scooter123

I did a bit of reading on mufflers here and lot of comments about how loud the 40's are......I just put a set on my delta 88 and it has no cats and to be honest I dont find them loud at all.

Is there a breakin time for these mufflers.....will they get louder over time....stupid question...lol

pogo69

I dont think there is a break in... 40 series is very popular avg sound and sound is subjective 10's are loud and outlaws louder

chadman

It depends a lot on what diameter pipes you're running and if you have headers. I had them on my '65 with 3" pipes out the back and I found them to be obnoxiously loud. I switched them out for DynoMax Super Turbos in the longest case size available. I like it much better now.

joe_padavano

Clearly it's time for new batteries in the hearing aids...

Seriously, "loud" is completely subjective and depends on the rest of the exhaust system, the location of the outlets, the amount of sound deadening in the car, etc, etc. The notorious Flowmaster drone is a different problem, as is the fact that despite the obnoxious noise, these mufflers are among the most restrictive "performance" mufflers available, as consistently shown in independent tests.

Mike H.

X2 on the Super Turbos. I hated the drone that Joe is referring to. I replaced my old set with the DynoMax mufflers and couldn't be happier.

pogo69

I am contemplating going back to a vintage set of thrush glasspacks, its been a while since I had a pair on my 70 mach 1 30 years ago, I remember it sounded great...now thinking how they will sound on my big block olds

matt69olds

X3! I can carry on a conversation in the car now. After an hour drive I can get out of the car without my ears ringing. Much more enjoyable, et is basically the same, mph did go up a bit.

coppercutlass

I run hooker aero chmabers with an x pipe and turndowns at the rear end. talk about beating your brains out on the highway i cant even hear the radio lol. I do enjoy the noise . Now on my dads car i did 2 1/4 pipes with super turbos no cats or resonators . I was pleasantly surprised they have a real nice sound to them at low speeds but it mellows out which i really like since his car is just a cruiser.

scooter123

X2 mine is 2 1/4 and on the hwy its not loud at all ....sounds quite nice, I like it!!

steverw

Joe when you refer to "drone" are you refering to all flowmasters or one perticular series?

coppercutlass

most chambered mufflers have a drone due to it having no internal sound dedners. Since they use plates to reduce noice the sound tends to boucne around and have a drone to it. thats my theory. Also most drone people talk about is that loud brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound that bounces around your interior as you drive at steady speeds.

chadman

Dronemasters! Lol!

Joffroi

I've experimented with a lot of different ones and liked them all haha.

I've had a different exhaust on all of my cutlasses and below is some video of each to hopefully help you get an idea. I currently have 3" Pypes with headers on my 72 now and love them.

1970 Cutlass SX with its 455 and 2.5"Flowmasters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ_0qwrVXJM

1968 Cutlass with original 350 and 2.5" Magnaflow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq2TJswaA9A

Video of 72 Cutlass with 3" Pypes from previous owner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ADuMW7ApgA

Redog

I had Super 40's on my old Delta, I liked them, but they really weren't that loud. The Super 44's I have on my Alero are louder, but that car has a full exhaust, My Delta was a cat back X pipe dual

ELY442

I have the 40 series but I don't think its loud but my neighbors hate me because when I drive past their cars their alarms will go off.

oldzzy

lol awesome!

chadman

That is exactly what used to happen when I would drive down a city street with cars parked along the side. Pretty annoying.

costpenn

Just put a new exhaust system with Flowmaster 40's in a 72 455. Stock W Z manifolds. For some reason, the shop put 2 1/2 from the down pipes down to about halfway back to the mufflers, then spliced in 2 1/4 back to the mufflers, and then 2 inch tailpipes. Has the trumpets, and the thing is just too loud. The reason I wanted this combo is because that's the mufflers on my 68 Hurst and it just sounds - to me - awesome at idle without being annoyingly loud. The 72 as the same tone, it's just almost twice as loud. I'm hoping they get a little quieter (doubt it) or I'm going to have to start over.

Should have got the Gardner system everyone suggested!

ELY442

Pretty annoying? Ever hear those rice rockets with their so called 4 cyl horsepower driving down the streets with their coffee cans tailpipe ends? That sounds very annoying. Im just getting back at them and let them hear what REALl horsepower sounds like.

chadman

I find them annoying as well. Even more so.

YukonOlds

I have just had a new exhaust system, with X pipe and Flowmaster 40s put on my LS6, it sounds awesome.

John

Don Cannoli

I had it in my mind I was going to change my stock mufflers to flowmaster series 40's. After reading all of the info I am know officially stuck. I dont want the drone but I would like the sound.Never thought of the Walkers. I will have to do some investigating on my own. Thanks for all of your opinions, this will help me make the right decision for me.

oldcutlass

As you can see exhaust systems and muflers are very subjective and an aquired taste. Since car show season is almost here, why not go out and listen to what others are running and duplicate what you like.

import extermination

what do you consider loud. im running headers into dual 3" pipe into 3" summit brand shortie glass packs (running them backwards) then 2 1/2 tail pipes. dont notice any drone, but thats just because my tunes are cranked up

coppercutlass

Import glasspacks have less drone because they have packing material. You get more noise but the drone is more prone with chambered mufflers. I run hooker aero chambers with turn downs at the rear axle. I did this for one reason. I set up my mufflers to be un bolted at the track to run an open x pipe. The drone in the car at 70 mph is rediculous. I don't mind it but it does get on my nerves on long drives. Tail pipe location and the way the exhaust is mounted also play a big roll in drone. I had flowmasters on my 95 9c1 caprice and it had no drone with tail pipes once I cut those off it was drone city lol. But I was in high school and I had the loudest car at the school lol.

lemoldsnut

Best Cure, Put the top down.

67BB

The only time we had a drone was in an el camino with 40s/2 1/2". Insulating the floor took most of it out and an X pipe took out the rest. I don't care for flowmasters but my wife loves them and puts them on everything. I've noticed they seem louder and more obnoxious on small blocks. Big blocks they just don't seem as loud or high pitched. BBs don't seem to have as pronounced a metallic ping as SBs. I just don't care for that. I like magnaflows, dynomax and glass packs much better. That said we're putting our 9th set on a car this week.

import extermination

im with 67bb. dont care for flowmasters myself, although they give a stock car a nice sounding idle. we have stuck them on a few different rides( 84 grand prix with a 468 chev, 80's chev p/u with sbc stroker, a bunch of mustangs...etc) and for what ever reason they always sound like they are plugging up, and a few times we have actually blown out a baffle.

i love the sound of magnaflows and dynomax while under throttle, but at idle they are too calm/ quiet for me. so its cheap glass pack for me