I have no idea what an OEM muffler for my car is supposed to sound like. The condition the old one was in had a big rusted out hole the size of my fist in the bottom, and was a made of a very thin metal.This muffler definitely exceeds OEM standards and specifications for what came with my car. This thing is heavy, uses nice thick metal, fits on AP replacement exhaust pipes all by itself with an exhaust clamp, this thing will obviously live through the ages where as my last couldn't.I'm quite happy that the acoustics of my car have improved a lot. I have no idea what the car was supposed to sound like originally (had the original muffler not been blown out), but it's a lot quieter now, and am quite satisfied.