does anyone here have the side pipes on there cobra and ............

[mers1083]

if you do can you please post some pics, and tell me if it is a bad idea to do or not. i saw them on a couple mustangs and i thought they looked pretty cool. But i dont know much about this BC im still new to this stuff.
thankyou, paul

 

[99SVTAddict]

Paul,

They look cool....but it's more for looks than anything else. I would stay away from them. Get an exhaust that has a good sound and adds power.

Side exhaust usually bottle neck and starve power...plus you would/should buy a new rear bumper so you dont have two exit points where no exhaust is.

Magnaflow with an X pipe will get you some good power, sound good, and look nice.

Personally, I love the sound of an off road (no cats) H pipe and Flowmasters

 

[COBRA90GT]

...Side exhaust usually bottle neck and starve power...

Here's the "why":

A side-exhaust system has to make a 180 degree bend where the piping turns towards the doors right before the system exits before the rear axle (Remember, generally speaking, the more restriction and "bends" in an exhaust system, the less "ideal" it is if you are concentrating on freeing up power). Man, a picture would be worth a 1000 words right now! LOL
It's easy to see why this holds true once you compare a side-exhaust system to a more conventional routing for exhaust piping.

I'm not knocking one's choice to go with a side-exhaust system (they do sound pretty cool!), but just be aware of the potential trade-off that you might encounter if maximizing your power gains are high on your list of priorities.

 

[terrydf]

I had the Roush side exhaust on my 99 cobra. Best sounding car I ever heard. It also got more remarks than any other feature on my car. It was cool. If you are going for a combination of looks and performance that suits your particular tastes, then maximum performance isn't the end all to making this kind of decision. After all, even those who profess to want max HP gains, sometimes choose a little less power for the right sound. Volume itself isn't cool, it needs to be the right sound at an appropriate volume. Side exhaust also leads you into some body mods - in some cases...

So much for the opinions of a 48 year old...