Hey there. MSDS headers on a 99' SVT... do the headers alone make the exhaust sound "raspy"? I really like the stock "smoothness"... it has a nice smooth, NON-raspy sound. I know that the cat's have a lot to do with that, but I am wondering if the headers make it raspy or not. Also... overall, looking for the performance that the headers give for sure, secondly, looking for a stock-like sound, just a bit louder, same smooth deep sound though. What do you guys suggest, and secondly... do any of you have any sound clips or any of this?... even the stock exhaust with MSDS headers vs. stock or whatever, that would be VERY helpful... all of the posts that I found in the search were very old and none of the links worked. Thanx guys!
When I put the headers on my car, the sound did get deeper and meaner, but not raspy or fart-can. I think that a quality cataback with good resonators can give you some more power without making the sound deteriorate in quality.
Yeah i think that the header's should not affect the overall rasp of your exhaust. It all depends on the cat-back you have. I beleive the main influences are the cat, as you suggested, and the resonators/mufflers your running. IIRC it's mainly the resonator though. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. Overall headers would be a nice mod, i think they give around 10-15 hp and would sound SWEET even with stock SVT exhaust. If you wanted it louder you could also look into an aftermarket cat-back system (but many will create rasp).
keep in mind that my exhaust was super smooth before hand so i had a great starting point.
headers made my exhaust a little louder for sure. a good loud, but louder non the less. a meaner sound if you will. there still is 0 rasp, but like i said the note isnt quite as smooth as it was.
if you arent running a good catback (with a resinator) you may see some rasp (cant say for sure). i have a magnaflow res. (18" long i think) and didnt get any rasp. even on near 0 degree F mornings.
is the performance worth it? hell yes.
I just checked, and the video I posted over a year ago is no good anymore. Some may remember it. I've got MSDS Headers and y-pipe, Bassani catback and a Magnaflow resonator. I think the sound is perfect, and wouldn't change anything about it. Before the resonator, it did have some rasp, but wasn't ricey rasp. Sounded more like a chainsaw if you ask me, and was REALLY loud. I wouldn't hold back from getting the headers, and if you think it has a little too much rasp, just have a resonator welded in and you're good to go.
Mark
Same exact setup, and I agree 100%. However, the silver on my car, makes the note sound so much better :-)
Originally posted by Y2KSVT:
I just checked, and the video I posted over a year ago is no good anymore. Some may remember it. I've got MSDS Headers and y-pipe, Bassani catback and a Magnaflow resonator. I think the sound is perfect, and wouldn't change anything about it. Before the resonator, it did have some rasp, but wasn't ricey rasp. Sounded more like a chainsaw if you ask me, and was REALLY loud. I wouldn't hold back from getting the headers, and if you think it has a little too much rasp, just have a resonator welded in and you're good to go.
Mark
If it were actually running
Get any word from Chuck?
Originally posted by RTStabler51:
Same exact setup, and I agree 100%. However, the silver on my car, makes the note sound so much better :-)
Originally posted by Y2KSVT:
I just checked, and the video I posted over a year ago is no good anymore. Some may remember it. I've got MSDS Headers and y-pipe, Bassani catback and a Magnaflow resonator. I think the sound is perfect, and wouldn't change anything about it. Before the resonator, it did have some rasp, but wasn't ricey rasp. Sounded more like a chainsaw if you ask me, and was REALLY loud. I wouldn't hold back from getting the headers, and if you think it has a little too much rasp, just have a resonator welded in and you're good to go.
Mark
Mark
LOL It RUNS just fine...it just can't move!
Should be working on it soon..
Originally posted by Y2KSVT:
If it were actually running Get any word from Chuck?
Originally posted by RTStabler51:
Same exact setup, and I agree 100%. However, the silver on my car, makes the note sound so much better :-)
Originally posted by Y2KSVT:
I just checked, and the video I posted over a year ago is no good anymore. Some may remember it. I've got MSDS Headers and y-pipe, Bassani catback and a Magnaflow resonator. I think the sound is perfect, and wouldn't change anything about it. Before the resonator, it did have some rasp, but wasn't ricey rasp. Sounded more like a chainsaw if you ask me, and was REALLY loud. I wouldn't hold back from getting the headers, and if you think it has a little too much rasp, just have a resonator welded in and you're good to go.
