Cat back on Cobalt SS

ACK
May the rice be with you. I dont know if it sounds worse or better than an SRT-4 with a catback or turbo back, which I absolutely loathe.

I really like the way it sounds for a 4-banger.

I thought it sounded ok too, a little less raspy and it could be near perfect.

ick.....even if I would only drive to and from the track, the loud, raspy buzz would drive me absolutely nuts in no time.


Forget about commuting every day listening to it. I am sure there are plenty who would like to annoy their neighbors everytime they start it up, so...not having me as a customer won't put a crimp in their sales plan.

Beyond being too loud for everyday use (in my opinion), the tone sounds to me like someone has stuffed a newborn kitten into the muffler case (as packing material) for a lawnmower.

In other words....it still needs some work fella's.

as stated in our main post our main goal now is power, we will then start testing different mufflers to find out which will sound the best. part of the reason why we feel the exauhst sounds raspy is because of the size of the motor. the srt will never sound that way because of the larger displacement.i encourage any locals to come by and hear it in person, its totally different

I highly doubt youre going to find THAT much of a difference in power between mufflers, maybe 3 at the most. These are street cars, so I would concentrate more on a muffler thats going to have a better sound rather than on the muffler that makes a whopping 2hp more than a competitors muffler, yet sounds like garbage. Just my $.02

MY GTP 8 U said:

I highly doubt youre going to find THAT much of a difference in power between mufflers, maybe 3 at the most. These are street cars, so I would concentrate more on a muffler thats going to have a better sound rather than on the muffler that makes a whopping 2hp more than a competitors muffler, yet sounds like garbage. Just my $.02

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right thats what i was saying, we just wanted to find out how much power the catback will produce , then we will figure out what muffler will sound the best

[email protected] said:

<snip> part of the reason why we feel the exauhst sounds raspy is because of the size of the motor. the srt will never sound that way because of the larger displacement.

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Yikes!

I hope this is simply a momentary lapse on your part, since your business seems to be tuning the American iron. Camshaft specs have almost everything to do with similar engines exhaust sound differences (n/a) and the SRT-4 is exhaling through a turbo which is certainly going to alter the exhaust note. The SRT-4 is never going to sound like your pipes on the CSS because of the turbo and cams, not the extra displacement.

I'd love a cat back exhaust but if it sounds like that I don't want it. I want the power without the sound unless its a nice even steady deep tone

Heres a little factoid to take note of. The factory mufflers on the GTP have been known to flow *extremely* well when compared to an aftermarket unit, so maybe the same holds true for you guys? The one place where power is found on my car is through the replacement of the stock exhaust system from the manifolds back. Keeping the stock mufflers on the car keeps noise levels down while a better flowing downpipe and intermediated pipe produce more power. I think it would be worth it to atleast test the stock SS muffler on a 2.5" or 3" I-pipe versus an aftermarket muffler on the same higher flow pipe. I cant see it being a huge difference, especially on a 4 banger.

Wow, I guess I'm the only onr who actually liked the sound. i don't think it was ricey. It was deep and loud, not tinny sounding.

I liked it, I said if it was a lil less raspy then it would be near perfect. All they gotta do now is check out different mufflers, that could and should fix that.

svtfocus said:

Wow, I guess I'm the only onr who actually liked the sound. i don't think it was ricey. It was deep and loud, not tinny sounding.

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You are not alone with that i liked it, like you said it is a deep sound sound not that loud high revving sound that is comon sound in Honda's and Acura's.

I definitely do not like the ricer sound when it comes to the 4 banger exhausts! Exhaust sound only sounds good when it is coming from an 8 cylinder or larger!

I will stick with the stock muffler, even though I owned several 4 bangers, I can never get over the raspy noise a non turbo 4 makes. I've heard the stock exhaust on the SS is fairly free flowing. If you think you have heard nasty raspy, listen to a pushrod V6 with a catback. Absolutely gross!!

EaZyE said:

I definitely do not like the ricer sound when it comes to the 4 banger exhausts! Exhaust sound only sounds good when it is coming from an 8 cylinder or larger!

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I admit a V8 exhaust sounds amazing, but I like the exhaust on my SRT-4. not nearly as raspy as alot of the aftermarket ones that some people put on there hondas and such. but thats just my opinion as well.

Although it is from a 4-cyl, it does sound pretty fricking sick. I know that the srt-4s pop off due to the turbo, but why does the cobalt ss motor pop off almost as much?

monza sounds great, gonna put one on this car.. just gotta figure out how to make it fit lol

Mercury said:

Although it is from a 4-cyl, it does sound pretty fricking sick. I know that the srt-4s pop off due to the turbo, but why does the cobalt ss motor pop off almost as much?

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The SRT actually "backfires" because there is no mufflers on it stock nor on most of the aftermarket exhausts. Find a clip of an SRT with an exhaust with a muffler and there will be no more "pop off" as you put it.