Of course, any effective muffler is going to take a little bite out of the power as opposed to running an open header. In my opinion, the Abell isn't much more than an open header. If you need those last couple of ponies and noise is no issue by all means run the Abell.

As for Bisson durability, I've owned several (4-5) without any problems at all. In fact, I've never heard anyone say anything negative about Bisson before today. What kind of durability issue are we talking about, cracks? I've heard complaints about J&A mufflers cracking. I've owned a J&A before and it held up well too. I wonder what the circumstances are around these failures.

Wiz