I'm getting a new exhaust system soon for my 68 fastback GT j code 302 with a 4 speed and dual exhaust. I was curious on what you guys think about the flowmasters and magnaflows compared to each other. Any advice is appreciated.
Check on the Modified forum. There is a sticky thread about this.
Stan
__________________ Bay Area Mustang Association
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'65 Fastback Mustang Monthly March 2013 NorCal Forum
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I have had a few different Flowmasters over the years. I really like the sound of the 40 series but if I were driving the car a lot then I'd probably not get them because they are loud and the droning can get unnerving. Although with that said at one point in time my daily driver had 40 series on it and I never had a negative thought about them at the time. That car that had 40 series was later upgraded to 50 series and still a daily driver. I liked it a lot more with the 50 series because it did not attract near as much attention but that is not to imply it was super quiet either. In all cases with that daily driver it was with long tube headers into 2.5" pipes and with tailpipes.
My 1967 Fastback today has I believe 60 series is what the previous owner told me. These at idle are relatively quiet but tap into the gas out of gear and you get a good roar from them. When driving they sound aggressive but not droning to the point of second guessing the choice of mufflers. Offhand I am not sure what size the pipes are on that car but it has factory manifolds.
One thing is for sure, every SBF powered vehicle I have had that had Flowmasters would always get it's fair share of comments about how great they sounded.
Am I the only one who doesn't like the hollow, tin can sound of chambered mufflers? I prefer the "crappy" sound of glasspacks.
My buddy put glasspacks on his SRT8 Charger and it sounded extremely good. I was very surprised when I asked him what mufflers he picked and he said glasspacks. I have some sort of mental block to glasspacks that dates back to high school. I think the issue I have is back in high school a lot of guys got them on their trucks then got the mufflers really hot and shot water up in them to supposedly break the insides up and make them sound "better"
I had Dynomax's on my old 67 coupe which had a 351C in it with factory manifolds. It never really sounded good, was relatively quiet though even with side exit pipes. But I have heard the same style Dynomac mufflers on later model Mustangs and sounded a good bit better.
Engine, headers/manifolds, piping routing and so on all obviously play a part in how well or bad things will sound. My old 1992 Saleen had 40 series Flowmasters on it when I got it and boy did that thing drive me nuts. I ended up packing car covers into the rear hatch of that thing to help drown things out. The car ultimately ended up with Dynomax mufflers on it and sounded a ton better. It had shorty headers and an X-pipe with high flow cats in it.
It's too bad Dynomax doesn't make an off the shelf system since that where a lot of guys end up muffler wise.
If you wanted to you could get one of the Pypes kits from Summit that has no mufflers (which is dirt cheap), the correct Dynomax mufflers and then just cut and add them in with exhaust clamps.
I'd definitely think twice about paying a premium for a system with Magnaflows / Flowmasters that you'll eventually replace.
It's all personal preference. I've been using Flowmasters for over 25 years. I love them and have nothing bad to say about them. Some of them (i.e 40, 44 series, etc) are not quiet. But I am into performance and I like the way they perform and sound. I have Flowmaster's American Thunder exhaust system on my car now. I'm very happy with it. I've never used Dynomax muffler, but I think they're a quality muffler and would not be afraid to use them if I had to.
__________________
1970 Fastback (to be finished outside as a Boss 302 clone)
393 Windsor AFR 205 heads with 11.5:1 compression
Tremec TKO 5 Speed
Link to my Hub Garage and blog about my car http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/maxum96
My opinion is that most people eventually want mufflers that are quieter than their initial reaction. The Flowmasters and even glass packs sound good at first but after an interstate trip out of state, you'll probably wish you had ones just a touch quieter. That's my though. And yeah, the Flowmasters have a weird tinny sound, but that's up to personal preference if you like it or not.
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67 Mustang fastback 289/T-5, which was converted from 68 Coupe with 6 cylinder/auto
57 Ford Fairlane 500
I had dumped flows on my car (sound clip in the Mod section) and loved it other than the boominess. Now I have Magnaflow Magnapacks (glass packs) and it is a different animal. I had Ultraflows on my 5.0 and it had might as well been stock the way it sounded.
Oh, and whether or not you tailpipes on your makes a big difference on sound and noise level. Dumps at the axle will be very loud and rattle the inside of the car. Run pipes all the way to back of the car and it will significantly quiet the car down, especially in the interior.
__________________
1970 Fastback (to be finished outside as a Boss 302 clone)
393 Windsor AFR 205 heads with 11.5:1 compression
Tremec TKO 5 Speed
Link to my Hub Garage and blog about my car http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/maxum96
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Flowmasters or Magnaflows
