|
I for one would never put an IMCO product on my vehicle. The quality control is a bit like throwing darts while blindfolded. It is ok I guess, but you can find much better stuff out there.
The Flowmasters flow OK, but is probably too loud for your tastes, as is most of the stuff out there. Remember, most performance products are trying to produce a satisfying sound. They are engineered to be loud.
I used to be a sponsor here, and I hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes here. I am just sharing my personal experiences with this. I have used Magnaflow, and found them to be far too loud. My mom's van was so loud (the shop said it would be quiet), that we had to put a second one in front of the first to take it to a reasonable level. It still drones on the highway, not not just a little. To those in the rear seat, the resonance is almost painful. I also have a Magnaflow on my old Mazda. It is very loud, and is a lot louder than it used to be. You see, as the packing inside settles and/or deteriorates, the muffler gets louder. Some will accept this as a fact of life.
For this reason, when I wanted to put a performance system on my van, I was certainly not going to use a Magnaflow again, and was afraid of all straight through mufflers. I used a Flowmaster 50 series type muffler. It was significantly quieter, but still had a mean sound. Even so, there was also a droning inside. It was well within reasonable levels, but on long trips, it will still get old.
We started selling the WickedFlow MAX series mufflers several years ago. Since they were a straight through muffler, I figured they would sound about the same as a Magnaflow or Borla or something like that. But to my surprise, my customers began telling me they were much quieter than expected. They were also telling me the sound was smoother and just more mellow in general.
One of my customers used one on his personal vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L. He frequently travels to Moab to do rock climbing and other offroad events. He had put a Magnaflow on it previously, which he liked at first, but after only a few weeks, the packing inside had deteriorated. Furthermore, the manufacturer didn't want to warranty it (they eventually did). He put the Wickedflow on, and also commented about the quietness. His has been on for a little over 2 years now, and believe it or not, still sounds exactly the same as it did when new. Notice how different this is versus products that get louder over time.
I have since switched the Flowmaster off my van and am now using a WickedFlow MAX. It has virtually no interior resonance. Not to say you can't hear the exhaust at all. But at freeway speeds, I get more wind noise and tire noise than I do exhaust noise. In fact, my van is actually quieter than stock. This was not a one time fluke either. My brother also has the same setup that I do (he also owns a newer year of the same van) and his is very quiet.
If you are looking for something that sounds great, and performs great without being loud, I'm gonna have to recommend WickedFlow. In your situation, because you have a large V8, The 22" muffler will be the one for you.
|