FAQ: Mufflers?

I have no experience with it, but I"m seriously considering that one for my build. I would use the 3". Never heard of the problems you've had.

I also looked to the original manufacturer, ZZP is a reseller but does _something_ to it, but they don't say what they change. ??

I really hate when I hear posts like this, about ZZP.

It seems that a lot of bad apples seem to be getting out of their shop. I'm beginning to think they don't extensively test some of the products in their lineup.

They're ambitious, sure - and I've never had any problems with their customer service. But it almost seems that they have a little TOO much on their plate for what size business it is.

Mark, I'm sorry to hear this happened... after reading the description for the whisper resonator, they practically had me sold as well, even AFTER reading your post. Hopefully they'll make it right for you.

I dunno. I think for $150, you'd expect a solid product. Then again, who knows what happened here.

I wonder if they did much/any testing of this product with a catalytic converter in place? That's the only item that I reckon would be causing any excess amount of heat in a 3" exhaust, be it a high flow or not. It is the hottest thing on the car right in front of it...

I am also interested in this resonator because I think my drone level has gone from acceptable to a little more than acceptable with the cam. I'm not getting it too soon but it looks like the most effective product out there that won't stiffle flow.

Seconding Ben - Hope they take care of you... That is a pretty screwy thing to happen.

I found it. This is the part ZZP claims to start with. I still wonder what they do to it. I kinda like it the way the OE makes it...

http://www.flopro.com/Twister.htm

Kind of reminds me of the "Tornado" intake. There are companies out there selling the same thing for your exhaust. Is it just me, or does that look restrictive as hell?!!

That picture is nothing like the Whisper. ZZP also sells a muffler/resonator called the proflo or something like that for about 1/2 the price, but they are usually out of stock. The Whisper has 3 chambers with the end cores being offset from the middle core by about 50%. You can actually look through the muffler and see out the opposite end. I have to send pic to ZZP next week of my system to get their feedback before doing anything. If I have to remove the Whisper one of them will not go back on as I will have to install something in its place. It is my daily driver and I live 75 miles from work.

AA wrote:

Kind of reminds me of the "Tornado" intake. There are companies out there selling the same thing for your exhaust. Is it just me, or does that look restrictive as hell?!!

This the proprietary technology of the Dyson!!!

...and I just found a new way to blend margarita's!!!

Chicken wrote:

AA wrote:

Kind of reminds me of the "Tornado" intake. There are companies out there selling the same thing for your exhaust. Is it just me, or does that look restrictive as hell?!!

This the proprietary technology of the Dyson!!!

...and I just found a new way to blend margarita's!!!

Party at Marks ! !

I don't see how it's restrictive. Mufflers are a whole different ballgame. This doesn't have any chambers except one continuous flowthrough, so I don't see how it's restrictive in any way...

What does the Whisper thing look like? I thought that's what it was. When ZZP was first describing it on their website they described it as a modified Pro Flo. I noticed they changed their description so it doesn't mention the OE manufacturer anymore.

A quote from zzp's description


"We had them custom designed because...".

It doesn't mention anything of modifying anything.

Hmmm, that's not how their description used to read either. Wish I had a copy of it.

Oh well, anyway I recall digging a little bit to find that flopro thing and couldn't see why they would modify it.

edit: wait, they do still call it flo pro. Maybe that was their own name? Confusing if it is, because it led me to the flo pro brand... which looks like a better product.

Hmmm... I emailed zzp one time and they said that the whisper is much quieter than the flo pro. Its also a little bit bigger though....

seems like the flo pro is out of stock because its not listed right now.

Its been about a week since I emailed ZZP a letter and pictures (before & after) explaining my problem, but have yet to get a reply. I have called to make them aware of the situation but haven't had a return call from anyone in the know.
Right now I am dealing with 3.5 inches (was 2.5 inches before rotating the muffler after it had warped) of ground clearance at the rear of the muffler and 5 inches at the front of it. I have "adjusted" my tailpipe routing to make the car driveable. I will give ZZP every chance to make it right, but, in the end I am prettyy sure I am going to a Magnaflow muffler since I have to do something or risk losing my custom fabricated 3" tailpipe to a high spot in the road. I have the better part of 2 days and $200 in materials in the tailpipe alone.
I will be doing a write-up on this as soon as I get the situation with ZZP resolved, whatever the final outcome is.

post the pics....I want to see them!

