High Lifter’s Stealth Muffler

Performance — By ATV Mag on January 12, 2006 at 12:00 pm

Noise level is all relative. If you’re 10 miles from your neighbors, you can pretty much create all the noise you want.

If you ride in a public area or on a race track, you may need to comply with maximum allowable sound levels. But, what if you hunt? Even a stock ATV may be loud.

Now, here’s an even tougher situation. What if you need to operate an ATV at a rain forest resort with bird watchers, hikers and, in general, people for whom the mere sight of an ATV much less the sound of one can be troubling?

That was the dilemma facing Phil Spier, owner of Bosque Del Cabo Rainforest Lodge in a remote part of Costa Rica. Although his stock Honda Foreman 450ES is one of the quietest in its class, he was still treading on thin ice around some of his guests.

Which brings up the question, are two mufflers better than one? To answer that, Spier picked up High Lifter’s Stealth Muffler. Because a specific kit isn’t made for his ES, he snagged the universal kit. The concept is pretty simple: a second muffler bolts onto the back of the stock muffler.

The spark arresting High Lifter muffler (with hardware) and universal adapter kit arrived in separate boxes and the total weight is less than 10 pounds. Quality of workmanship is good and all necessary parts and fasteners are supplied (there even were some left-overs!).

The kit comes with instructions in English and French, but because the printing quality wasn’t that great, they weren’t of much use. And the pictures didn’t show the installation process, so we relied primarily on the picture on the box. For assembly, we needed a drill, wrench, pliers, hammer, hack saw and high-temp sealant. The long, universal mounting brackets are a little longer than necessary and need to be cut down for the ES. Installation took an hour and a half.

Once installed, the muffler is stable. It’s well protected from normal riding hazards, but it would be vulnerable if you were rear ended or tried to stand the Foreman up on the grab bar.

Now, back to the original question: The answer is yes, two mufflers are better than one! Promo literature claims that noise is reduced by 50 percent and that seems pretty close to what we experienced. The ATV is noticeably quieter, but the tone of the engine sounds about the same. Noise is reduced at all rpm ranges, although we noticed the most reduction while accelerating through the gears and under engine-compression braking. As an added benefit, gone was the occasional backfiring we experienced on downhills with only the stock muffler.

Equally important is power output. The literature claims that, in a 7-second drag race, the stealth-equipped 450 is less than a tenth of a second behind the stocker and, in some cases, the added back pressure can boost low-end performance. If there is any loss in power, we didn’t feel it.

Because the Stealth muffler is mounted slightly away from the ATV, there’s no risk of heat damage. However, the hot muffler slightly restricts access to the Foreman’s storage box. It doesn’t restrict access to the racks, though, and it doesn’t interfere with using the trailer hitch. Returning the ATV to stock is possible, although you might opt to leave the adapter plate attached to the stock muffler.

“We really like this muffler,” Spier says, “and we’ll probably install them on all our quads. It would be a great product for the rangers down here who don’t want to disturb the wildlife in the park.”

The Stealth muffler from High Lifter sells for $190 and comes with a 60-day money back guarantee and one year warranty on defects. Dedicated kits are available for the Rubicon and Grizzly, while the universal kit will fit any four-stroke. Check out High Lifter at www.highlifter.com, or call 800/699-0947.