I don't have any thing really done to my car yet. Just wheels and Impala SS head rests. But, no, I probably will not be installing the mufflers myself. I'll take it some where to weld or clamp together.

Ok guys, I went and talked to my mechanic and he referred me to a guy that does custom tuning along with many other performance upgrades.
I asked him what to do to get the most hp for the money and also let him know I wanted a better sound from the car and was thinking about getting Magnaflow exhaust.
He told me to start with the Magnaflow (thanks 2006 monte ss with 20yrs experience) which will gain 10-15hp and is a great system.
After that he said to come in and get a custom tune (15-25hp) along with maybe a ported throttle body which will not gain hp, but will shave time off at the track and maybe cold air induction which will gain a little HP.
The custom tune is the best hp for the money, but it is best to have the custom tune done after the other work to get the maximum hp gain.
I will let you guys know how things go, now I just need to find a good price on the expensive Magnaflow.

Those are nice numbers to look at... but most likely you won't be seeing those actual numbers on a dyno.

however you can't go wrong doing those things :)

Hope it all works out for you.

Yeah. That's good to hear. Good luck and keep us posted.

By the way... Supposedly this one below is the Magnaflow. I've e-mailed them and that is what they told me.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Perfo...ht_4838wt_1718

i was playing with a bone stock impala the other day. like i said playing. but i have k&n intake, trottle body spacer, magnaflow exhaust (sounds awesome) and then the diablo tuner. and there is a huge difference in the overall behavior of the car. yes myne was quicker and much more responsive. plus it sounds completely different. the three main mods are extremely worth it :)

If you really are looking for the cheapest HP gain in this price range- nitrous pops into my head. You can easily get a basic nitrous setup for the price of that exhaust, and gain 100+ hp instead of 5 hp.

For you LS4 guys- isn't there a bolt in higher ratio rocker option for $600? Mod'd stock 1.9 rockers are a big hp mod for 3800s on both NA and SC applications for about $200- just curious if there were any reasonable options for the LS4.

Just thinking that there must be something that will give more power in this price range- cat backs just don't seem to have much gain these wbodys- and thats a pretty big chunk of money.


15 hp, even at the crank sounds awfully steep for a catback.

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, how can an engine mod not give you any horsepower gain, but drops time at the track? I could see that being the case with a steeper rear end or something, but not with an engine mod.

correct me if im wrong, but cant you do a cutout of the stock intake box? free and gives you the same cold air intake setup rather than spending $$.

if your looking to do it all right, and make it look clean you'll need to spend money.

for the money, i love my magnaflow cat-back exhaust. of course, mine was $200 cheaper than yours :D
but there is no way your gonna gain 15 WHP from that setup with a bone stock engine....no way.
a lot of the cheaper mods would be to the exhaust without getting into $$$, so if you wanna make it breath better thats where i would start. do a cat-back exhaust, save more money, then do an intake. save more money, then do whatever else.....but lastly i would do a tune. if you plan on changing your engine around more and more, you wont get maximum HP/$ if you tune then change your setup, then need a retune. while the retune isnt necessarily needed in most cases unless you do something major (cam), you still wont be getting maximum HP.
save your money and do a tune last. you'll be happier.

2003supersport.......

I read your sig and saw your video. How much total money in parts & labor have you spent on your car? How fast/quick do you suppose the car is?
I'm going to prove a point to the OP with your answer...;)

total engine parts totaled are $3800, with install probably an extra $1800 = $5,600
all my total parts, cosmetic + engine probably maybe $6000 or just above (ss hood, springs and struts, pinstriping, gauges) + the $1800 for install still = $7,800

yea, about $7,800 for everything i think. but i used the same method i described above.....but something, save. buy something, save. it makes the build more fun, and you dont get burnt out on the car. since i plan on keeping the car for a very long time, the money is worth it to me. i love the way my car is now. It makes me happy. i just wish i was more mechanically inclined so i could really "build" the car. if i had more free time i'd go to my community college and take a few classes. i can do the basics, and i did all the suspsension stuff myself! that was a big accomplishment for me :)

I talked to an exhaust shop and he said to just get different mufflers because the air restraint is just in the mufflers and I don't need a full cat back. Will the car still sound the same if I just get magnaflow mufflers to save some money? I know the cat back system is a little bigger pipes, but that probably doesn't matter if the restraint is at the muffler. Is that true? He also said that from his experience, the magnaflow is louder inside the car and to just get some Flowmaster Delta 40's. You guys with magnaflow, is it pretty loud in the car?