X/H Pipe - Sound Difference?

[BmacIL]

Follow-up to an earlier post...just installed a Magnaflow Tru-X resonated X-pipe with the stock mufflers. Now having had this resonated X, the stock resonator which is a resonated H, and non-resonated X and H pipes all installed with my stock mufflers, it's a good opportunity to share my experience with all four setups.

Sound: I found the X's to be the same loudness or maybe a tiny bit quieter than the H's. That said, if there was a difference, it was really hard to tell. Both resonated pipes were definitely quieter than either non-resonated pipe (what a surprise). Although I liked that the NR pipes made the stock mufflers louder, I did not like that they made the mufflers sound very tinny at higher RPM's, almost like a loose piece of sheet metal; and they both had an unpleasant raw crack or splat on cold starts.

Performance: X's are supposed to give better peak HP, and H's are supposed to give better low-end torque. Although there's not a big difference in butt-dyno results between the four pipes, I think this is probably true.

Turned out to be quite an expensive experiment!

The 15-17 stock mufflers sound much worse still with a resonator delete X or H (super tinny and raspy). The 18s definitely seem better although similar. It's an ugly sound at high rpm & load.

You'd probably hear a more significant difference between all four midpipes with a louder axleback.

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