SLP Powerflo Install
I installed SLP's Powerflo axle back system yesterday so I thought I would do a quick writeup.
Total install time is an embarrassing 2 hours and I hope this helps someone else do the install quicker. The issue wasn't with unbolting the old exhaust or tightening the new one up, it was with alligning the tips. But first...
This muffler is designed a bit differently than others on the market. You can see though the muffler from one end to the other when you look in the pipe, but there's a bend on the inside that must force the exhaust pulses into the filled section of the muffler to quiet the sound down. It's a side entrance/side exit design and looks like this:
All of my problems are from two things: how to situate the muffler and how to hang it. Because of the side/side configuration the muffler has to be angled to fit. The directions have the mufflers angling in towards the center of the car. But doing this left no clearance and it was pushed up against the heat shield. So I had to angle them out away from the center, which means you have to reverse the mufflers left to right. Not a big deal. In fact I read about this on the web and was expecting it. What I wasn't expecting were the hanger issues.
I had absolutely no luck using either of the stock 2 holes for mounting the muffler. If I used them the tips were completely pressed up against the rear plastic. And no matter how I twisted or turned the muffler the tips were always pushed up too far. I think some of this is due to the Kooks flexable joint that the axle back connects to. It's so loose that it provides almost no support for holding the muffler up. The stock has the flexable piece too, but maybe it's stiffer. Here's a pic of what I had to do:
This is a pic of the passenger side hanger. A is where the hook was supposed to go (there's only one on the new muffler). But B is where I had to put it. There's a gap below the stock holes meant to reduce noise/vibration that I had to use. Luckly the entire rubber hanger piece is surrounded by metal so hanging it in the bottom there's no risk of anything falling.
For the sound, I'm loving it. Very deep base sounding at startup and takeoff. People have said that the Powerflo is pretty quiet when mated to stock exhaust manifolds/mid section. But with Kooks LTs and catted X pipe it's very deep. WOT so far is a little louder than it was before, but doesn't seem a ton louder. WOT already had a lot of engine noise associated with it with the headers. But around town it's very noticeable that there's a V8 in there now.
For drone, there is a little around town when accelerating. It's liveable for me. I did the washer mod back when the rest of the exhaust was stock and I'd say it's comparable. On the highway there's virtually no change in exhaust noise. I drive around 72-73 on the highway and with my rear end swap that's about 2k rpm. If you have the stock rear end you're turning about 150-200 rpm less than me and there will be more noise. I slowed my speed to check it out and noice does increase but it didn't seem terrible. But with stock gears if you're driving 55-60 it's going to be worse.
Sorry, no sound clips. I need to get a good camcorder.
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Originally Posted by RichsGreyGT
