What kind of exhaust do I have on my stock 2006 LTZ? Is it worth getting a new one? Its a dual exhaust, not sure if its true though.

 

pretty sure they're not true duals but i think a set of new flowmaster mufflers are always a nice inprovement. alot of people get the 40 series because they're louder but i think the 50 series sound alittle bit better on the 6 cyclinders

 

You've got the same exhaust system on your LTZ that I have on my 3LT. It's not a true dual exhaust system... it splits off one pipe that comes out of the converter. Chevy's website for the '06 Monte Carlo says that it's made of "corrosion-resistant stainless steel".

Magnaflow makes a nice cat-back system for our cars. You can buy it from Planet Magnaflow for around $686, or $616 if you enter the discount code "theplanet" when you're on the checkout page. Shipping is FREE.

If you prefer Flowmaster, I've seen some video clips up on YouTube of Montes with Flowmasters. Here's the YouTube page of an MCF member with clips of his Monte with Flowmaster Super 44s: http://www.youtube.com/user/lakersfool

 

myfirstbowtie is right, they are not truw duals...

I have Magnaflows on my Monte, and like the sound/ tone. But I personally don't think spending $650ish is neccesary for the magnaflow cat back exhaust system. Just go to a good muffler shop and have them put magnaflow mufflers, change the tips, and delete or change the resinator, and you'll be out the door for $300-$450 depending on what you do with the resinator....

I had the single output exhaust on my Monte stock, but I changed to dual Magnaflow exhaust, and changed the stock resinator out for a Magnaflow resinator, all in all it cost me about $420 out the door, including install. And I am very happy with it!

 

Is it possible to just put a cheaper flowmaster 50's muffer instead of an entire cat-back system? Whats the advantages of getting a cat-back system? What is it exactly? :p I'm very new to the mechanical aspect of cars.

 

I think you asked that as i was explaining what I did....read the above...Yes, you can just put a flowmaster instead of an entire cat back...

I just choose Magnaflow because personally I like the sound of the Magnaflow better on a V6...

 

Thank you! Whats the advantage of putting a cat-back? And what kind of Magnaflow muffler should I get?

 

Well, most of the higher end cat backs are 304 stainless steel...But GM uses stanless steel pipe anyway. Also, most are mandelin bent, so you get the easiest flowing exhaust...I doubt that part really makes any performance gains that you will ever feel. Plus when you get a cat back system, most will not have any resinator, just straight pipe from the cat to the mufflers...So it will be the loudest that way.

But as I said, if you don't want the resinator, you can have the exhaust shop remove it, and put in a straight pipe...or do as I did, and remove the factory 18" resinator, and replace it with a smaller one...I went with a 14" Magnaflow glass pack resinator...I did not want it to drone to much on the highway, but wanted a little more tone then it had with the stock resinator. IMO, it is perfect with the Magnaflow resinator, and mufflers....Exhaust sound/ noise level is a very personal choice though, all depends on how you drive your car...I personally drive alot (77K in two years) mostly highway. So I wanted it to be loud and roar at wide open throttle, but I also wanted it to shut up and just be a nice rumble in the backgroung when cruising on the highway, and my set up proved to be perfect for what I wanted. I honestly don't know the exact Magnaflow muffler I have, its about 1foot long, and 8inches wide if I was to guess...But I just told the exhaust shop what I wanted, and those are the Magnaflows they gave me.

 

That sounds exactly what I want! It sounds alright stock, but I want it to have that roar when I give it throttle but I don't want it to be obnoxious and loud when I'm trying to drive nice. I hate peoples whose exhaust you can hear from across town, but I really appreciate a mean sounding one when I hear it.

 

Yeah, I agree...you can hear my car coming down the street, but not overly loud at all, and if your light on the throttle, the noise level is very nice. But at WOT its fricken loud, especially with the Cold Air Inductions CAI that I have...The combo of the CAI with the exhaust sounds awesome. I would highly recomment the Cold Air Inductions CAI for your car. I love it.

And if your looking for what I described as an exhaust set up, then I would say you probably don't want a pre made cat back exhaust. I think you would be more satisfied with a custom exhaust done by an exhaust shop...plus it would save you afew bucks for sure...You can always start off by not changing the resinator at all, and just changing the mufflers, and if you still want to pull a bit more rumble/ tone out of it, then change the resinator...Like I said, the stock resinator is 18" and I changed to a 14" glass pack Magnaflow res...I had the stock res on my car for a year and a half with just the dual Magnaflow mufflers, but I thought it needed a slight improvement in tone, and more of a rumble...the 14" magnaflow res did exactly what i wanted!
When i first did the exhaust with leaving the stock resinator, and just putting the dual Magnaflows, it was $320 out the door. When I added the new resinator, I also changed the tips at the same time, and that was about a $100 maybe $120, I forget exactly, so figure I spent about $440 at most to get my exhaust to the perfect sound for me...It probably would have saved me a few bucks to just put the Magnaflow resinator in from the beginning, but I did not want to go over board on the noise level, and regret it, so I took it one step at a time...better safe than sorry....