Straight Pipe Vs. SLP Loudmouth

[blackfire93]

After I bought and installed my loudmouth a few months ago my friend with a 2004 Mach 1 decided that he wanted to make his car sound like mine. He took it in and just had the mufflers cut off and straight piped. His car sounds just about the same as mine except for it pops quite a bit more. Now he thinks that he got the better deal than me because he paid $70 to have his mufflers cut off while I paid $400 for the whole SLP catback. I thought that I was paying for performance as well as sound. Am I wrong or would I have noticed the same perfomance gain from the removal of my mufflers?

[AmericanZ28]

No expert here, but the resonator on the loudmouth is a contributing factor to the kind of sound that it makes. I tried a custom set-up similar to that of the loudmouth by using a bullet muffler instead of the loudmouth itself, and the sound was nothing like that of the LM. I saved a bunch of money, but didn't quite achieve the LM sound. Personally I think the LM is overpriced for what it actually is. I was looking into the resonator of LM the other day and noticed that it was completly hollow, which gave me more of a reason to believe it was overpriced. I always thought the resonator on those things had some kind of a wire mesh to quiet it down, but thats not true. I paid $280 shipped for mine, so I dont feel too bad about it ! I cant wait to install it and hear it for myself!

[blackfire93]

I paid $280 shipped for mine, so I dont feel too bad about it !

Where did you find it for $280? Did that include the installation S-pipe that is needed to install it on the 1993-1997 f-bodies?

[Z Ya Later]

As AmericanZ28 said, the resonator is merely a larger piece of pipe. The sound, however, comes from the size of the pipes that are used. I've got a Sweet Thunder steel pack in place of the resonator on my setup and it sounds almost the same as the regular LM from what I've heard. If you compare the price of the LM to the rest of the cat-backs available for our cars, the LM is by far one of the, if not the, cheapest available. The LM is essentially the same as your friend's straight-through setup. His pops more because of the resonator. Granted, its hollow, but it uses the choke point at the end of the resonator to allow for the cancellation of some of the noise and popping. As far as performance goes, they're about the same except that I believe his system is a true-dual from the factory. Just sucks for him the 4.6 sucks lol.

[blackfire93]

Where did you find it for $280? Did that include the installation S-pipe that is needed to install it on the 1993-1997 f-bodies?

Sorry the S-pipe is only needed for the 1993-1995 f-bodies.

[blackfire93]

As far as performance goes, they're about the same except that I believe his system is a true-dual from the factory. Just sucks for him the 4.6 sucks lol.

Yes his is a true dual from the factory. So are you saying that my performance would have benefited just as much if I would have just cut my muffler off and put a straight pipe in place of it and his performance would remain the same if he decided to put a cat-back on his Mach 1 right now?

[Z Ya Later]

No. His is roughly the same as yours since he has two 2+" pipes, whereas you have one 3". The opposite would give him 2 2.5" or 3" pipes whereas you would have a single 2.5" or 2.75" pipe, crossflow muffler and 2" or 2.5" tailpipes. The mudstain does have the advantage of true-duals over us, but have a more restrictive air intake setup and weaker motor. While the Mach 1 does have the scoop, I believe it also has the stock intake plumbing as well. Believe me, your LM purchase was not in vain

[ColdBird]

Bottom line : Muffler does not increase performance

[AmericanZ28]

Where did you find it for $280? Did that include the installation S-pipe that is needed to install it on the 1993-1997 f-bodies?

I should have probably been a little more descriptive, but I bought mine used off of ebay. The guy didn't have it on his car for too long though, and is in excellent shape. I even got all the original hardware too!

[raroZ28]

When I installed my catback, and I pulled the stock exhaust off from the cat-back, I started it up just to see how loud it would be. Wasn't very loud. I don't think just cutting your muffler off would give you the same sound as the loudmouth.