i was trying to upgrade my exhaust on a serious budget.... Does anyone have an educated opinion on if chopping the back end of the stock exhaust off, putting new aftermarket muffler and whatever 2.5 inch pipe to make it full again and a tip.... I am going to dish out the cash for headers and dp.... but thought based on the info i have seen could just mod the back end of the exhaust to get desired effect and save some money.... I know I know kinda some hillbilly **** but im not shellin out 700 bucks for a new catback.... just not gonna do it

 

Do this... CTI 2.5 Over Axel Replacement for after market muffler - Over The Top Performance

 

I have mandrel bent 2.5" stainless tubing from the resonator to the OEM muffler. Was kind of expensive and I don't know if it even did anything performance wise, but it definitely gave the car a deeper and more burbly exhaust note. Everything else is factory.

 

Last spring I went to my local exhaust shop to get my budget exhaust. They replaced the restrictive over-axle bends and put in a Dynomax muffler. My stock tip was put back on (it fitted perfectly). This, paired with my vibrant header/downpipe, sounds really nice and deep. I get compliments from everyone.

Make sure that your exhaust shop does Mandrel bends, rather than crush bending. For me it cost $16 of tubing and $95 for the total work. (tubing and muffler install)

PM me for pics

 

You going for sound and performance or performance and quiteness?

I went cti over the axel piping (like shown before) and ss/tc muffler..... not what I expected, thought or had in mind. It sounds louder than a tune lnf with dp..... sometimes I feel I drive a civic w a fartcan.... but there is no raspy sound.

Go dynomax or borla muffler , or Turbo sx (but this one I have seen on a ss/tc)

 

going for performance and quietness

 

Get TruBendz/Mandrel Exhaust Systems to make you up a Borla system. Cheaper then getting a factory Borla, just as good of quality, and better performance (You can get yourself 2.5 inch T-304 SS rather then 2.25 from Borla). You could even cheap out and get aluminized steel from them if you wanted and don't care how long it lasts.

 

stock tip fit perfect? 2 1/4 or 2.5 inch pipe? bought cti over the axle, going dynamax doing that all this week.... was trying to avoid buying autozone tip.... would love to reuse the OEM tip

 

I had a magnaflow muffler on the stock cat back tubing with a header and dp and it wasn't loud until I gutted the cat. I thought the cat was bad cause I was getting a little rattling. That was on a 3" dp. If you get a header and 2.5" dp with cat and just do a muffler you might like it. It is not very loud unless you're really on it. I just got the 2.5" zzp exhaust. Its pretty loud over 3k rpms. I am putting in another cat.

 

If you just want it to be loud and little or no performance gain, just cut off the muffler and put in some straight pipe. I get compliments all the time on how it sounds (kind of like a loud snomobile), except from the people riding in the backseat, there's alot of drone over 60mph.
Pros: sounds really awesome under bridges, tunnels, between buildings, etc., really cheap to do if you know someone with a welder.
Cons: gets really annoying on long journeys,
Just my 2 cents.

 

I ended up doing cti 2.5 over the axle with dynomax..... too much drone for my liking.... may add 2nd resonator come spring... unsure tho yet

 

I have the exact setup you have with dynomax muffler and cti 2.5 axle back piping and I love the sound. Trust me compared to say a magnaflow or borla exhaust its alot quieter. Before I did my custom exhaust I got a 2.5 tsudo exhaust and it was loud as hell combined with my header and downpipe. If you wanna quiet it down more I would cut out your stock resonator and weld in a longer one. No need for two resonators.

 

like a cherry bomb glass pack? or would you recommend something else?

 

2 resonators are fine. Don't get a cherry bomb. Heh. If it is still too loud you could add another muffler if there is room.

 

vibrant or magnaflow for resonators in my opinion. cherry bomb be ok in a pinch but your car woulbe still loud. the dynomax was a super turbo muffler right? if not thats why it may be louder.

 

when I was supercharged and NA, I removed from where it goes over the rear axle and put a borla muffler on. Sounded great!!!