im extremely tempted, as a first major mod on my zx3, to install an aftermarket cat-back. im primarily concerned with increased power gains and efficiency but a civil amount of noise factors high on my list of determinants. i dont plan on eliminating my cat, but may install shorty headers in the future to get rid of that dent ridden monstrosity of an oem manifold. ive heard several exhaust setups, including bosal, borla, and magnaflow and was really impressed by the latter. however, as naive as it sounds, the quiet tone of the magnaflow has me sketchy about performance. it just seems like all the effort of dampening the noise would end up restricting flow, thereby constraining gains. id bet this goes hand in hand with the popularity of the borla, louder being more free and open and therefore better. i realize the question of 'what exhaust should i get for this, this, and that?' has been handled ad naseum, so dont dismiss this thread as the latest iteration in that debate. im mainly interested in what technologies different setups use to lessen noise and how they affect overall performance and efficiency. thanks
