STRAIGHT through VS. CHAMBERED muffler SOUND test

This is a sound comparison (sound test) video that shows what a straight through muffler (a.k.a. glasspack muffler) versus a chambered muffler sounds on the same car. All footage was shot on the same day with the exact same cameras and microphones and at the same distance from the car as humanly possible.
The sound was recorded with the engine idling and revving at a standstill, when driving by at WOT, and from inside the cabin at WOT and cruising.
The car is my 1987 Toyota MR2 mk1 (aw11) with a 1.6 liter 4AGE engine converted to run on bike carbs from a Honda CBR600 F4. Not fully tuned.
I have also used a decibel meter app on my phone to offer some insight into the loudness and noise difference. Being an app it's of course not 100% accurate, but it's still a reasonable reference point for loudness quantification.
Some conclusions:
- The difference is not dramatic, but it is noticeable
- Chambered removes a lot of the nasty resonances and boominess that were really unpleasant on long drives
- At WOT the loudness is the same, but the chambered sound is nicer and cleaner, more crisp.
- Straight through is more aggresive of course and sounds nicer to bystanders hearing the car from a bit of distance
- The chambered is much nicer and more enjoyable for driver/passenger, you get to hear more of the engine and less of the resonance and droning
#d4a #exhaustsound #muffler #straightthrough #chambered #glasspack #bikecarbconversion #bikecarbsoncars #enginesound #idle #revving #4age #4age16v #mr2 #aw11 #mr2mk1 #toyota #ae86 #trueno #levin #celica #fx16 #oldschooltoyota #toyota

[@christos7440]

Finally, a reasoned video showing the value of one type of muffler over another. WELL DONE!

[@stephendeben1590]

Sounds so much better with the chambered can!

[@Oblithian]

Yeah it cut the weird sharp tones. That said... If there were a resonator then a straight through it might be better?

[@802Garage]

I actually do like the chambered better for sure. Not as much of a difference as I would expect, but very noticeable. Most of the same sound, but you actually get a bit more of the classic 4A-GE scream noise and less rushing air noise. I'd bet it removes some drone at certain RPM too. Great test! Can't wait to see what else you have in store.

[@mrsabidji]

You can really hear how it "resonates" more with the chambered muffler in the standstill test. Seems to add some depth to the exhaust note. I would also have guessed it would have had more of an impact on the decibel levels, seeing the change it made on my car going from a glass-pack alone setup to glass-pack + resonator...

[@802Garage]

@@mrsabidji It would probably be more noticeable in person too since cameras tend to level audio and the nuances are lost on a decibel meter. But yeah def get more "note" and less "noise" with the chamber. Is nice!

[@marlo0oty213]

I have the st 20v I want to recreate the his legal cat back which is very expensive any idea how ?

[@hindside]

I was going to ask for your conclusion in the comments, but you included them at the end of the video, thanks for that and your video! Has helped me decided to go chambered with my exhaust.

[@lockjawjak]

Getting the perfect exhaust note is another rabbit hole I am yet to fall down, there are so many sound directions you can go towards I have just given up on starting hahha

[@d4a]

True! It is a rabbit hole and I'm just starting but I'm not quitting until I get it perfect. I want a nice healthy deep sound that also isn't obnoxious :)

[@Nemoticon]

Much more refined when chambered, very nice.

[@d4a]

Here's a nice reasonably priced universal 2.5'' chambered muffler: amzn.to/2GLEDSv

[@msg63bretired82]

Dead link

[@d4a]

@@msg63bretired82 Thanks for letting mr know. I'll update it.

[@lobmin]

I prefer 2,5" with two glass packs and no cat(pre smog car..), gives it a nice deep rumble. In theory chambered mufflers get rid of lower frequency sound waves, and leave a high, sometimes raspy or tinny note(see flowmaster 40).

[@drewdavis239]

+1. Thanks for another video thats worth my time. Even if you may not know it first hand, your a know quantity in america car culture. Often refernced. Keep up the good work.

[@bringonthedead2]

Now, this is ASMR I can enjoy 😁

[@timtravasos2742]

Most chambered mufflers are very loud and raspy. The manufacturers usually provide their own sound analysis and dB levels.

[@lobmin]

Are you sure the padding wasn't blown out or clogged with soot?

[@deanbergeron2118]

sounds like a weed wacker and a chainsaw getting busy

[@noname-sd5dt]

I know this is an old vid. Using it to research my issue. I have a na 13b bridgeport with 3 inch. 2 louvred resonators and 14inch square offset straight through and it's 84db in the car. Gonna chuck another muffler on there to see if it will shut it up. The note is perfect. The volume isnt 😢. Id be happy to see 75db. Love the channel, already a subscriber.

