Technical Is there such a thing as quiet performance mufflers

Is that an ISO Rivolta? Beautiful.

 

I think the best are Smithys mufflers that are almost 3 feet long. I've heard a few guys say they had to change mufflers again because they're too quiet. They only come in like 2" sizes last I checked, though. Late model mufflers do flow very well, I've never noticed a performance increase in a late model just by removing the mufflers but it sure makes them louder. I'd look for some from a mustang because they still have a normal shape, Chrysler I know has a weird "suitcase" muffler. You may want to grab the resonators too but a glasspack before the muffler does the same thing and a lot of late models have a literal glasspack as a resonator.

 

I have Flowmaster series 55 ‘delta flow’ with 2 1/2 full length system- they have a well behaved tone at idle and cruise- not the loud bark or tone of the original 40 series . If you get on it they will talk - but no drumming or interior resonance whatsoever


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

This is what I run on my Ford, $55 each at Summit and are 20" long. They have gotten a little louder recently, they are only 7 months old. Good around town, nice rumble at idle and are loud when I jam my foot in the Holley.

 

Yes you are but that's ok. When I bought my '65 Bonneville I had the glass packs replaced with mufflers and I thought the same thing-I must be getting old....

 

I like a little noise but the magnaflows that are on it are getting obnoxious so time for a change,next will be the 37 as those short glasspacks are getting too loud too but since I do not drive it very far it is not that important.

 

My 64 Biscayne has mufflers that are a little too quiet when cruising at an event pedestrians don't get out of the way.

Loud pipes save lives.

 

I had a noise issue with the avatar. Twin 2.5" system with H pipes, two mufflers. 327 Chebbie. Would not pass the Aussie engineering tests as too noisy (102dBa). Local experts recommended Walker Turbo mufflers. Could not buy in Australia - had to have them imported. They were no quieter than the cheap local mufflers I started with.

Cheers,
Harv

 

I put 30" Brockmans on the Merc. Nice rumble but you can easily have a conversation. Best sound I've ever had on a hot rod or custom.

 

There are so many variables that would affect exhaust sound and performance, so it's too hard to sum up a general answer on this. Engine specs, cam profile, manifolds/headers, single or dual pipe, pipe diameter, pipe length, crossover (X/H), muffler type, muffler placement, tailpipe type/size, etc.

My suggestion is to go to a car show or cruise night, find a vehicle with a similar engine and see if you like the sound of it, when you find the one with the sound you like, do what they did.

 

I had straight 1 3/4 pipes going to the rear bumper. Couldn't hear them inside the car at all, but dang did it bark out back! I did have a short set of Brockman's once and I like them.

 

Might be a dumb idea.............not my first one.

I had a mid size Dodge truck with a V8 and put some new and hopefully reasonably quiet mufflers. They were the supposedly quiet Flowmasters. They were annoying, so I cut a slit in the tailpipe and inserted a large washer in place. It didn't completely block the pipe (concentric) but rather just made a small dam like a half circle or eclipse. I added a couple more with a little space between each and gradually the sound came down.

Now for the idea.........
I was wondering if someone took a larger size pipe and put some baffles (3 or 4) in it that could pivot. Then either a throttle cable or an electric solenoid to control the movement. If someone had a louder muffler than they like, inserting something like that into the tailpipe would allow someone to tune the noise level to the occasion.

 

Amazon.com: Spark Arrestor, 10 Stainless with 2 Clamp On Inlet, Compatible with Dune Buggy : Automotive

 

Never did change the mufflers,will be yanking the drivetrain out of that car when I find a nice 2 door body to put it in. Will most likely just measure the mufflers and see what I can find that are the same size that are a bit quieter,since I posted this question I picked up a 65 Mercury and put stock mufflers on it but might be too quiet but it is nice not hearing any noise.

 

Hello,

Our history goes back to the 51 Oldsmobile in 1955-57 leading into the new 1958 Impala from 1957 to 1965. Dual pipes with matching mufflers was the hot ticket. Noise did not make it go any faster, other wise, directly, a faster ticket from the local police or CHP. Lakes side pipes welded to an exhaust pipe coming from the downtube off the stock header was also tried. Removing the lakes pipes due to hitting everything in sight on any road surface with a lowered rake car ended that experiment.

Then dual exhausts with chrome tips out of the rear was the only way to drive around in a safe and sane manner. We tried the exhaust outlet on side, in front of the rear tire, but, it brought in smoke fumes. We also tried the area behind the rear tire, it still brought in fumes and noise. Both places made too much noise, even with the windows closed. So, out of the rear, below the bumper was the only way to get performance and sanity when cruising around.

