Exhaust system upgrade/Questions.

Just picked up a new 2008 as well; not so sure about the Mustang world but I think, in general, shorty headers really aren't worth much. If you're willing to mess w/ the cats (and apparently you are by your interest in the SLP catted x) and want headers, might just wan to go w/ Long Tubes and hi-flo cats. I think the cost of the whole LongTube+catted-x setup may be comparable to shorty's +catted-x w/ better gains.

As for me, I just tossed on some Bassani axle-bak (46075, $541) for sound reasons only and Brenspeed C&L CAI/XCT-3 w/ 3 tunes combo for $660 for HP gain but mostly responsiveness and drivability. The bassani sounds good and low, not too obnoxious either in or out of the car.

I thought about a catted-x but don't know if worth the money. We have longtubes on the Vette and, since we still have emissions testing here, I'm not sure I'm gonna do LT's on the Mustang. First, not sure the gain is worth the money (would go with American Racing Headers LT/X-pipe/hi-flo cats) at $1600, (yeah, there's cheaper around but I like the ARH's quality/construction). We got around emission testing on the Vette by getting collector plates (no testing) which you can do by having another car in your name and $5000 in receipts for 'upgrades' to the car. Don't wanna sink $5000 into the Mustang and LT's would fail the visual on emissions testing here.

For now, I'm gonna stay w/ just the Bassani's for sound and the CAI/tune for more power/response (especially the mushy gas pedal). I'm guessing with some OK driving, that might get me to around mid-to-low 13's in the 1/4 (ran it for the first time this past weekend, 14.1@99.6mph was best but I forgot to take TCS off every run and it was a slow track)

It also seems like in the Mustang arena, gears are the best bang for the buck to improve acceleration.

I might do gears or something else in the future by I think once you start adding HP, traction becomes an issue and then you're getting into LCA's and other suspension stuff to get it to the ground in a usable manner.

I'm relatively new to the Mustang world so I may be way off base here but it's my current thinking. Even if you went FI for the one-stop shopping to HP increase, traction could still be the weak link.

Like with all cars, "How fast do you want to go" depends mostly on "How much do you want to spend?" For myself, I know somebody will always be faster so I'm looking for a mid to low 13 second car, maybe 12.9 on a great day that doesn't bother me every time i drive it to work. I'll take it to the track but 95% of the time I'm just liking driving it around.

Do your research, know what your goals are and go slowly. I made a lot of 'oops' when we started modifying the Vette (3 different intakes, 2 different dyno tunes, a few different exhausts...and Vette stuff is ridiculously expensive) because I went with things that other people liked or the majority did and sometimes that stuff was not the best for me.

Warranty issues may be another concern; some worry about it, some don't. That may be a plus for some of the Ford Racing packages/parts.

Then again, I'm kinda a bare-bones kinda owner; I searched long and hard until I could find a new 2008 GT Deluxe w/ NO options and spoiler-delete. I'll also be doing nothing to the car, appearance-wise.

08blueskunk said:

I just got my 08' i was thinking i want to get a bit louder exhaust but i don't want to draw unwanted attention (abnoxiously loud) but i am new to such upgrades, I usually just throw a catback on and call it good.

These are my thoughts: Please give me opinions...

Shorty headers (ford Racing)
SLP catted x-pipe
Factory mufflers (everyone says they are decent flowing you don't gain much by going to flowmaster for the $$$)
Diablo tuner.
Roush CAI.

Does all this seem feasible?
What would you guys do different?
anything you see here not going to work?
what kind of HP gains would i be looking at?
How would this effect gas milage?

Click to expand...

i just put on gibsons axle-back mufflers with 4" tips, they sound good am wanting a little louder...i'm thinking of the mac pro-chamber exhaust....check for some of my threads about exhaust and you'll see vids of exhaust and combinations of sounds they make....

I'd go with the BBK Ceramic Coated Shorties from Brenspeed for ~$360. I'm not too sure how it'll sound with the stock mufflers but it wouldn't hurt to try it out. At worst you'll have to buy an axleback exhaust system. I also suggest changing the CAI and tuner. My personal recomendation is going with a Xcal2 from SCT. Get it from VMP Tuning.com Justin sells the Xcal2a for $395 with three custom tunes of your choice. I'd also suggest getting the C&L CAI with 88mm maf tube. It's got the best gains on a lightly modified car. If you drove the same, your mileage would go up without a doubt with the set-up I have provided or any set-up close to it. I've done the math and it's beneficial to run a 93 octane tune and run 93 octane.

It'll give you more power and also get more for your money. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.