Ok, I did my complete 2.4 exhaust on my 2.2 with Cherry Bomb 88101 muffler. I was expecting a direct bolt on as I used the new downtube, cat and everything. Appariently the 2.4 manifold is about 2 inches longer than the 2.2 so the exhaust did not fit quite right. He added in a short extension and fixed that problem.
The 2.2 has dual O2 sensors and the 2.4 only had one. He added another O2 bung in it. The 2.2 also has dual cats or a small resonator up there and the 2.4 has one larger one. I believe the larger single one is probably much better than 2 small ones in line. It does appear the 2.4 and 2.2 down tubes are close in size do for most of you I do not know if it would be worth while to change those out. It also means to me atleast that a good cat back system should work very good on those cars. My original thought was it does not do much good to do a cat back or axle back if you have the same wimpy downtube and cat.
So the bad news is that is is not a direct bolt on like I thought it was. The good news is.......

The Cherry Bomb muffler sounds great. You can not hear it at idle but has a low rumble as you accelerate, a really good sound. At 60 MPH you can just barely hear the exhaust with the radio off. At 70 it getsa little louder and at 80 it sounds good. When I first put it on it was a little louder than I wanted and it is much quieter now. Really like it.
The Cherry Bomb 88101 is a flow through Vortex type muffler that is very well built. It sounds quieter and does not have that ringing sound a Flowmaster does. When you look inside the Cherry Bomb you can see light through there but it opens up and forces the air around a plenum inside and then right back together and out. That design actually flows almost as much air as not having any muffler yet quietens good and gives it a nice low sound.
I talked to a Brent Florus at IMCO, I was thinking about the 924 or 928 and he told me to try this one as it is a much more free flowing muffler and does an excellent job of quieting it. IMCO owns or makes Cherry Bombs now but regardless I think the new style Vortex Cherry Bombs are the Bomb and absolutly great service there.

So what do I think about the system now? The car definatly runs better and appears to have better mileage now. Hard to tell about the mileage because it runs so much better and sounds so good I have really been putting my foot in it. It sounds great (perfect sound) around town and at 60 or less. Of course it has not thrown any error codes and do not anticipate any.
From what I can tell it has improved the mileage some but it will be a while before I can say how much. After I do a bunch of testing like this then I will do a Trifecta tune and more testing then do the underdrive pulleys and more testing. Enough of this talk, I am going to go driving.........

 

i saw this car today and it sounds great.. good work bruce

 

Glad you like it, I am really pleased with it now.

 

good... after going for a ride in it last night, i think it sounds pretty good
little noisy on the inside but nothing crazy. good tone.

 

It is sounding better every day. I really do not understand why it is getting quieter but the Princess sounds really nice now. Curly Like!

 

I just ordered a 2.4 intake for my 2.2. Got a good deal on it from the guy who I bought the exhaust from. Great guy to deal with. I have to order the adaptor and gaskets for it. Anyway my mods are almost done mechanically I think. The only things left is Trifecta tune and underdrive pulleys.

 

I am interested to here how the 2.4 manifold does. Better performance or mileage or both. Can't wait to hear.

 

Latest Butt Dyno results. The Airaid intake filter seemed to help the sound more than the performance or mileage. The K & N drop in stock filter made a very small difference. The lowering made a HUGE difference in handling and ride but no noticeable performance or mileage gains.

So far by far the best improvement in performance is the exhaust system. It runs and sounds GREAT! I honestly do not know about mileage yet because I still can not keep my foot out of it. Part of the reason for such an improvement in performance may be in part because of the Airiad intake filter assembly. If I had done the exhaust first then the results may not have been as dramatic?


I have the 2.4 intake and all of the parts and gaskets on order and that will be my next project.

I still believe I will not get the most out of the complete system until I get the Trifecta tune to bring it all together.

 

you just keep up the good work bruce..you got ya a clean/sweet ride.

wanna race ?

 

Yep, Lets race!