Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance Good Deal?

I have a 99 SE V6 and am about to have dual flowmaster 40 Series installed. I have heard another contour with the same setup and it sounds really good, and did give it a significant torque gain, but i am not sure whether or not I am getting a good deal. I went to my local Midas and asked for a quote on Parts and Labor and he told me $380 and another $20 to cut off the resonater. That includes the custom fabrication for the heat shield that he is sure will have to be installed due to all of the emissions controls crap, which leads me to another question. Anyone have a heatshield on the passenger exhaust pipe? Is it necessary, and is it safe? Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Probably gave a lot of torque since its so restrictive.

$380 sounds extremely high to me. I had an svt exhaust put on, straight pipe welded in for the resonator, exhaust hanger put on the passenger side all for $150 from midas. A heatshield isnt neccessary for the exhaust muffler/pipes. I would however recommend to buy a quality muffler such as Magnaflow. Stazi could hook you up.

holy sh!ttttttttt...380.00 for a little less than that you could buy a trubenz 2.5" exhaust,shipped...

The only reason I was going to go with the flowmasters was because i know what it sounds like. Does the Magnaflow sound like full american muscle because I cant stand the rice sound! Oh, and how much do they cost compared to the flowmasters? I forgot, the price includes the tips. lol.

$380 does seem high to me as well. I'm buying an SVT exhaust with SVT main cat for $100. I'm getting a magnaflow resonator from Justmagnaflow.com for $60 shipped and my neighbor will weld in the res. for me. So, I'll be paying $160 + the cost of the exhaust hanger for the dual exhaust. (probably $10-$15)

Should be a good setup...

You may want to look at getting an SVT catback and installing that, as that may be a better deal.

EDIT: I'll be able to tell you what it sounds like in a few weeks...

Is an SVT exhaust with main SVT cat something that any well known exhaust shop can order and install? Sorry to be asking so many questions. Thanks

Im sure you could get it from a stealership but they'd charge quite a bit. It wouldn't be worth it to get it new. The only problem with the SVT catback is that it uses the same resonator that the 4cyl and regular duratec use...

You may want to look into tour96se's suggestion and look into the trubendz. Depending on what you want to spend, this could be a good setup.

Where do you order a Trubendz at and what all do i need to order with it (resonater, cat, etc...)so that all i have to do is walk into the shop and say install it? I want it to sound nice and look good, so i guess I'll kinda see how much it would cost, then decide whether or not i want to do that. As long as I can get someone to install it for me (that does good work), im open to any suggestions and feedback. Thanks.

who said anything about the cat???! a few weeks to put that thing on??? no ambition i drove all the way to philly to pick this thing up,and was so excited about putting it on that i did it in my aunts driveway in york,pa....you can get either borla,flowmaster,or magnaflow through trubenz or you can get just the pipe kit for 245?? or so and get any muffler you want installed....the non resonated one is a little raspy when its cold but once warmed it's loud,but not bee's nest loud...its hard to explain duratecs have a unique sound when opened up...go to trubenz.com they have sound clips of the different setups

oh yeah the svt exhaust is over a grand at the dealership..w/o main cat!!!!