Well, I cut off the resonator today!!! That thing weights about 30 pounds and is a friggin three chamber muffler!!! Usually resonators are glasspacks. Anyway, it sounds just like the GA's and Grand Prix's now. I uploaded a quick video from my digi camera on streetfire.net and will let everyone know when it is there.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/2131000-2131999/2131632_77_full.jpg

The link for the video is below. I had the camera a little to close, so it sounds raspy and high pitched.

http://videos.streetfire.net/player.aspx?fileid=BF322F4A-0180-4573-BAC7-292DB81B1008

Sounds Good!

Wow, thats quite the difference! Great cheap mod!

That was a big mistake. Perhaps its just the video, but that thing sounds like a chain saw now. I would do something about that immediatly. And is that rust on the resonator?

That was a big mistake. Perhaps its just the video, but that thing sounds like a chain saw now. I would do something about that immediatly. And is that rust on the resonator?

Yes, that is the rusty resonator in the pic. And, yes, it does sound bad due to the camera being a foot away from the tail pipe. It's actually very deep and throaty now from the outside. I still can't hear it from the inside though.:mad:

Shouldn't the resonator be made of stainless so that it doesn't rust? I mean, the oldest that resonator could be is a couple years right? It would probably be eaten through in 5.

Shouldn't the resonator be made of stainless so that it doesn't rust? I mean, the oldest that resonator could be is a couple years right? It would probably be eaten through in 5.

It's only nine months old, all stock stainless exhaust's I've had have rusted on the outside. The polished stainless doesn't.

As an Xmas present to myself, I just ordered the GTP muffler with dual outlets, GTP lower rear facia, and a GTP leather wrapped shifter handle with the chrome top!!!! The 2006 models have all the goodies!!! Thank god for wholesale gm parts' website!!! :D

What did the muffler and dual outlets run ya?
Are you not happy with the exhaust? Why not just Y it out with tips??

What did the muffler and dual outlets run ya?
Are you not happy with the exhaust? Why not just Y it out with tips??

The GTP muffler with chrome tips was $280. Which is a lot cheaper and will be easier to mount than a custom made setup.

Is replacing a resonator with a muffler going to double muffle it?
Isnt that a muffler in the middle?

That can up in the middle of the car that he removed is the muffler. Cut it open and you'll see what I mean - baffles and chambers = muffler.

The big can under the rear fascia is a resonator.

I never did get a chance to see and/or hear the video.

What is a resonator??????
I know where it is and what it looks like but
it looks like a muffler to me.

they're basically the same thing.

Mike

What is a resonator??????
I know where it is and what it looks like but
it looks like a muffler to me.

The resonator is there to take the harsh edge off of the sound that makes it out of the muffler.

It is either unbaffled or lightly baffled or chambered - the point is to allow the exhaust note to resonate inside the can to soften the peaks of the waveform rather than have it escape and cause undesired and unattractive harmonics in the vehicle or your neighbor's ears. Each time the sound wave is reflected, some of the "sharpness" is lost, and if it is reflected back onto itself before exiting it can almost cancel itself out.

Makes it a lot quieter, but adds backpressure by causing directional "confusion" to the exhaust path.

When I get around to it, I'm going to just drop them both out, replace the muffler with a street class turbo muffler, and split to two exits where the back can used to be. Displacement-wise, we should be able to generate an exhaust note similar to that of the new Mustang GT - still a little wimpy but better than what we have from the factory.

has anybody took off the muffler + the resonater, and if so how does it sound?

When I get around to it, I'm going to just drop them both out, replace the muffler with a street class turbo muffler, and split to two exits where the back can used to be. Displacement-wise, we should be able to generate an exhaust note similar to that of the new Mustang GT - still a little wimpy but better than what we have from the factory.

Now why didnt I think of that??

:beer:

The GTP muffler with chrome tips was $280. Which is a lot cheaper and will be easier to mount than a custom made setup.

please let us know how the conversion goes. i've been wanting to put duals on mine, but have been debating as to how to go about it. i think you have the best approach as far as I'M concerned as i want to keep it as 'factory' as possible. i guess my concern would be if the intermediate pipe are the same diameter on the GT and GTP. do they connect with a flange joint or just slip together and clamp? i haven't been underneath mine yet.....

I think I am just going to splice out the front muffler and put in a Magnaflow
muffler and then cut the back resonator off and Y it past the axel.
There is not any room to run dual exhaust under this car. In looking at it I
think the engineers forgot about exhaust and dropped it in last minute.

On that note, while I am surfing does anyone know the dimension of the front muffler... 2-1/4 pipe but how long is it? (I dont have a tape measure here at work)

I have a 3.5L 2005 V6 G6.. and , like your rotted through the middle pipe. I cut it out and welded a straight pipe.. and.. though it DOES have a nice deep tone at IDLE.. get a buddy to drive it with you outside.. and.. it sound RASPY as HELL! it sounds like a very bad ricer and I am looking forward to getting something put back in its place. anyone thinking of doing that PLEASE think twice cause it sounds awful when you step on it. any other options for what to put there?

vibrant performance makes several different resonators that would work well. my buddy has a v6 tiburon and it sounds absolutely amazing. I'm going to talk to him in a few days to see exactly what he did and what he removed.

my previous car was a 4cyl and it was impossible to have a free flowing exhaust without having the "rocks in a coffee can" sound. it's just something that is pretty much unavoidable with 4 cylinders...you could add several resonators to make your exhaust so quiet that you can't hear the rattling sound, but then you can't hear the exhaust anymore and it ruins half the idea of putting exhaust on the car.

my suggestion is to start small. I haven't looked at the OEM exhaust yet, but I'd start by removing the smallest restriction. If letting it exhale a little better makes it sound like crap then we might be SOL when it comes to a good sounding exhaust. I've heard some sexy v6's before(350Z / G35) and makes me want exhaust really bad already.

I had borla on my Reno and it sounded fantastic aside from the "rocks in a can". I no longer have the video, but it sounded very beastly for an I4.

Once I get a good look at the exhaust, I can probably come up with a better suggestion than the trial and error method.