I have an 04 3.8 supercharged Dale Jr. Edition. I'm planning on several modifications but I'm wondering what exhaust system would be best. 2.5" is what I want but not more than $500 cause headers are in the plan too just looking for some insight.

 

Under $500 will be a challenge, especially for something Stainless. "MagnaFlow Cat-back" is generally the system of choice.

Here's some choices, also see the headers comment.

2004 Chevy Monte Carlo Performance Exhaust Systems | Mufflers, Headers

 

Everyone will have a different opinion, watch youtube videos and pick what sounds the best to you. A lot of people keep factory exhaust piping and do a resonator delete or replace the resonator with a glass pack, or just change mufflers. The cat back is not that restrictive until your over 300-350whp anyway. Where the exhaust is restrictive is the manifolds and more importantly the "u bend" in the down pipe.

 

depending on your mods you may be better off going 3, im not 100% sure but a few members have went down that road and done the same, make sure you do alot of research

 

if I need to spend more then I'll have to. I know more about what sounds best on carbureted stuff. I just don't want my car to sound like them fast and furious wannabes. With the plans I have I'll need the whole exhaust. I'm changing pulley size, stat, plugs/wires , cai, possibly roller rockers and cam. re-gasket. and the pcm tuning is probably not cheap. just hoping for the sound I want lol

 

300+ up is what I'm aiming for. Doing a lot of research and I know I have to do it right so my KR stays below 2 on the fuel/air ratio and tuning it. 3.4" supercharger pulley is probably as low as I can go safely without changing cam and rockers but I probably will anyway. I just don't want to blow it up so I'm really covering all my. And don't want it to sound like a Honda civic. A lot of crap to worry about with modifying a computer. I'd rather just shove a 383 stroker in it and make it simple.

 

I put the Dynomax system on my 02 SS, and while it is 2 1/2 in mandrel bent and not stainless, it's under $500 and has a good tone to it. Together with a Magnaflow downpipe, it made quite a difference over stock, and it's sounds good.


Even the guy I work with who has a 2014 Camaro SS was impressed.

 

Ty I'll look into those I do know I'm putting headers on it. Manifold is choking it

 

Ok a few things here..... this is a 3800 v6 we are talking about, it will NEVER sound like a v8. You can get a nice idle and cruise tone but in high rpm's it gets raspy or you keep it quiet at idle and cruise and it will sound better in high rpm's. Either way it's hard to get anew amazing sound out of this engine IMO. That's why most people do not run a full exhaust as it makes it too loud and raspy. There are plenty of people running a complete cutback also though.

You are never going to make 300whp with a 3.4 pulley, not even come close.... I would also consider an intercooler instead of a cam IMO. Also you either do a cam or high ratio rockers (not both) i suggest 1.9 roller rockers with the intercooler setup, if you have a very good intercooler and tune you could probably run a 3.0 pulley and at that point be right around 300whp.

Next: not sure what you mean or where you read about kr but you want near ZERO kr. A little blip is good on occasion (blip meaning .5ish) as that let's you know the knock sensors are working but I would never beat on a car with consistent 2°kr! Also kr is not read on a wideband (air/fuel gauge) a wideband monitors your air to fuel mixture saying if your lean/rich. Kr is monitored with a aeroforce or hp tuners via datalogging etc.

Keep in mind the 4t65e trans in these cars is weak and prone to failure with increased hp so plan on building the trans if your wanting to make 300+whp

Last but not least if you want 300whp, you could accomplish that with bolting on a intercooled turbo kit and removing the supercharger without touching anything on the engine... (tune is needed no matter what route you choose)

 

Turbo monte hit the nail on the head here. Don't worry at all about making the car sound like a fast and furious civic or a v8, it will never ever sound like either regardless what catback you out on. This engine produces a very unique tone, there should be no worry that it'll sound like anything else. Unfortunately I don't mean that in a good way, it's just not a very good sounding engine in the grand scheme of things.

If you're really concerned with power though, the $500+ catback money is better spent elsewhere unless your factory exhaust is rusting out and needs replacement anyways. There is virtually no power to be gained with a catback, and you can get a similar sound change with just a resonator and/or muffler swap that'll cost a fraction of the price of a full catback. This also opens your options up to a huge assortment of combinations of mufflers / resonators / tips to try and dial in the sound closer to what you want.

We could use clarification on if you're looking for 300 crank hp or 300 whp as its a decent price difference. 300 crank hp is fairly cheap and easy to attain. 300 whp is going to take more money and more serious modding.

I see you mention a cam a couple times, and I would suggest reading up on the install first. Putting a cam in with the engine in the car is a super pain, I've helped with a few. It's not impossible, but it's just awkward. Again, ad mentioned above, a good full size intercooler can give similar gains with a dropped pulley size (and doesn't hurt drivability or gas mileage), and is a good bit easier to install.