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Corsa or Magna Flow?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,174
Likes: 125
From: Dunstable MA
St. Jude Donor '05
Corsa or Magna Flow?
I'm ready to buy a cat-back for my 03 Vert. I like the sound of the Corsas on my 87, so I was ready to go that way. Then I saw a magna-flow set up on an AE at a recent gathering. I did not stick around to talk to the owner. I did take a photo, and I am haunted by the look of those 4" outlets.
Does anyone know how the Magna-flows compare to the Corsas, especially regarding how loud they are? I am not a big fan of making noise, I just think the stock exhaust is a bit too hushed and probably restricted. I use the car for regular driving and commuting on the highway; usually with the top down. If I go with the Magna-flows, am I gonna get a headache? And is the quality the same as with Corsa?
Does anyone know how the Magna-flows compare to the Corsas, especially regarding how loud they are? I am not a big fan of making noise, I just think the stock exhaust is a bit too hushed and probably restricted. I use the car for regular driving and commuting on the highway; usually with the top down. If I go with the Magna-flows, am I gonna get a headache? And is the quality the same as with Corsa?
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
Likes: 290
From: Pasco WA
They're quite different in a couple of ways. The Corsa is available in "Touring" style, Pace Car style, and Extreme style. They get progressively louder in this order. The Pace car is quite loud when you give it gas, almost like the throttle is a volume ****. No drone. The touring is a level quieter, but with the same characteristics. I've heard that the new style, Extreme, is also the same, only louder, and lower pitched. (Pace Cars are higher pitched, and more exotic sounding) The first two have zero drone, and I don't know about the extemes, but I'd bet they don't either.
On the Magnaflow side, the style with 4-4" tips is only available one way, and that's with mufflers. They have a straight pipe design that's only two tip, and very loud. The std. one is a nice, deep tone, but not very loud. I'd say it's about a tiny step louder than Borla Touring. Without headers, and other mods, you might be underwhelmed by their noise level. And they drone a little. Steady cruise at about 1600 rpms will create a minor resonance from the trunk area. Both brands are beautifully made, of high quality materials, and the Borlas used to come with a "million mile" warranty. I've had both, and now have the Pace Cars, but if I had to buy a new catback today, I'd probably get a GHL. I have the system with two huge oval tips, that Corsa calls their "Daytona" tips. I love the way they look, and that's the only reason I'm gonna keep them. Well, that, and the cost of a new system.
On the Magnaflow side, the style with 4-4" tips is only available one way, and that's with mufflers. They have a straight pipe design that's only two tip, and very loud. The std. one is a nice, deep tone, but not very loud. I'd say it's about a tiny step louder than Borla Touring. Without headers, and other mods, you might be underwhelmed by their noise level. And they drone a little. Steady cruise at about 1600 rpms will create a minor resonance from the trunk area. Both brands are beautifully made, of high quality materials, and the Borlas used to come with a "million mile" warranty. I've had both, and now have the Pace Cars, but if I had to buy a new catback today, I'd probably get a GHL. I have the system with two huge oval tips, that Corsa calls their "Daytona" tips. I love the way they look, and that's the only reason I'm gonna keep them. Well, that, and the cost of a new system.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
Likes: 290
From: Pasco WA
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,888
Likes: 2
From: Frederick, Maryland
Idk, Corsa has its own sound, its unique. I have it on my Cadillac CTS as well and love it. Like you said, they said exotic. If I wanted it to sound like a brute force V8 muscle car, ok magnaflow...for like a Chevelle lol...
I do agree with you about the extremes probably having no drone. Thats practically their motto haha
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,590
Likes: 48
From: Nathalie VA
St. Jude Donor '15-'16-'17-'18
I got rid of Corsa Xtremes because they were too loud and droned for Magnaflows. Magnaflows were installed on my car for 300 miles. The droned worse than the Corsas and my car sounded like an old Foxbody 5.0. Now I have Corsa Touring and love them. No droning, very tame while crusing, but when you plant that right foot they open up!
So I vote for Corsa Touring.
So I vote for Corsa Touring.
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St. Jude Donor '15-'16-'17-'18
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St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
I have Corsa Touring on my uh, "tweaked" FRC and I'm very glad I did. Once you start going upwards on the horsepower journey (should you decide to) most any system gets progressively louder.
