When i bought my 70 in may of 2002- The exhaust was pretty ratty, so I planned to completely update it.

I had been SUPER happy with the sound of my 69's exhaust ,2 1/2" - H-Pipe- Short Case Edelbrock RPM Mufflers- and Full Tails-

I liked it and wanted it similar, only deeper, so i ordered the Long Case Edelbrock RPMs for the new car- and at that time Ordered an X-pipe kit since that was the latest and greatest fad at the time.

I have been unhappy with the sound since that day. Could not quite put my finger on it- Sounded good at idle, but underload, it was just too smooth.. No rumble. Sounded like my v6 98 montecarlo... It didn't sound BAD- but didn't sound good either... So i've just been putting up with it for the last year and a half.

last friday, after waffling about taking it off or leaving it on it since the day i put it on, i finnaly went back down to the muffler shop and had it chopped off and replaced with straight pipes- No H- No X.

MUCH BETTER.
Sounds EXACTLY as i had wanted when i first planned this thing. MEGA DEEP- and now under load it has a good Rumbly Roar the way a V8 should.

No noticeable loss of power- In fact seems to have a little more power at the high end.

So anyway- Moral of the story is- I don't like the way X-pipes sound and won't EVER do that again.
:-)

Oh great Ben!

So now you're telling me that all the hype about X-pipes & H-pipes and increased performance is false. Why didn't you speak up last month before I had my new exhaust installed ;)

Hey Ben, since you also posted this at Team Chevelle, I figured I'd use the same smarty pants response :P

Hey now- Smarty pants reponse is about the last thing i'd expect from you! I'm very disapointed!
:lol:

Seriously, i just wanted to post it in a couple places because after searching the internet, there really doesn't seem to be any opinions listed out there other than they are great and increase HP... You can't even rely on magazine articles on these things anymore because they are all just advertisements for the MFG. and of course they are not going to diss it.

Honestly, if i had been running Flowmaster muffers, it might not have mattered as much since they rough up the sound flow so much anyway- But running straight through's like I have, It was just way too smooth and high pitched for me... After taking it off- what a difference in SOUND- Not talking volume, the SOUND itself. Volume is a little higher- but not much....

Anyway- If i were a drag racer out for every last milisecond, and looking for a sleeper mobile- I would be all over the X-pipe thing... But for someone with a very mild Cruiser old car- I want it to sound like a muscle car.

So, in all my ranting, i forgot to ask... How do you like YOUR setup?

You are running Dynomax Ultraflow's correct? Are they long case or short case? Still have Cats? What size pipes?
How is the sound?

So, in all my ranting, i forgot to ask... How do you like YOUR setup?

You are running Dynomax Ultraflow's correct? Are they long case or short case? Still have Cats? What size pipes?
How is the sound?

87SS Exhaust Sound File (http://elcaminocentral.com/users/acauth1/87ss.wav)

If I keep putting money into my Elky like I've been doing, my wife says she's gonna chop off my pipe. :oops: Shhhh...she doesn't know about the 454 crate motor yet! :lol:

So, in all my ranting, i forgot to ask... How do you like YOUR setup?

Much better than Robert's impression! http://elcaminocentral.com/users/87ss/nono.gif

Ben...this is on my 78 Camaro: Running Headman headers with 1 3/4" primaries through a true 2 1/2" dual exhaust, no cats (she's now smog exempt!) with a H pipe crossover, long case Ultra flows exiting at the rear qtr.'s. It's got a very throaty rumble at idle, but sounds like open headers at WOT. But remember, the 355 is running a XE274H comp cam so it's real lopey at idle. Put's a smile on my face just thinking about it. :D

Nice sound bite! :D

The H pipe helps scavenging at the low end and lets you launch faster. If you're geared right, it doesn't matter, but for in traffic driveability, I found a big difference when I had it installed. In my earlier post about duals on a 73, I noted the H pipe and would note that I didn't originally have it, but the shop didn't charge me when I came back and asked them to install it. It also helped the sound, because at first it sounded like 2 4 bangers idling instead of what it is.