For optimal sound, do I get both? Some websites are confusing me into believing that a resonator can replace a muffler.. just to clarify things.. I should get both a resonator AND a muffler, right?

Ie.

Pacesetter Header,
Magnaflow Hi-Flow Cat,
Purple Hornie Resonator,
Magnaflow Muffler.

These parts, with 2.25" piping, would constitute a complete (and great sounding) exhaust system?

Thanks,

matt

I think the difference between a muffler and resonator is fuzzy at best sometimes. For example, on one car I used to own, an '84 Cutlass with dual exhaust, according to the service manual, it technically didn't have any mufflers. There were two resonators sitting just in front of the rear axle, straddling the driveshaft, where mufflers in dual exhaust systems tend to be in rear wheel drive cars. I think the only reason they didn't call them mufflers was because of their size. They were only about 9" wide by 12" long. The tube inside necked down to about 1-3/4" and was perforated, like a "glasspack".

Nowadays, I think all resonators are not much more than a long perforated tube style muffler, similar to a "glasspack". I believe most vehicles have both mufflers and resonators these days. My Cadillac has a single resonator just behind the converter, and that splits into two large mufflers underneath the trunk for the dual exhaust. My wife's Grand Caravan has a large muffler just in front of the rear axle, and a small resonator just before the outlet under the bumper.

I'm sure the only functional difference is the size. The larger cases do the most to muffle the sound, and the smaller cases to that extra "tuning" the manufacturer is looking for, whether it be for exhaust note or volume or both.


Jason
North Carolina

1997 Cadillac SLS (147k miles)
2003 Dodge Grand Caravan (50k miles)

Excellent! Thanks for the reply. That's what I had figured; mufflers and resonators are used together to modify both aspects of the sound - the tone and the volume/smoothness.

Great!

-Matt

Yes I have a fartcan because I like the way it looks.

Im fixing to put a flowmaster or magnaflow muffler where my resonator used to be to fix the sound.

Oh and a fartcan is basically a shiny resonator.


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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.