[scsi]

I am looking at the Flowmaster Hushpower dBX Muffler (12414310) compared to a Magnaflow Round (12615), both are 6" round by 14" long with 2.25" inlet and outlet. I was wondering if anyone would happen to have experience with the two, or at least experience with each line in general, and can comment on the noise level of each? I'm looking to build a light weight yet quiet custom exhaust system for autox. I discovered that the Flowmaster is lighter at 9lbs vs the Magnaflow at 10lbs, but would like to hear comments if possible on the sound volume and sound quality of each as well.

Thanks!

 

[spitefulcheerio]

General rule of thumb: magnaflow > flowmaster

Flowmaster chambered mufflers are quieter but restrict exhaust flow

 

[240Terrorist]

I just had a Flowmaster DBX installed on my NA. Header-stock cat-2.25" piping to muffler w/tip. Best sounding exhaust I have ever had. It is real quiet when you're just cruising driving normally, but when you press the gas hard the real sound comes out. Very deep quiet-ish sorta 350z euro sounding style lol. I'll get a vid up eventually but I got 4 days off and I'm blazin and chilling.

 

[scsi]

General rule of thumb: magnaflow > flowmaster

Flowmaster chambered mufflers are quieter but restrict exhaust flow

could the flowmaster possibly be more restrictive than OEM? my main concerns are weight and keeping the noise level down, any gain in power at all would be a plus but im not looking to maximize power or anything. now if it actually reduces power, that might be a different story

I just had a Flowmaster DBX installed on my NA. Header-stock cat-2.25" piping to muffler w/tip. Best sounding exhaust I have ever had. It is real quiet when you're just cruising driving normally, but when you press the gas hard the real sound comes out. Very deep quiet-ish sorta 350z euro sounding style lol. I'll get a vid up eventually but I got 4 days off and I'm blazin and chilling.

really excited to see your vid! keep me posted!

 

[spitefulcheerio]

could the flowmaster possibly be more restrictive than OEM? my main concerns are weight and keeping the noise level down, any gain in power at all would be a plus but im not looking to maximize power or anything. now if it actually reduces power, that might be a different story

if youre not looking to maximize power like i was, then a flowmaster could be okay. its still very restrictive but probably a little better than OEM. I went through a few different itterations of my exhaust. Ill go through the steps and describe the sound level.

1. I started with stock header, stock cat stok catback
2. I had a 2.25" catback made and retained the stock cat. I used a magnaflow straight through muffler with no resonator. Under normal driving conditions, it was quiet and had a deep, low growl. At WOT it would fart and would very raspy. Very minimal gains up top notcied.
3. Replace the stock header with a longtube header. This didnt make it much louder during normal driving. Very deep, manly sound that was smooth until the top of the RPM range (6000-7000). Then it would rasp out again. This setup is perfect for most people. I noticed minimal gains down low, if any, and a small increase from mid to up top.
4. (Heres where the hunt for horsepower took over) I removed the cat. This made the entire thing much louder and wayyyyy too raspy. It drove me crazy but there was a noticeable gain through the entire RPM range.
5. Removed the magnflow muffler and replaced it with a magnaflow resonator. This didnt change the sound level, it changed the tone. It made it much lower and took out most of the rasp. This setup easily provied me with the most HP but the drone at 70mph can drive other people crazy. My passengers hate it most of the time. Its forced me to drive much easier on the car when Im not racing so Ive actually saved money on gas haha.

All iterations of my exhaust were tested in a race against the same miata every single time. My buddies stock 03 miata. We would do 3rd gear pulls from 1500rpms until redline and compared distances before and after using go pro cameras and gps things. It wasnt perfect but it helped me understand where the gains were being made. Being a poor college student, I cant afford dyno time every other week when i decide to change something.

 

[1vicissitude]

General rule of thumb: magnaflow > flowmaster

Flowmaster chambered mufflers are quieter but restrict exhaust flow

Hushpower Dbx is not chambered, I was going to reply the same but I looked into it. It's design is very similar to maganflows with the baffled pipe inside a single chamber. The only difference is I think the hushpower actually has two baffled tubes that channel into each other. Claims to cancel sound waves, I have no clue if it works. I just thought I'd point out this isn't a normal flowmaster. In theory it sounds awesome.

 

[spitefulcheerio]

Yeah I've heard of that muffler! I should've mentioned it. I said "general rule of thumb" for a reason haha.

That muffler is supposed to be somewhere between a standard Flowmaster and a standard Magnaflow in terms of flow and sound

 

[scsi]

thanks so much for the feedback guys! this is definitely reassuring and im leaning strongly toward the hushpower now. lighter and sounds like it'll be quieter compared to a similarly sized magnaflow. plus it sounds like it shouldnt kill power too much which is great!

really appreciate you sharing your experiences! would you happen to recall the part numbers of the magnaflow muffler and then the resonater that replaced it?

 

[spitefulcheerio]

no but they dont have many options for mufflers. The resonator is the shortest one they sell in 2.25 in/out.

just cecked...the muffler part number was 11215

 

[PookieBear]

I had many magnaflow mufflers before , and they all sound better than most mufflers out there.

 

[scsi]

no but they dont have many options for mufflers. The resonator is the shortest one they sell in 2.25 in/out.

just cecked...the muffler part number was 11215

thanks! i was asking because i found 8 mufflers of various size when searching for 2.25" in/out for round and for oval with center/offset

the 11215 is exactly like one on my list except is center-center so i will definitely keep that in mind as far as sound goes! do you have a sound clip or vid by chance?

 

[spitefulcheerio]

you dont want a round muffer (aka glasspack or resonator) i only have one of those in my exhaust right now and its the very loud one. You want an oval style muffler.

I dont have sound clips, sorry.

 

[1vicissitude]

There are some pretty big round mufflers though... body size makes a big difference.

 

[scsi]

are all round mufflers glasspack or resonators? what exactly is the difference between a muffler and a resonator?

 

[spitefulcheerio]

A mufflers muffle and resonators resonate.

Mufflers are designed to absorb and distribute sound waves to reduce total noise output. Resonators are designed to smooth the tone out and remove rasp using a specific resonance.

 

[scsi]

hm, on both magnaflow's and flowmaster's websites, everything is advertised as a muffler. this is getting more confusing lol

 

[ls1motorsports]

Just recently had my exhaust redone on my 99. Had a local shop bend and weld up 2.25 inch piping header back took the resonator out, kept the cat and put a flowmaster super 44 series on it with a 3 inch tip. Before, I use to have no cat just straight 2.5 inch all the way back to a can and it was pretty loud. It got annoying for daily driving and commuting. Overall the 44's sound great. A nice mellow low sound and grumble. I didn't have an issue with the higher rpm or wot raspyness. Surprisingly the 3 inch tip changed the tone on it a lot, especially at idle. Before it would sound really airy; now it just has a nice small rumble. Personally super 44's with no resonator is my favorite so far for daily driving. Not too loud, not too quiet, and not too ricey