I'm hoping he meant that the pcm has been tuned

 

Chipped, probably no where. Generally you get the pcm's reprogrammed in these cars. If you're looking for a video, below is a video of a buick regal gs with a tune from overkill motorsports.

 

I was being funny actually. I knew what he ment I just hate when people say I have a 'chip' In my car lol

 

"I want the car to sound good, low, and have a nice rumble but don't want it to shout at the world. I guess I still want it to be quiet but a tad louder than stock."

I don,t know if you have bought your mufflers yet but I am partial to Magnaflow. I went with them and no resonator. I got a good low rumble and some great sound when I gas it. It drones a some when in overdrive at 60mph, but I have gotten a lot of compliments.

You might try the Magnaflow mufflers and leave the resonator if you don't want it to loud.

 

I know this thread is old, sue me.

I have had numerous set ups:
stock with res. delete
, 2.5" catback with flowmaster 40 series in place of stock mufflers,
flowmaster ten series in place of stock resonator with turn downs before rear wheels
, dynomax ulraflow welded in place of resonator with the turndowns in front of the wheels
3" catback to 2.5" y pipe turndown at the rear wheels no muffler
thrush turbo mufflers in place of stock mufflers with 3" dp, 2.5" catback
I have also had some ricey, glasspacks in there somewhere.

My car is an NA 3800, but I can say that no matter what, you will have a rumble, these engines sound fantastic when you ROMP on the throttle, the only negative is that it sounds like an elephant sneezing when you let off at high RPMs.
My personal favorite of all of the set ups I have had are without a doubt the 2.5" catback with the dynomax ultraflow welded where the resonator goes, (its a tight squeeze, but it does work) and my current setup, 3" DP, high flow cat, 2.5" catback, thrush turbo mufflers at the end,
this setup sounds a bit different, Racy yet refined. has the rumble at idle without the LOOK AT ME!!! shouting. when you get on it, it also doesnt draw attention like youre driving around with a unicorn on top of your car, just smooth bellows that accentuate the wonderful engine these cars have to offer, and when milling about the town or even down the interstste, you dont get the drone of a headache from any louder exhaust.
the only thing i still want to eventually change is that right now, i have grand prix tips which look good, but I want the OEM dual tips again.

the only real thing you need to ask yourself is "Do I want a throaty, smooth sound? or do I want a throaty bubbly/ rougher sound?
Any fiberglass muffler gives you the smooth sound, I personally love that, and you cant beat the flow of them, but if you want more of the sound of a muscle car, you may want chambered. the chambered mufflers really use echoes to muffle the noise, so your cancelling sound with sound, this results in an echo of each time your engine fires a new piston or stroke, its almost raw.
the glasspacks do blow out eventually, but are really cheap to replace and more reliable than you may think. they dont just go out after 5 thousand miles leaving you with a straight pipe sound, manufacturers hae used glasspacks for years. Really what they do is deaden the sound with the fiberglass to absorb it, and use echoes to deaden it (depending on the type of glasspack mainly turbo mufflers)

I didnt realize I droned on so long, sorry for the long reply, I hope this helps you with your exhaust buying decision, really in short Ill just say its your car, dont just take advice from blokes over the intarweb, experiment.

with that last statement, I just want you all to know that I love my MCF family and would never consider you to be just any old blokes over the intarweb.

 

i say borla. my setup in my 97-l67 with 3.4 pulley, ported tb, m90, lim, res delete, dual borlas with borla split tips. ive gotten chicks numbers from my exhaust alone

 

Can anyone help me decide on an exhaust to install on my 3.9L. I'm looking for something with an aggressive growl. But something not expensive I can't afford a complete exhaust system.

 

resonator delete, super turbo mufflers. I put thrush turbo mufflers without deleting resonator on my wifes car, 3500 impala, sounds good. but its all i the eye of the beholder.

I would really suggest just saving and picking up a dynomax or magnaflow complete exhaust. would be well worth it.

 

04 Monte SS zzp supercharger kit. Flowmaster 40s and a magnaflow glass pack where the resonator was.

 

Im planning on doing an exhaust like that second monte but not a glass pack. its going to be a magna flow or something thats equal in diameter to the Res. if I get the right one it wont be obnoxious but it will have more sound and deeper. and some weight loss.