[@d4a]

A muffler will definitely reduce the noise. I would try swapping one of the resonators with a muffler, if the resonators are identical the second one does almost nothing. They are tuned to eliminate a certain frequency of buzzing, droning etc but they don't do much to reduce overall noise.

[@warryckscown5620]

I prefer quiet, but can stand a sporty noise at full noise [wot]. the noise shared on both setups on ur test at wot may be due to intake.. nice scenery btw..

[@boomn247]

Great video indeed, my choice would be the chambered over the straight through

[@chrismoher5444]

It all depends on the car. Everyone loves flowmaster 3 or 2 chambers on 5.0 mustang. To me the sound like winded but at idle is were they shine with a mid lift cam. Stight through design actually sounds better through the rev range and the exhaust sound does not brake up or sound hollow. But the stright through does negate alot of the chop from a cammed 5.0. Now performance wise it's all about how much cfm the exhuast can move and stright through glass backed or steel will flow about 2x more than a chambered muffler. But that also depends on how.much cfm the actual engine and each cylinder can move in and out. I have seen guys build some pretty aggressive 302s or 331 or 347 and make upward to 400hp with chambered flowmaster. But the thing is the flowmaster 3 or 2 chamber only flows 320-400cfm. So they leave about 40hp on the table at times just to have the chop chop. We're a stright through well made or equal to flowmaster can flow 600 to 800 cfm. But people love different sounds. I run a stright through x-pipe.on all my 302 just because more power and they also sound nothing like another 302. The one I find interesting put have not.heard is the laminar flow type of muffler which use a wide cone shrinking down Than opening back up again. Which is what black widow and some new flowmaster are using. Just so.e random facts and yes this an supercharged MR-2 but all the same principles apply as testing cfm is is done only at the muffler inlet and out .

[@PhillyDee215]

Cool video😎. I have a GM 3.8L supercharged cammed aluminum heads etc.....what's the quietest but yet free flowing non restrictive muffler?

[@PhillyDee215]

@@FixingWithFriends ok 👌

[@dylanburtonburton7728]

i have a 57mm pipe and only a resonator...is that how you get that deeper bassy tone?...also would my exhaust setup cause deceleration popping?

[@benjaminavdic5631]

i am no expert but it sounds pretty clear and sport~ish

[@mikem7928]

Well done!!! Chambered all the way. Much more Base!!

[@ellisjackson3355]

Chambered sounds way better. As I get older I'm finding myself becoming more interested in chambered mufflers. Just want something different

[@bluesstudio7441]

I guess Gog and Magog came to your place didn't they?

[@tasgill4455]

I too suffer from headaches cos of my straight through...wondering if adding a resonator and chambered muffler would make it more quiet in the cabin

[@codydillenbeck4443]

This is a late comment but ha e you looked into the vibrant mufflers before? I have a 2007 SAAB 9-3 Aero with a 2.8 v6 turbo and have tried several different setups on it until i found my current one. Factory the car came with twin exhaust exits and made a full 3" straight pipe exhaust until it gets to the Y section. There i added a 3" electric exhaust cutout so when the valve is closed it forces it to a 2.5" pipe to a vibrant ultra quiet muffler, and when the valve is open it goes out the full 3" side but does still allow exhaust noise to go through the 2.5" mufflered side and acts sort of like a J pipe to stop resonance. Whether open or closed i do not get drone at all. To remove drone its all dependant on where you place a resonator in the exhaust as placement really matters when getting rid of resonance or drone.

[@BoogalooShrymp]

It sounds more.....Takumi-ish?

[@d4a]

Smells like tofu from the exhaust now ;)

[@killerdinamo08]

That Caddy felt chased by the chambered muffler 😅.

[@427walrus]

Will you be hitting a dyno soon? Would be interesting to see if the carbs make more power over the original fuel injection setup.

[@d4a]

This week I will likely be doing a butt dyno. I think I can improve the initial setup before the real dyno a lot because right now most of the power and torque seems to be around 4000-5000. I haven't touched the cam and ignition timing so I will make some adjustments first and test it on my own this week and then verify on the dyno the next

[@therealboofighter]

driving 4 answers I think that what a lot of people want to know with this project

[@sventle]

Im curious but did yours come with a catalytic converter over there? I bought a new old exhaust from the uk and it was instead 2 muffles inplace of one muffler and cat

[@d4a]

It had a catalytic converter, although the car's papers say it didn't. I might reinstall a performance catalytic converter.

[@jeremiahr3615]

it goes down by this.. if your car is manual, then straight flow.. if your car is automatic, then chambered

[@driftingroku1858]

IT looks like you have a gondola moving above your shop. ^_^ Im getting a new catalytic converer for mine as i failed smog pretty bad last time. I could be that my current cat is the size of a pop can. hopefully going to get the apexi cat if its not to expensive.

