[B] THE STOCK EXHAUST SYSTEM ON 2003 SVT LIGHTNING PICKUP WHO IS IT MADE BY I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT I WOULD NOT SEE MUCH OF A PREFORMANCE GAIN BY CHANGEING IT ?? IT HAS A GOOD MELLOW TONE TO IT. I HAVE A #6 LOWER PULLEY AND DELTA SPORT CHIP AND I HAVE ONLY 500 MILES ON TRUCK I LIKE THE SOUND OF STOCK EXHAUST IT IS NOT TO LOUD I WAS TOLD THAT THIS EXHAUST IS A PREFORMANCE EXHAUST WHY WASTE MY MONEY BY CHANGEING IT WHAT ARE YOUR IDEALS ON THE STOCK EXHAUST ON THE LIGHTNING ???? THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT/ TOM

 

Take it easy with the caps and the attempted bold.

I think its made by a company called Walker.

Most people change it to get a better sound but i dont think most expect too much unless you go with new headers, cats, etc...

 

When I first bought my L, 06 13 03 I liked the stock sound, but because I am mod crazy I went out and bought what I think is the best. The Bassani cat back. I installed it myself in 1.5 hours and.................. what can I say, I don't want to play music anymore, just listen to the exhaust. In one word it is "awesome", and there is no comparison to the stock exhaust.

Take my word for it, idle, cruising and full throttle - no comparison.

Yeah Baby!!!!

 

I have the Bassini on my truck too. Had it tack welded on after it fell off while driving. Love the sound, but don't expect any gain in performance.

 

The 'bottleneck' is mostly in the cats and not the muffler. If you're looking for a nice sound; then a cat-back is the ticket. A local chapter on NLOC.NET did tests and showed the stock cats having a 10 backpressure; while others had 5!

Food for thought.
John

 

One other comment, if you appreciate the mellow tone of the stock, the Bassani is definitely louder, not offensive but louder and at cruising speed you do need to turn up the stereo a bit.

I have not noticed a difference in performance if that is what you are looking for.

It would be interesting to find out if the 5lb loss in back pressure has affected power? (if that applies to the Bassani?)

Good Luck

 

THANKS A LOT GUYS FROM WHAT I CAN GETHER IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEAL TO TAKE ALL THE BACK PRESSURE FROM THE ENGINE TO MANY DIFFERENT FUNTIONS DEPEND ON IT I WAS TOLD THAT I WOULD NOT SEE ANY PREFORMANCE GAINS ON THE 2003 LIGHTNING BY CHANGEING THE EXHAUST MIGHT MAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE NOISE THIS I DON'T WANT THE 2003 SVT LIGHTNING STOCK EXHAUST IS CONSIDERED A PREFORMANCE EXHAUST MADE TO TAKE ANY KIND OF BOOST IF I WAS GOING TO RACE THIS TRUCK THAT COULD BE SOMETHING BUT SINCE I AM NOT AND ONLY MAKING A FEW MODS WHICH I ALREADY HAVE SUCH AS A 6# PULLEY AND CHIP SO FAR AND MABEY A FEW MORE MODS LATER ON THANK YOU MY FREINDS FOR YOUR INPUT ON THIS SUBJECT I MADE A FEW PHONE CALLS TO DIFFERENT SOURCES ALL AGREED THAT AT THIS TIME LEAVE EXHAUST ALONG AS IT HAS A GOOD DEEP MELLOW TONE AND IS PREFORMING EXCELLENT THANKS AGAIN TOM:

 

My eyes hurt from looking at all those REALLY BIG LETTERS

 

Tom, buddy, here is a comma , and here's a period . Use them wisely. I had to read your post a couple times to get it right

All jokes aside, I had the same feelings about the stock exhaust when I first bought it. I had heard other trucks and the stock exhaust on the L's sounds a lot better. I wasn't planning on upgrading to a cat-back until I heard some other trucks and said...wow! I want one.

One thing you get with a cat-back system is nice polished or chrome tips (usually). Blows away the crappy stock tubing.

And then there's the performance. Everyone says "the cats are the bottleneck" so a performance (non baffled) muffler "won't help". This isn't necessarily true. One thing I picked up in fluid dynamics class and lab in college is that a pipe with ONE bottleneck flows BETTER than TWO bottlenecks. Downstream restrictions below a bottleneck can affect flow.

Now don't get me wrong, it may be only a small improvement over stock, since the cats remains, but I do believe that there is a small gain to be had with cat-backs.

 

Ya lets get rid of the caps

If you want a slightly louder, but something that doesn't drone on the highway, you could allways install a dual in dual out Magnaflow muffler.

I had one of them when I was closer to stock and I really liked the way it sounded.

If you want more power you have to go with a full system, headers, highflow cats, and a cat back system. If you want a better sound there are lots of choices. It just depends what you like for sound.

Dual in dual out Magnaflow - just a little louder than stock
silver bullet, and bassani - much louder than stock.
JDM full system sorta in the middle.

 

I was told the stock exhaust is good to 450HP.

 

I like the sound of the stock exhaust but ive got a few ideas i want to do: one is put a x-pipe on before the muffler: the other is put a magna flow muffler: but for right now im going to put some 4 inch chrome tips on the stock system, i really dont want to pay 300+ for a catback that doesnt gain much horsepower if not any, and put it into a chip or pulley which is guarenteed to make power, ill get some pics of the tips when i get it put on this week

 

THANKS GUYS YOUR INPUT HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL.

 

who needs an exhaust anyway!?!