DixonPai

iTrader: (3)

I mean I have gone through 3 mufflers so far. Magnaflow, Sebring, and a custom made Megan cat-back system. But I also have an electric cutout, to give it a real roar

My honest opinion please don't do it, does not fit the ES imo. Get just a muffler, Maganflow, Flowmaster, Borla or just pipes and then find a tip you like. Find a good muffler shop and they can make you a customer exhaust.

Here are the mufflers I had and have:

1.) Magnaflow


2.) Sebring


3.) Custom Megan cat-back

mulasien

1. Your are correct. It is the OP's car and he can do as he wants. However, he asked for our opinions and I gave it to him, just as he requested.

2. There is no way possible to make a 4" bumble bee-sounding melon shooter look tasteful to anyone who actually knows what taste is. That's like polishing a turd.

3. Aftermarket support or not, an ES is a poor platform to begin with for performance parts. There are much better cars out there to go fast with. That's just the way it was designed. Better wheels, suspension, and stereo upgrades, sure I can see that. Performance - not so much. Of course swapping out a muffler isn't really a performance upgrade vs. a sound upgrade, but my personal opinion is that such it still goes against what the car was designed to excel in. Just my opinion.

Bdub215

iTrader: (1)

I'll answer 2 and 3:

2: Are you familiar with the sound of the 1MZ-FE engine when coupled to an aftermarket exhaust? its simply NOT possible to get this sound you speak of with just a muffler alone on this car. That requires a deletion of all the cat converters (custom y pipe and 3rd cat delete) and resonators. Then I totally agree with that statement.

3: The Gen 3/4 Camry platform isnt poor for performance as it is Expensive. If your not dedicated, you wont get anywhere for performance. Perfect example: Tony didnt build that 1028whp Camry overnight. pretty sure he's over 10 years of tinkering that damn car.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

.... And it's still a Camry.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Do whatever you please to your car, and if you enjoy it that's the main thing.

mulasien

2. I am not familiar with that engine, sorry. I will modify my previous statement in that there are a *few* cars that such an exhaust tip looks decent on, mostly Mk IV Supras and Nissan S240's (and similar cars) IF they have the performance to back it up. Almost anything else (including an ES) just screams "young uneducated ricer"

3. I think we're basically stating the same thing, here. With enough money, you can make ANYTHING faster. However, it is a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to make an LSx engine faster than a Camry engine. I had an 06 GTO (6 speed) with an LS2 before I got the ES (had a baby, had to trade it), and I was at about 500hp at the flywheel with just longtube headers and a bigger cam plus tune. Threw in some 3.91 gears and it was a beast with only a few thousand invested. To get that kind of performance out of a Camry/ES, you're looking at $10K+. Not to mention that it's still an automatic front wheel drive car with soft suspension, as that is its purpose. It's much more of an uphill battle making an ES go faster vs. other platforms out there. And lets be completely honest here, most kids who are wanting to make their ES faster don't have the funds necessary for that task outside of cheap worthless air intakes and fart cans that don't actually do a bit of good, and only make it louder (and less tasteful) in the process.

285exp

It is indeed the OP's car, and he can do whatever he wants to it, but saying that anything done properly can be tasteful is absurd. Every penny he spends on "upgrades" like this is money thrown away, will actually reduce the value of the car, and provide no significant increase in performance. It's a near luxury car, not a performance car, and a loud exhaust, harsh suspension, and oversized wheels and tires just make you look like a silly kid. Now, if that's what you want, fine, but that doesn't make it tasteful.

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

OP can we get a pic of the car? I want to see where all our advice is going