catback question

**98TransAmWs-6** · 05-07-2010, 04:42 PM

When I bought my Trans Am it came with a flowmaster on it. Would it be better performance wise to buy a new catback or just a muffler and maybe a y pipe?

**pajeff02** · 05-08-2010, 12:15 PM

From previous threads, an aftermarket catback may net you 5-10 h.p. It is the addition of long tube headers and an aftermarket Y that gets you the best results, together with a catback. Are you not happy with the Flowmaster?

For comparison, I laid my Magnaflow catback next to my stock exhaust. As you can see, there's not a whole lot of difference:

Whether the system on your '98 is much different, I cannot say.

**98TransAmWs-6** · 05-08-2010, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

From previous threads, an aftermarket catback may net you 5-10 h.p. It is the addition of long tube headers and an aftermarket Y that gets you the best results, together with a catback. Are you not happy with the Flowmaster?

For comparison, I laid my Magnaflow catback next to my stock exhaust. As you can see, there's not a whole lot of difference:

Whether the system on your '98 is much different, I cannot say.

I don't like the flowmaster sound and I hear it's horrible for performance. I like the loudmouth but I was wondering if it would be better to just replace certain parts of the exhaust that the flowmaster might be robbing it of power with better parts.

**pajeff02** · 05-08-2010, 01:16 PM

+1 I have never cared for the "Flowmaster sound" on any vehicle. What you do is really a matter of taste. You can read up on some different systems, listen to sound clips at ls1sounds.com or ask around on here. Some of the systems, like the Loudmouth, have been deemed "raspy" with longtubes and offroad Y-pipes, but not so much with stock manifolds and cats. Another option to consider is an electric cutout that lets you tailor the sound level to the situation. I am in the process of adding a DMH cutout to our car at this time.

**98TransAmWs-6** · 05-08-2010, 03:46 PM

I like borla a lot I had one on my corvette but it's so expensive. Is there anything out there that sounds and performs pretty much like borla but that is cheaper? Also I was thinking of getting a loudmouth and replacing the muffler with the borla xr1 to make a borlamouth. How do you think that would sound when I put on some headers, y pipe, and some high flow cats? Would it sound just as raspy or really good?

**Cutlass** · 05-09-2010, 04:48 AM

Cat converters are good for smoothing out the raspy noises for most catbacks so you'll be pretty happy with anything. The number one recommended F-body catback is the Magnaflow. You can get it with dual tips or quad tips. It sounds good with with or without cats