Hello everyone. My name is Darren. I just traded my old 2002 Dodge Neon R/T for this 2004 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport. Much happier with it, except for the limited cup holder space. It is a much nicer looking car, much healthier running, and I feel I can trust it much more than the Neon. Neon was done up a bit aftermarket, and evidently pushed hard in its time. The 2.0L Magnum sounded rough, the 5th gear syncro was bad, it leaked trans fluid, was just a bit of a headache but a cheap car I bought for fuel economy & beating on. I'm not trying to dis on chrysler but I never liked/trusted their vehicles. Always been about Ford and GM. Feels good to have another Chevy.
This Cavalier will be my new daily getter. Still on the first full tank, so I look forward to seeing its economy numbers. Its an automatic unfortunately. I don't plan to highly modify it but I will probably tint it 20% in 3M Color Stable all around, Husky floor mats for the winter weather, and maybe gloss black bow ties. I do want to get some Philips Extreme Vision 9007s while I am at it. That reminds me the fog lamps do not light up, but I'm sure its probably just dead bulbs. I also have thought of a mild exhaust so I can actually hear this thing. My Neon was straight piped and droned like crazy inside. Looking for something much more quiet inside, but audible enough outside. Not big on Magnaflow, Not at all for Flowmaster. Something fairly priced though. Borlas are always nice!
Here are some pics.
My old Neon.
Hauling it away.
Picking up the Cavalier.
More photos of it later when I get some time.
My other vehicle is a 2007 Ford F-150 Lariat Supercrew 4wd. I daily drove it for the longest time. After my work re-located to me picking up an economic daily getter was a must to save some fuel and miles on the truck.
'03 LS Sport 5spd, Amsoil fluids, Vibrant cat-back, 5% 3M color stable tint, Z24 trunk lid
welcome to the org, cav looks nice and clean. For exhaust I would recommend a dynomax superturbo muffler, some sort of resonator and high flow cat. That is what I have and its just a bit louder then stock yet it sounds nice when you step on it.
Thanks!
I've been on YouTube most of the day trying to find some videos. All I seem to find for the 2.2 Ecotechs are Cobalts & HHRs. Not too many Cavalier videos huh?
From my observations of some online forums some small tweaks can make Cobalt exhausts fit. I found myself liking the sounds of the ZZP 2.5" cat-backs, and the Vibrant cat-backs. I would rather go custom like I did with my truck but if a cat-back is fair enough in price and I could do it myself I would be all for it. But can I get a nice heavy deep note without doing a full exhaust, and can I do so without gaining a lot of interior drone?
So my stock exhaust is 2.25". I figured on a Borla ProXS 14" body muffler swap only and a short double wall 4" tip for appearances. It is a daily getter so I am not really looking for the best performance exhaust, but I want a good deep clean note. Is it worth changing the downpipe to one with a hi-flow cat? I have always heard that GM catalytic converters don't really tone down volume as much as Ford's do. Is it worth switching to a 2.5" exhaust without any plans to custom tune, or add an intake? I went from single 2.5" on my truck to single 3" mandrel with dual 2.5" tails and feel high end performance enhanced and I did not lose much of any low end torque so I am assuming the same here with this light weight car.
'03 LS Sport 5spd, Amsoil fluids, Vibrant cat-back, 5% 3M color stable tint, Z24 trunk lid
the stock exhaust is not 2.25", it is 1 7/8". if you have no intention of tuning, there is no reason to get a 2.5" exhaust, all it will do is draw police attention.
Sparkey05 wrote:the stock exhaust is not 2.25", it is 1 7/8". if you have no intention of tuning, there is no reason to get a 2.5" exhaust, all it will do is draw police attention.
Thank you. Alright. Up here in north PA cops aren't too much of a worry. I have 5% tint all around on my truck and have never been hassled for how loud it was or how dark the tint is. But that doesn't mean I want to louden it up a lot. I want it to remain fairly subtle inside, but I really like the sound of a nicely tone 4cyl. What would you guys recommend for me? My research has lead me to a low result. Everyone seems to do a full exhaust with LT header, catted/non catted DP, and a 2.5" exhaust. I looked the exhaust over real well an am surprised how small the OEM muffler is. So I am beginning to think the resonator and cat is where I may have to look to gain some more volume but I want to run a deep noted muffler at the same time.
My biggest concern is keeping the low end torque happy as I am after mpg over performance. I also don't want it to look like I am trying to make my Cavalier an auto trans race demon. And I don't want my mpg to drop from an over sized exhaust that will hardly ever see high rpm.
'03 LS Sport 5spd, Amsoil fluids, Vibrant cat-back, 5% 3M color stable tint, Z24 trunk lid
a nice, long resonator will keep the exhaust from developing a rasp if you increase the pipe size. you're not going to see that big of a change performance wise, increase or decrease in any range, without tuning with a cat-back. it will be mostly tone and butt-dyno changes.
Sparkey05 wrote:a nice, long resonator will keep the exhaust from developing a rasp if you increase the pipe size. you're not going to see that big of a change performance wise, increase or decrease in any range, without tuning with a cat-back. it will be mostly tone and butt-dyno changes.
Alright thanks. All i'm after is the sound, if I can get that without losing mpg or power, awesome.
I made a thread in the performance section if you want to take a look. I am basically questioning the Vibrant cat-back system for this car and if it is possible.
'03 LS Sport 5spd, Amsoil fluids, Vibrant cat-back, 5% 3M color stable tint, Z24 trunk lid
North PA you say, hmmm. Im from NEPA.
