Hey guys...my name is Dean, and I'm 18 living and going to school in Pennsylvania. I just got my Monte Carlo last November as my first car, and I really enjoy it.

The car is a 2001 SS 3.8L V6 with about 80,000 miles, mostly stock parts as far as I can tell. I have some knowledge about cars (my dad is pretty knowledgeable about such things), but it's nothing that wonderful. I'll be headed into the Mechanical Engineering field at school, and I'm hoping to turn this Monte Carlo into my personal learning project, helping me learn more about how it works, while upgrading it in the process.

My first goals for the car are mostly aesthetic, having to do with looks and sound. So that's why I'm here, long-winded introduction aside...

Not having the money to do much else, I was hoping to get a muffler/exhaust tips upgrade to help give the car a deeper, more "muscular" sound.

Basically, I'm looking for your opinions on a cost effective way to upgrade the sound of my Monte Carlo without making it sound like a ricer

Thanks for the help.

 

welcome to the party yo. look around and feel free to ask around

 

Really it's hard to make the 3.8 sound "muscular" without some legitimate power mods under the hood. Most things you are going to do that are strictly exhaust follow a double-edged sword methodology in that while you gain one thing, you suffer from another. For example, a lot of people who simply switch out their mufflers have to deal with the droning sound at cruising speed. Some people don't really mind it, some do. It's hard to suggest exhaust mods because what sounds good to one person may not sound good to the next. It's a lot of personal preference.

 

Well could I buy something, try it to see what it sounds like, and then take it back if I don't like it? Or is it just a one shot deal sorta thing?

 

If you're ok with welding you can do anything and keep it cheap. The only reason why most people act like it's a one time deal is because it costs money to have someone take off your mufflers and install new ones.

You'll find that with cars, nothing is a one time deal.

 

A good way that I have found to increase the eargasm level is a simple Cold Air Intake. You can hear the sucking noise as the throttle body opens up and I LOVE IT! You have to make sure you purchase a good one though because if it sucks in hot engine bay air, you will DECREASE the power that your engine produces. Good luck in your search for audio pleasure.

 

x2, listen on youtube to hear the best for exhaust, but all exhaust for v6's are going to have some rasp at some point

 

Thanks...it seems like the competition is mostly between Magnaflow and Flowmaster for the 2001 model.

 

Not trying to be a jerk- but they'll both sound like crap. Honestly, if you want a muscle car sounding ride you unfortunately have the wrong car. 3800s sound terrible.

I have the GMPP cat-back on mine and it sounds awful too. These just are not good sounding engines.

 

Lame. Ah well, I'm going to do with it what I can haha. I've been talking to a guy who has the same type of car as I do, and he has vids on youtube of both magnaflow and thrush mufflers. I didn't really prefer the sound of the magnaflow...I thought, at least from the videos, that the thrush ones sounded better. So if I get something I may go with those.

I also heard that Summit Racing ones are pretty good.


Magnaflow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=383FcRHSe5g

Thrush: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvsrZQdPNc


P.S. I know the car I'm driving isn't a muscle car haha, but I love it anyway...I'm just taking shots in the dark at trying to make it sound better than the stock mufflers.