Mark
Mark
Well I suppose my question can be answered here aswell. I have a full Tru-bendz SS 2.5 inch cat-back and Tru-bendz SS y-pipe. I also have the strait pipe, meaning no cat. But I have the stock manifolds on the car. I would like to put the MSDS headers on but I'm worried about the noise getting any louder than it already is. Anyone with similar setup would be most helpful. Thanks
With no cat and one muffler it'll be loud as hell. Either get a main cat, or resonators at the tail pipes to quieten it down after the headers go on.
Originally posted by KingpinSVT:
is the performance worth it? hell yes.
That's what I'm hoping for. 
Stazi's putting my headers in in about a week and a half. I've already got the Borla cat back and the free flow cat and y-pipe from SP Motorsports. I guess we'll see what happens--better be good.
Well I answered one question, so maybe I can get an answer to mine. As I stated, I have MSDS Headers + y-pipe, Bassani catback and a Magnaflow resonator. Im most likely going to buy the Trubendz SS test pipe to put in place of my main cat.
Will the Magnaflow Resonator be enough to keep the car from rasping if I have the test pipe in? What kind of top end power can I expect with a decently modded 3.0L Hybrid?
Mark
Awesome, good responses, thank you. The car has full stock exhaust right now, only looking at the headers right now for sure because of the gains, and if it sounds good with the stock exhaust just louder, that's perfect... if it gets raspy, it will need to dissapear, so what would you suggest at that point to take the rasp out of it if that were to happen?
You may be OK, and without a cat you should gain a bit more up top for sure.
Magnaflow Resonator FO SHO! PM Stazi for a price quote, as he has part #'s pretty much memorized now.
Mark
Originally posted by wa2tuff:
Originally posted by KingpinSVT:
is the performance worth it? hell yes.
That's what I'm hoping for. Stazi's putting my headers in in about a week and a half. I've already got the Borla cat back and the free flow cat and y-pipe from SP Motorsports. I guess we'll see what happens--better be good.
well i can say at altitude i can chirp my 1-2 shifts (a good solid chirp) with 3 people in the car that definitely was not possible before (altitude takes away about 4-6%HP per thousand feet, im at roughly 5600ft.)
the headers will give u a louder deeper more defined tone , not to mention a nice power gain
its not really the headers that causes the raspyness ,its teh type of muffler/resonator/chamber that u use and how high flowing it is,
most cars not running catts will be raspy
Originally posted by SVTCuervo:
Well I suppose my question can be answered here aswell. I have a full Tru-bendz SS 2.5 inch cat-back and Tru-bendz SS y-pipe. I also have the strait pipe, meaning no cat. But I have the stock manifolds on the car. I would like to put the MSDS headers on but I'm worried about the noise getting any louder than it already is. Anyone with similar setup would be most helpful. Thanks
I have MSDS Headers and a Trubendz cat back with the magnaflow muffler. I have no resonators and I just made a kitty delete pipe. I haven't got the exhaust back from coating yet so I can't comment on the note yet. When I was test fitting it, I started the car up to check for leaks etc. From what I rememeber the car was no louder at idle then before with the cat. On the road under load will be the real test.
Originally posted by wa2tuff:
Originally posted by KingpinSVT:
is the performance worth it? hell yes.
That's what I'm hoping for. Stazi's putting my headers in in about a week and a half. I've already got the Borla cat back and the free flow cat and y-pipe from SP Motorsports. I guess we'll see what happens--better be good.
You'll be happy, don't worry. Can't wait to see your car this summer. 
well i have the stock svt exhaust with a sho shop y pipe...test pipe,and gutted cats and mines raspy above 3800 rpms,cold or hot.....
the gargaling or raspyness went away when i put the bosal exhaust on.
Originally posted by tour96se:
well i have the stock svt exhaust with a sho shop y pipe...test pipe,and gutted cats and mines raspy above 3800 rpms,cold or hot.....
thats cause you aint got no cats!
Here's a couple vids of my newly installed MSDS headers, along with the SHO Shop Ypipe,hi-flow cat and trubendz duals. It should give you a good idea on how loud it is.
Start-up Cruising Speeds Wide Open Throttle
Originally posted by KingpinSVT:
Originally posted by tour96se:
well i have the stock svt exhaust with a sho shop y pipe...test pipe,and gutted cats and mines raspy above 3800 rpms,cold or hot.....
thats cause you aint got no cats!
if ur catts are gutted try stickign a pipe inside the catt , it should help out a little
Originally posted by Stazi:
With no cat and one muffler it'll be loud as hell. Either get a main cat, or resonators at the tail pipes to quieten it down after the headers go on.
