Hello all,
this is my first post on this foruuuuum, I just got my x-fire 2 weeks ago and i love it, what first started as a daily driver has escaladed into a new project car,lol. After much resaerch on exhaust systems for this car, I couldnt find one that tickled my pickle. I thought about how i had taken my Girlfriends daily driver (06 Pontiac G6 GT coupe) to my friends shop to do a rear muffler delete, sounded beautiful. after that I tried it on my father-in-law's 06 Solstice GXP (i know were pontiac fans) and as well sounded great. After consideration i though heck, nothing a simple weld cant fix. I chopped it off and took it for a spin. i liked the way it sounded so i put a straight pipe with a nice set of double walled tips. It has a deep mellow tone only when stepped on hard, if not you can barely here it. If anyone else has done it let me know how you like it and if you were thinking about an exhaust definetely consider this. i will post pics as soon as i can.

 

You don't have a muffler and you can barely hear the exhaust? Ummm...well, I have to say that has never been my experience. You may want to have your hearing checked.

 

I did this on my Lincoln LSC years ago and it sounded great. I had a friend who worked at a Midas muffler, and we tried at least three different mufflers. None of them sounded like I wanted, so just for fun , we replaced the mufflers with straight pipe, and it sounded great! I had many people stop and ask me what kind of exhaust I was running, and they were shocked when I told them I had straight pipes. The cads acted like mufflers and the car had much better performance. Don't know how it would affect the crossfire motor though.

 

I guess the catalytic converter has more of an effect than just removing pollutants...

 

I've thought about having a straight pipe welded up in this fassion myself, but only because I'll be driving this car in Solo II D Stock events and the only real performance mod you can do to a car in that class is a Cat Back (well, if you consider a K&N air filter a performance mod I guess that too). I figured I would get the best HP increase with a straight pipe with an added benefit of loosing weight from no muffler or resonator as well. I don't think I'll be driving it like that on the street however.

 

Crossfirebird,
Can you provide a sound clip or your Crossfire without the muffler. I believe you are the first one to do this and I would love to here the end result.

 

I have done this too. Had a friend at a muffler shop customize me a cat back with no mufflers. I only use this when i go to the track. Trust me...its loud. I have a few pics of it in my gallery too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VhEGsJpcxA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K32PlesuAd4

- Mike

 

I watched that You Tube clip, and it is very loud, not mellow. I used dual "monza" tips on my lincoln and it made very mellow and deep. I think some type of small resonator type tips would do the trick. their is plenty of room to do it. I don't know if the "monza" tips I used are still avalable, I did my car about 10 yrs. ago.

 

I believe member "mbepic" has done the same thing...2 tiny resonators at the end of the exhaust. You remember this one Gary...something about the Tavern on 13...

 

Ah yes here it is again.........
http://youtube.com/watch?v=l2qOUa5iOnc

 

Now thats nice !

 

Here's another exhaust I believe is true duals without a muffler.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tszCPcAYIFQ&feature=related

 

To the guys who removed there muffler, what did it cost you in the end? I've been wanting to do this for a while but I don't know if I got enough money yet! Thanks!

 

It's been ten years since I did this, but I would think it should easily be less than $150.

 

aaah, Gary..........your memory is slipping.

For all you guys experimenting with custom exhaust, here is a few tips (pun) based on my first hand experience.

Go full dual exhaust for higher rpm horsepower and improved mileage (if you care about that)...............integrate an 'X' crossover pipe near the factory cats to make for more efficient flow without loss of torque (this will be my 2008 project).

As far as sound goes, try without muffler and only tips first.
If too loud, go to a resonator with tips (double walled, stainless tips is the way to go).
DO NOT USE converters at the rear location of car..........it will make the sound more mellow but you will end up replacing them sooner or later (they are not meant to operate at rear of car).
My own personal preference is to not use a MagnaFlow type muffler because of how it looks at the rear of the car...........I think you want a clean look without the boxy muffler shown.

Anyways, that is my opinion. Take it for what you think it is worth.

 

What do you mean ?? I have photos of your exhaust. I was referring to not having a muffler or resonators at all in the earlier post with only straight pipes.

 

HOW ABOUT BRINGING THE PIPES OUT JUST AHEAD OF THE DOOR HINGES????OR....JUST AHEAD OF THE REAR WHEELS!!??

 

Not sure you could do that because of the floor underside; the pipes would be too low to the ground, especially with a resonator. Note that the existing pipes are routed through the center tunnel.