Here's a picture taken right after the new exhaust was installed:


Here's another showing the tailpipe before running the car:

Here's a picture of the same area one week later (about 600 miles) A hanger was added mounted horizontal to keep the tailpipe from rubbing the chassis after turning the muffler to gain clearance:

Note that it was much worse but I rotated the muffler to gain about another inch of ground clearance at the rear of the Whisper muffler. The clump on the driveway is a pile of wet fiberglass insulation that I picked up from the road. It is about 3/4 inch high.
Here's a picture from the side after 1 week (and after rotating the muffler to make the car driveable). I would have taken a "before" picture, but before you couldn't see the muffler

As it stands today, the warpage of the muffler is pushing down on the 2 rubber exhaust hangers that are just behind the factory resonator. You cannot push up on the exhaust to level it out.

Where's your exhaust sound videos??

I'll post them with the full write-up, which I'll do after getting the Whisper muffler problem resolved with ZZP. Nine days so far and no return calls even though I've called their customer service twice and had promises to get a return call both times. When I remove the Whisper I will replace it with another brand...maybe Aeroexhaust or Magnaflow 6" round SS model. They are made so that the inlet/outlet tubes are concentric (no offset) to the body so warpage shouldn't be an issue.

OK, I finally spoke with someone at ZZP yesterday after calling and demanding that something be done as I still hit some high spots in the road. I could tell they really hadn't read my comments or looked at my pictures in any detail. So, the Whisper is coming off and will be sent back for their review. I have ordered a 5"x8"x24" Magnaflow muffler to replace it (possibly next weekend). Since I had to measure to see if the new muffler would fit, I did some checking on the Whisper and found that there is a 3 degree drop front to back (the pipe out of the cat that it is attached to is dead nuts level). It doesn't sound like much but over 28 inches of length that is about 1.5 inches and that is in the postition it is now mounted. It was more like a 5 degree drop, or about 2.5 inches front to rear before rotating it for better clearance.
Could I continue to use the Whisper, yes, but I would have to rework my custom fabricated tailpipe and hangers, which would be more work than installing a new muffler that is straight and I would have to live with 3.5 inches of ground clearance.
I will attempt to get some sound clips before removing the Whisper for those of you who still are interested in one. If ZZP refuses to refund my money or give me a store credit, then I will sell this one at a good price. It doesn't have any road rash yet (that has been reserved for the clamps) and is now what an engineer would call stress relieved. It would probably work OK since you could route your exhaust based on the mufflers slightly warped condition. Once it is off of my car, I may take it into work and have it inspected on a CMM to get exact numbers on the misalignment. I'll keep you posted...

My new magnaflow muffler arrived and I must say I am impressed with it. While it is the same length and just a little larger than the Whisper, it is much heavier. My guess is about twice as heavy. All the welded joints are lap joints whereas the Whisper is butt jointed. I will post pics of both in my full write-up coming as soon as I get the Magnaflow installed. I really wish I would have started with this muffler
I don't mean to sound like I am bashing ZZP or their products, but I believe that you call 'em like you see 'em. Their Grand Prix downpipe fits my 95 Riv very well once I modified the flange and it shows no signs of warpage. Sometimes even the best intended companies can take on too much and be in over their head, so to speak.
Of coarse, I will keep you all updated on how ZZP handles my problems with the Whisper.

I'd like to know how the magnaflow sounds. What diameter are you using?

Quote :

Sometimes even the best intended companies can take on too much and be in over their head, so to speak.

These were my thoughts exactly. They just have so much on their plate, bad things slip through often enough.

I'm using a 5 x 8 inch oval, 24 inch long body with 3" inlet and 3" outlet centered on both ends. This is the nearest I could find that would fit like the Whisper did before it warped on me. My biggest problem is that may exhasut was custom built for the Whisper which has the inlet/outlet tubes offset from the center by quite a bit.
With any luck the Magnaflow goes on tomorrow...

I finally got the Maganflow on today. Everything is lined up again and I have more ground clearance, not as much as I would like because it is a larger muffler than the Whisper, but more like 5 inches rather than the 3.5 I had at the rear of the Whisper. My first impressions are that the power is the same but the sound is a bit quieter, yet not quite as pleasant in tone as the Whisper, which was developed for the 3800 SC.
I set the Whisper up on V-blocks and leveled the body and you can clearly see how the inlet and outlet tubes are warped towards the the center of the body by several degrees, for those that aren't familiar with them, the Whisper's in and out tubes are offset in the same direction from the body's center. The tubes are nearly all the way to the our shell of the body.
I'll be doing a write up in a week or so...

What kind of mufflers do you have? Can you record the sound somehow? Plus a drive-by under load?