Exhaust mods

Exactamundo! The MFER-1 kits are an essential first step in any exhaust modification.

 

Just curious if you’ve noticed any performance differences? Are you still running the stock intake?

 

My intake is all stock. Exhaust and intake don't generally produce any measurable performance increases. Even when done 100% right. Especially on cars like ours that come very well equipped from a performance standpoint. To be honest, quite a lot of exhaust and intake mods I've seen could most likely prove to have netted performance DECREASES, but since they made the car louder the owner either "feels" the car is faster or simply doesn’t know or care. They just wanted it louder.
Face it, most people who mod their cars aren’t professional mechanics and rarely fully understand the systems they are modifying.

 

Your exhaust sounds awesome. That's the Flowmaster sound I like. Same tone as my old Camaro. In your opinion, does it sound raspy under hard acceleration or loud popping when decelerating?
That drone at 2,000 rpm is the sweet spot I'm running most of the time driving my car in suburbia. I'm being very cautious on what to try first. Based on your posts, I may change my mind and just do the American Thunder first and if I get too much drone, then add some glasspack resonators.

 

Honestly, my brain went there too when I first read it, but I knew you were working on the exhaust system....not the engine............


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Loved the sound ... at least the sound I got on my MacBook with ear pods. I agree that the best way to find a system you like is go listen to other cars in person.

Thank you for sharing your Exhaust System Adventure with us. I like that you took the time to study the system as it came from the factory and then worked to improve the tone and volume without making the system worse in function.

I have also enjoyed the Flowmaster sound on many cars and don't like the raspy sound that is way too prevalent on many of today's cars. And, I confess to a tendency to get "paralysis by analysis" in trying to choose between 40s, Super 40s, Delta 40s, Super 44s, or Super 10s. I think you chose the right ones.

I WISH that I had use Flowmasters back in 2015 on the 2011 Challenger R/T (345ci/5.7L) with the automatic 5-speed that I owned. I started by replacing the mid-mufflers with Borla Sport and doing a resonator delete. The cabin drone was pretty bad in 8cyl mode and unbearable in 4cyl mode. So, I added glass packs to act as resonators and ended up with a funky sound and still had pretty bad drone. I then decided that I would go with a system actually designed for the car and went with the Corse-made (at that time) Mopar Performance Exhaust. It was the same as the Corsa Sport system except it had a Mopar logo on the square tips above Corsa's "RSC" logo. It was slightly louder than stock .... and got compliments .... but it didn't have the sound I was looking for. If I had kept the car, I had plans to put a Flowmaster system on it.


Sorry to make a long tale longer ... Did you consider a Flowmaster system for your Durango? We have a '17 Durango R/T that doesn't sound bad stock, but could benefit from a little more volume and lower tone.

 

I know what you mean. With my 2010 RT the PO had put a CAI, larger throttle body, Edelbrock intake plenum and long tube headers, all with stock exhaust. Once I pulled the resonators the car responded much better. I assume this was due to a better flow through the engine.

 

Revving hard sitting still, you can hear a tiny bit of raspiness but I don't hear that at all under hard acceleration on the road. Yes, there is a small amount of popping on trailing throttle vs the burble of the stock system.
I would agree that the smart move would be to do the American Thunder system and then add resonators if you want.

 

I absolutely wish I had gone with the Flowmasters on my Durango but the Magnaflows were pretty good too. I just think I'm a Flowmaster guy. Had them on several cars over the years and always loved them. Frankly, I was afraid of drone on the Durango so when we fit the Flowmasters on it and it sounded louder than the Magnaflows, I wimped out and went with the Magnaflows. Who knows? Maybe the Magnaflows were the better choice. I'll never know for sure. I can tell you that the Magnaflows did not cause drone in the Durango.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend long-tubes on a street car. Fine for a race car though.
Regarding the improvement after removing the resonators, I'd ask what you mean by it "responded better"? Traditionally, long tubes are on drag cars because they flow best at high RPMs. Unfortunately, many people put them on street cars with stock cams which are generally tuned for relatively flat torque curves so it can be a bit of a mis-match.
Many people also make the mistake of thinking that all cars will respond well to "opening up" the intake and exhaust. They put huge intakes and huge exhausts. They generally get a loud, slow car.