Blavatsky

Yes that's right...the exhaust shop told me today by simply taking off the back 2 mufflers, the cabin would be "so loud you can't talk". I explained calmly that it was a common mod for the LS400, and should not be a big difference. Unphased, the owner told me that straight pipes replacing those deleted mufflers would make it "even worse, like a truck".

I kindly explained my main goal was looks (ie, nice chrome tips) and MAYBE some weight reduction or 1-2 hp gain tops. His basic story was anything I change on the car is going to make it sound like a camaro; no matter WHAT I put on it I can't keep it quiet.

What is it with some mechanics/shops? I had $400 in pocket to do some possibly substantial work, and instead got the usual BS story I think most import guys get, that we don't know our cars and anything we do that is not standard in a shop is going to cause problems.


So you muffler delete guys, how does it sound? I'm about a day away from taking to ANY other shop and have it done (tried myself but the pipes are corroded/rusted together). I know he was full of it, but please back me up.

anotherLS

iTrader: (9)

my friend did it on his GS400 and it wasn't that loud...sounded good actually, you can actually hear the deepness of a V8! he said he lost some bottom end...but gained on top end!

Kohinoor

iTrader: (22)

deleting any muffler on any car will make it substantially louder.. its not going to be quiet..

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

i ran the "classic" muffler delete on my '95 LS for well over a year and i can decisively say that the exhaust VOLUME does NOT change as much as the SOUND itself.

the volume increase is barely audible under 3000RPM but there is more depth and rumble in the tone of the exhaust.

no droning, echoing, or snorting.

and this is WITHOUT straight pipes, i just left the pipes alone where they ended around the rear axle.

also, for $400-500 you can get a full exhaust made in SoCal
i spent about 10mins spraying all the fixtures down with WD40 and then beating the living hell out of it with a big mallet.

came off like butter

when i put on my LSportline exhaust on my '99 i did the same thing, except had an exhaust shop weld the exhaust on (i dont like clamps) for <$40(with tax)

steveski

Pure is right it is not noticeably louder. I deleted the 2 resonators before the mufflers and had my local muffler shop connect new pipe segments. So I am running just the mufflers and 86'd the resonators and the car sounds great. It is a bit louder than a GS 430 - I like it. As for the cabin - I disagree as my setup did not make it louder in the cabin. It just rumbles now.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

So which of the two would you guys think is the nicer route not factoring in cost in this instance:

Remove resonators?
Remove rear mufflers?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

depends what you want.

if u remove just the rear mufflers u have the option of a full exhaust or even just a rear section in the future.

by removing the center mufflers u make a bolt on rear section pretty much unuseable.

Blavatsky

Cool, this is what I wanted to hear. I want the car to stay about the same volume unless I push it (3k and up). I think I'm gonna have a shop remove them and drive it, see how it sounds; if I think it needs the extra pipes to the back I'll do it.

And yeah, I wasn't going to GIVE them 400 for doing that, just an example of how a shop can run off decent money by being know-it-alls on a car they don't know.

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

Is there any gains at all? Someone said it added top end, and lost bottom end. I doubt I'd like that.

pito

I had my mufflers cut out and at idle it is nice and quite with a slight purr. When you give it some gas though, the V8 gets to breath out pretty good.

As far as gains, I didnt do it for that so I dont even notice it.

19psi

it's not loud at all. just enough so you can hear it with the windows down if you're on the throttle more than 20%. on the freeway, i can't tell at all that it's not stock. i would definitely remove the middle resonators and keep the rears for now. the sound is better. on my first LS i removed teh rear mufflers but it actually didn't sound much different than stock, only when i first started the engine could i hear it. this LS sounds much better. eventually i will install different rears but for now it works.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

Removing the mufflers will not make it loud never mind unbearable.Under WOT i can still carry a conversation quite easily and i only have 2 mufflers and no resonators just the Xpipe.
On a smaller car it would sound loud but not an LS> .
Removing the resonators is a better bet and would give you more gains than the mufflers due to there bad angles on the piping you would be replacing.
Here is apic of the poor design to best see what you are removing .

richonenz

My car is an import Celsior [ same as an LS but with a few more goodies !! ]
Anyhow when it arrived someone had removed the rear mufflers by cutting through the bend after the last join and welding in a piece of straight pipe and the weld was so bad one pipe had fallen off !!
It was still very quiet , I could barely hear it even with giving it a rev from outside the car with one foot on the throttle with the door open !!
I just fabed up a 3" pipe out from the last flange join , still super quiet from inside but outside you just get a nice burble .
The rear mufflers do almost nothing sound wise .

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

Very ugly exhaust lol. How does yours look SK? Comes straight from cats, into the X, follow a straight path to the mufflers at the rear?

steveski

I had the resonators cut out at the same time I modified my intake. As for sound at idle it is barely louder. I am not sure about performance increases but it pulls great low and high. It sounds awesome under load or mild driving. It definitely sounds like a V8 now. I have audio/video clips. I thought about replacing the mufflers with high flows. Pure is right......removing the resonators means more work in the end but I really like the sound it has now. I believe I paid around $75. Next I will run 2.250" straight pipes into an X pipe.