Quick question on exhaust

[Hired Gun]

I had the privelage of watching two camaros on the dyno yesterday afternoon. Both were L99. They both had the same mods except for one thing. One had an MBRP cat back exhaust with long tube headers, the other had a muffler shop built exhaust. They had the same headers. They were within 5 hp of each other. I forget the numbers that the people were saying, but the thing that amazed me was the one with MBRP exhaust paid a ton for that exhaust, the other was just mandrel bent muffler shop pipe for just a few dollars.

Has anyone else seen this? If so why would you pay so much for exhaust, when the cheaper system will do the same thing?

[BigCarrot]

It's for a guaranteed type of sound mostly. The exhaust doesn't really help horsepower at all in these cars. Also did the guy who had the MBRP exhaust have an axle back or a cat back?

[bannonm]

It also depends on the quality of the stainless steel used to make the exhaust system. I chose Borla's exhaust because they use 304 SS. My plans are to keep this car as an occasional driver for a long time, and I wanted an exhaust that would last. Part of it has to do with the name, you'll pay more for top names like Borla.

I highly doubt that the muffler shop's exhaust is made of top grade stainless. Not that it's a problem for someone who might be swapping out exhaust down the road, but if this was a keeper I would have looked elsewhere.

And BigCarrot is right, performance-wise you won't see anything worth the cost. It's all about the sound and look of the exhaust. I was glad to see those big ugly cans gone from my rear end. The Borlas are about 40 pounds lighter than the stock exhaust and nice round mufflers with their logo on it.

Shop around, you might find good prices on top-named systems. I found that when I contacted sellers directly, I got a better deal than what they advertised. For my CAI Inc intake that was the case for sure. The guy told me that CAI doesn't want them advertising for less than MSRP. I got mine for 18% off. I got my Borlas for even more off MSRP.

[Hired Gun]

I am not sure if it was cat back or axel. I was just listening to some people talking after they ran.

I see your point on the cost vs. sound and quality.

I know I love mine. I run the Long tubes with no cats, then the factory system back to the gmpp axel back off road pipes. Sometime I want it a bit louder, then sometime I do not.

[Juiced1]

Most run of the mill muffler shops won't make you a custom exhaust. They might chop your mufflers off and run straight pipes for you but a full custom system is a big job. I would assume it was an axleback that they made for the guy if it was inexpensive. I would guess they are a pretty good shop to to anything custom though. I would also note that most muffler shops most likely wouldn't be using stainless steel. MBRP uses 409 or 304 stainless steel on all their systems. All the above plays a huge roll in cost. Axlebacks are usually half the price of a catback and mild steel is much cheaper then stainless steel

[Juiced1]

Originally Posted by bannonm

Shop around, you might find good prices on top-named systems. I found that when I contacted sellers directly, I got a better deal than what they advertised. For my CAI Inc intake that was the case for sure. The guy told me that CAI doesn't want them advertising for less than MSRP. I got mine for 18% off. I got my Borlas for even more off MSRP.

This is 100% true. A lot of companies have Map pricing. That means we can't "advertise" prices below a set price.