Exhaust decision (save me from myself)...

Hi folks. I'm looking for a little technical input to talk me down from wasting some money or to confirm what I'm thinking about is plausible.

I have a '98 Tacoma with the 3.4L Manual. I'm going to be putting a 50 Series Flowmaster on it. Now, I know this won't gain me anything performance-wise. I don't expect it to. It's all about the sound. I also accept that there's no real way to make a 3.4L sound particularly great. So, what I'm considering is going to a 3" pipe just down stream from the aft O2 sensor to a 3" Flowmaster with a 3" tailpipe dumped just aft of the rear axle. What I'm thinking this will gain me is a deep low tone. That's what I'm after. What I don't want is to negatively impact my performance.

I'd appreciate some input here before I pull the trigger on the 3" muffler and lay out the jack to repipe everything behind the aft O2 sensor.

Thanks in advance.

 

I put a Magnaflow Muffler and a K&N Air Filter on my Taco. I gained about 2 MPG and it seems like my Taco runs a little better. It sure sounds better.

These two mods do make your engine breathe better. That usually means it will run better. A complete cold air K&N unit would work even better.

But do not beleive the claims of 20 to 30 HP gains.

 

Thanks for responding.

Yeah, I've put Flowmasters on other stuff and I really didn't notice a difference performance-wise. It does seem like the fuel mileage improved slightly.

I'm already running a K&N Filter that was in the truck when I acquired it, so I really couldn't say if it improved things or not. A CAI is a bad idea for me; it's just begging for water ingestion. I am thinking about investigating getting the induction tube from a CAI kit to see if I can use it to delete all the intake mufflers and other weird crap stuck to the factory induction tube. I've heard that getting rid of all that stuff will give you a little bottom end torque at the expense of a louder induction system but that really doesn't bother me.

 

IMO, 3"is too big. Unless you are boosted. You are going to lose some bottom end!

 

Well...it'd only be 3" from the rear O2 sensor back. It'd still be 2.25" from the manifolds through the cat, so it'd still have some back pressure. Besides which, I watched some videos one of the performance magazines did dyno testing an engine with both 3" and 2.5" exhaust. They pretty much had identical torque and HP curves and only started to diverge at the top end where the 3" began flowing better. Of course they did it with a V8, but it was dual exhaust so it was only 4 cyl per pipe.

Honestly, I have a hard time believing I'd lose anything unless I went 3" all the way from the manifolds to the tail pipe.

Thanks for responding though.

 

You would.

I'd do some reading.

 

I've read a bunch of folks claiming you'd lose some bottom end going with a 3", but the only stuff I've seen that provides actual test data is the videos I mentioned and they demonstrate otherwise. Also the claims that you'd lose bottom end usually don't specify whether or not it's going 3" from the manifolds back, just from the muffler back, or what I want to do.

I dunno though. I've pretty much kind of decided that I'd shelf the exhaust mod for now and just save the funds for my regear with is more important if longer term. I am also kinda thinking that when I do do it, I'll just go with a 2.5" pipe since I eventually want to cram a traction bar up in there and the 2.5" option would be more space-effective anyway.

 

Yeah i have experience with a 3" exhaust. IMO, best things for getting the low sound you want is to go with a URD y pipe. I was able to tune out the CEL on my third gen using an o2 sensor spacer from Vibrant Performance. URD gives the exhaust lots more low growl and then from there its all about muffler selection.
As others have stated, you will lose some low end more likely than not switching to a 3" exhaust. I have a 3" mbrp with a 3'-3' magnaflow muffler in it, and the URD y pipe and this combo didnt hurt my low end but it didnt really help either.
Might have hurt it up until i added the URD y pipe, but the Y pipe DEFINITELY helps low end a good bit.

Overall, Id say get the URD y pipe first and then find a muffler that gives you the overall sound youre looking for. Y pipe was like adding a subwoofer to my existing exhaust when youre on the throttle, if you catch my drift. In cruise its not very different if at all, and if ANYTHING its a bit quieter and less resonate-y during cruise, with a mean growl and lots of noise when youre on the pedal. Then after you get the Y pipe in you can change the muffler to get the exact tone you want, just listen to lots of other videos first and figure out which you like the best.
Borla will be relatively quiet and with almost no cruising drone, but not that loud.
Magnaflow is a step up in loudness from borla, but still keeps most of the higher pitched 'ricey' notes out of the exhaust and what im currently running
MBRP is a little louder than magnaflow and sounds mean, lots of gurgling at low speed/low throttle like idling through a parking lot and lots of crackles and pops letting off the throttle.
As far as I know, Flowmaster is the loudest. Their dual exhaust system alone is about as loud as mine is now with the Y pipe and turn-down before axle exhaust. Pretty significantly droney, however... Would NOT recommend if you have to drive your truck for long periods of time, the drone will give you a headache.
Not sure how the AFE exhaust is in person, dont know anybody with one of those.
Not sure how the URD exhaust is in person, but they usually sound pretty damn good.

 

Wow, thanks for that pretty comprehensive description of the options.

I'm pretty much stuck on the 50 series Flowmaster though. I'm expecting it to be pretty quiet. Back in the '90s, I had one on a Heep with a 4.0L I6 and frankly I couldn't tell a lot of difference from the factory muffler. On the other hand, had a 40 series on an F250 with a 7.5L V8. It sounded awesome, but the resonance in the cabin drove me nuts. They also have the 60 series I don't have any personal experience with that is supposed to be almost as quiet as the factory exhaust.

The videos I've seen of Magnaflows and 50 series Flowmasters on a 3.4L, I thought the Flowmaster sounded better. The Magnaflows "blatted" a little too much for me.

Thanks for the recommendation on the y-pipe though! That's definitely something I'll have to consider.

 

I second the URD Y-Pipe... Have it paird with a 3" Vibrant Ultra Quite Resonator & 3" Magnaflow... Perfect sound IMO. Exhaust is 3" from the vband at the y-pipe to resonator.

 

In fairness, though, you guys are running 4.0Ls. Assuming they make one for a 3.4L, would it have the same effect?

 

Nope, we're both running a 3rd gen 3.5L.

 

D'oh, sorry. Wasn't paying attention beyond you were newer than 2004, haha. I just look, there is no y-pipe for the 3.4L anyway so I guess that's not an option for me.

 

What's the point?

We drive 15-20 YO trucks because they run forever.

I like to think is 1st genners are pretty saavy when it comes to getting our money's worth. Who gives a shit what it sounds like. You know and I know it's running a v6. It's a truck, not a sport car.

With that said, it's your money, spend it how you want. Don't ask the 'net your opinion. Might not like what you get for responses.

 

Yeah, the point was I was indecisive and I was looking to be talked down from doing something excessive. Was just looking for input to help me make up my mind. And yeah, although I have been living with it for almost 4 years now, I hate the was the OGT sounds...kinda like a chihuahua growling in a steel 55 gallon drum (or a early '90s Chevy Lumina ). I suspect a lot of it has to do with the old, probably blown out, factory muffler since I haven't heard another 1st gen 3.4 that had the same sort of sound. At any rate, it's something I want to change, but I decided to prioritize my needed regear first.