I have seen quite a few topics about how exhuasts look and so forth... but i havnt really seen any links on where to get them the cheapest.
And i also see quite a few people bashing flowmaster... I LOVE Flowmaster. I dont think i have ever heard a better ehxaust on an Lt-1. I had a Flowmaster catback on my 94 Trans Am and it sounded frikkin wicked. Do they sound different on vettes?
Also...what kind of power gains (rear wheel) is there difference between getting a cat back and say...just the mufflers.
I noticed the flowmaster cat backs im finding online are 800 bucks plus
i think i paid 400 for mine on the t/a
so what im looking for is where to get the best deals online...and wondering whats up with the bad rap from Flows! They are the Shiznit!

also...where do you get those things that cover the rear brake lights and they make them look like horizontal bars? :D

 

Summit racing had the cheapest price when i bought mine, i love the sound of flowmaster.

 

I just dont care for the tips....I guess I could weld someting different on there. I had flowmasters on my truck and was in LUV with them. But, the vette is stick, and sounds much calmer than my truck. Somthing is wrong there. Sure wish I could afford Corsa's.

 

I've got a pair of FlowMasters on my 85 and I think the stainless steel tips look great. I chose them because the tips were simple and clean.

 

I love everything about my flowmasters except for the tips. They are rusting pretty badly. I think I might remove them, sandblast them, and repaint. I also have the ZR1 tips that mount over them (were on them when i bought them) and they are rusting up also. I might go stainless, but I like the Yellow/Black combo.

 

My tips are ugly as poopie. Definitely need to get some chrome ones :cool:

 

You might want to look at Corvette Central and Mid America. I purchased the Flowmasters, and the high flow CAT from Corvette Central and purchased the walker Y-Pipe from Mid America. If I remember correctly that was the right combination and everything fit perfect between the 2 companies. I did it that way because I was trying to save money. I believe the total was around $650.00. If you buy the Flowmasters that are prefit and ready to bolt on from these Corvette companies they are a 3 chamber muffler which won't be as loud as a 2 stage. A 3 stage allows you to carry on a conversation while having the growl and go on a long ride. The 2 chamber is good for around town and sounding bad. There is a trade off.
Hope this helps.

 

On newer C4s, you only really need to change out the mufflers... The stock dual pipes are 2 3/4 (from memory) and flow very well... The bottlenecks are the mufflers themselves which are VERY restrictive...

I removed the stock mufflers on my car after looking into exhaust systems and finally put on Super Turbos... They flow and sound good but they are a little on the quiet side, maybe just a little more rumble at idle... They do sound good at WOT though...

I agree about Flowmaster systems on F-Bodies... I had a 97 T/A prior to the Vette and it sounded awesome...

But on a Vette, you have to be very careful about interior resonance... I don't know if it has to do with the Vettes fiberglass/composite floor or the exhaust system itself when you change the mufflers out, but it is sometimes unbearable...

Automatics seem to have more problem with resonance than manuals... I'm guessing that it's really the same, but with a manual, you can control the RPM range that you run in easier to stay out of the resonance RPM range (1500-1800)...

I had Flowmaster mufflers on my 96 A4 3.07 car for 2 days... The mufflers sounded good outside the car from the rear, but inside the exhaust was at least twice as loud... The interior of my car was actually vibrating because the resonance was so bad... To talk to my girlfriend while cruising in the resonance RPM range, we actually had to yell at each other because it was so overbearing...

It was so bad that I ordered my Super Turbos with overnight Saturday delivery at great expense because I didn't even want to drive my car anymore with the Flows on it...

The only problem I'm having now is that in 2.5 years, they Super Turbos have rusted out from the inside and I've broken and torn the rear muffler hanger mount... I'm going to contact Dynomax this week hopefully they'll replace them (Lifetime Warranty)... But a muffler shop locally told me that they deal with Dynomax/Walker but don't have very good luck getting them to replace mufflers under warranty... I've got some digital pics I'm going to send in and see if I can get some assistance... Otherwise, it's going to be another whole system probably and it won't be Dynomax ever again...

 

Here's my two cents worth. I'm all stock on my Corvette, so I can't speak in respect to that. However, I've had a Ford (yeah yeah yeah, I know) pickup with Glass Packs on it and chrome tips. Now, Glass Packs are terrible. However, in respect to the chrome, you've got to take care of it. Polish them regularly and even keep some fine steel wool around. Now I drive a Dodge Ram (even worse that the Ford), and it has FlowMasters on it. I love those things! I also spent the extra bucks for the stainless. If you've got the bucks, get the stainless. Just a simple wipe down is all you need. I'd love to put some exhaust on the vette, but I prefer to keep this one stock as much as I can. Time may chage that.

 

I agree with Scorp about the tips. I got my cat-back used and there was already corrosion on the tips. So, I used mineral spirits, sanded them down, and then painted them with high-temp engine paint, caliper paint, and recently touched them up with Krylon. The tips look a LOT better painted black. They're not as obvious, and pretty subtle like the stock LT1 vaccuum cleaner tips. I've got a picture at http://www.unc.edu/~bandit/phantom/p...lowmaster3.jpg. I like the sound, although they are a little on the quiet side. But there's absolutely no resonance


[Modified by Dave95C4, 9:43 AM 9/17/2001]


[Modified by Dave95C4, 9:44 AM 9/17/2001]