Best Cat-less exhaust?

[5.0stangette]

Hey everybody. i've just decided to move back to NC from GA for my last year in high school which opens up a new world of possibilities for me b/c there are no emissions tests in NC(at least for me). What are some brands and setups you guys would reccomend and about how much power is added (i looked at the FAQ sheet but didn't really see anything that helped me). my boyfriend got one for his car from a custom company that added about 40 rwhp...is there anything comparable for our cars? just curious...thanks
~Ariel

 

[Killercanary]

You are not going to see anywhere near 40rwhp out of an offroad pipe, unless you run the stock one on a car with H/C/I and a blower and swap it for an offroad one. I personally LOVE my bassani offroad X pipe. It sounds SO good IMO. I get compliments all the time on it. I wouldn't run it with flowmasters though. I had flows on my car with the X pipe and it was ear piercing but not in a good way. If you go with an X pipe, do yourself a favor and get some straight through designed mufflers. I run dynomax welded ultraflows.

Your moving during your senior year??? That must be a rough adjustment, isn't it???

 

[5.0stangette]

Whats the difference between the H and X pipes? I heard about some pretty good power gains ( about 20-25) from a MAC offroad H-pipe. what were your gains from the X(if you remember)


OT-I lived in NC for my first two years and then had some issues with my mothers boyfriend and decided to move to GA with my daddy. now things are better with the boyfriend and it's a pain in the butt trying to get all the needed credits for a GA graduation since i started out in NC. it is just a lot easier to move back (i can skip like 3 classes i would have had to take down there). My boyfriend also lives here so i care less about making a ton of friends because i already have friends at the college here. but yeah, it's not the best situation lol

 

[slytherin]

I have heard x pipes will scavenge exhaust gases better which will create a bit more HP compared to a h pipe. You can see what I have in my sig I think it sounds excellent a little annoying in a certain rpm range, but liveable. Then at WOT it sounds incredible. I would think you could make a 40+ gain if you did an entire exhaust swap headers,mid pipe, and mufflers. I would stay away from to large of an exhaust (3 inch) I have heard a few on 5.0's and they all seem to have that echoey chevy 350 sound that and I believe most shops recommend 3 inch for over 400hp applications

 

[5.0stangette]

oh i wont have 400 hp for a good long time lol. but i wasn't planning on going bigger than that anyway. thanks for the info. whats the price range on a whole setup, with headers and everything?

 

[slytherin]

According to summit for example bbk headers and x pipe with a flowmaster American Thunder system looks like $800-900. Bassani is a little more expensive but well worth it I would say $1000-1500 shipped and pending on wether you go chrome or ceramic coating on headers.

 

[5.0stangette]

is it possible to buy everything but the headers? because i don't really have that kind of money right now and it's the headers that are expensive right?

 

[stunner6910]

check this set-up and see what you think. this is the link to another thread i started on corral.net. i love the sound and this is what i'll be getting very soon. this system is roughly $700.

http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=509826

 

[94TURBO5 O]

is it possible to buy everything but the headers? because i don't really have that kind of money right now and it's the headers that are expensive right?

Yes you can.
What type of sound are you looking for?
There are a range of mufflers that will give a different tone and with either an X or an H O/R pipe it will be loud.
Nevertheless they will all sound like a Stang with that distinctive rumble.

 

[Venom351R]

H Pipes have a more of a Muscle car rumble sound, X Pipes have more of a raspy but good type of sound. You wont see anywhere near 40 HP w/ just a H pipe swap. You will see more around 10-15 HP, Im partial to Magnaflow and Dynomax since there built the same as Bassani and borla and sound better and cost less.

 

[slytherin]

ever notice how a 4.6 just sounds to smooth, it sounds like a *** 8 or something(sorry OT a little). Depending on what type of header ,bbk has standard or equal lengths from $179-219 in chrome or$249-329 polished ceramic. looks like bassani is about $100 more per item.

 

[Nobody]

I wouldn't spend the money on a whole cat-back system. You might consider just getting mufflers and have them welded into your stock system. The stock system is stainless steel already and it's easily adequate for 300hp. You will save ~$150-200. I don't know your mods but then you can get pulleys - you will feel more from pulleys than a cat-back. I have a catted Bassani X-pipe. Bassani makes some really nice stuff, plus the install is a breeze wiht no need to modify the stuff to make it fit.

 

[VIPERn94Five-0]

the absolute BEST exhaust products on the market are Bassani, but they are MONEY (trust me i have their headers, o/r x, and cat-back) IMO it was worth every penny but lots dont feel the same way (considering i think you can buy 3 flowmaster catbacks before buying 1 Bassani catback)if you want the BEST you have to pay for it...And Bassani Xhaust is the BEST, everything else is just settleing....

now as far as what it sounds like....
http://www.mustangexhaust.com/sounds/Bassani,BassaniX,Bassani1,GT.mp3
http://www.mustangexhaust.com/sounds/Bassani,BassaniX,Bassani2,GT.mp3
http://www.mustangexhaust.com/sounds/Bassani,BassaniX,Bassani3,GT.mp3


Anthony

PS i agree with JR, that it will sound like a Mustang anyway you go UNLESS you get an off-road Hpipe with an SLP catback...then it will sound like an 88 Chevy pickup with no cats, no mufflers, and 200k miles on it....

