Question, Is the turtle at the rear a muffler or a resonator?

Seems to me that the muffler is not at the back and the resonator is. Stock muffler is low restriction unit I've ben told. If so, why not just remove the turtle and use a straight pipe in it's place?

 

They're calling the stock muffler the "turtle", because that's what it looks like I assume. The resonator is the long cylindrical tube in between the cat and muffler.

 

Usually it's the other way around. Muffler before the resonator.

A friend just replaced the Turtle with a straight pipe and says it sounds great!

The tube after the cat is a straight through high flow muff he was told.

Any dealer techs out there know for sure?

 

Think that you could get a sound clip from his car with the straight pipe?

 

the pipe in the middle is the res and the muffler is in the rear

 

"Usually it's the other way around. Muffler before the resonator."

In what, an English vehicle?

 

Naw, he's probably thinking WAY BACK. Us old guys remember a lot of 60's and 70's car with muffler to resonator......I think, Cadillac was one for example.

I think it just depended on where the manufacturer needed to suppress the "resonating" sound that entered the interior. Look at our stock HHR resonator. It's something like 3 or 4 feet long and under the passenger area of the vehicle. Some people have said the removal does cause a drone effect in the car at hway speeds......course some say it doesn't.

 

I've been thinking of trying one of those Flowmaster Hushpower II mufflers in that spot. They are ideal size and fairly long body 24".
They come in 2, 2 1/4 or 2 1/2"
Then see what it sounds like straight out the back no muffler there.

 

You guys are killing me!! You gotta go with looks and sound!! The performance issue is out. We are talking a 173 HP motor, we are not going to be street racing. Is the exhaust change going to make thing a race car! NO, go chrome, and throaty. If it is too loud put 1500 watts of audio in the car, shows much better that way. Todd (Uma)

 

I'd like to go with a throaty exhaust. I kind of like the sound coming from the coffee can exhaust setup on those Subaru Imprezzas, but one of the reasons I bought the HHR is to provide an economical alternative to renting a minivan for the annual family pilgrimage to Vegas. Several hours of that kind of noise droning through the car on the trip would have my 81 Yr old POPs reaching over to wring my chubby neck