Magnaflow Cat Back Pro's and Con's
 

I'm considering a Magnaflow exhaust and wanted to hear from others who own this exhaust and get some feedback on what they thought. Frankly I could careless about how it looks or how cool it sounds but more so on how it performs and how much noise it generates inside the car while on the freeway etc. I would rather not increase interior noise, instead I would like to add performace if the cost warrents. Let me know

Thanks in Advance, Reese

It's significantly louder, and offers almost no gains until 6000+ rpm:

http://www.ross-tech.net/andy/mini/m...navspulley.gif

The Magnaflow is a great system for straight up horsepower and noise. The issue is the highway drone you mentioned. The fit and finish is great, and the sound is one of the meanest on the market. The horsepower is the highest along with the Borla Race, while the torque is close to the highest.


Cruising on the highway, there is a drone with the Magnaflow at about 3500-4000RPM, but there are steps to improve it. You can move the tips all the way out, crack the sunroof, and put the A/C system on recirculate. I would still be leary of recommending it to someone who is sensitive to noise though.

There are a ton of systems on the market, and I would bet there is one that can fit your specific requirements. Feel free to give me a call if you would like to go over all of them.

Hope that helps!

Randy
720-841-1002

It sound VERY RICEY:roll:

This is true, but he said he doesn't care about how it sounds. Basically the things he doesn't care about are what sucks about the Magnaflow, and the things he does care about are what's great about the Magnaflow. So, I think he'll be satisfied.

It only sounds a bit ricey when its in the lower RPM range and you arent giving it much gas... Once you punch it the car seriously screams... honestly though, what kind of sound do you THINK would come from a 1.6L?

The drone actually isnt bad once you have a few hundred miles on the system... at first it is QUITE irritating, but the sound does fade away a bit.

Actually, I JUST did a video clip last night for someone who wanted to hear what the Alta CAI sounded like, and naturally you can hear the exhaust as well. Be wary, its a 10.5MB clip, but its a cool clip nonetheless and you can get a good feel for in car sound.

RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT SAVE AS
www.motoringcentral.com/mov/MOV00234.MPG

Like Randy said, its got great power gains. On top of that, its one of the less expensive kits on the market and the fitment is dead on with a simple install. I had never worked on a car before and I did it in just over an hour. I had slight rubbing on my rear bumper, but its because we had to custom cut and bend the system because there was no '04 kit out yet when I ordered mine.

Hope this info helps.

Does anyone else have before and after dynos where the only thing changed is the stock cat-back swapped for the Magnaflow? I wouldn't characterize my results as "great power gains" or "a great system for straight up horsepower". The Magnaflow is loud all the time, not just after 6k when it is actually making measurable power.

From outside the car, yes its very very loud. From inside, its not that bad really. At first I thought I was going to swap it out, but once you put a couple hundred miles on the car the sound changes alot.

andy what did you have on your car when you changed exhausts? and is there any truth to driving a little first to let the ecu adapt? if so maybe someone should do a baseline, install exhaust and come back a week later and see what the dyno says.

There are plenty of dyno plots from early on with the Magnaflow, and to be honest, yours is the lowest I have ever seen. I don;t typically see Mustang dyno numbers though, so that may be part of the issue. Again we get back to the dyno use as a tool, and combining that with other factors such as track times and acceleration runs in the same gear.

Here are the exhaust systems I sell, just to abade the whole marketing factor for my answers:

Magnaflow
Borla Street
Borla Sport (or Race in some circles)
Milltek
UUC
RSpeed
Alta
NRP
Quicksilver
Stebro
Scorpion

I have found that of the above systems, the Magnaflow and Borla Sport have made the highest horsepower numbers - around 10hp. That's on a Dynojet 248 above ground dyno, and has been tested here in denver, as well as in San Francisco on another dyno of the same make. The Borla and Magnaflow have been tested on the Dynojet in Arizona as well. I don't have the pretty pictures, but I could fudge the pics just as easily as I could post them, so I don't know how much additional creedence that gives anyway.

As far as sounding ricey - I don't subjectively believe that. I have a Magnaflow on my car at the moment, and had it on there for the West meets East event in Rockford, where a tone of folks commmented on how great it sounded (and quite a few were over the age of twenty). Sound is VERY subjective. To date, I haven't found a system that makes the MINI sound like a souped up Civic (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Hope that helps! :) I don't at all mean to say that I doubt your numbers Andy, as I have seen quite a variance between not only dynos, but cars as well. I'm just saying that the one plot from one dyno doesn't end all other data. :)

Randy

Randy
 

Why were you so quick to use the Milltek in all of your packages?
I never heard you talk about the Borla Sport. That is what I am lookin to get now but with Milltek lowering its prices...hmm.

RandyBMC,

Do you have any dynos showing the before and after from changing just the stock exhaust for the Magnaflow? I'd be interested to see them.

Andy's graph does show a gain of 6hp/3lbs .. but at 6k+

A little less but I dont think you are going to see gains more than that until you match it with an intake/pulley to increase the pressure and a need for a more free flowing exhaust.

I dont think you are saying we should see an increase of 10hp across the whole band, are you?

It makes sense that the exhaust is showing most of its increase at the higher rpm. and I dont think this is limited to the magnaflow.

I think the shape of the curve is very important as well. That's what puzzles me when a vendor makes claims without backing up them with data. :confused:

I'd also be interested in "track times and acceleration runs in the same gear", of course with the only change being the Magnaflow versus stock.

The Magnaflow doesn't sound ricey with the Milltek header. Really smooths it out. I love it! Of course I am a 50+ year old and my hearing may be fading.:lol: :lol:

So... here's another question for you all... What about the Magnaflow for the Cooper?? Anyone have it or some sound clips? Input?

Thanks!