[@driftingroku1858]

Sounds good, You could increase the pipe diameter in the back another 1/2 inch and maybe it would be deeper

[@Kapil-Patel]

Beautiful mountain passes. Are there hill climb or time trial competitions in Bosnia where amateurs can compete ?

[@d4a]

There's a long history of hill climbs here :)

[@wraithgard]

Are you still running the stock cast iron exhaust manifold? I noticed there wasn't a lot of rasp in either of your setups.

[@d4a]

Yup, stock cast manifold is still there. I was obsessed with getting rid of it for a while and then I realized there's nothing wrong with it other than looks. So I let it stay there until it cracks or something :)

[@wraithgard]

@@d4a Looks and weight. It does a lot for sound as well, absorbs some nasty frequencies. I have a 20v manifold and no matter the muffler combo it has a tinny note around 4,000rpm.

[@d4a]

You're right, I forgot about the weight. Oh, thanks for the info, wouldn't have expected that, now I appreciate that lump a little bit more :)

[@Flanker414]

Chambered is definitely the way to go! Out of curiosity, what diameter is your exhaust pipe? 2"/51mm?

[@d4a]

Yeah it is nicer and an improvement in my case. I can't remember the diameter but it's either 2" or 2.5". But I'll check tomorrow and let you know, both for your sake and mine. That way I'll remember permanently :)

[@d4a]

I finally measured it, it's 51mm / 2". Maybe I should go for 2.5 for a deeper tone, but it will likely be louder too.

[@Flanker414]

@@d4a Hi, based on the different muffler sounds in your video, I had a 2" system made up for my 4age with a chambered muffler. Sounds great! Thanks for a very useful video :)

[@DoriFord]

driving 4 answers where was the chambered exhaust box taken from?

[@karoliskazlauskas1213]

I think the glass pack muffler will get louder after some use

[@d4a]

Yup, as the fiberglass gets slowly burned away it will sound worse and worse

[@NeedChocyMilk]

I slappa da bass!

[@802Garage]

1:24 Gondola?

[@d4a]

I can't belive you noticed that. I had to watch to see what you meant. Yes! The funicular passes very close to my garage and the gondola got reflected on the phone screen. :) Amazing eye man.

[@benjaminavdic5631]

me too

[@802Garage]

@@d4a Hahaha I was just so confused. Like are you filming at a ski resort? :P

[@trevinopadayachee8570]

@@d4a is a straight through box considered as a freeflow exhaust

[@anllq]

Kontam straight pipeati , peugeot 207 gti samo zadnji lonac da bude protocni , nego se bojim da ne bude preglasan , tvoj je prilicno glasan zapisuju li te ? pozz

[@d4a]

Biće to glasno ali opet tu ima dužine cijevi jer je motor naprijed i neće biti baš glasno kao moje. Ali opet je moguće da će ti smetati i da ti se neće svidjeti ako auto voziš svaki dan. Policija me zaustavlja ali ne daju kazne, auto im bude zanimljivo, uđemo u priču, budu skoro uvijek super i puste me :)

[@flute136]

i just replaced my stock chambered mufflers on my vr6 passat with get this: hooker aerochamber straight through mufflers. i liked the sound of the chambered better. when i slowly gave gas youd get a nice little wookie growl. now its a boring monotone exhaust noise, albeit louder(this muffler has stuff inside to increase flow more at WOT)

[@gearheadmoff1232]

Actually you gain more torque on low end and hp on top end...hooker is the choice for performane. Chambered to some has better sound quality.....

[@flute136]

@@gearheadmoff1232 yea i guess i notice a little bit more of both. but id rather have better sound. dont get me wrong i think outside my car sounds good but inside was better with chambered

[@HondaTrumpAi]

Straight thru 🤘🏼

[@pacific7775]

Lost the supercharger whine with the chambered

[@tanyguch_kun1330]

Straightthru is better

[@GearJonny]

Gains?

[@d4a]

I didn't notice any difference in power. Maybe I lost like 1hp with the chambered. Maybe.

[@ariyapol1111]

Straight through sounds kinda rice. Chambered's much better!

[@TheCabillaud94]

Hommage to the JZ powered caddy.

[@f1reater]

your new "chambered" muffler has perforations inside. looks more like a turbo muffler

[@Derpynewb]

Odd flex but ok

[@turboflush]

Sounds like motorcycle.

[@d4a]

Ha! You're onto something. It has motorcycle carburetors on it.

[@OFFICIALAZURITEKING]

Volks Wagon Caddy, 😆