Sonic Turbo Mufflers

[Mr. Chevy]

Does anyone remember the Sonic Turbo Mufflers from the 1980's??

I ran a pair on my 69 Nova small block with headers in the late 80s. The mufflers were turned down at the rear axle and sounded awesome.. These mufflers were the ones to get back in the 80s. I still have the old decals.

I would love to find an NOS set or find something very compatible.

Rich

[NorCam]

I have an NOS pair of the Competition 692 Turbo's I'll be using on my Nova. Same as the Corvair Turbos and sound just like you described. I can't wait to hear these.

Will keep an eye out for a pair for you Rich

https://preview.ibb.co/fb7UwG/IMG-7298.jpg (https://ibb.co/g9i2GG)

[novadude]

I'm not 100% certain, but I believe that I recall hearing that Dynomax bought the company that made these, and renamed it the "Super Turbo", which is still available.

You are right, though. Sonic Turbo was *the* muffler to have in the 1980s. Then flowmaster came along in the late 80s-early 90s, and everyone decided they liked that sound (personally, I'm not a flowmaster fan).

[flyingn]

[QUOTE=novadude;1419986]I'm not 100% certain, but I believe that I recall hearing that Dynomax bought the company that made these, and renamed it the "Super Turbo", which is still available.

You are right, though. Sonic Turbo was *the* muffler to have in the 1980s. Then flowmaster came along in the late 80s-early 90s, and everyone decided they liked that sound (personally, I'm not a flowmaster fan).[/QUOTE

The super turbos has round dimples on the end caps. These don't have them.

I remember having Hush Thrush's on my 65 El Camino in the 70's.

[Mr.Nickey Nova]

I had a pair of Sonic Turbos on my 72 Nova back in the 80's also, and liked that sound. Nothing like the sound of a good Turbo muffler.

[hogdaddy]

I have a pair of Sonic Turbos with the dimples on my 80 Camaro.

[Bernhard]

These were very common in the 80's
I think I might still have a pair with header flanges welded directly to the muffler.
They sounded good and did not have a drone if I remember right?

[The Bushwacker]

I had 'em on a couple of cars, in the 80's. They were the best. The sound may be a little too quiet for guys that like it so you can't hear the stereo at full blast.
The Sonics had a nice sound that I really liked. But I didn't pick them for the sound. I wanted performance.
I read a heck of an article (Hot Rod, I think) where they tested all the turbo mufflers on one engine (Chevy), sitting on a dyno. In fact, they also threw in a couple glass packs of the day. The article, and the results were amazing. You think a muffler is a just a muffler, right? Wrong.
From running stock OEM exhaust, the glass packs actually reduced horsepower by like 8 hp. Pay attention Thrush fans. Glass packs create turbulence!! All the turbo mufflers tested ran a wide range of increased horsepower. A couple were around 10hp increase. Some were like 20hp. The Sonic Turbos increased the horsepower like 30hp (I forget the exact number now).
My car at the time was a pretty much bone stock, El Camino, 350 ci., with the 500 cfm Rochester. I had tweaked and tuned the carb till it was perfect. I did put in a roller timing chain when the old one got so loose it wore a hole in the cover! LMAO I just kept playing with the car. I'd gain a second here and there. Different rear springs made a difference. '73 was the height of gas milage paranoia, and all the Chevelles, Impalas, etc. came with rearends around 2.8 (I forget exactly). I put in a rearend from a Monte Carlo. The Monte was the only Chevy in '73 that got a lower rear end. It was 3:08, I remember. That dropped my 0-60 by a full second.
The last thing I did was add dual exhaust with Sonic Turbos. We're talking about just the right sized pipes, an H pipe, etc. Still stock cast iron exhaust. I gained another full second, 0-60.
BTW, you guys that think bigger is better, I was running 1 3/4 inch to the mufflers, 1 1/2 inch to the back bumper. The trick is, getting the H pipe just the right distance from the engine, and putting the mufflers at just the right spot.
When I was done, that tired old, bone stock 350, with 100,000 miles on it, could do 0-60 in 6.9 seconds. Remember, cars like a GTO, back in the 60's was bragging about 7 seconds!
You will call me a liar, but I swear it's all true.
One of the best carbs for short run, street racing, was that Rochester 500 cfm 2 barrel. And those Sonics were the best! I doubt that FloMaster can make claims of 30+ hp.

[GrumpyJeff]

Nice mellow tone, But sounded real good if you hade some HP, had them on all me cars in the days before Flowmaster

[SuperNovaSS]

Any chance these may be what you are after? I am not sure of the brand since the label is missing on one box and partially missing on the other. There is no branding on the box itself. Maybe someone recognizes the box? These came out of a storage locker a few weeks ago so I know nothing about them.


Thanks,


Jason

[L_e_e]

Those are Walker Quiet Flow mufflers and they are great.

[Mr. Chevy]

The Sonic Turbos had a manufacturer's insignia on them...

Thanks for posting though...

Rich

[427TJ]

My old '55, built in the late '60s, had the long Thrush turbos with turn-downs at the diff. 30-30 cam, 11 to 1, etc. It sounded like a Big-Block.

[SuperNovaSS]

Ok, thanks for the replies. I’m sorry they are not what you are after but I’m glad to hear they are not junk.


Jason

[Mr. Chevy]

This is what the mufflers looked like and the manufacturer's box. Made by Mr. Gasket..

Rich

[muscle_collector]

right after I bought this in 1984 I added the Pontiac hood tach and put a set of sonic turbos on it. they are still on it today. I parked the truck many many years ago but still have it.

[earntaz]

FYI -- I believe the original Corvair turbocharger mufflers had a Walker part number of 21348 ... also very popular in the 60s/70s ... TAZ

[JRC99]

right after I bought this in 1984 I added the Pontiac hood tach and put a set of sonic turbos on it. they are still on it today. I parked the truck many many years ago but still have it.

How about a sound clip? Videos of them seem rare.

[muscle_collector]

I haven't started the truck in 20 years.