NEWS AND EVENTS

"BIGGER IS BETTER!" F-bodies can now exhale with ease thanks to Mufflex's mega-wide 4-inch exhaust. By: Abraham Bergian High Tech Magazine March 1998

Until now, if you owned a third or forth generation Camaro or Firebird that made more than 350 hp at the rear wheels, you had one limiting factor: it's exhaust.

Nobody produces a street-legal single exhaust system with a diameter larger that 3 inches for higher-horsepower Camaros and Firebirds, relegating these owners to either a true dual system, with all of it's accompanying clearance problems, or living with the inadequate 3-ince system.

Now there's more. Remember the 4-inch system that was featured in "Date Line" in the May 1997 issue? Well, master exhaust fabricator Denny Tarcza of Mufflex Performance Exhaust Specialists in Trenton, NJ., has just released the special system. It incorporates a FLOWMASTER ® "Shootout" series 2-chamber muffler to keep decibels to a minimum while pushing power production to a maximum. The muffer actually weighs 5 lbs. less than the factory muffler.

To ensure long-term durability, Mufflex uses only aluminized tubing, all mandrel-bent to perfect, uniform demensions without power robbing creases. When Denny installed the system in our 1996 Formula in preperation for the upcoming 400-hp buildup, he used an out-of-the-box system to prove just how ready-to-go the Mufflex 4-inch exhaust system is once received. The system is sold over the counter, so proper fit is a major concern.

Once installed, the Mufflex system had a sufficient amount of clearance throughout the underbody. And with a twist of the key we were rewarded with a crisp growl that was totally unexpected. We were concerned that with a system so big, the Formula's exhaust note would become very blah due to the lack of velocity of the existing gases, the result of the bigger 4-inch piping. We were wrong, The sound is just right.

Also, the throttle response is quick off idle with no noticeable lag, and the LT1 seems to rev noticeably freer at the upper rpms. At the track, our formula ET dropped a full tenth, but that's a tenth more than we really expected since our poncho is only making about 310 hp at the rear wheels. The big gains and proof of this system's value, will come when we bolt on our ported LT4 cylinder heads, intake and bigger cam. Stay tuned..

Article written by: Abraham Bergian in the March 1998 Issue of High Tech Performance Magizine Page 66 All Rights Reserved