Engine catback options?

catback options?

I'm lookin for a good exhaust. I would just get a tip (ebay type), but i feel bad putting the cheap stuff on my car. So what are my choices for catback?

i think for real Cat-back, only magnaflow makes it. cuz the others are just axle-back

There is no bolt-on cat-back exhaust for our vehicles. Why? Very simple. Cuz all the exhaust from cat-back are not bolted to the cat itself. So there's nothing to bolt to.

What this means is that a cat-back exhaust requires that you cut off the resonator, which is just right after the cat and remove all the piping from there on back to the muffler. Then have an exhaust shop weld new piping onto the cat (preferably at least 2.25") and run it out and weld it to a new muffler.

If a resonator-less exhaust will be too loud for you and you want to keep your stock resonator, then you can either just buy a new bolt-on muffler, or cut the resonator piping and weld larger piping with a new muffler.

So could i get one of the cheap ebay exhausts and take it to a custom exhaust shop and have them do it? How much do you think they would charge

i was just at a muffler shop on monday and they wanted $110 just to make a canister muffler into a bolt on muffler. thats not including the muffler. something about the stock system having a donut flange.

The only benefit of welding new piping and a bolt-on flange would be that you could change your muffler in the future. But this isn't really a good idea. If you try to make your eBay muffler or any other muffler bolt-on, then the stock piping will remain at 1.75" and therefore will not net you more than 2-3hp increase and you will have dropped over $100 on it. Your biggest increase will come from enlarged exhaust piping with a new straight through muffler. You can see mine here:

http://homepage.mac.com/kingkuei/PhotoAlbum5.html
(HKS Carbon-Ti Muffler with 2.25"/2.5" exhaust piping)

phobi4: you don't have to buy an eBay muffler. Honestly speaking, if you buy a cheap $60 muffler, you'll get what you pay for. Some of them are total crap and start rattling like a tin within months. If I were you, I'd spend the extra $ to get a higher quality muffler like an Apex'i N1 (or their new SICK-@$$ Active Valve RS Evolution). You'll get longer life and usually better sound. I hate fart cans. I think a muffler should be deep and smooth, and the cheap mufflers simply don't cut it.

I agree. i guess i'll go ahead and dish out the extra money then. so i may as well just forget catback?

how much is it for a custom mandrel bent 2.25" piping?

i wasnt planning on keeping the piping at 1.75, i was going to have them up it to 2.25. i guess i should have stated that. and even at $110 plus $40 for the muffler, $150 is cheaper then all the bolt on mufflers out there. and then i was going to have them take out the resonator. im not too worried about the sound, i cant imagine it changing too much. ive removed resonators from cars before and never heard a real difference.

You don't have to forget about cat-back... Just go find any muffler you want, whether you want looks or sound. Then go to an exhaust shop and they'll cut off your stock resonator and remove your muffler. Then they'll weld in larger exhaust piping all the way from the cat and back and then weld your new muffler one as well. WARNING: Without the resonator, your car is going to be loud as a BI*** cuz that's the one and only resonator on our cars. So whatever muffler you get, make sure that you get the silencer for it. Otherwise, just do a resonator-back exhaust. Resonator-back is the same deal, saw off the stock exhaust piping and remove the stock muffler, weld new piping and new muffler in place.

2.25" mandrel bent piping running from the cat and back should run you no more than about $125-$175 provided the shop is using good materials.

To the comment about making a bolt-on exhaust. What I was trying to say was that even if you have a shop weld some new bolt-on flanges to whatever muffler/exhaust that you're doing, the only reason you would do it is so that you can swap mufflers/exhausts whenever you want to. This is really pointless though since there is no manufacturer out there that is going to make a bolt-on cat-back exhaust that is exactly to your dimensions. Only muffler shops that do custom work will be able to do something like that for you, and in the end, every time you try to swap exhausts, you would have to get new exhaust piping, cut and welded to fit your bolt-on flanges. I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say.

Thanks for all the info, kuei. very helpful.

alright, what i want to do is this, make a bolt on axle back section, just in case i ever want to put the stock muffler back on. then have them cut the resonator out and replace that with 2.25 as well.

i do not want to make a bolt on catback. i just want the axle back to be bolt on. and i want to eliminate the resonator. like you said it would be pointless to make a bolt on cat back.

and the only reason im not running 2.25 from the cat straight to the muffler and eliminating the donut flange above the axle is because i feel the flange adds a bit of rigidity to the exhaust. and should prevent any rattle.

so the borla, trd, and all other name brand exhausts for our car, they all will bolt directly on, correct?

that's correct, they bolt on at the rear axle............magnaflow is a true catback though

yup and u have to weld magnaflow

The stock exhaust piping is 2.25" from manifold to resonator. Everything after the resonator tapers down to 1.75", including the stock muffler. But everything from axle-back (a.k.a. resonator-back) is already bolt-on (1.75"). That means that if you cut out the stock resonator, you would have to weld 2.25" piping from the catalytic converter and then weld that to the 1.75" stock flange. Then you could bolt-on the TRD Sport Muffler or other bolt-on muffler. So basically all you're saying is you want to eliminate the resonator. Other than that, nothing, not even the exhaust piping sizes changes.

Nonetheless, even with this resonator-less setup, you'll still only make a few extra hp and get a blaring car cuz you no longer have the resonator. The only way to make real power gains (I got about 10-13 whp with my exhaust setup) is not to choke the exhaust from 2.25" to 1.75", but to enlarge it to 2.25" all the way, or enlarge it 2.25" to 2.5" like I did. The sacrifice is slightly less power in the lower rev band, but much stronger performance in the mid-to-high band. And honestly, there's no rattle with my setup. I just don't think $110 is worth it for cutting out the stock resonator only and gaining like 3-4hp. I paid $150 for my exhaust work, including the circle cut on the bumper and I'm making 128 wheel hp (and the stock resonator is still on there). Although the muffler did cost me $400...

It's really the only way to gain power from exhaust modifications on our cars. Gutting the resonator, unfortunately, leaves you with a farting/blaring car that is unbearably annoying to drive. And even if you did cut the resonator and just use a bolt-on exhaust like the TRD, the exhaust piping is still tapering down from 2.25" to 1.75" and in effect, choking the exhaust. If you gut the resonator, then you MUST get an aftermarket muffler that has a silencer (unless you want to let the cops know you're coming down the street over 100 miles away), and if you were to get that, then you'd have to weld it directly to the exhaust piping and will not be able to use the bolting flanges. Overall, I'm simply not convinced that the setup you're imagining is worth the time/money. If you're going to modify the exhaust, get it custom, get it enlarged, and don't settle for the cheap mufflers either (you'll get what you paid for).

I say go with magnaflow, for one, its a true CAT BACK, it comes with a new resonator, and a new muffler. I think the magnaflow would be better then anything an exhaust shop would do for you, im sure all the welds are much cleaner then whatever a muffler shop would do. The magnaflow dosnt have to be welded, it comes with a U bolt thing that you use to secure it to the stock pipe after you cut it. IMO the magnaflow is the best true cat back out there, it might cost more then a custom job, but in the end you probably end up with something better then some dirty guy who hates import drivers and is in a hurry to go on his lunch break is gona do.

To sum it up... Magnaflow is a true cat back with larger piping and is pretty easy to install if yourself.

WQhere's the magnaflow cat-back info anyway? I can't find it on their website.

yah u can just bolt it with the U thing but its better if its weld to prevent leaks i guess

Check out http://ptuning.com/ for the magnaflow exhaust. I got mine there for $305 shipped.

How would this sounds? Get my muffler and get the shop to do a 2.25" resonator back setup. I would keep the resonator. Would I be able to swap back and forth easily between my new exhaust setup and my stock setup? thanks

Yeesh. Well why don't you tell me first why you would want to go back to the stock setup? The stock muffler and exhaust piping from resonator back is 1.75". So unfortunately, if you enlarge the piping from resonator-back to 2.25", you lose the bolting flanges and your stock muffler is no longer boltable. With our cars, if you choose to enlarge the piping at any point, whether it's cat-back or resonator-back, the only way you're going to get the stock muffler to bolt back again is to cut your exhaust AGAIN and reweld AGAIN. Then if you want to switch to your aftermarket muffler, cut exhaust AGAIN, reweld AGAIN. It'll eventually look really messed up...

One possibility is to NOT touch the muffler at all, and once your exhaust piping (from the resonator back) is cut off, have the shop also cut off the bolting flange. In the future, you could have them cut your muffler off, weld the flange back on to your exhaust and then you could bolt your muffler to it. Actually this would be almost like stock since you're still tapering down from 2.25" to 1.75". But like I said, what's the point? If you're modifying the muffler for power or sound, wouldn't you want to keep it? If you're really concerned about being able to go back to your stock muffler, then you have no choice but to keep your 1.75" exhaust piping and just buy a bolt on muffler like the TRD Sport Muffler.

the reason is because lots of places down here dont like to give safety check to cars with exhaust because they think its illegal (which its not). stiill keeping with my resonator back setup, what if i kept the 1.75" flange and then enlarged it to eventually to 2.25 after the flange that connects to the resonator. So i would be able to swap back and forth?

If you value interchangeability more than power, then you can do this option. Even if you enlarge it up to the flange, at that point, you're still choking the exhaust so you won't get much power from it. This method will net you not much more than the TRD Sport Muffler, which is already a true bolt-on system that wouldn't require any cutting or welding.

I would personally go for a Flowmaster true cat-back system. They have a 2.25" cat-back system for our cars. There is a local muffler shop that can custom bend the pipe and install glass-pack with the high performance Flowmaster muffler (40 Series) with chrome tip. I had it before on my Altima and it sounds sooo good. It's loud, but not the farting noise from some of the other cheap exhaust systems. It is low in resonance especially with the glass-pack installed, but at the same time can set off some alarms. I love revving through tunnels. YEsss.. I get a kick out of accidently setting off other people's alarm. Oh well, serves them right for having it set too sensitive.

Flowmasters are generally used in domestic cars and trucks, but has a high reputation and good free-flow. I loved it. Once my car's warranty is expired, my TRD muffler and custom pipe is coming off and in goes the new Flowmaster cat-back.