GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Right now I have a borla muffler. I wouldn't mind having a louder exhaust note. I've thought about removing the resonator, which everyone usually seems to disagree with. But what if I replaceced the resonator with a smaller, straight-through design round muffler? I'm just tossing ideas around right now, as I vowed not to spend money on my car untill I get my wheels. Still, any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

louder?Just straight pipe it from the cat back to the muffler. My friend did that with his Matrix. Its definatly loud.

How about adding a SR or CAI? There will be an increase in power, your exhaust tone will be a lot deeper and it's relatively inexpensive.

Straight pipe from cat to muffler

Leave resonator, remove cat. (meow). Will need to deal with a constant CEL though, unless you rig the O2 sensor to not read an inefficient catalyst. I almost did this but opted for a wider pipe, 2 resonators, high flow cat and dual out flowmaster 80 series. 1 resonator would have been fine but people riding in the car complained too much when accelerating.Dave

The reason that I want it louder is because I cant really hear it when im driving. The muffler that I have on is larger than the one that comes with the borla axle back. It was what the guy had in stock when I went to get my exhaust done, and I didnt want to wait for him to order one. I already have a short ram intake, and that helps, but I just really enjoy a good exhaust note. Im just not sure how it will sound with the resonator completely removed. I know a guy with a four cylinder vue that has his resonator removed, and his sounds great, but the vue has a larger displacement engine. What I might do is have the resonator removed, and if I dont like it, have a straight through muffler put in.

use a glasspack for a resonator.

I just posted a few sound clips with my dynomax muffler http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=27360. Maybe it's more the sound you want without removing the resonator. From what I've heard most people aren't happy when they take the resonator off.

What exactly is a glasspack? Ive heard of people using them before, but how are they different from a straight through muffler?

Thanks shane_c for the sound clip. Mine actually sounds very similar to that. The thing is that I like to be noticed, and if your not paying attention, you wouldn't notice that I have custom exhaust. I just have to be careful because of the fine line of being noticed and sounding like crap.

Dont remove your resonator. With these small displacement engines, it'll make your car sound like a kazoo with a broken flap.A resonator is just a small, thin muffler. If you really want it louder, get larger diameter piping done from the cat back. Maybe 2.25 - 2.5 with a long resonator to replace the current one...22" x 3" round resonator with a 14" x 6" round muffler. That should give you a loud, but clean setup.I would personally stay away from glasspacks. The majority of them are cheap and may eventually blow fiberglass particles all over the back of your car. They've also, traditionally, been used primarily on muscle cars.

Thanks for the input. I still have some time to ponder this as I save for my new wheels. One more question: is the resonator straight through? And if it isnt, wouldnt putting on a straight through muffler in it place give me more sound but not crappy sound? After all, the magnaflow cat-back includes a small straight through muffler as a resonator. Actually that was two questions.

what about a header and high flow cat.

I was thinking about doin a header. Does a header add more sound? If so, I should do that first and then take it from there. I like the idea of a high flow cat as well.

ajflan,please don't tell me you put the Cosmo sticker on your car like that.

Yes, I put the cosmo sticker on my car like that. Does that bother you?

It'll be coming off later this summer anyway, as I plan to upgrade to an Injen CAI. Sorry to offend you like that.

It just bugged me a little,seemed like an odd place to put it.I thought it was photo-chopped there that's all,not hating on anyone.But,before you switch your intakes,Cosmo rates better on the dyno,a couple more horses than Injen.

No offense taken, just playful banter. I kinda like the placement of the badge. Its different, no one else has it there. Isn't that the point of customizing? To make it unique and personalized? And thanks for the Cosmo info. Its cheaper too.

You are right,it is unique.I've never seen an emblem placed there,it's growing on me.It's what you like is what matters.Keep the Cosmo.

Get this... I'm getting a complete custom 2 1/4 in exhaust system from the header back... for free.

Quote, originally posted by ajflan »Get this... I'm getting a complete custom 2 1/4 in exhaust system from the header back... for free. I like free. It's my favorite!

Quote, originally posted by kevera »But,before you switch your intakes,Cosmo rates better on the dyno,a couple more horses than Injen. what? show me.

Check out the dynos on MO,I think it's Toronto section.I was as suprised as you were.

didn't find it, but i found some guy claiming his XR "smoked" a sunfire GT. yeah.

No,not that one,I'll find and post it later.

Louder than a Borla system? Get a 67 Camaro with a 500hp Vette motor, get the Flowmaster 3" pipe w/ straight outs no cat and throw a Flame out the back about 6 feet long.Then you will be the loudest kid on the block, like my buddy! LOL Im going to get a good vid of his car this summer for you all to enjoy!

I think I'll be loud enough with the custom system I'm getting put on in two weeks. It's 2 1/4 inch piping from the header back, w/o the resonator. And since my buddy is doing it for free, if its too loud, he'll put in a straight through muffler as a resonator at no cost.

Good score dude .I never get good stuff like that.I just get free food sometimes,my brother-in-law is a butcher.I would take car stuff over meat any-day.

I know, I couldn't believe how lucky I got. Although free hamburgers do sound good...

Question: If the first cat is removed, will I be getting a check engine light all the time? I just checked out my new exhaust, and I realized that my buddy decided to get creative without my permission. He just straight piped it to where the second cat is, and when I asked him why he did that, he just laughed and said that he didn't feel that the first one was necessary.

the only problem with tossing a huge exhaust on an na car is you lose all your back pressure which is what gives the car much of its torque.. and although your car will be loud, it doesnt mean it will be any faster.. if anything you may see a decrease. now if it was a turbo car or even supercharged, and the idea was to get the exhaust out as fast as possible, then by all means 3" the whole way back with a test pipe.

Quote, originally posted by mistertwo »the only problem with tossing a huge exhaust on an na car is you lose all your back pressure which is what gives the car much of its torque.. and although your car will be loud, it doesnt mean it will be any faster.. if anything you may see a decrease. now if it was a turbo car or even supercharged, and the idea was to get the exhaust out as fast as possible, then by all means 3" the whole way back with a test pipe. very true, I found combining a cold air intake and unichip to the mix resulted in no loss of torque.

I realize that in increasing pipe diameter, you lose backpressure, which may result in a loss of tourque. But 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 in piping will not lose enough tourque to really be noticed. Besides, the Vibe is not really a performance stud to begin with, so it might as well sound cool! The main question that I had was will I be seeing a check engine light without the first cat? I'm not sure how the sensors are set up, but I was searching the forums and noticed that the JP performance midpipe only included the one main cat, not the pre cat thingy.

This is what I'm talking about. Note that there is only the aft converter. So I wouldn't have a problem, right?

Some backpressure is good? No. Never is backpressure a good thing. Scavenging is good, and that can get screwed up by having too-big a pipe, but that isn't a lack of backpressure casuing a loss of power, that's exhaust gasses not being drawn out of the cylinders properly. Excessive backpressure will do the same exact thing.There is too-big, and too-small, but never is a lack of backpressure the reason why too-big is bad.Here's a link explaining more about it.http://www.miata.net/garage/Kn....html

What I'm trying to figure out is this: What is the senor located after the first cat and before the second cat? Being that I will no longer have the first cat, will I have any problems?