American Thunder exhaust (pros vs. cons)

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CALIstanggt

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#1

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Im ordering my exhaust for my stang and i am going to get American Thunder Flows then im going to get duel cutouts. But i wanted to know what the pros and cons were for the American Thunder...thanks

 

Numbles

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Pro's are they sound good and I haven't heard anyone complain about fitment

And there are no cons. Aftermarket exhaust is always good.

 

Joes95GT

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Jan 23, 2003

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Pros - It's cheap.

Cons - It is the most terrible sounding catback system in the world, unless you have LT headers. The drone is enough to make your head explode. The fitment is the worst out of any aftermarket catback exhaust system.

I do side exhaust work at my neighbors exhaust shop and half of the Flowmaster systems fit "OK" and others fit "not so OK". There is a lot of heating and pushing to get the pipes to fit where they should and the sort. Plus, Flowmasters make your car sound the same as Dodge trucks .

Joe

 

red94fiveo

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Pros- Its Cheap

Cons - Its cheap, everyone has them, and they are made by the rustmaster.

 

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smokediver27

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Interesting topic, I'm getting ready to order some exhaust for my car too, and don't have a fortune to spend on it.

I thought the American thunder was supposed to be an exact fit for the stang, comes with pre bent pipes and everything???

 

OrangeMustangGt

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hey, i got that kit and LOVE it...no problems... and it sounds BADASS, especially with an h-pipe!! RIIIIIIIIIIPPPPP

 

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ejjmustang

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Dude that is what I have on my stang and I think it sounds sweet. with the headers and o/r h-pipe it sounds like a true V8. They where an ease to put on a lil bit of trouble putting the tailpipes on cause of the bend but nothing major.

 

Joes95GT

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smokediver27 said:

Interesting topic, I'm getting ready to order some exhaust for my car too, and don't have a fortune to spend on it.

I thought the American thunder was supposed to be an exact fit for the stang, comes with pre bent pipes and everything???

Click to expand...

Everything is "Mandrel bent" but some things and some parts of the system are not "mandrel bent" enough, or too much. I've had heat and bend a few kits to get them to fit. Buy MAC. Much better quality, and much better sound.

Flowmasters sound EXCELLENT with long tube headers, and they sound good at idle with shorty (stock style) headers. But at 2000 RPM with shorty headers, they sound like a headache waiting to happen.

Joe

 

beanplant

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I had the MAC off road H, with the American thunder with the tips, and it was the best sounding street legal car I had ever heard. I fell in love with it. It does seem to have a 2000rpm drone, but I liked the drone, that's why I bought the exuast... to HEAR it. I always drove with my windows down, even if it was cold. It fit fine for me, only took about an hour to get the old one off, and the new one on with simple tools, and the back end up on home built ramps. I thought it was worth the money, absolutely!

-Shaun

 

VibrantRedGT

"STANGNET'S PENGUIN SMACKER"

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Nov 29, 1999

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Feb 5, 2004

#10

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Pro's-You will never have to hear a nagging wife or girlfriend because your tone deaf.

Con's-You will have to spend even more money on the stereo to tune out the drone.

 

Rootus

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I had the american thunder system on my 94 GT with a stock H-pipe, and it wasn't bad at all, just about perfect. But I agree that it would be too much with an O/R pipe. I have MAC on this car -- fitment sucks badly, the tips are rusting out, but it sounds okay.

Dave

 

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HazMat404

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i cant wait til my AT catback goes on. with the LT's and o/r hpipe i should be pissin off everyone even more .....no one wants me to pick them up or drop them off at night cause i wake the whole family up....i freakin love it

 

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ejjmustang

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I don't know man I think my car sounds sweet yes it is loud but whereever I go people are like you car sounds sweet. Hell I got pulled over and the cop was giveing me comments.

 

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smokediver27

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Just ordered mine, 241 shipped to my door from Summit Racing, now trying to decide if I should replace my H Pipe, as it has a moderate dent in it.

 

mustangdaren

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I had it on my ride, loved the sound but the fit sucked. Had to have 1/4 inch cut off near the muffler and then have it all welded. Clamps that come with it are junk. I had the MAC cat back also and would have to vote for it over Flowmaster. The fit was perfect, took about 30 minutes to put on in the driveway and with the ball socket fittings near the tire made adjusting the tails for tire clearance much easier. They both sound just about the same but MAC is a little deeper sounding. I am now running 3 inch pro dumps, also a nice fit and a 10 minute install.

 

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Green 94 5.0

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Feb 6, 2004

#16

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Joes95GT said:

Buy MAC. Much better quality, and much better sound.

Flowmasters sound EXCELLENT with long tube headers, and they sound good at idle with shorty (stock style) headers. But at 2000 RPM with shorty headers, they sound like a headache waiting to happen.

Joe

Click to expand...

i wouldnt put mac much above flowmaster in the quality department. if you want true quality, you need to start looking at borla and bassani. those two arent cheap at all, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. as far as the sound of flows, my american thunder used to drone badly with shorties and an o/r h. with the heads and cam though, they dont drone anywhere near as bad as they used to.

 

balderman

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Feb 6, 2004

#17

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Pros - can't really think of any.

Cons - if you want to sound like every other mustang on the road.

I went with MAC front to back Shortie headers, H-Pipe no cats, (both ceramic caoated) and the Catback system. All went on with no fuss no muss.. Have had them for 2 years.. not a speck of rust..

But truely go with what you like, if you like the sound of the Flows go with them. Nothing worse than spending money and not being happy..

 

Black Sun 5.0

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Ever since I had the American Thunder installed in my car, heads always turn when I drive by.

 

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cmclean

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Houston, TX

Feb 6, 2004

#19

• Feb 6, 2004

• #19

Funny how you get 5 different answers regarding each catback system. I have the American Thunder on mine w/ offroad x-pipe, and I love the way it sounds. With the x-pipe, it doesn't drone as badly as with an h-pipe. I get mucho compliments on mine, no matter where I go.

 

Venom351R

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#20

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Joes95GT said:

Pros - It's cheap.

Cons - It is the most terrible sounding catback system in the world, unless you have LT headers. The drone is enough to make your head explode. The fitment is the worst out of any aftermarket catback exhaust system.

I do side exhaust work at my neighbors exhaust shop and half of the Flowmaster systems fit "OK" and others fit "not so OK". There is a lot of heating and pushing to get the pipes to fit where they should and the sort. Plus, Flowmasters make your car sound the same as Dodge trucks .

Joe

Click to expand...

I dont know where people get all this Drone from, flows dont drone at all excpet at 2000 RPM and thats nothing that the raido cant fix and even then its not that bad anyway, maybe I just have more of a tollerence then other people do for it . As far as the fitment the passenger side tail pipe was a PITA to adjust so it wouldent be hitting any suspension. Even though I like my flows Im going to try and switch over to Magnapacks this yr b/c they sound killer and I want chrome tail pipes.