APC Mufflers

Are APC Mufflers any good or should I go with something else?

everything they make is total crap.
and I DO mean everything.

Ok thanks for your reply, you saved me a 100 dollars. Do you know of any universal mufflers that are good that could fit on my Saturn.

magnaflow are very good quality and inexpensive

They sell it at walmart...need i say more?

Even though magnaflow r selled at walmart they are still good.

I am looking at least to get 7 hp out of the muffler.

Thanks for the replies

Seven? LOL

yes that is what i have heard from some people that if your cat-back system is great your muffler should be able to give you 7 hp.

especially on a saturn.
lower exhaust flow will yield lower power gains.
obviously upgrading the exhaust on a ferrari will yield better gains than upgrading a saturn.
Intake is just as important though. you should get a K&N filter at a minimum.

You have a cat-back system already installed or will that come later? If you don't have it installed don't expect much gain out of just getting a new muffler.

i already have a k&n air filter and i was going to put the cat-back system on when i was going to install the muffler.

Has anyone heard of Toucan and if so are they a good brand to buy for a strut bar and muffler?

Has anyone heard of Toucan and if so are they a good brand to buy for a strut bar and muffler?

Toucan isn't much better than APC....both sacirfice quality for quantity...for reference, Ractive is the same way...They are companies whose products are more about cashing in on the import craze than putting out quality. if you want a quality product, say away from all 3 companies. I would personally pay a little more for a better quality product.

Thanks for the advice. What universal company would u recommend?

Thanks for the advice. What universal company would u recommend?

Apexi, 5zigen, Blitz, HKS, and Tanabe all make good universal mufflers. Skunk2, Veilside, Injen, and STR make decent universal ones as well. I know some "shops" don't carry these universal mufflers, only there "cat-back systems", but they are made. Either that or they'll tell you, "just pick from what we have." I personally don't like the wide tips, like 125mm or up tips (which 5Zigen has alot of). I tend to perfer mufflers with tips in the 90-115mm range. Stay away from those "mass produced brands" that you seem to be able to find on every corner at every store, ones like APC, Ractive, and Toucan. Also, when you build your custom cat-back piping, don't forget to have a resonator installed as well. It will help cut down on noise, and the resulting tone will actually end up more desirable and less annoying. A lot of the cat-back manufactors, including DC Sports, use a 15" or so resonator on their cat-back systems. If you have problems finding the brands I mentioned above the following site, Options Auto Salon, carries some of the universal mufflers by these brands...here's a link to that part of their site.

http://www.optauto.com/webstore/departments.asp?dept=306&last=12

I hope this helps you out.

Thanks your advice is really great. Plus I love HKS, I just couldn't find anyone who would sell them. One more question, how about bosla and dynomax are they any good.

Thanks your advice is really great. Plus I love HKS, I just couldn't find anyone who would sell them. One more question, how about bosla and dynomax are they any good.

I am not sure about dynomax, haven't really heard of them too much. Bosla is not an bad brand, they are alright. They are certainly better than APC, Racticve, or Toucan, lol. I understand your pain of not-being able to find a place willing to sell you HKS, or a good deal of the other aformentioned brands in the pervious post for that matter. Most shops have a "pick from our stock" attitude, which more often than not means "pick from crap." But no matter what they tell you, all the companies I listed DO sell UNIVERSAL mufflers....if a shop tells you otherwise, they either A) do not have good product knowledge, or B) Don't want to order it or buy itspeical order it for you, they just want you choose from what they have on the floor. Either way, that's not an attitude I would want to do bussiness with.

That is very true. Companies should listen to the customers and actually sell good products and not try to rip u off with a cheap brand. Thanks again. If you wouldn't have helped me I would be putting on a crappy toucan or APC muffler right now. And then finding out the muffler is as good or even worse than my stock muffler right now. LOL!

Like I said I like HKS but the only problem is I don't want a huge circle muffler tip. So I think I will stick with a Bosla Muffler I found.

