Magnaflow Overland Exhaust: Project Tacoma | Video with Sound clips

Magnaflow Overland Exhaust for Toyota TacomaVroom Vroom Noises

The V6 in the Tacoma (which is now being phased out) gets used in a lot of models.  From the Highlander to the Sienna, Camry, Lexus RX 350 and many others.  In most of these other models a complex combination of exhaust mufflers and resonators are used in effort to minimize as much exhaust noise as possible.  Not so in the Tacoma though.  There’s just one big muffler from the secondary catalytic converter all the way back.  We’ll include some sound clips of the stock exhaust for reference but chances are you’ve heard one based on the millions of Tacoma sales.  In this article we’ll add some power and better sound with the Magnaflow Overland Exhaust for the Toyota Tacoma.

I typically see at least a half dozen 3rd gen Tacoma’s every time I drive.  And, not true to say the Tacoma sounds like every other V6 out there but perhaps it sounds like many other V6 trucks.  There’s a growl in the lower end of the RPM range similar to my dog Duffy when he wants me to refill his food dish.  By 6k RPMs the enjoyable noises have stopped and you’re hoping for the next gear.  Thinking about exhaust noises, I saw an F150 Raptor with a license plate V8ENVY and sympathized; then I had turbo envy.

Stock Tacoma Exhaust Removal
What an opportunity for Dad to show his Son how easy it is to remove an exhaust on a newer vehicle. Hey, put that box end wrench on there while I loosen this bolt, oh that fitting is welded onto the exhaust?!?! Nice one Toyota!
Although probably not necessary we removed the spare tire for more room removing the factory exhaust.

Magnaflow Overland Exhaust

The straight through section of the muffler is 3″ with a perforated core with what we can only assume is a proprietary sound insulation mesh.  Understandably, Magnaflow does not provide those details.

Removal of the stock exhaust is relatively easy there’s just these two bolts and a bunch of exhaust hangers.  It’s a bit of a beast having to maneuver the single exhaust pipe over the rear axle.  But it wasn’t that hard with an extra set of hands.

On the left is the other side of the straight through perforated core. On the right side is a trick borrowed from their xMod series of exhausts where they offer multiple configurations of sound tuning.
5 comments

  1. Is the Helmholtz resonator piping tunable? e.g. you can move it in and out for adjusting to things like perhaps an open element intake or headers sans cats that change the sound for the worse? Or it’s fixed per MF’s own tuning?

    Also, great job on all the video cuts showing before and after in all the scenarios. One addition I would request, video of Duffy growling for food for comparison. I mean you did reference him…

    Reply

    1. Good question. If you go to the top of page 2 you can see all the tube pieces for the resonator. So you can run:
      1. The tube off the muffler with the helmholtz resonator (quietest)
      2. The tube off the muffler with a cap on the end (louder)
      3. The cap on the muffler (loudest)

      I have only run option 1 and it’s both loud enough when I want it to be and quiet enough when I want it. My wife said it does get a little loud in the back when the RPM’s are up and the truck is loaded with people and gear. Wives are good for pointing out those details 😀 I would think part of the extra noise is due to the overland setup has the exit pipe underneath the bed where the conventional exhaust has the exit outside of the bed of the truck.

      Duffy is a little camera shy but I’ll do my best.

      Reply

      1. Bummer MF didn’t allow for “tuning,” of the helmholtz filter. Then again, packaging constraints could have prevented that.

        The math to figure it out last I looked had you get the EGT, frequency, RPM, cyl count, and a few other things, into a formula.. Of which, I would have to pay someone to figure out for me… And bam you’re given a pipe length to use. Often just a section of j-pipe welded inline.

        But perhaps later you change a variable in your intake and exhaust system, and your peak resonance changes by 300 RPM, and your set length doesn’t work as effectively. Re-do the math, and figure out the new length required to tone down that resonance. Here is where being able to slide the helmholtz setup in or out, changing it’s length was where I was getting at. I think I’ve seen a catback like that in the past for a Focus or something like that?

        In the end, I do like that the manufacturers are doing more and doing better to control sound in cabin. Not to mention MF nailed it with a great price.

        Reply

        1. These sorts of nerd level comments are why I love MotoIQ (shameless plug). I had professor Khiem Dinh author of fameous projects like S2000 and Cayman T work up a custom resonator like your mentioning for my now long gone Civic SI exhaust featured here. I never got around to it even though I had all the parts. Welding stainless can get expensive and I decided I needed a car with more torque and then started on project G37. Sorry for all the rabbit hole comments 😀

          Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *