GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I have the 50 series. The shop didn't have the 60 on hand and I wanted the exhaust, so I went for the 50. These are all for inside the GT.

Attached files vibe1.mp3 (166.5 KB) 

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Attached files vibe2.mp3 (448.2 KB) 

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Attached files vibe3.mp3 (275.1 KB) 

That sounds good. I like the sound of the Thermal R & D a little better but for $90 instead of $400+ I would go with the Flowmaster.

i really wasn't impressed with the thermal. i mean for 430 bucks, it better sound like a freakin' ferrari! anyways, just wanted to let everyone have a listen at a cheaper alternative!

Sounds great

Damn that sounds great. I have heard a 60 series on a Integra and a Neon and they sounded great as well. The 60 is made for small displacement engine and the 50 is made for larger engines so I'm wondering if you noticed any difference in your low RPM torque?

i had it installed 20 mins. after i took possesion of the car in august. so before sounds and preformance gains are unattainable. i like it, though. maybe move to the 60 sometime. who knows!

Nice sounds!! Thanks for posting the sound clips!!

sounds good, did you have the windows down? think you can get sound clip from outside the car?

none from outside, yet. i was taking advantage of the plug! and the windows were up.

Must....have.....exterior.....sound......file..........

i'll try to find a safe place to get an outside file. my laptop battery is shot, so i have to plug it in. i'll figure something out...if i get time.

If you're not going to be moving, get an extension cord, plug it into the outlet in the Vibe so you can have power to your laptop.

i would be moving. except for revs and that's kinda boring, but we'll see. i figure something out!

I like the Thermal better. Theres no low rumble to that flow. And like I said, for $90, you get a.....muffler. For $430, you get a race designed, polished to a mirror finished Cat back. NOT just a muffler you have to hack up your exhaust to put on. A true, BOLT on cat back. Sorry, I really like my Thermal and these guys design nothing but cat backs for 4 bangers race cars. I have dual flows on my GA and love them, but on the Vibe, Thermal rules. BTW, what did the shop charge to put it on? That works into the price, since the thermal anyone can do for free.

actually, isn't it axle back? sorry, i just wasn't impressed with the sound for the money. show me a dyno that makes it worth it and i'll understand.

I can hear the clips fine, but did you add some sort of reverberation or something to the clips? Could just be my machine, but it seems to echo quite a bit on my end. Anyone else notice this?Sounds good though!Later,Carl

It's cool. I just dont think flows work with little 4 bangers. I've been told that by guys in my GA club that put flows on their 2.4 liter GA's. Your Vibe sounds good, but it just dont have the low rumble. Sorry.It is actually from in front of the rear axle back, but it's considered cat back. $430 isnt bad for the quality of the system. It has mandrel bends which increase flow, and it just looks sweet. Enjoy your flows.

DopeVibeGT,I love the looks of your exhaust and it appears to be a very nice system both in looks and sound, but it seems you're trying to justify a bit hard you spending over $400 on an exhaust system. One thing you need to consider if that you actually can put your stock system back on and sell your Thermal system for not a great loss as good exhaust systems don't wear out. Speaking of which, is the muffler fiberglassed packed or is a chamber system? Anyway, the flow system is much cheaper, but has no resale value and in order to sell the car down the road, you will actually need to have the stock muffler welded back on.I'm not saying one system is better than the other, but I like the resaleability of the bolt-on system, then again it's over $400 out of pocket versus a 1/3 that amount for a Flow system.All said, I hope you guys are buying the exhausts for sound because I can guarantee you short of a cold-air intake and nitrous, you're wasting your money if you're looking for horsepower gains. We're talking a few horsepower MAX for a cat-back system. Don't believe me, dyno the car before and after and find out.

No, I'm trying to clear up the difference between a cat back system and just a muffler. Thats all. Price the same system, without even using stainless steel. Go to a custom muffler shop and ask them how much a cat back system, with mandrel bends in the pipes, a flow muffler and a polished stainless steel tip would cost to have made. You cant compare the price of just a muffler to a cat back system is all I'm trying to say. Actually, a high flow muffler teamed up with a CAI will give you a nice HP gain. Nothing like Nitrous! LOL Of course, you cant blow up your engine with a CAI/cat-back. Injens CAI has been dyno'd at 12.1 HP, so with a good high flow, 2 chamber muffler (Like flows), you could be looking at a gain of at least 15 HP. If I knew where to get my car dyno'd, I would! I know the strips have dyno's, so I might try there this year.

quote:I have the 50 series. The shop didn't have the 60 on hand and I wanted the exhaust, so I went for the 50. These are all for inside the GT. Nice post. Gives me a clue what mine might sound like when I get my Flowmaster.

I think I will go with the Flowmaster as well. For less than 1/4 of the price I will get close to the same sound and maybe 1-2 less HP. To me it is not worth it to spend an extra $300 for 2 HP.

When you all do get the flowmaster installed I'd go with the 60 series instead of the 50 series. I say this because Flowmaster designed the 60 series muffler for use on small displacement 4 cylinder engines. I don't think you'll lose anything and pretty sure you'll gain a few HP. Plus you shouldn't lose any low end torque with this muffler.If you want to go all out have the exhaust shop replace the exhaust from the cat on back with a larger diameter pipe. Just don't go to big or your low RPM torque will disappear. 2 1/4" all the way out the back would probably work well. 2" might work better but no one has really done a custom yet so I can't say which size will work best. You want to keep the velocity of the exhaust moving quickly through the exhaust system. This helps pull the exhaust out of the combustion chamber and pull in the air fuel mixture for the next power stroke. If the exhaust piping is to large and flows to freely you lose this sucking action from the exhaust and what I just described doesn't happen thus losing torque and HP.A high flow cat can all ways be a option as well. I have talked about a great cat in this forum before that has works good for me.

Any pics of the install?Sounds great

If I were going to get an exhaust, I would get a bolt-on system for one reason. Resalability!! You will get 5 cent on the dollar for a muffler, plus you have to pay labor to get it put on and then taken back off when you sell the car. All said, well over $200 for two weld jobs and the muffler. Now, you spend $400 and get a bolt-on system you can do yourself in less than an hour. A year or two goes by or whatever, you take it back off, put the stock system back on and sell it for $300. How $300? I had a Greddy PE exhaust for my '97 Prelude. It was too loud for me after 6 months or so. Too much drone at cruise. Anyway, I paid just over $400 for it and sold it for $300 cash. Bolt on and bolt off. Plus, you have a nice designed stainless system that looks great....For myself, I'm going to stick with stock exhaust. I have my fast car, the C5 which has headers, intake, cat-back, short shifter, big wheels/tires, etc. The Vibe is my daily driver. I love the sound of the intake and it makes 90% of the power of an intake/exhaust combo, so I'll forsake the last 10% of that power and save a bit of cash. For those of you that get exhausts, that's great and there is nothing wrong with that at all, different strokes for different folks...

When my wife and I traded our 97 Chevy Lumina is it had a custom exhaust on it. Free flowing cat 2 1/2" diameter piping from the manifold out the back running through a 60 series flowmaster muffler.The dealer thought is was pretty cool and having it on there didn't hurt our trade in at all. I wouldn't worry about resale. I don't think you'll have a problem.

I gotta agree with QUICKAG. I've done systems both ways (bolt-ons and custom weld-ons), and find that being able to return it to stock, being able to sell it, and having a quality complete system are all reasons that make the bolt-on a better choice. Besides, there really aren't many exhaust shops around here that will build you a custom system OR install a customer-supplied muffler...

So clear this up for me once and for all, please. If I were going to get a flowmaster for my Vibe GT, I'd be better off getting a 60 series, as opposed to a 50 series because of the small displacement engine, correct? So then an Injen CAI and a 60 series flowmaster would make a sweet combo? Thoughts anyone?

I'm not sure what sounds different about the exhaust in those clips. After adding my CAI, mine sounds the same from the inside. I've heard clips from the Thermal and it sounded a lot better, but it was from the outside. Maybe the 60s would have a better sound?

the lift kick is a lot more drastic. to each his own. if you do go with flow, i'd probably go with the 60. i'm just too impatient for my own good sometimes!

OK, so what am I missing? I get no sound, only a black TV-like screen with a Windows Media logo. At the bottom there's what looks like a play button arrow, and one of those little zipper things that usually trundle across as the clip plays, but nothing happens, click though I may. I suppose I need a download of some sort, but don't these things usually prompt you about how to do it?

right click and "save target as..." try that. if you can play mp3's, you can play the clips...

Does anyone have a sound clip of the 60 series on a Vibe?

Here is a sound clip from their website. Not a Vibe though:http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/60_series.html

wow holy old thread!i can't see paying $400 for a catback!i had mine made for ~$360, and that's with 2 stainless tips! ($30 each)

anyone have any sound clips of a vibe with magnaflows by any chance? i think that'll be what im gonna go with

here ya go i hope this helps they are Mrizzle05's fly bys.clip #1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOfxQXZsPGE clip #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd9FF2tEsjU

WHOA! im famous... haha.Yup i love magnaflow... its a great sound and nice for daily or long driving.

love the sound mrizzle, definitly gonna have to get a magnaflow...is it just the muffler? or full catback with headers?

after looking at your car domain, i do see yo got full catback exhaust...btw love the colors you used in the interior ..god i cant wait for my car anymore

That does sound good! Wonder what it would sound like at 8000K, though.

Yup yup! just catback... and i love how my interior turned out too.I want headers but too much for me right nowand all i have to say for the 8000 RPM comment is... *sigh*