There is nothing wrong with the stock sound of a Wrangler, but when you upgrade with a proper exhaust kit you get a throaty roar.
Upgrading the exhaust effects performance(slightly) as well, and is one of the first upgrades drivers tend to do on any vehicle.
We understand the desire to get your ride sounding more beastly. So let’s take a look at some exhaust kits that pump up the feel and sound of your ride.
Here are the best exhaust kits for Jeep Wrangler JKS:
1. MagnaFlow 15160 Stainless Steel Performance Exhaust System Kit
MagnaFlow offers this blacked-out upgrade to your stock exhaust the Jeep JK.
The piping leading up to the tips is 2 1/2 inches, and the tips are widened out to 4 inches. Giving you a good sound.
If you’d like to hear it roar, we found a video of it here.
We like the look and the sound of this option. But, the price is a bit steep. Most exhaust kits are going to be a bit pricey and this hits the higher end of the price range for Jeeps.
This is an axle-back exhaust kit which means it basically just replaces the muffler. If you’re looking for a full replacement of the intermediate pipe and everything up to your muffler you will be searching for a cat-back exhaust kit. We feature a few of them below.
2. Flowmaster 817674 American Thunder 409S
The American Thunder option by Flowmaster is another top seller for Jeep JKs.
This is a cat-back system so it replaces your mid-pipe as well. They rate it as a “moderate sound”.
To hear a comparison between the stock exhaust and this Flowmaster, we found you a video here.
For the price, this is an excellent value. It’s more than just a muffler and our top pick. It doesn’t have the nice blacked out paint but it’s not going to be easily visible either.
Plus, with all the money you save you can buy a powder-coating system yourself if you wanted! Eh, that sounds like a lot more work.. but fun maybe.
There are plenty of installation tutorials out there and for more experienced folks this is going to take 1-2 hours and maybe some moderate yelling to bang your old muffler off.
3. aFe (49-08046) Scorpion 2-1/2" Aluminized Hi-Tuck Axle-Back Exhaust
This is aFe’s offering of an Axle-Back Exhaust for the Jeep Wrangler JK.
Here is the comparison of the stock sound versus the upgrade.
This company has a long history of making high-quality aftermarket parts and are consistently well-reviewed. This exhaust is no different from the norm.
You’re going to get a reasonably priced system that is going to beef up your sound with a moderate difficulty of installation. One to two hours for most, depending on how stubborn your old muffler is to come loose. There are only two pieces in this kit and they clamp together seamlessly.
This was made and assembled in the USA.
4. aFe Power 49-48055 Mach Force-Xp Cat-Back Exhaust
We try our best here not to double up on brands to give our readers more variety, but for a full Cat-Back Exhaust system the price and value from aFe means it had to make our list.
To listen to the comparison between stock and the cat-back, we’ve got you covered here.
Sounds pretty good to us with a metered deep tone, and it comes at a bit of a cheaper price than the Flowmaster. If you’re going for sound, the preference is up to you. But anyone could objectively say, this is a great value for what you’re getting.
Advice and FAQs
Making Sure Your Kit is Compatible with Your Vehicle
Before purchasing, Amazon has a handy “garage” option to make absolutely sure your part is compatible with your vehicle. We’ve included a picture above so you can see what it looks like.
The first step is adding your vehicle to your virtual garage, and then filtering by results. Please take the time to do this! There is nothing more frustrating than ordering a part, especially if it’s heavy and having to return it because it isn’t the right fit.
How does an exhaust kit improve performance?
In an ideal world, if you were only looking at performance, there would be a short exhaust with no filters. That would be the best thing for the engine, but that’s going to be terrible for the environment.
The less resistance the flow of exhaust meets going from your engine outwards, means the better the engine can operate. But we need a catalytic converter to help purify the air, and a longer exhaust to cut down on sound pollution.
So an exhaust kit meets these things in the middle, or tries to. It is usually wider in diameter to open up the flow of exhaust so your engine uses less energy.
If you’ve ever seen a really short and loud exhaust, maybe angled under a door instead of extending all the way to the rear of a vehicle, now you’ll know why they do it!
Conclusion
Hopefully, we’ve helped you make an informed decision on what you want for your Jeep Wrangler. If you’d like to watch a video explaining the difference between a cat-back exhaust and axle-back, you can find a great one here.
Our top pick is the Flowmaster, but there are lots of good competitors out there as well.
If you end up getting one of these options, let us know how it worked out for you. Be safe out there! And always remember to use jack stands when you’re getting under and vehicle.