1. Flowmaster's DRS exhaust...
1. Flowmaster's DRS exhaust kit for '04-to-'08 Hemi-equipped Ram 1500s can be configured for a side or rear exit. Either way looks better than stock! Two pipes are cooler than one.
A lot of us here at OFF-ROAD first started driving in the early '90s, a time when most half-ton trucks weren't available with much more than 230 hp (and got terrible fuel economy). Today, numbers like that seem like some kind of bad joke, and those anemic engines of the '90s have been replaced with high-tech powerplants that can reach (in stock form) more than 400 horses. One of the most important engines introduced during this transitional period is the 5.7L Dodge Hemi, available in half-ton trucks for the first time in 2004. This 345 hp engine pushed the envelope when it came to midsize V-8s, and forced both Chevy and Ford to scramble in order to boost the power in their offerings. The Hemi sounded pretty aggressive from the factory, and in many cases, custom exhaust options ended up being way too loud for many enthusiasts. Flowmaster has been producing a throaty exhaust kit that has proved quite popular...but it's a little loud for our tastes. Recently, however, we noticed Flowmaster has manufactured another kit with a more 'moderate' sound volume. We were curious to see how it would sound, so we mated one up to a pal's Ram and listened up.
2. The stock exhaust kit is...
2. The stock exhaust kit is on the left, lookin' ugly. On the right is our brand new Flowmaster kit, with one of the two exhaust pipes placed up against the 50-series muffler.
The American Thunder DRS kit from Flowmaster is an alternative to their DOSS (Dual Out Same Side) kit, and is advertised on its website as being a bit quieter, while still retaining a healthy rumble. The aluminized-steel pipes are mandrel bent, carry a three-year warranty, and Flowmaster tells us that the kit should free up 5 to 10 percent more engine power than the stock exhaust permits. We ordered our kit online from Auto Anything, and were pleasantly surprised when the kit showed up at our doorstep just a few days later, ready to be installed. We popped the thing on our test Ram 1500 and then got heavy on the gas pedal. Check the photos and captions for the results and our thoughts.
 3. The installation of the...  3. The installation of the exhaust kit is a bolt-on process, and should be easy enough to complete in a driveway. Flowmaster includes enough piping to accommodate the different cab and bed sizes offered by Dodge. |  4. Although it's not necessary,...  4. Although it's not necessary, our pals at Spanky Mufflers welded the hangers to the system for a little extra durability. Each piece of the kit fit right into the next-the install was honestly pretty easy. |  5. After the install, we fired...  5. After the install, we fired up the truck and ripped around town. Although this kit may not be as loud as Flowmaster's other offering for this truck, it's still pretty aggressive and rumbly. This didn't bother the truck's owner a bit-in fact, he told us this has been his favorite modification to the truck so far. He also noted that the kit loosened up some extra pep from the Hemi. |