The crappiest exhaust system system you've ever heard.....

[Cranky]

It seems like I’ve always lived in areas with a lot of noise.
Growing up I lived near an airbase and also the approach path of one busy runway at O Hare.
The military stuff gave me goosebumps! The O Hare planes were sometimes irritating.
I live pretty close to a busy train line now, mostly commuter trains and some freight. Doesn’t bother me. Even when the house shakes slightly when a train is passing.
And theres a busy intersection by me where one 4 lane road parallels the tracks.
There’s always some car, truck or bike noise that irritates me a lot.
-straight pipe harleys
-fart can tuners
- Jake brake equipt trucks, rare here except for a local towing company whose drivers are very proud of the Jake brake on their kenworth roll off.
-late model mustangs which have exhausts that sound like a raspy double fart can.
-woofers with the volume turned up to 11 playing rap while at that intersection near me.
-and the latest and perhaps the most irritating car noise of all I’ve ever endured, modified to constantly backfire!! Who thought that up and why is it cool??

Used to live about an 1/8 mile (if that much) from a set of tracks at an intersection. At night, the engineer tried to be more quiet with the horn by doing short blasts. That was worse than just leaning on it imo.

Most of the irritating exhaust harmonics were absorbed by the turbo.

Yup....my Dodge diesel is straight piped and although it is louder, it's not as loud as I thought it would be.

This is what it sounds like around here sometimes.

The running joke with Viper owners when I had my ‘97 coupe was the exhaust tone sounded like a UPS truck. Loved the car, but driving the car at “around town” speed, the resonating inside the car was awful. I eventually put in a Corsa exhaust and that helped a little.

Drove several Vipers and never noticed that....but didn't do much around town driving either.

..I have Flos on on my 66 Hemi Charger for many years and at least 2 sets of mufflers over the last 25 years. I use 2 chamber small block style mufflers, 3 inch in and out, full length tail pipes , cast iron manifolds, 2.5 head pipes with a free flowing balance tube. NO drone at all, sounds like a Cup car, neighbor kids love it..dont know about the parents, all my car buds and Mopar peeps approve!!! I think too many guys just dump the exhaust with no tail pipes and the resonation sounds from under the car causes most of the drone. To each , do what you like!!!

I think Flows sound better on bigger engines.....

cherry bombs for the win!

Bought a 65 Mustang FB with a 289 auto in the mid 70's and it had Smithy's on it with side exits just in front of the rear tires. Sounded like bombs somewhat but maybe quieter? They were loud when on the gas hard and sounded like shot gun blasts when going into the Baytown tunnel doing 60 and shutting off the key, then pumping the gas pedal then turning the key back on

 

[1967coronet]

One of my favorite sounding exhaust set up was a lumpy cam V8 with cheap ringing headers coupled to those thrush bolt on header mufflers.
Thats it, ends before the cross member.
Holley running way to rich burning 1970s premium.
I can hear and smell it now.

 

[eldubb440]

One of my favorite sounding exhaust set up was a lumpy cam V8 with cheap ringing headers coupled to those thrush bolt on header mufflers.
Thats it, ends before the cross member.
Holley running way to rich burning 1970s premium.
I can hear and smell it now.

you just described the 68 Chevelle I had at 17

 

[33 IMP]

First, let me say, loud doesn't bother me much, if it sounds good! The new fuel injected pony cars that have loud exhausts universally sound like s#!t.
I had a little sho contour V6 that I really liked the sound, tho I can't take credit, previous owner did the exhaust. It wasn't real loud but the tone was nice. Nicest sounding V6 I've ever heard.
My favorite system is the system I built for my 62. Hooker adjustable headers into 3.5 in/3.5 out flowmasters, full tailpipes to the bumper. Leftover 3.5 pipes were used with hooker aeros on my Tina. Liked that sound too.

 

[66ChargerHI-PO]

Souped up 4 banger Hondas

YEEESSSS!!!! I can’t stand those, the fart cans as we call em. They sound like gunshots when they take off and slow down. Or jap bikes too I don’t particularly like, I’ll take a straight pipe Harley anyday

 

[eldubb440]

YEEESSSS!!!! I can’t stand those, the fart cans as we call em. They sound like gunshots when they take off and slow down. Or jap bikes too I don’t particularly like, I’ll take a straight pipe Harley anyday

you are wise beyond your years

 

[33 IMP]

One of my favorite sounding exhaust set up was a lumpy cam V8 with cheap ringing headers coupled to those thrush bolt on header mufflers.
Thats it, ends before the cross member.
Holley running way to rich burning 1970s premium.
I can hear and smell it now.

you just described the 68 Chevelle I had at 17

Mine too, but mine was a 57 Chevy. 350 LT1, hooker headers, and glass pack header mufflers with ALL the packing blown out. Hit the muffler with a wrench, it rang like a bell. 95% of uncorked.


To be honest, even at 21, it got old fast. I had an alternate set of turbo style mufflers, with too-small pipes. Lots quieter, but felt like a cork up its butt.

 

[33 IMP]

In my opinion...
The viper coupes with tailpipes out the back sounded WAY better than the side pipes on the first generation viper roadsters. (Didn't care for the three spoke wheels on the roadsters either, at all!)
I have fenderwell headers on one of my cars, and side exits in front of the tires. (No room to put the mufflers anyplace but the rocker panels)
It's quiet, with 3" magnaflows, but the driver basically hears only half of the V8 sound. Not my favorite situation. Sounds like a boat.

 

[AR67GTX]

Corvette guys either hate them or love them - and they can be tough to live with at times. But I still like them.

 

[Detective D]

I hate the half hearted ricer alterations. Won't spend enough to put an actual system on the car, but decides to spend enough to add a giant tip and then cut the muffler out.

However, the absolute worst thing I have ever heard was back in the mid 90's on a coworker's late 80's(square yet) 4cyl. Ford Ranger. His muffler rotted, and the cat was plugging. He cut it all off, and then welded a threaded end to the downpipe off the manifold. Why threaded? because he used galvanized pipe, complete with 90 degree elbows, to run a straight pipe to a rear exit under the bumper. Well, straight is not the right word.....
Not only did he utterly destroy his scavenging by using multiple 90's, there was ZERO actual sound reduction. At idle, it just made this really loud humming/buzzy noise, and when he would pull out of the parking lot and run the RPM up as he shifted(manual) it turned into a sound like a million angry bees being shot at by two dozen M1 rifles. Every time he let off to shift there was a massive backfire POP complete with a little fire. I can't imagine how hot that must have gotten when that mass of steel got heat soaked. It turned into a spectacle after work as we would all wait to see him leave.
No idea what inspired him to do that, worst thing was it was actually a nice truck it was that medium blue color and he had added a small chrome rollbar to the bed and found some 15" white wagon wheels for it.


More on topic of muscle car exhaust, I used to love 1990's Borla, but despised 1990's "American Thunder" drone master/rasp master systems. Borla of course jumped all over the "X pipe" craze and turned their systems into a raspy, poppy, obnoxiously loud waste of time. Meanwhile, I just put a Flowmaster 50 series on my 8.1 Chevy and it is one of the nicest sounding systems I have heard since my Mustang combo. So things change lol.

This thread reminded me of this video I watched a while back, related: