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Staintunes would probably be somewhere in the lower third of the unbaffled pipes - but that's a guess. Sound quality would be a 7 or 8. Build quality would be a 10.



Do staintunes have baffles? Are you saying they're as loud as unbaffled?




I am not sure you guys are meaning the same thing when you say "unbaffled". I make mufflers - all kinds, from performance systems to truck and generator mufflers.

A baffle is a plate which blocks the gas flow within the muffler. The plate has a restrictive hole which the gas must pass through.

Stock Mufflers
Stock mufflers have a series of these plates and chambers. Usually these mufflers do not have any packing (fibreglass or stainless wool) but rely totally on the series of chambers and restrictions for silencing. The gas follows a circuitous route as opposed to a direct path.

Gutted mufflers (that were baffled)
So when you totally gut a stock muffler you effectively have an un-silenced exhaust system. There is no longer any baffle plates and no packing. The empty barrel will affect the tone but otherwise it is the same as pipes with no muffler at all.

Straight Through Mufflers
These aftermarket mufflers have no baffle plates and no restrictions. The gas flows in a direct path but the tube inside the muffler is perforated and has packing (fibreglass or stainless wool) between the perf and the outer case. This system has a silencing affect as some of the gas (and sound and pressure waves) pass into the packed chamber. This is the arrangement on most aftermarket pipes. These do not have baffles. So when you say "un-baffled" you are including these mufflers.

There are also combinations of muffler design which include baffles, packing and chambers but don't really apply to this discussion.

As a side note on sound: fibreglass packing will give a deeper note than stainless wool. But stainless wool never degrades while fibreglass will need to be replaced every 2-3 years and your exhaust note (tone and volume) will change as the glass degrades. I don't recommend domestic grade fibreglass as it is not heat rated, is not in a long strand and will degrade much faster and blow out.

Cheers, Richard
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09 America, Staintune Pipes, K&N, Breathe, Hagon Nitros, AI & O2 removed, tune 20184 (modified), MTX-L a/f gauge