Indecision is killing me! Magnaflow or LM 2???
 

I'm really tired of my stock exhaust...it's just too quiet.

Was thinking either Magnaflow, or LM 2. I've been going back and forth with this for like a year now.

With stock manifolds and stock cats, will LM 2 really be that loud?

I've heard the MF in person, and while it sounds good, the idle doesn't sound any louder than stock. I want to be able to hear it when I'm just cruising around with the tops off ...with the A4 and 2.73's, the thing never gets above 2k rpm under normal driving, but I still want to hear the exhaust at that speed. Cruising around Ocean Drive in Newport, I'm only at like 1500rpm. I feel like I won't even be able to hear the MF at that speed.

I really do like the MF tips on Formulas though, that's a selling point right there since both SLP tips look like ass.

me and pizza mike both agree on a hooker aerochamber. things sound awesome.

+1 for hooker but out of those 2, magnaflow

Yeah, I was thinking of that one too, and just replacing the muffler. I wouldn't buy a catback that wasn't stainless, so that rules out the hooker.

I think the muffler is around 70 bucks or so, that isn't bad.

Yeah thats the only shitty part about the hooker, I love the sound though.

Get the Magnaflow. You wont regret it.

no matter what u get with those gears and an a4 its never goin to be super loud at idle or slow cruising. If ur not planning on doin a full exhaust id get the LM if u want louder ...but if ur gonna go down the header road go with the magnaflow cause the LM is obnoxious with full exhaust imo

I'll probably never do headers ... the install looks like a PITA which turns me off of them. Plus the $$.... I looked up Kooks after talking about them last sat with a few people...holy christ, are those things gold plated or something?

If I was to do headers, I'd most likely go with a catted Y anyway, so I think the cats would quiet down whatever exhaust I was running.

And I REALLY want 3.42's.....I started looking again for a M6 rear to swap in. I wish I had a M6 in the first place...the A4 is just so boring to drive.

u get what u pay for with those lol...stainless is the way to go even tho it costs so much its worth it. Have u done searches to see how each set up would sound like? i would do that so u can get a pretty accurate idea as to the sounds. Theres plenty u can do to the auto to not make it boring lol trust me get rid of those gears and she will be a whole diff animal.

Yeah, I spent some time on LS1sounds.com, but I think that site isn't very helpful.

There's too many variables involved to really get a clear sense of what things actually sound like ...there's your computer speakers, the volume, the quality of the camera used to take the vid, how far it was from the car, did the guy running it know what he was doing, was it windy that day, etc, etc.

My first LS1 Formy was a M6 , and trust me, nothing you do to an auto is going to make it as enjoyable to drive as a M6. The auto makes a great cruiser, but nothing compares to rowing through the gears.

i vote lm2 especially on stock manifolds so at least youll hear it a lil bit

+3 on the hooker heres a vid of the day I put it on bone stock. (the Fabrication is for the tailpipes on the T/A bumper needed to trim the pipes a lil to fit where I have them) shouldn't be a prob on a formy.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...h_MOV01526.jpg

Magnaflow + cutout = best of both worlds

Magnaflow fan here too. Got one on my fourth gen. Also love the hooker, got one on my third gen lol.
Not a lm fan at all though. Always thought they sounded like poo. Even with low rpm cruising I can still hear the magnaflow with the tops off.

Yeah, I've been thinking more and more about this after talking with you last week.

Of course then I was thinking for the price of a MF and e-cutout, I could get a GMMG (there's a special on Tech, $579).

Magnaflow

if your gunna spend the money just get the gmmg

I like my hooker but for the extra $40 you'll luv the magnaflow. We're putten one on my brothers formy in June.

First long roadtrip with an LM and you will be ready to saw it off and throw it away, the drone at low RPM is unbearable

He's looking at the LM2 though, do they really drone that bad? I know the LM1 does.

yeah they're not any better

just like a disastermaster lol ive driven in LM cars one with just the cat back and one with full exhuast and i hated it lol

sounds like ur best bet is the magnaflow or the hooker with a cutout. but it all depends on ur preference everyones taste is diff.

If you're concerned about a catback not being loud enough the Magnaflow might not work for you, if you want stainless then the Hooker won't work, and if you're concerned about drone the LM2 might be a problem. Sounds like an e cutout might be your best bet.

ANY bullet type muffler will most likely drone pretty badly, they are just resonators. The Magnaflow is, admittedly, fairly timid at lower RPM but it definitely rips from Mid RPM and up

I LOVE my Magnaflow!!!!! For that reason right there. I can roll by cops without getting a ticket and can get on it and its just insane!!!

Maybe I'll go with the MF for this reason. I think cops in Newport will be cracking down over the summer, I don't want any tickets. Of course no way my car will be anywhere near as loud as all the damn bikes in town. Lat summer the Harleys riding up my street kept setting of my car alarm.

And as far as LM2 drone, I've been PMing with a few guys on tech who have it, and they say it's only noticeable right at 2k rpm. A little more or less rpm, and it goes away. One guy was almost ready to get the MF, and changed his mind at the last minute and went LM2. He tells me it was a good choice.

Thanks for all the replies btw.

I loved my Loudmouth. It was fuckin loud. Then I got my first ticket. And then my second. And my third. And finally got the "you need to prove that this eahaust is gone" ticket from a statey and it was over. And switching to the Magnaflow IMO couldnt have been a better move, I can even imagine how loud my car would be now with the headers, y, and cam and the Loudmouth.

Completely agree with both of them. Love the magnaflow on my car and wouldn't change it for anything. I drive by a lot of bored small town cops on my way home from work between 3 and 4 am and they haven't bothered me yet. But get on it and it sounds pretty good. Nice compromise imo.

My LM droned from about 1500-2500 then sounded great, unfortunately that is exactly the RPM range you cruise at on the highway. After driving to OC years ago I thought I would need new fillings! You may also fail tech at a street day/night at the track as it will be over the 90 DB limit

Edit: Magnaflow also makes more HP

Ehh? i could see it making more torque down low. but i doubt on the high end a more restrictive(not by Much But it IS) MF would make MORE power?

that would be a tuning issue IMO Or if for some reason the cam wanted a little more back pressure and in that case it would have to do with the motor being slightly over camed

I don't want to derail the thread but I read a great article once that explained in detail why backpressure is never a good thing, on any engine, with any cam, at any RPM. People sometimes misinterpret dyno results to say otherwise. There is however such a thing as having an exhaust that is too large a diameter for a given setup and that can hurt power.

All that being said I don't think a Magnaflow catback is in any way a significant restriction to a stock or even well modded LS1. It's 3" diameter and the muffler is basically a straight through design.

But to say that it will make more power OVER an LM2? hardly IMO

I could maybe see the LM1 resonator disrupting the scavenging effect because it is shaped like a bullet or a cat but it's hollow inside, rather than a nice straight run of 3" pipe, it gives the exhaust pulses somewhere to bounce around and slow down. Would you be able to quantify any of this with a dyno? Probably not.