Flowmaster Catback???

[1hot5.0]

I am going to be purchasing a Flowmaster cat-back for my 1991 Mustang LX 5.0 Vert in about 3 weeks (not that the time frame matters but oh well). Here is my situation: I want my car to be LOUD on the outside, but quiet when I need it to be. I can't afford to get tickets from the cops or my dad says I have to sell my car (so he thinks). I also want to be able to hear my radio without blasting it and be able to have a conversation in my car while driving. Which catback would be best for me? Also can I install it myself or should I have it professionally installed?

[bigblockcoupe]

i like the flowmaster american thunder it has the performance flowmaster sound but is not too loud actually with the converters still on it's too quiet i think everybody says this muffler is better than flowmaster or that muffler is better but personally i don't think anything else on the market sounds as good as a flowmaster i had a body with a 393 super charged stroker and up until he built the stroker(since the car was stock) he had flowmasters on it but some guy at dallas mustang told him that the mac h-pipe and cat back was better and sounded better blahblahblah so he bought it and tried to convince me it sounded good finally one day after him trying to convince me it sounded good and i told him the flows sounded better he says "ya'know you're right i hate these damn mac mufflers they sound like crap i miss my flowmasters" and now he once again has flows on his car and he lived happily ever after the moral of this story get flowmasters or forever live an anguished and tortured life until you do.

[VeNuM]

Take it from someone who has the Force II catback system, go with the American Thunder, much better, deeper, more powerful sound.

[1hot5.0]

So under "NORMAL" driving, the American Thunder Cat-Back won't get me pulled over by the cops, or have the neighbors calling the police on me when I come home late at night?

[bigblockcoupe]

it's completely streetable and if you keep the catalytic converters it's really quiet

[SlowGT]

Take it from somebody who has the American Thunder...there is no normal conversation in my car, there is no listening to the radio unless it's loud enough that everyone else on the highway can here it too. The rest of my exhaust is equal length shorties and an offroad H-pipe. Some have said that my car is exceptionally loud because of the higher compression ratio. Don't know if there's any truth to that or not.

I called Flowmaster, after I made my purchase, and they told me that the 3 chamber mufflers are designed to sound the same from behind the car as the 2 chambers. The only difference is supposed to be the noise level in the car is lower with 3 chambers. Call them yourself and see what they have to say.

I'll definitely be getting the ForceII next time around.


BTW, I don't romp on it in town anymore because I got tired of being stopped by the local cops who have nothing better to do than enforce sound ordinance codes. Probably ok for normal driving. But if you're going to drive normal all the time, you might try a saturn or a neon

[bigred90gt]

I've got 2 chamber flows, an off road X and equal length shorties, and I have never been pulled over for noise pollution. In Baytown, TX, where I live, the cops are the worst about noise citations. I have about a dozen friends who have been pulled over for their stereos, but I have never even been looked at for my exhaust. Which ever you get, enjoy. I think I'm about to get the single chambers, loud as ****. "If it's too loud, you're too old!"
Caymon

[stevstum]

I like the Amercan Thunder. I has the Delta Flow technology so it is not as load as the original 40's. When you want it to be quiet just push in the cltch and let off the gas.

[bigblockcoupe]

once again if you retain the factory converters it is very quiet but when you put on an h-pipe you no longer have converters therefore the exhaust is louder but personally i don't think it's that loud i have the american thunder cat back with dumps an h-pipe and full length headers on my cobra and my coupe and both are modified with cams, heads, intakes,etc... and the cobra is supercharged and i think they are not too loud but everyone has their own opinion i can carry on a conversation just fine in either car.

[AJSTANG]

I have the 2-chamber system on my coupe and the 3-chamber syetem on my conv. I think the 3-chamber sounds better and in some cases has shown to produce more power.

[1hot5.0]

So it is the Force 2 system that has the 3 chamber mufflers, and they are as loud as the two chambers OUTSIDE the car but ARE QUIETER INSIDE the car?

[bigblockcoupe]

3 chambers are quieter than 2 chambers all the way around inside and outside the car.

[1hot5.0]

So I probably should get the 3 chambers so when I add an h pipe and headers it wouldn't be too loud then. There is no performance difference between the two? Sorry if i am being a pain, I just only have the money to do this once, and I don't want to be sorry.

[bigblockcoupe]

i think they perform pretty close to the same but i personally feel 3 chambers are way to quiet even 2 chambers with the converters aren't much louder than stock they just sound better when you put an h-pipe on the full throttle sound will be most affected idle and light throttle will still be liveable.

[VeNuM]

I feel the same way as bigblockcoupe, the 3 chambers are too quiet. My car is a little louder than my friends stock catted h-pipe and 2 chamber flows. IMO the 2 chambers are definately the way to go, they shouldn't get you pulled over. My friend has them on his car with an off road h-pipe and he hasn't even gotten pulled over. My plates are run all the time, 3 times in one night once (I have a friend whose a cop and he can see how many times) but I don't think that's mainly because of sound, probably just because I drive a black Mustang. Don't get me wrong, if a cop sees a car with louder exhaust, you bet you're going to attract his attention.

[1hot5.0]

I think Im going to go with the 3 chamber mufflers (Force II catback). What is the best catted h pipe out there?

[bigblockcoupe]

they are all pretty good are you sure you want a cat h-pipe? an offroad costs a whole lot less.

[TwiLighTBluEGT]

When I first put the 2 chambers on my car, it sounded loud to me at first because I had stock exhaust before them. But after a few days, I realized they just weren't loud enough. So I put a 2 cat H-pipe on and then it was pretty loud, but a few days later it still wasn't loud enough for me. So then, I got a used off-road H-pipe and threw it on.... THEN IT WAS LOUD. After that I put in BBK equal length headers and it was not really louder... But more deeper and agressive. I think my car sounds awesome...

In other words, if you really want the sound of a mustang... Go with the 2 chambers.. Because most stangs that you hear driving on the street have the 2 chambers. And they sound sick. Atleast in Massachusetts anyway...

[7000rpmisheaven]

I once saw a chart that had decibel levels for different mufflers. They won't be the same for every car but the numbers they got were from different mufflers installed on the same car. The flowmaster 2 chamber were the loudest of them all. The dynomax might be something more like you are looking for. At WOT the dynomax were almost as loud as the 2-ch flows. But at idle they were considerably quieter. I think a handleful of people on here can agree with that.

[bigblockcoupe]

even flowmasters are pretty quiet at idle my vortech supercharger is louder than my 2 chambers and dynomax sound like crap in my opinion.