Exhaust
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
Oh God...here we go with one of the "what sounds best" threads.
Sound is totally 100% up to you. Do you want it loud or quiet? Raspy or smooth? Ricey or manly?
Loud: Flowmaster 40 series...good deep sound.
Quiet: some of the other Flowmasters as well as the Magnaflow and Gibson are both louder than stock, but not overly loud, just a little rumble.
Raspy: Glasspack on a 3.0L doesn't sound horrible, will make it a raspy sound.
Smooth: Classic Chambered, that's what I run, www.classicchambered.com
Ricey: Glasspacks will give a ricey sound, as will those crap mufflers at Autozone.
Manly: Basically everything here but the glasspacks will give a deeper tone, but nothing will make a 3.0L sound like a V8...it's too small of a displacement engine.
So exactly what kind of sound do you want? Are you looking for just a muffler, a cat back, or a total replacement from the headers back? What kinda exit do you want, out the bumper, out the side, single or dual? Are you looking for performance or just sound? All of these are very important choices that make the "best" exhaust for you.
Welcome to FTE.
Sound is totally 100% up to you. Do you want it loud or quiet? Raspy or smooth? Ricey or manly?
Loud: Flowmaster 40 series...good deep sound.
Quiet: some of the other Flowmasters as well as the Magnaflow and Gibson are both louder than stock, but not overly loud, just a little rumble.
Raspy: Glasspack on a 3.0L doesn't sound horrible, will make it a raspy sound.
Smooth: Classic Chambered, that's what I run, www.classicchambered.com
Ricey: Glasspacks will give a ricey sound, as will those crap mufflers at Autozone.
Manly: Basically everything here but the glasspacks will give a deeper tone, but nothing will make a 3.0L sound like a V8...it's too small of a displacement engine.
So exactly what kind of sound do you want? Are you looking for just a muffler, a cat back, or a total replacement from the headers back? What kinda exit do you want, out the bumper, out the side, single or dual? Are you looking for performance or just sound? All of these are very important choices that make the "best" exhaust for you.
Welcome to FTE.
Thread Starter
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New User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
I was planning to just replace the muffler and then have the exhaust pipe turn down a few inches from the muffler so its hidden. I know that my little 3.0 will never sound like a V-8 but I was looking for something more throaty, i heard a Ranger with magnaflows that sounded pretty good so I was leaning towards that, I just wanted to see how other Ranger owners went.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
Well...having run my truck with a Flowmaster, open pipes, and then a Classic Chambered muffler, I can give stories on those. I've also heard a 3.0L with a Flowmaster and rear exits, as well as a glasspacked 3.0.
A Flowmaster with turndowns is loud. Been there done that on the Ranger...have it current only a Silverado. It will drown out everything during acceleration.
IMO, nothing sounds as good as open pipes, but that's not legal in a lot of places, and it's loud if you're not into that.
The Classic Chambered muffler kinda gave me the best of both worlds...a pure Flowmaster style "chambered" sound, quiet most of the time but loud and flow-through when I want it to be (hard acceleration). Enough of a rumble to know it's there, but not enough to drown out the radio, again, unless I want it to.
A Flowmaster with turndowns is loud. Been there done that on the Ranger...have it current only a Silverado. It will drown out everything during acceleration.
IMO, nothing sounds as good as open pipes, but that's not legal in a lot of places, and it's loud if you're not into that.
The Classic Chambered muffler kinda gave me the best of both worlds...a pure Flowmaster style "chambered" sound, quiet most of the time but loud and flow-through when I want it to be (hard acceleration). Enough of a rumble to know it's there, but not enough to drown out the radio, again, unless I want it to.
Senior User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Overland Park, KS
With the right exhaust system you can indeed have a small engine sound like a big V8. In fact, I custom modified the exhaust system on my '79 Honda CB650 SOHC-4 motorcycle and it literally sounds like a V8. Reminds me of my old '79 F250 with a 400 Torino GT engine and straight pipes (broke off behind the cat). If you chamber it right, it will sound good.
I hate the sound of rice, so I don't think I'd go with glasspacks on my little 2.5L-4. I'd rather run straight pipes. I've only heard Classic Chambered mufflers on their website, and it's all of V8's so I don't know what it'd sound like on a smaller engine. Likewise with the flowmasters, I've not heard them on a 4 or 6 cylinder engine. Anybody know of any recordings?
I hate the sound of rice, so I don't think I'd go with glasspacks on my little 2.5L-4. I'd rather run straight pipes. I've only heard Classic Chambered mufflers on their website, and it's all of V8's so I don't know what it'd sound like on a smaller engine. Likewise with the flowmasters, I've not heard them on a 4 or 6 cylinder engine. Anybody know of any recordings?
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
I've never heard any I4, V4, V6, I6, etc sound like a V8...it just doesn't happen. When they're revved up, it's so easy to tell that they're small engines.
http://exhaustsoundclips.com/default.html
http://exhaustsoundclips.com/default.html
Senior User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Overland Park, KS
It's probably because my engine has a 180 deg crank and true dual exhaust. It does sound like a V8, up to about 4000rpm. Above that, it sounds like a pissed off V8. I've been trying to get a recording but all of the microphones keep clipping the audio...
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
It's a motorcycle as well...so it's emissions-free, correct? That would help a LOT, a horizontally opposed, cammed, emissions-free, true dual four banger would have a much better exhaust setup than any I4 or V6 crammed into a pickup.
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Senior User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Overland Park, KS
Yep. Though it's an in-line 4. No catalytic converter, and no emissions controls (though they did lean the mixture out from the factory, which I had to change lol). True dual exhaust on a SOHC-4 sounds pretty sick IMO. I agree, though, that it'd be hard to make the typical 4-cylinder setup sound good without it sounding ricey. Custom dual headers would be needed along with dual exhaust.