my 98 Z28 / A4 came with the FIPK and some sort of flowmaster exhaust, (no chambers or mufflers for sure BUT I have no idea what kind)

ANYWAY, after a year the volume is too much for me and the rattling is irritating too. NOW, I pay attention in this forum so what I am asking is to expand on the subject brought up a few weeks back on the "BEST EXHAUST":

if I was not looking at new rotors the GMMG would be my first choice, (CHAMBERED) but the HOOKER caught my eye as it was high in the POLL too.

NOW - what draw backs are there with the HOOKER CHAMBERED and hey, I can't seem to find the LINK someone posted for $329.00 on line...

any advice, good or bad, especially BAD for the HOOKER EXHAUST would be greatly appreciated...THX in advance

 

What I can tell you about the hooker cat back on positive side is:

a). Sounds good. No rasp, no drone and it sounds deeper and meaner then stock.

b). Great price. You can get one new for $269.00.

c). Nice looking tips (IMO).

d). Decent flow and hp gains.


Now on the negative side there is:

a). A lot of ls1 owners think it is too quiet. It's louder then stock but it does not turn heads.

b). It's NOT stainless steal so it will rust eventually. I was told the average life expectancy is 3-5 years.

Now I went with the dynomouth setup and I highly reccomend it to you for the following reasons:

a). awesome sound. Loud but not obnoxious loud. No rasp, no drone and it will turn heads at wot but will be stealthy when you ease on the gas.

b). Price. Mine was $150.00 and then another $85.00 for stainless steal tips so $235.00 total but if you like your tips then $150 is all you would pay.

c). Flows great with good hp gains. It flows like a loudmouth. You don't replace your pipes but that's ok because stock pipes are 2.75" mandrel press bent stainless steel so all you are giving up is .25"


It all comes down to personal choice. I think as far as under $500.00 setups go the best are loudmouth, dynomouth, hooker and magnaflow.

Just my .02 cents worth

 

Darrens99Formul said it well. According to todays info, if I ever put a catback on my car, it will be Hooker.

At least Tbyrne sells them for 299 + shipping. Check out the GP section. They are a supporting advertiser here.

I'm sure you can get it a bit cheaper from Jegs or Summit, but I'd suggest investing the extra 20-30 bucks so you can support this site, too.

TS

 

My friend has the Hooker cat-back on his otherwise stock(also FIPK) '99 M6 Formula that I get to hear all the time(both inside & outside the car).

It is super quiet at idle(like stock quiet IMO). When we're just cruising around, the tone is just a little louder/deeper as compared to the stock system. The only noticeable difference between the two is at WOT(where the Hooker cat-back does sound a lot tougher/better). Overall, this system is very refined sounding and has absolutely NO interior noise. But like that other guy already said, you won't turn any heads with this exhaust on a mostly stockish car. However, it does wake up considerably with headers and no cats.

As a comparison, I have the GMMG cat-back on my otherwise stock(also Direct-Flo lid) '02 M6 Z28 that I get to hear all the time too.

It rumbles a little at idle(definitely louder than stock). It also has a very noticeable rumble just cruising around that is a lot louder and deeper than the stock system. And at WOT, the sound = Basically, it is much more aggressive than the Hooker on a stockish car, but not quite as refined. There is surprisingly NO drone to it either even though it is quite a bit louder than the Hooker system. IMO, the sound through this system with some headers and highflow cats couldn't get any better.

If your Flowmaster is too loud, then stay away from the GMMG, Borla, or SLP LM('cause they are all louder set-ups).

Mike

 

Another vote for Hooker. If your flows are to loud you probably won’t want the dynomouth. I have never heard it in person but I think it is about as loud as LM witch is very loud IMO. I will never take my Hooker off.

Adam

 

Actually dynomouth is no where near as loud as the loudmouth. I was disappointed a little because I expected louder then what I got. I have all stock pipes/cats so that is part of it I guess.

Basically I think you should go dynomouth if you want to keep stock cats and are not doing LT headers. You'll have a powerful sound that is fairly quiet until you hit the gas hard and then wooobaby! You can also get the 18" bullet race muffler instead of the 12" for even less sound but I don't see why anyone would want that unless it was with LT's.

If you are gonna do LT headers then the hooker is a great way to go. That cat-back really wakes up with some LT's and either high flo cats or no cats.

If you really want almost stock quiet then I highly reccomend the hooker set up. If you like to be noticed but want to get rid of the drone/rasp that goes with the flowmaster then try the dynomouth. Either way you will be gaining HP and sounding better.

 

I don't want to embarrass myself here with a lack of knowledge on exhaust but what I do know is my Z28 already had the FIPK/K&N and flowmaster stickers on the plate where the FIPK sits. also had 2 little flowmaster stickers which I removed on each side of the rear window. NOW I am not that old in that this exhaust is incredibly LOUD. first off there is no chambers or mufflers of any kind. my own inspection and a GM tech will verify that but the GM tech did not know exactly what it was just that it was a "professional job". my sketch looks like what most in here refer to as a Y pipe. furthermore a y pipe leaves the CATS in the front weaves around to the rear meeting and then forms another Y to 3" tips. NO CHAMBERS or MUFFLERS, nada, just pipe and even the serious motorhead would admit it is loud at just about all levels of driving. I have posted b4 trying to find out what exhaust this really is as I don't think it is a standard flowmaster. all kinds of guesses but frequently the Y pipe and it does look like to Y's meeting in the middle.

 

By the way you are describing it, it sounds like somebody maybe just went a bit sticker-happy...

Regular Flowmaster catback will have a muffler in it, unless it is left off, of course.

TS

 

Post a picture of your muffler and I can tell you what it is. I have a lot of experiance with flowmaster mufflers. It sounds to me like your describing the "NASCAR Series" racing muffler that flowmaster makes. My buddy has one on his '96 Z28 and that is one loud ****. It's single inlet/outlet I take it?