Most Pep Boys or accessory shops had short tubular mufflers that were too loud, (CHP ticket material) but our choice in 1959 was a tubular, stock factory muffler for a Corvette. With no rear exhaust pipe it was very powerful and loud. Almost like open headers. But, as soon as we put on the rear exhaust pipe, over the hump and beyond the bumper tips, it was a good sound, as well as being mellow. The straight tube flow improved performance versus the angle direction inside of a regular baffled muffler.

In most of the Chevy sedans from the early 60s to the late 60s, the stock mufflers were the main usage. No one put on individual length, fender headers until the late 60s when the gas coupes were leaving and folks tended to become remnants of the old street legal drag racing classes.

Jnaki
Everyone will have a story about the different mufflers, but noise is not a factor when your motor does all of talking for your hot rod or cruising sedan. These days, the mustangs, camaro cars and hemi dodge sedans are now all lumped into “idiots with bee buzzer mufflers” as they definitely are guilty of acting like idiots on the streets of So Cal and elsewhere. In addition to making legal mufflers backfire and when accelerating, then letting off, makes the power sound like non tuned 6 cylinder motors...YRMV

NOTE:

We learned early how to lower the open exhaust sound when near CHP patrols or the local police cars. The one drive-in restaurant parking lot had a rear alley driveway that ran parallel to the main parking lot entrance in Bixby Knolls. Most turned into the main entrance driveway. Then idled across the whole lot with the open exhaust rumbling as the car cruised by.

Then if there was a space open in the preferred back row, the carload of teens went around the block to pull right into the angled parking spaces. If not, then another cruise into the main entrance for a different parking space.

Sometimes, people would go up the back alley driveway and continue to accelerate down the alley making a louder rumbling noise. That usually brought the local police to check out those that looked like they could have open exhausts, illegally opened. So, those runs were few per night, but did happen.

We almost could tell who was making the drive with the exhaust noises, unless someone got headers or a new set of mufflers. Then someone gets a new set of mufflers and throws the whole memory banks in a tizzy when the idle and acceleration is a new sound no one has ever heard before... Idling and slow acceleration is just as nice as a full acceleration blast...

But, to get the rumbling motor sound, we had to crawl underneath and unbolt the caps of the exhaust outlets. After a race or long night of cruising, someone had to crawl under and cap up the two outlets for quiet cruising near local police or learn quickly, how to almost silence the sound with higher RPMs.

When I was given a set of Corvette tubular mufflers, I had them installed and our local muffler guy measured everything for an over the axle and out below the rear bumper was the custom route. We knew the minus facts of the locations of: in front of the rear wheels, behind the rear wheels and short stubby straight pipes ending at the rear axle.

Note2:

Our dad comes home one day with a trunk full of two tubular mufflers and accessory fittings and chrome tips. At first, they were called truck tubular mufflers from the Chevrolet dealer parts list. Then later, it was designated Corvette off road mufflers. What? Take a Corvette off road? But, we had our local muffler shop make some modifications to our muffler system and add in these two tubular mufflers.

At first, he did not have time to do the full custom piping to the rear and that he would get everything ready, partially assembled. When he was ready, we could spend the afternoon putting the finishing touches on the Impala. So, we had him weld on the tubular mufflers and drove off. Whoa! What a sound that came from just short tips on the muffler. Even with the windows up, it was as if we were rumbling in the staging area of Lion’s Dragstrip ready to make a run.

When we accelerated, the sound increased to absolutely sounding like a race car coming off of the line at Lion’s Dragstrip. So, we eventually found a satisfactory RPM to mellow out the sound for the sanity of our ears. It was difficult to take the Impala out on a date, as it was hard to keep a conversation going when cruising around. The noise and shifting moments made it sound as if we were constantly racing.

It certainly made everyone at the local drive-in think we just installed a 671 supercharger on our motor and decided to go into the Gas Coupe/Sedan Class. But, it was still stock and now, sounding very nice, like a full on race car. We even tried short exhaust tips in front of the rear wheels to see any improvement in sound, to no avail.


A couple of weeks later, the rest of the muffler system was ready. After installation, the sound was still very strong sounding, but so much quieter with the exhaust system going out of the back below the bumper. The interior was a lot quieter and it made driving around pleasant. If one was to accelerate on a full power stomp, the overall sound was pretty outstanding for a 348 Impala.

Today, there are newer versions with legal sounds for any situations. For the best performance, a straight through piping system is better than one that takes different reflections inside of a flat muffler. These never made a popping sound or the sound that the modern day Magnaflow style tubular muffler replacements make. (For shifting pauses or letting off of the gas.)

Some people think it is cool, but as most know, it is those modern day cars with motors and loud mufflers that are the ones that make real hot rod guys/girls cringe. An “Idiot with a Mustang,” ( Chrysler or Camaro) with loud mufflers is/are the downfall of normal hot rod scene. YRMV

We learned that when the RPMs were at a certain level even the open exhausts sound of the modified 348 motor quieted down so it was almost not heard standing next to the car. That was one way to drive by a local police car or CHP cruising down the main drag near the two local drive-in parking lots.

I came up with the idea of a slit in one side of the exhaust outlet. Now, the bolt could slide into the slit and be twisted tight with a wingnut. It was not something we all did all of the time. But, if a big encounter was planned for the nearby Cherry Avenue Drags location the caps came off and the straight pipe exhaust outlet sound appeared. The ground crawl, the easy reach and flip to close was very fast. No more burned fingers or a black gloved hand, if and when fast cap-up was necessary.
Modified Master @themoose
Thanks... It was a pleasure to be able to drive and cruise with the custom car look. It also surprised many that the Impala was powerful enough with the motor mods and a C&O Stick Hydro for those instant stop light starts across an empty intersection before the opponent was spending his time waiting for his brain to kick in… at the sight of the green light…Ha! The plus factor was the full length exhaust piping to the rear bumper and those straight through tubular Corvette mufflers. Power plus mild performance sound… all in one package.

Note 3:

Be careful if you decide on Magnaflow Mufflers. Normally, Magnaflow Mufflers are top notch and have a good reputation. But, the recent comments about the backfiring, popping sound is not too cool for any hot rod, unless you are one of those that ruins car show or public display of cars. Or even cruising down the road and have to stop for a red stop sign or light.

Our neighbor sold his cool M3 and that had wonderful powerful stock sounds on acceleration and when he came to a stop, nothing happened. But, these days, for some oddball reason, he got rid of the M3 and got a new Mustang with mufflers that sounds loud and when he lets off of the gas pedal, the popping starts right away. I heard him accelerate down the street and when the shift hit, the popping sound came into play, between shifts. When he slowed down for a red stop sign, immediate backfiring came into play, not good!

It is your car and sound choice, but Mustangs give cool cars a bad name from quite some time ago... "idiot in a Mustang..." ruining old So Cal Cars and Coffee events and neighborhood car shows. Now, it is a laughing matter when any Mustang is seen. At least try and hear the mufflers you want and make sure the popping sound does not come into play. YRMV

Performance mufflers? If they are straight through, the performance is better than the baffled, channeled piping inside of wide mufflers. Less restrictive flow, but, most straight through mufflers are louder than normal. Therefore, there is the need for the long pipes over the hump to the rear bumper.

 

If you have the room , I’ve used in the past A/M stock style mufflers . ( 5.0 lite mustang , camaro , v8 “ something “)

there cheap , easy to get and quite down the car , but when you hit the go pedal you get some noise if you have a built engine .

having this issue with my 40 merc with a built 302 , it’s loud !! I like it but don’t .

I have space constraints so thinking of adding resonators behind the mufflers that are on it .

 

quiet but good sounding would be a stock muffler design for a 60s hemi or big cubeCadillac. and a balance tube before the mufflers.

 

im going for the 30" smithys with a full 2" system for my '57 ford.

 

Define quite!

 

You mean quiet ?

 

quite
/kwīt/
adverb

1. To the utmost or most absolute extent or degree; absolutely; completely.
"It's quite out of the question."

2. To a certain or fairly significant extent or degree; fairly.
"It's quite warm outside."

 

I was remembering the 60s 'chambered pipes' and went Googling. Found these guys:
https://www.classicchambered.com/store/index.asp
Any experience here with this product? Seems reasonably priced for a nice heavy stainless product.

 

Love em…..but quiet they ain’t…I have them on my Falcon..hot 11:1 289, 2.5” exhaust, dumped at the rear axle…didn’t want to sound like every other Flowmaster having SBF…so I went with these….car gets tons of compliments on the sound..but your not sneaking out of the neighborhood…also liked the ease of install..small body easy to run in line…also made right here in the hood old USA and the owner met me and hand delivered my pair to me..

my review…