exhaust balanced tube
- Thread starter denny
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I like it because of the cool factor and I think it does make the exhaust sound better. But you are right...a PITA
Exhaust was brand new on mine when I got the car. X pipe with Flowmasters. To this day, it's the ONLY part of the car I've not had to mess with. But the X pipe will be GONE when this system rots away. It's totally unnecessary for the stock 350 that blows through it. Chit... even the headers are unnecessary. They'll be gone too when I replace the system in favor of stock manifolds.
Had American Racing Headers build me a custom 3" Stainless system, headers, etc. and originally had X pipe. For me it wasn't at all about performance difference but sound.
Coming from previous straight duals (2.5") with no crossover, I hated the way the X pipe sounded by comparison, so we switched it to an H pipe and it sounds so much better. Everyone's ear for their exhaust note/tone will be different of course.
The X pipe sounded very raspy/buzzy at low/part throttle (not enough deep tone) but great at WOT. The H pipe got the low/part throttle deeper tone back which is the majority of driving I do. WOT sounds as good or better than X pipe, again to my ear...YMMV
Can't say anything but great things about Nick at ARH, and the crew there, top notch work and wonderful to deal with.
Coming from previous straight duals (2.5") with no crossover, I hated the way the X pipe sounded by comparison, so we switched it to an H pipe and it sounds so much better. Everyone's ear for their exhaust note/tone will be different of course.
The X pipe sounded very raspy/buzzy at low/part throttle (not enough deep tone) but great at WOT. The H pipe got the low/part throttle deeper tone back which is the majority of driving I do. WOT sounds as good or better than X pipe, again to my ear...YMMV
Can't say anything but great things about Nick at ARH, and the crew there, top notch work and wonderful to deal with.
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I like to think I have done it all when it comes to exhaust combos.
Hot 305 (LOL) with shorty headers into catted 3" single dumped bullet.
355 with cheap long tubes into dual 3" dumped Dodge Caravan mufflers, and cheap long tubes into dual catted 3" side-exit bullets.
Stock LS1 with cat delete pipes and a cutout (horrible sound - but effective); this would later get heads/cam/intake work, long-tubes, catted 3" duals with an x-pipe into chambered mufflers.
Stock LS2 with a 40-series FlowMaster; and later cat-deletes into a dual 3" system with an internal x-pipe Magnaflow muffler. Then we added a Procharger and catted long-tubes (that really woke it up).
Turbo V6 with a 3" catless downpipe, dumped, Hooker duals, and a 4" single Magnaflow. They all sound strange.
And now we are looking to put a catless dumped 4" system on the Monte' turbo LS with a home-made bullet.
My point? Sound is very subjective - but, one of the biggest factors is the engine in front of it all.
The lack of cats and a balance pipe can really degrade sound quality as there is very little to smooth the exhaust pulses; and the turbine side of a turbo is a big sound blender.
Hot 305 (LOL) with shorty headers into catted 3" single dumped bullet.
355 with cheap long tubes into dual 3" dumped Dodge Caravan mufflers, and cheap long tubes into dual catted 3" side-exit bullets.
Stock LS1 with cat delete pipes and a cutout (horrible sound - but effective); this would later get heads/cam/intake work, long-tubes, catted 3" duals with an x-pipe into chambered mufflers.
Stock LS2 with a 40-series FlowMaster; and later cat-deletes into a dual 3" system with an internal x-pipe Magnaflow muffler. Then we added a Procharger and catted long-tubes (that really woke it up).
Turbo V6 with a 3" catless downpipe, dumped, Hooker duals, and a 4" single Magnaflow. They all sound strange.
And now we are looking to put a catless dumped 4" system on the Monte' turbo LS with a home-made bullet.
My point? Sound is very subjective - but, one of the biggest factors is the engine in front of it all.
The lack of cats and a balance pipe can really degrade sound quality as there is very little to smooth the exhaust pulses; and the turbine side of a turbo is a big sound blender.
I think crossover pipes are like roller rocker arms. There can be gains but everything has to be just right or it is another nuisance that may actually lose power. Only go with an X or H pipe for sound. I have also found one system on my G body did not sound good on my 70S. Many things can affect sound. I want a crossover to lower the sound. Even the factory uses crossover pipes but even the 6 cylinders put out 100+ hp over the G bodies HO V8's. My 17 Challenger 305 hp V6 has an X pipe but only has a small balance hole, not a completely open X pipe. Would FCA do it if there was no gain, probably not. The people who have replaced it with an open x pipe says it sounds different, no doubt it would
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TURNA - If you're asking me, it was done a little over 3yrs ago, cost about $2800 for the complete custom build, and install. The headers are 1 7/8" primary to 3" collectors full stainless. ARH has since come out with a G Body Header Back kit that was actually developed on a friend's 84 Cutlass you see in the videos for the kit on their site.
HTH
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