i completely agree that off idle it will never sound like a v8, but you can get damn nice sound out of these, it's ALL in the way it's piped

why true dual and length matching is important:
V6 Camaro Magnaflow - YouTube stock engine
V6 Camaro true duals - YouTube *cammed*
V6 Camaro Exhaust vid - YouTube stock engine
V6 Camaro flyby - YouTube stock engine
V6 Camaro Exhaust - YouTube stock engine

and i still haven't found the one i was looking for

ever sat down and actaully thought about what actually causes the rasp/ what it actually is? I have, and that's why i'm not backing down on this.

 

I been looking at youtube and i have come a couple that i like how they sound. But im still looking not ready to make a decision yet.

 

My Camaro sounds like trash.

 

It's not fair to compare the sound of a 3800 Camaro to the sound of a 3800 Monte Carlo. Same goes for the 3800 Grand Prix. The Grand Prix and Camaro sound way deeper than the Monte and I have no idea why. My brothers '02 Grand prix GT has the EXACT same exhaust set up as mine u-bend and res and cat and everything, and yet you turn his on and it gives a deep growl and it's fairly loud. Turn mine on and all it does is queef -_-

 

the 97-03 prix gt and 00-05 monte ss have the same exact engine/exhaust combo from the factory with different tailpipe spacing and tips, so one thing or another is different between your setups. possibly one of you put the mufflers or resonator in backward, which happens alot actually

the camaro's sound like junk from the factory just like the monte's/imapla's/prix's/regal's the only difference is that you can do a length matched true dual setup without meaning to do exactly that because the engine sits the proper direction 98 Camaro 3.8 Liter Stock Exhaust - YouTube

 

Mine has an aftermarket exhaust from the previous owner. It's so bad, but I don't feel like putting any money into changing it, since this car isn't my money pit.

 

I remember owning my 2003 Monte Carlo SS and badly wanting to add an aftermarket exhaust system to it, to make it sound meaner, more aggressive, louder, and intimidating. Looking back on it now, I am so glad I didn't. 90% of 3800's with aftermarket exhaust systems sound really bad, and like complete trash in WOT. And the 10% that do sound good are usually cammed, turbo'd, or are on a 3800 Camaro. It's really not worth it to try and make your car sound more aggressive, because in the end after you do put one of these systems on, you'll most likely be the laughing stock of everyone else on the road. The sound of a 3800 with one of the aftermarket cat-backs doesn't intimidate people, it doesn't make them impressed, instead it gives them something to laugh at. It's not easy making a V6 sound like a V8, and I know that's what most people are going for.

Adding a downpipe and CAI will add a little bit more volume to the exhaust note without making it obnoxiously loud, raspy, and ricer sounding.

Your best bet it to use that money in performance modifications. A car that will be truly impressive and admirable is a sleeper. A car that surprises a driver of a V8 powered car because the sleeper is so quiet and unassuming, no one would really look at one of these 3800 Monte Carlo's and expect for it to be fast.

A CAI, L67 conversion, smaller Supercharger pulley, downpipe, better tires, shift kit, and a Stall for the transmission would put your car in V8 territory, killing any stock Mustang GT from 2004 and prior, and suprising a few other cars. In my opinion, that would be your best option.

 

Also, just to add to what causes the rasp from these engines, I believe it's mostly due to the Y-pipe exhaust. If you were to get a set of true dual exhaust, with an H-pipe or X-pipe you would reduce and eliminate almost all of your rasp, completely.

 

close, very close, it's actually the difference in distance the sound has to travel from each bank of cylinders, the only way to eliminate this would be a true dual setup: front cylinders out the passenger side and rear out the driver side, along with a good pair of resonators, the reason h and xpipes work on RWD cars is because their engines are the correct direction and are naturally length matched with a true dual setup

an h pipe could be placed very close to the outlet behind the bumper but not before