Gibson Cat-back exhast installed - 08 4runner v6

[truckmike26]

So Sunday I drove around all day and unfortunately, with the V6, this exhaust drones. The truck does feel super responsive which I really like, but the moan going up slight grades and at 120-130 km/h isn't the tone I was hoping for. I was hoping for a "tuned" sound -- like an AMG Mercedes or any other performance European sedan or SUV. They rumble by and you can tell it's performance yet the sound is low-key and mellow.

This ain't no AMG and will never, ever be but in this app., the Gibson exhaust sounds too home-grown and farty and too much like a teenager's old V6 pickup.

I had thoughts of throwing the towel in and putting back that huge stock muffer and tail pipe. But I'm really curious if I can get the sound I'm after. Stay "tuned". Haha.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Could always add a turbo muffler.

 

[truckmike26]

Could always add turbo floor mats too.

 

[techmen17]

So Sunday I drove around all day and unfortunately, with the V6, this exhaust drones. The truck does feel super responsive which I really like, but the moan going up slight grades and at 120-130 km/h isn't the tone I was hoping for. I was hoping for a "tuned" sound -- like an AMG Mercedes or any other performance European sedan or SUV. They rumble by and you can tell it's performance yet the sound is low-key and mellow.

This ain't no AMG and will never, ever be but in this app., the Gibson exhaust sounds too home-grown and farty and too much like a teenager's old V6 pickup.

I had thoughts of throwing the towel in and putting back that huge stock muffer and tail pipe. But I'm really curious if I can get the sound I'm after. Stay "tuned". Haha.

......flowmaster 50 series muffler

 

[truckmike26]

Had a resonator put in -- still didn't sound right. Put back the stock exhaust. Much happier now. No more droning.

 

[jpless]

truckmike, very interesting! I have a gibson SS muffler out of a ranger cat-back system I picked up off ebay a few years ago when I placed a bid for $15 and got an email 3 weeks later saying i won it! I've been debating putting it in or not as my biggest worry is drone. Also, not being a cat-back system i wouldnt be able to revert to stock easily.

I had a doug thorley / Jardine cat back + high flow cat on my 98 and it was just way too much, too loud and too much drone for my liking. As such, I've been very wary about doing anything to my 06.

Right now I have the resonator off and my K&N CAI but want a little more sound from the rear. Gibson seemed like the best idea but after your review and choice to go stock again, I'm really second guessing it! My buddy had a gibson CB on his v6 Grand Cherokee and i thought it was perfect but it sounds like not so much with our v6s?

 

[truckmike26]

Hey, it's ironic you're bringing this thread back to life. It's been a year almost to the day since my Gibson cat-back experiment. The best description I have is this: it was loud but it didn't sound like performance. It sounded suprisingly "cheap" like cobbled together. I expected it to be louder, but not like a hole in the exhaust. The first time I started it I crawled back underneath thinking maybe there was a leak somewhere. Comparing the Gibson 2.5" pipes to the stock exhaust, the stock pipes are bent uniformly and are already AT LEAST 2.5". There is a pinch where it goes over the axle but that's for a reason -- the Gibson over-axle pipe banged the frame crossmember when going over bumps. It's true what others say on here -- the stock exhaust flows very well. Not too much to left on the table.

What I would like to try when I have the time is to fire up the welder and elongate the oval sections in the front Y-pipe and over-axle section to equivalent cross-sectional area as a 2.5" round pipe (in an oval shape) to maximize the flow while keeping the dBs stock (i.e. stealth) and no added drone and vibration like the Gibson added.

Note: I'm nearing 40 and what I thought was cool-sounding 25 years ago is not so much now. So a youger person may really appreaciate the extra exhuast dBs from the Gibson cat-back.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Go custom, thats my plan. I'm going to utilize a magnaflow 36in muffler with a 3in catback running a 2.5 Y pipe. 321 stainless.

 

[truckmike26]

Go custom, thats my plan. I'm going to utilize a magnaflow 36in muffler with a 3in catback running a 2.5 Y pipe. 321 stainless.

Sounds like a plan. Hopefully, you'll find a way to fit the 3" piping over the axle crossmember so it won't bang on anything (assuming you'll route the pipe stock?). Keep us updated because I'd like to know if the loss of low-end torque is worth the gain in top-end horsepower.