That is very true. Companies should listen to the customers and actually sell good products and not try to rip u off with a cheap brand. Thanks again. If you wouldn't have helped me I would be putting on a crappy toucan or APC muffler right now. And then finding out the muffler is as good or even worse than my stock muffler right now. LOL!

Like I said I like HKS but the only problem is I don't want a huge circle muffler tip. So I think I will stick with a Bosla Muffler I found.

I personally like the Tanabe Racing Spec Muffler for looks. It has a 60mm (2 1/2") inlet pipe, the canister is 120mm around (4.75") and the tip is 90mm (3 1/2"). It's not a "coffee can" like some mufflers. If fact, the canister is smaller the the tip on some mufflers (like most 5Zigen and Veilside mufflers have a bigger tip than the entire Tanabe Racing Spec 60-120-90 muffler is round, which is unnecessary), but the inlet piping is the same. It's a good muffler, and it's not a huge muffler with a huge tip. 90mm for a tip (3.5") looks good. Here's a link to the page where options auto salon has is for sale. I am sure you can find it other places too, just make sure if you like it and decide to get it you get the Tanabe Racing Spec Universal Muffler and not a "Tanabe style" one. I personally like the looks of this muffler. Not too big a canister or tip, decent cfm, and nice looking.

http://www.optauto.com/webstore/product_information.asp?number=TNB-TUN301&variation=&aitem=1&mitem=7&back=yes&dept=1398

That does look like a great muffler. But my only problem is does it sound like a fart can or a rice burner noise. That is my only concern with buying a muffler. Especially since my car has an inline 4.

That does look like a great muffler. But my only problem is does it sound like a fart can or a rice burner noise. That is my only concern with buying a muffler. Especially since my car has an inline 4.

My car is an Inline 4 also, is fact, any civic, integra, prelude, and all but a V6 Accord are I-4 motors. You can use resonators to help change the tone of the muffler and quite it down. I have noticed lots of ppl leave the resonator off, which creates a fart can sound and is hella loud, without any real power gain vs putting one on. Putting on a 15-18" resonator should help. My cat-back system ins't exactly quite, but it's a lot quiter than some, and a lot of that has to do with the resonator I have as part of the cat-back system. It really helped change the sound down to a lower, quiter, less annoying sound that didn't sound like a typical "fart can" muffler. I think it ended up sounding nicer than some "cat-back" systems from manufactors. The guy at the muffler shop knew I was concerned with this, and I think he did a decent job complying with my wishes. No inline 4 is going to give you that sound a nice V-8 gives, but if you have a decent muffler and combined that with the use of the proper resonator, it should sound okay and less fart can like. I understand your pain, I hate that annoying high pitch "rrrrrr" sound of the stereotypical "fart-can" muffler. Whatever muffler you get, trust me, use a resnator...I have an 18" resonator with 2 1/4 " cat -back piping. It will help quiet it the sound, as well as deepen the sound some. It tend to find the sound more plesent, and the sound level is quiter...it's not super quiet, but it was much quieter than if I didn't have one on. It helps it sounds more deep and throaty also.

That is cool that the resnator does that. Yeah when I was going to put my cat-back system on I was going to have him put on a good size resonator. But I still can't decide wether I want the Tanabe or Bosal. I love the Bosal look but the Tanabe will most likely give me the most power. Especially since of my 4 banger.

Thanks for your help! But I have to go.

Yeah, I have a civic with an LS, and the muffler is "tanabe sytle", because way back when I did my custom cat-back system after the swap, tanabe didn't make universal mufflers. I don't know how much of a power difference one will give vs the other honestly. A great deal of that has to do with the pipng and cat-back system just as much. After all, the greatest performance muffler in the world won't do jack to a Honda if the stock piping is left so restrictive. Still, the tanabe has a removeable silecner in case you need it for emissons test for noise levels, and it looks really good, plus it has a good cfm flow rate. I guess we know which of the mufflers I like, lol.