Cat Back Exhaust systems

[ufcrusher]

I initially posted this in my air intake thread, but since its been a few days and no one responded, I am guessing that no one bothered to look since they already had respnded to my intake question. So I am going to try again.

Since everyone seems to think I will get better results by doing my exhaust first, with cat back exhausts, what do your recommend?

Obviously, the brands I know off the top of my head are Borla, Corsa, Magnaflow, and Flowmaster. There are a tons of other brands out there as well.

From my understanding, the better systems will be mandrel bent and made of a higher quality stainless steel...right?

Any opinions as to what one is the best to go with?

I had a local shop off to make a one off set of pipes for me for $450 installed, but they arent mandrel bent. He said that in my application I wouldnt notice that much of a difference. Then he said that he would probably go with flowmasters and it would be around $600 installed.

What does everyone think?

[InfiniteNothing]

I'm a big fan of borla. They always have the nicest tones IMHO. Can't go wrong with a million mile warrenty.

[Apex]

Borla are nice, and seem to stand up longer to heat. Heat eventually destroys the acoustic packing in mufflers, but Borla mufflers seem to go very long.

[palayah8ta]

From the little knowledge of physics that i have. i was told mendrel bent is always better. Depending on how many bends are in ur exhaust system the more crush bending thats going on, ur loosing effeciency. You might be better off purchasing an entire catback system thats made for your car/truck. It wont be a flowmaster system, but it will be better for ur perfomance..

[bachviet]

Mandrel bend is always better because it doesn't create sharp angles/corners. It will then create better flow for better performance.

[Apex]

Mandrel bent is always better in theory, but in practice, the difference in many applications is extremely small. For instance, a 3" press bent system may be cheaper and flow just as well as a 2.5" mandrel bent system in a 200hp v6. <- not real numbers, just an example.

[civicdidex]

may i suggest str8 pipe??