Hooker Cat Back

[sunSSet]

I have been strongly considering the Hooker cat back exhaust for my car (2002 Camaro SS). Has anyone had any experience with this exhaust? How does it sound? How loud is it? How bad is the interior resonance? How does it look? Any info would be great. from what I've seen around the web it looks like a pretty sweet set up for the price. I've heard the sound clips at LS1sounds but I'd like some personal opinions.

Thanks in advance everyone,

[1bad83ta]

Hey man,

do some searching on thirdgen.org and they have a lot of posts and soundclips for that.

[MattODoom]

I have a Hooker cat back on my '88. I love it. Sounds great, semi-quiet idle and loud when you're on it.

[SS4Matt]

i've never heard it in person... but from what i've read it's pretty good...and you can't beat the price of it... i almost got it for my friends 96 Z28 because he let me borrow it for a few months while my car was outta commish!

[meissen]

I believe one of the guys in SLP has the hooker catback. I've never heard anything negative about the setup, so I'd say you're safe to go with them.

[93formulalt1]

Same here. I've never heard any complaints. I say go for it!

[shawnc16]

Not only does the Hooker set up sound nice but its pretty cheap compared to some other lesser sounding systems

[ws6transam]

I have the Hooker cat-back and wouldnt want any other exhaust. It's quiet when it needs to be quiet and roars when you want it to roar. Plus it's been proven by Thunder Racing to be the most efficient muffler out there, good to 500+ RWHP.

An interesting point: Last fall I put my car on the Livernois chassis dyno during the Woodward dream cruise. It was the last one of the night. For most of the afternoon we watched these monster, snarling cars hop on and off the dyno, making anywhere from 170 to 650 RWHP. Most cackled with barely muffled exhaust. So, imagine my sheepish grin when they backed my car up onto the rollers, six feet up in the air. 150 people were standing around, and there's my car, innocently idling away up there, quieter than the bolt-on Mustang 5.0 that had recently been tested. I was worried when I heard the snickers. The Mustang made a respectable 215 RWHP or so, and his cam sounded kind of like my cam... However I really was hoping the car would make more power than that.
...then they started the dyno run. They brought engine RPM up to 2000 RPM in fourth gear at which time the exhaust went from a quiet idle to a low growl. This was the first time I ever heard my car from outside. Then they hammered the throttle and held it wide open to 6600 RPM. The sound was remeniscent of a stock car and it roared like the big V8 I hoped was in there! Then they shut it down, and all you could hear was the hissing of that big roller winding down. The idle was THAT quiet! Yet, you can hear the cam chop just fine, along with the click.click.click of the roller valvetrain.

BTW, the engine suprised the crowd, making a peak of 396 RWHP and 385 ft.lb of torque with promise of more power to be found with a good tune session.


It's the perfect exhaust, so long as you pitch out the stupid quad tips that Hooker tosses into the box. They look dorky in my opinion. Mine lasted less than thirty seconds before I tore them off in favor of some simple slash tips.

[MattODoom]

Ah yeah, that's exactly how it is ws6. My hooker is on a TPI motor and its nice and quiet and deep at idle, and loud and powerful at WOT. I kept the 'Dorky' tips though. To each their own, the previous owner had turn downs, I didnt like them.

[SS4Matt]

396...that's a pretty good number...what all do you have done to your car??? is it an LT1 or LS1 car?? also was that dyno a "mustang dyno" or "dyno-jet" ??? either way that is a pretty good result!!

[sunSSet]

I'm sold!!

Thanks to everyone for their input. Based on what I'm reading it sounds like a good system. I'm planning to buy and install once the weather gets a little nicer. Hopefully March.

Thanks again,

[wezeles]

ya mine has the hooker true dual kit on it now... headers back... im not a huge fan of the mufflers it came with but they still sound fine nice rumble about the same as any thrush muffler... doesnt have the pop to it a flowmaster style muffler has...and there is deffinatley no restriction in mine... best setup for the price...