...It is amazing though how different the exhaust setups for our cars can sound but no matter what exhaust you pick most people on these boards could pickyou car out as a 5.0 without even being able to see it

 

[94TURBO5 O]

...It is amazing though how different the exhaust setups for our cars can sound but no matter what exhaust you pick most people on these boards could pickyou car out as a 5.0 without even being able to see it

Ain't that the truth!

 

[Black95GTS]

you guys kill me. the only way an offroad x pipe can differ is how A - how the pipes form the X, B - how close that cross is to the headers (suppsedly closer is better, I have no proof), C - whether it is stainless steel or not, and D - fitment. If you actually look at pictures, there are tons of X pipes out there that are the same as Bassani for much less dough. 2 pipes are 2 pipes people. If it were catted, it would be different, but all we're talking about is 2 pipes crossed. Personally I've never had a problem with BBK, fit up their just fine. I equate this to buying a Sony deck vs. a Pioneer deck. Same quality, but you pay for the name. This is just my .02 though.

I bet 50% of us would fail the pepsi challenge if there were two cars with the same mods except different x pipes.

A word on mustangexhaust.com - it will give you a good ball park sound but you can't trust it, as not all of the cars have the same modifications, or were recorded the same way. If you put an HCI car with an X pipe on it WILL NOT sound like a stock car with the same X pipe. Similarly if you record the exhaust at the pipes outlet it will sound much "higher" then if you record it a couple feet away and let it breath. (I am an electrical engineering major with a concentration in audio engineering!) Take what you hear with a grain of salt.

sorry for the length!

 

[5.0stangette]

I wouldn't spend the money on a whole cat-back system. You might consider just getting mufflers and have them welded into your stock system. The stock system is stainless steel already and it's easily adequate for 300hp. You will save ~$150-200. I don't know your mods but then you can get pulleys - you will feel more from pulleys than a cat-back. I have a catted Bassani X-pipe. Bassani makes some really nice stuff, plus the install is a breeze wiht no need to modify the stuff to make it fit.

I was planning on just doing mufflers to get the sound because i know a catted exhaust doesn't really add any power but now that i don't have emissions hanging over my head i thought it would be worth it to go with an entire setup. As of now i have no mods because up until now i've had roughly 68 cents in my bank account and have been bumming off my boyfriend for gas money lol but now i'm working 40 hrs a week so there's money coming my way and exhaust is the first mod on my list just because there's no point in having a 5.0 if it doesn't sound like one.

As was said all i really want is that 5.0 rumble and i'm not expecting by any means to pick up 40 rwhp, i was just curious if it was possible (i KNEW i wouldn't have the money for it).i think what i'll probably do is get a setup minus headers and do that at a later date. I'm thinking H-pipe because i'd prefer the lower rumble as opposed to the little bit of raspyness was said comes with the X. I'm pretty sure i can't do Bassani but MAC sounds good to me, maybe with some flowmaster 40 mufflers? that's what the guy's running who gained like 25 hp, but i can't for the life of me remember his name.

Thanks for all the input!

 

[SuperDust22]

I love my set up. I have Mac shorties headers, with MAC off road X and bassani mufflers. If you watch Video #1 in my sig you can hear how it sounds. If I could do it over though I would have bought the bassani X pipe.

Dustin

 

[donjohn]

I've got the flowmaster American thunder catback which is the 2 chambered mufflers (40 series i think). Anyways, i was astounded by the difference in sound. It's a totally different category, i was a little dissapointed that it wasn't loud enough and ONLY loud at ~2000 with that drone and a nice sound at WOT. Of course i think the sound would be a TON better with a midpipe especially without cats.

If you're going to buy the 40 series flows, just know that there will be what people call a 'drone' at ~2000 rpms all the time. If you get the h pipe (prochamber-i've heard is real good) you should take audio clips . I think you'll be satisfied as long as you get the straight through midpipe.

 

[stunner6910]

no one but donjohn and myself have mentioned the prochamber, why? is it because of price or something else?

 

[donjohn]

i dunno, i started to like the prochamber because people have said it's more muscle sounding that the x pipes which i thought i wanted. Originally I was shooting for the muscle car sound like it was always loud and almost dieing just sitting at the stoplight but when i got the flows i realized they weren't gonna give me that. I need to get back on track and i think the reviews about the prochamber are just what i want and i think stangette is on the same track too, just able to realize my wants sooner.