[Sean]

Hi Everyone,
Here's a short clip of our 2004 coupe.
I replaced the center muffler with straight pipes utilizing a crossover first. Sounded good, but I wondered what it might sound like with the rear mufflers out too.
Here's a clip link and pics of the new exhaust.
Let me know what you think.




Click here to see Video

 

[Sean]

Hi Stardoc,

I haven't heard the Tubi Race exhaust, so I can't compare.
The only Maserati I heard in person before buying the stock Coupe was a GranSport (wife and I took one for a test drive).
Here are my impressions after making the exhaust mods (center muffler out for a week, then took out the rear mufflers and changed tips).
1. Taking out the center muffler allowed the car to gain some volume across the board and you could hear the pulses of the engine slightly more that stock. It sounded good, but wasn't 100% what I was after. I asked the wife what she thought and she said, "make it louder". Removing the center muffler increased the sound by about 15-20%.
2. I looked into gutting the rear mufflers. They have no packing inside and just a few perforated baffles. You could probably open one up with a plasma cutter and clean them out. But, I wasn't sure how that would sound and I didn't want to wreck the stock parts. So, I made up some stainless bends and welded on polished oval tips.
The car became MUCH louder. My initial thought was that it was too loud and I stopped by to see a few friends on Saturday to see what they thought. To my surprise, everyone really liked it. I asked someone else to drive the car while I listened outside. From the outside, it was quieter than I thought it would be. Taking out the mufflers increased the sound by about 60-70%. I've considered putting the center muffler back in, but I don't think it would change the sound much. Instead, I think I'll add a perforated cone inside the pipes, just before the exit. I've done that on some of our louder cars and it's taken the edge off.
Let me know what you go with and how you like it.

Regards,
Sean

 

[Sean]

It's too loud. Sounds like it should be on the track not the road. I bet you get fed up with it sooner or later

Hi SJP63,

That's exactly why I didn't want to modify the stock parts and instead made replacements.
Keep in mind, that was a full throttle pass.
The car is loud at idle and acceleration.
However, at cruise above 2,500 RPM, it's almost as quiet as stock.
Still, I don't like to have the car sound like a racecar when simply leaving a stoplight at mild acceleration.
I drove the car in today and plan to make some of the cone inserts. Resonator tips may reduce the sound level, but I had these oval tips on the shelf (one of the perks to having a performance warehouse and fabrication business) and I liked the look of them.
Worst case scenario, I'll put the center muffler back in. Fortunately, I have the equipment to experiment with these changes without costing me anything but my time and materials. Getting the right sound is important to me, but I couldn't stomach paying thousands of dollars for a name brand when we could make the parts here for a tenth of that. I have about $180 in materials (all stainless steel).

Regards,
Sean

 

[Sean]

Hi Everyone,

I put the center muffler back in instead of making the cones.
That put the sound pretty much where I wanted it.
But, the one thing I miss is the "crispness" of the sound with no mufflers. When there were no mufflers and you shifted at full throttle, you would hear the pop, pop in the exhaust as the CambioCorsa shifted.
I'll experiment more and am considering making a high flow cat pipe to replace the stock cats.
Either way, I'll make a new video with the current sound.

Regards,
Sean