iTurbo Posted February 26, 2012 Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 Recently I got some performance parts from ZZP for the '98 Regal GS. One of the parts was a 3" aluminized down pipe. I have that installed and am really impressed with the quality and fit. I was going to just put the stock cat-back exhaust back on the car, but am now considering just getting the ZZP 3" cat-back exhaust system for it as well so it will be 3" mandrel bent all the way. Seems like it is very good quality, and I was impressed with the ZZP down pipe. But it is rather expensive...partly due to it only being available in stainless steel. I know it can be difficult to get the 3800 to sound good with exhaust, but I have seen a few YouTube videos and I liked it alright. Most of them were idling/reving though, without any real load on the motor. Anybody else have one of these ZZP cat-back systems on their car and can give me an opinion on it? Is the optional resonator a must have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted February 26, 2012 Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 biggest resonator and mufflers you can get, if you dont want it to sound like hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iTurbo Posted February 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 Yeah I was thinking that too. I don't drive the car a whole lot, but sometimes take it on road trips. The resonator on the ZZP cat-back looks really big; wonder if it's actually a muffler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted February 26, 2012 Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 technically, a glasspack muffler and resonator are the same thing... or at least they serve the same purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iTurbo Posted February 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 I've decided to hold off on getting a 3" cat-back system for the car. I guess it's just a combination of being too expensive and the fact that it would make the car so much louder. Part of the reason I was considering it was because I broke a bolt off in the flange of the stock cat-back. Well today I got the Dremel out and with the help of a reinforced cut-off wheel, a high speed carbide cutter bit, and a 10mm tap, I was able to get what was left of the old bolt out and salvage the threads. I had to go to the dealership and get new bolts and get this....they were around $2.50 a piece but the only way to buy them is to get a bag of 10. So $25 later I have the OEM bolts and can finally reinstall the stock cat-back. Good grief. Another thought occured to me about the exhaust.....thinking in terms of 'bottlenecks' in the exhaust system. Seems like I might be better off addressing the first bottleneck, which arguably is the front exhaust manifold. Perhaps my money would be better spent on a ZZP front PLOG, which would alleviate the biggest restriction and keep the car on the quiet side. Opinons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake91 Posted February 26, 2012 Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 according to gpona the stock catback is good for 12's. if you replace the most restrictive parts being the downpipe, ubend, and exhaust manifolds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy Posted February 26, 2012 Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 I've decided to hold off on getting a 3" cat-back system for the car. I guess it's just a combination of being too expensive and the fact that it would make the car so much louder. Part of the reason I was considering it was because I broke a bolt off in the flange of the stock cat-back. Well today I got the Dremel out and with the help of a reinforced cut-off wheel, a high speed carbide cutter bit, and a 10mm tap, I was able to get what was left of the old bolt out and salvage the threads. I had to go to the dealership and get new bolts and get this....they were around $2.50 a piece but the only way to buy them is to get a bag of 10. So $25 later I have the OEM bolts and can finally reinstall the stock cat-back. Good grief. Another thought occured to me about the exhaust.....thinking in terms of 'bottlenecks' in the exhaust system. Seems like I might be better off addressing the first bottleneck, which arguably is the front exhaust manifold. Perhaps my money would be better spent on a ZZP front PLOG, which would alleviate the biggest restriction and keep the car on the quiet side. Opinons? No need to upgrade stock cat back. Skip right over the plog and pick up some headers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iTurbo Posted February 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2012 Thanks guys. I'm feeling very much relieved I decided against the cat-back, especially after I managed to fix my old one. So far I just have the ZZP 3" cat-less down pipe on the car and will look into headers at a later date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Thanks guys. I'm feeling very much relieved I decided against the cat-back, especially after I managed to fix my old one. So far I just have the ZZP 3" cat-less down pipe on the car and will look into headers at a later date. SpeedDaddy headers are great, for $205 shipped (at least that's what they were when I bought them). I've put over 40k miles on mine without any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 On my Regal, I have the stock manifolds on (might buy headers this spring) and a dual exhaust stock cat back from an 03 GT on it. The downpipe is the a ZZP 2.5" with Magnaflow CAT. Before this set up, I had a 2.5" GMPP dual exhaust system on it, and I personally notice more power with the stock system. The main reason I gave up the GMPP system was because of the drone at highway speeds, which is what I do most of my driving on. It did sound good though, but I'm a big fan of the stock catback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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