATAK. I picked the Type S and have been VERY pleased.
I have Flowmaster 40’s on my Vette which sound Awesome on my 74 wit mod’s. I also have a Ram Hemi with Borla’s and they are great. Really good growl when you step on it.
Before I installed side pipes I had Flowmaster 50's installed. They had a nice DEEP tone without the drone the 40's a known for. They are now on my father-in-laws 1970 383 Charger and they sound great on it as well.
Muffler...FlowMaster, Borlas, Magnaflow....
