I know people have thought of and done this, but its not near as common as buying a catback system from greddy, injen, hks, borla, etc. What are the negative aspects to buying two mufflers that I like and going to an exhaust shop and telling them to put those on there and run new piping all the way back that's 2.5 in? I could even buy the mufflers that GReddy and HKS use on their systems, correct? I can't imagine putting out less hp than their systems, so what are the cons? It seems that by spending 200 bucks on mufflers and piping I can use the extra cash to get high flow cats and a really sweet custom install, and even have money to spare on some dyno pulls to see how it turned out... So someone tell me why it's so uncommon. Thanks.

 

For quality piping and the labor to construct the exhaust, I'm not sure that you would really save that much $$$.

 

I think that you would save a lot of money but you might not get the same amount of power out of the custom exhaust. You have to remember that you are paying greddy magnaflow and others for the research and development that they have done to get the most horse power out of the exhaust system. which you are not going to get out of your local exhaust shop.

 

okay well I think I'm going through with it, now I'm having some trouble finding the universal muffler that I want, I see magnaflow has a big variety of shapes and sizes, but I don't know much about them. Can anyone give me some choices for aftermarket universal mufflers to chose from? Also, any feedback on magnaflow? I'll be dynoing before and after, same day, so I'll post those charts up and let you know if saving all that money was worth it.

 

Well Apexi sells their N1 mufflers in Universal applications, Magnaflow has HUNDREDS of styles that all work. Same with Borla, Flowmaster, etc, etc.

 

would you recommend one above the rest? (I'm currently looking at magnaflow but I'm VERY open to suggestion)

 

I personally like the N1s but they are not for everyone. They run a bit on the loud side.

 

Also look at HKS Ti Carbon Fibers, JIC, etc.

 

performance-wise, is there a huge difference between these? the flowmasters are literally half the cost of magnaflows, if this is all based on sound that's kind of odd. i don't want my car to be obnoxiously loud, but then again i dont want it to sound like i dont have exhaust at all... the HKS Hi Power Ti mufflers are sexy, but they won't fit right, they come with the tip on so it won't work. Magnaflow is looking to be the best choice right now but except for one friend who has that on his BMW 323i, I don't know much about them. I'm going for max performance on a budget here Also, running dual pipes all the way back is probably the best bet but I read about people connecting them into an H-pipe. From what I can tell this is for sound purposes, but does it take away from perfomance at all? Thanks again.

 

An H pipes wont kill performance but an X pipe would be better...Magnaflow makes some nice stuff. I had one of their mufflers on my last car...good sound, looked nice, held up well. If you are going custom on a budget Magnaflow is the cheapest I would go. Like I said the N1s are what I like....

 

^ I second the N1's. Hey MIA, I'm thinking of getting dual N1's custom exhaust. Would I be able to effectively apply it to a Turbonetics kit w/o losing any power. What are your suggestions.

 

Absolutely...just ensure that when the make the xhaust it is only a y pipe back unit....the Turbonetics kit downpipe goes all the way to the stock b pipe.

 

One thing to note, make sure the shop you get it done from does mandrel bending rather then ..theother one.. forget the name. The other one forms kinks and it leads to decreased flow. Also, if you're NA, stick to 2.5inch piping, FI stick to 3-3.5inch. You are definatley better off with a manufacture exhaust not because its cheaper, but as 1sloZ said, manufactureres spend alot of money on R&D so they often times have better exhausts. Stillen offers best performance while many others offer best bang for buck.