Can SOMEBODY tell me WHY is Magnaflow, so proud of their cat back exhaust system? I mean $967.67? really? and you only get 10 to 13 extra horsepower, and a "bit" more torque!! I like the sound, but not $967.67 worth of sound!! I have always loved Magnaflow mufflers, on my previous vehicles in the past, but never spent over $400.00!! Ok, catalytic converters are expensive, granted.....BUT!!!!!! This system is so vehicle specific, you would think the price wouldn't be so astronomical!....OR, maybe that's why??
As to their system design, 90 degree bends really kill exhaust flow! I would be open to a used system from a member here, like from a wrecked gen7 ss car, but it can't be tweaked or damaged. Does anybody know of a wrecked monte carlo 06-07 SS, sitting in a wrecking yard with a good magnaflow #16727 kit still on it?
Best regards! Kinsner_d@yahoo.com
DenisKinsner

 

TBH that's typical for a stainless system from a major US brand for a modern car. Plenty of the dual exhaust cars (vette, camaro, etc) can easily get to $1500 or even a bit more.

I get the frustration, $1k is a huge amount of what these cars are worth nowadays, but that's why you see so many people just chop out the stock components (muffler, tip, resonator) and just replace them rather than replacing all of the tubing and such as well. But even going that route (with a dual outlet system), youd be lucky to even just swap those components for $400 for major US brand stainless stuff not including welding it in.

Problem is theres no power / torque to be gained by replacing the stock catback on the W body as it's not a particularly restrictive system for the power and hasn't been for years. The catback is not the place to put money when looking for power. I strongly believe even their tiny power gain is exaggerated as I've never seen a 3800 car show any wheel dyno gain outside of run to run error (and see no reason why the LS4 would be any different).

That part number you provided doesnt include a cat. It only replaces what's behind the cat.

A couple things on this-
-the bend radii are pretty big/smooth for a 90, they're not causing any significant increase in restriction. People have tried far less restrictive systems (up to even dropping the whole catback) and theres just no real power to be gained there - it's not the limiting part of the system
-the car's design is what necessitates those bends in front of the gas tank like that. To join it with a less severe bend (say a couple of 45s) it would have to run outside of the exhaust tunnel and underneath part of the floor board which would hurt ground clearance

 

I have this system on mine. Yes there's cheaper options but you're going to pay up for name brands, material and, more specifically, quality. MagnaFlow is quality. Regarding these 06-07 SSs, there were only ~21k of them produced in just a two year run so, yes, the problem is this kit is so vehicle specific, for an uncommon car that's well out of production. Headers for the LS4 are expensive because of that. A lot of parts are becoming extremely hard to find or are totally discontinued. Doesn't look like there's as many exhaust options as there was 7.5 years ago when I bought this kit for mine. And to compare, I just replaced the exhaust on my wife's F-150 a couple months ago - I did not go stainless but the stainless kits for those trucks run as low as $300 for certain brands to up over $1k, however you have to consider that those trucks are a hell of a lot more common and will basically always have a decent market for parts because of how prevalent they are.

Also, (1) this system does not include the cat - the resonator in the kit bolts up to the cat. (2) Not sure how else you'd make the exhaust work on these cars without having a couple '90 degree' bends, and the two large bends are really more like 75-80 degree bends but consider they're smooth walled and still have somewhat of a curve to them. (3) If you're trying to find a used system, or one on a car at a junkyard, be ready to wait years or decades for one. Again, consider how uncommon these cars are - it's hard enough to find an 06-07 SS in a junk yard let alone one with this complete system on it that's in decent enough shape to be worth pulling.

 

I just paid almost $1200 for a Borla S-Type system on my Silverado 5.3... I don't know if I've gained anything from it other than an awesome sounding system.... I don't drive it enough to worry about mpg... By the time I get to the first oil change, I will have had it for seven months, and that's only because I bought it so far from home and took it on a road trip about a month ago...

 

Thanks to everyone for your insightful thoughts and facts! It was a long drawn out price chase, but a web site called "discountbandit.com" had the magnaflow #16727cat back exhaust system listed, at the cheapest price of $750.41. That beats all the others that wanted $967.67+tax. There's still a chance that the "deal" won't go through, because the web site is a brokerage, that negotiates my price with a supplier....we shall see! If I get this deal, I will have saved a butt load of money!

 

Hope it works out for you! It always seems there's somewhere you can find stuff for significantly less, just have to look around and be patient. I found my Doug Thorley header kit THY-340-C for $647 brand new, significantly less than the $800-900 they usually go for. And Thorley's website currently says they're 'out of stock'.

 

YAY!! My deal with "discount bandit" went extremely well! The "broker" was able to find a retailer to honor their price and Had great communication with me. My order has already shipped!! $967.67 - $750.14 = a savings of $217.53....EXCELLENT!!

 

I am bringing this back from the dead to give my 2 cents. I just purchased a 06 parts car with this exhaust system, and K&N intake kit. Not really sure if I will use either. My 07 has a stock exhaust with Flowmasters welded on. I put the two side by side, and my wife and I both agree, the flowmaster equipped stock exhaust sound better. Now How do they perform? I have no way to find that out since the parts car has 200k on it, and a the sometimes it has gears, sometimes it don't mod. I would assume a gain of 8-10hp, and a slight loss in low end torque, or at least no loss in torque.
As for cost. Being the car is a 2 year run, and very limited, Magnaflow has to decide how many to make. How many 2006-07 Monte Carlo SS owners will buy their product. They felt there was enough to R&D, and bring it to market. But being a quality company coupled by a low production car, the price is not unreasonable. Back in the 90s I paid 800 for a catback for my then new 94 Impala SS as soon as it came to market. The sound, performance, and lifetime warranty all attributed to my choice. Oh, and the fact it was the first and only catback at the time on the market. You get what you pay for.
BTW The kit now sells for $1225, and I think if you have a clean low mile car, it is worth the cost. If you have a 163k clinker like I do, you would be throwing money out the window. I just got lucky that my parts car had it already installed.