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This really depends how far you want to go, and how you want the car to perform.Originally Posted by dado
There are a few schools of thought on both exhaust and air intake.
A lot of people will immediately tell you to delete the 'suitcase' resonator, which sits between the back wheels and replace it with a straight through, or a small resonator. The straight through will make the car noticeably louder and somewhat less restricted. At the same time, you'll notice a slight torque loss down low and some audible drone between 2-3000rpm. Fitting a resonator or 'hot dog' instead of a straight through may eliminate some drone. If you get it right, the low rev torque loss experienced with larger bore exhausts is usually accompanied by slight gains to be felt higher up in the rev range.
If you want to go for a complete stainless cat-back system, you could choose between a 2.5" or 2.25" diametre. If you don't want anything too loud, and you're looking to keep some back pressure and torque down low in the rev range, obviously sticking with 2.25" is probably the way to go. 2.5" is a fairly large bore for a normally aspirated VR6. If you're looking to add cams, ECU upgrades and are looking to forced induction in the future, then 2.5" would be the minimum. Some would even go to a 3.0" system.
The muffler you have from Sebring will dictate the final sound of the system, as its the rear muffler which is responsible for the note you will hear. The factory 'suitcase' also muffles sound.
As for intake, a lot of people will suggest some kind of cold air intake which replaces the factory airbox. On the positive side, this allows the engine to suck a greater volume of air, with less drag, so people report better throttle response. On the negative side, this can also be accompanied by heat-soak if you don't manage to properly heatshield the CAI. You have to do this properly and duct in cold air from outside the hot under-bonnet region. Sucking in hot air from under the bonnet means your fuel/air mixture will be warmer and therefore less condensed than that created by cold air - uncool. Another downer is the higher fuel consumption often created by open intake systems which aren't accompanied by proper ecu re-programming. The more air that passes your MAF, the more fuel your Bosch injection is programmed to use.
In other words, consider that whatever you have done should be done properly.
If you're happy with the car's performance and just want a nice sound and a slight improvement in throttle response, fit your Sebring muffler and go with a K&N or Green Cotton factory replacement filter that drops into your factory airbox. You'll maintain the civilised balance of the stock car but will also notice a little gain in responsiveness.
Really, it's about what you want from the car, and how far you want to go.
PS:
A few VR6 people also like to cut a small circular hole in the underside of the factory airbox. This allows more airflow and a little gain in throttle response, but again -it's all about cool air, so any gains would be more or less subjective.
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