I had a Remus exhaust on my 95 SE with MSDS headers. It was a single exhast with a just one Remus muffler at the back and a gutted cat, 2.5" all the way back I believe. It was loud, but the droan wasn't to bad and there was no rasp what so ever. Most people liked the sound and I never got pulled over for being too loud. Though I am sure cops would say it was too loud it sounded nice and I didn't drive around in the high rpms around town.
Alright cool, thank you for the sound clips, I really appreciate it. Why don't people use the Y that comes with the MSDS anyway... I see a lot of people that use the MSDS headers and the sho shop Y. Bassicaly, the ideal is for the car to sound exactly as smooth and have the same note as the factory, just a little louder, I think that the headers will do that alone, but the Cats in the headers dissapearing with these new ones definitely could add to the raspiness cause the tubing is larger, and there are no cats. We'll see how it sounds... but I would like to keep the rasp completely out of the picture... so if that is there... do you replace the center muffler? I hear people say resonator... and they refer to the rear two as resonators, then some people call those mufflers and the center one a resonator. Either way, is it the rear two or the center that I would need to replace to get rid of the rasp if it's there? I would say the center, but what have you found?
replace the center resonator,esp on stock svt exhaust, its the same one used on the standard duratec exhaust so the inlet/outlet is smaller than the svt pipe is...plus you can pretty much put any length resonator there..
I've replaced a regular 2.5SE with SVT exhaust before and the diameter is the same anyway between the two... looked identical to me with the exception of the split at the rear to two tailpipes instead of one. What center are most people putting in, what brand, lengh, and size... for stock SVT exhaust, and what impact would that have on the sound? I would imagine that if you replaced that piece even on stock exhaust with a "high flow" version it would simply get louder... cut it out and it would rasp like hell... that's what I would think.
ok i read a few different things in your post that need clearing up.
1. the msds y pipe does not delete the main cat. if you look under your car, the main cat bolts to the y pipe. no removal necessary. a few here have said they are using a test pipe, which is a pipe that bolts in to the section where the cat is (about a foot or so long). its the section between the y pipe and the "cat back."
so, you will lose your precats with the headers, but not the main one. as many have said before, there really isnt a huge gain to be had from losing the main cat.
2. most refer to the "center muffler" as the resonator. on stock systems (all of them) that is where the res. is located. however, a few aftermarket systems (like trubendz ), use one muffler and two resonators. the muffler is in the middle with the two res. at the end. not sure why they do it this way.
so when you hear people refer to the two further back "resonators," they probably have a system like the trubendz. otherwise, the center "muffler" is the res., with mufflers in the rear (like the stock svt exhaust, my aftermarket, and others).
hope all that helps.
if you are interested in my exhaust, search for justmagnaflow.com. they have the best prices on all magnaflow stuff.
if nothing else, replace your res. with an 18" long version for the 2.25" stock svt piping. my part number is for 2.5" piping, so it is not the right size for you.
with a good res. and svt mufflers you should not have any problems with rasp with the headers and msds y (as long as you leave the cat!).
dont worry, it will sound great!
Good deal... yeah I know that people refer as the cats in the stock manifolds as pre-cats... but the fact of the matter is that they are cat's too... that was what I was refering to, the cats in the exhaust manifolds (pre-cats, whatever you want to call them) losing those, that was what I was concerned about giving the natural engine rasp back... but the last cat after the Y also known as the "main cat" will be left in, yes. I may change the catback out eventually, but for now I just want to make sure that the MSDS won't give the car a totally different sound as far as the smoothness... and if it does, if there is a quick easy way to fix it, great. Thank you again for all of the help on this topic, I will let you all know how it goes when it's all said and done. Sounds like it will end up pretty nice. Kingpin, you need to post a sound clip of your car too
Originally posted by WA2FAST:
I've replaced a regular 2.5SE with SVT exhaust before and the diameter is the same anyway between the two... looked identical to me with the exception of the split at the rear to two tailpipes instead of one. What center are most people putting in, what brand, lengh, and size... for stock SVT exhaust, and what impact would that have on the sound? I would imagine that if you replaced that piece even on stock exhaust with a "high flow" version it would simply get louder... cut it out and it would rasp like hell... that's what I would think.
nope..the diam of the non svt is 2" the svt is 2.25 until the "y" in the back..than it narrows down to 2"...