Exhaust Upgrade

mikemac58

New Member
May 22, 2009
19
0
1
Leesburg, VA
I went with a complete MAC catted system when I converted my 84 from singles to duals. Great price, no quality issues, everythinbg lined up for easy installation, made a difference in performance, and I love the sound.

Planning for the exhaust upgrade on my 89 (street use and emissions compliant) and and it looks like MAC no longer has catted H-pipes so I am thinking about which way to go. The most the car might see in other engine improvements is the usual intake stuff, but would probably not go much further than an up graded intake, and no power adders or go juice.

Questions?

What is the most restrictive part of the 89 exhaust system? Do I get any bump using the factory catted H pipe and putting on good shorties and a new cat back system or will those upgrades be of little good because of the a bottleneck at the factory H pipe? Or would a new cat back be ebough? We have emssions inspection every two years even on the old cars here in Virginia!

If I need to mix and match vs. sticking with one supplier, what combinations have you guys had succes with, i.e., MAC shorties, BBK catted H pipe, MAC cat back, etc. Your thoughts on combos are appreciated.

I try not to go crazy and always set a budget for my projects.... looking for cost vs. benefit!
 
This will be the only post you need to read. Great quality parts, you will have no problems.

BBK Shorty Unequal headers - Ceramic
Magnaflow Highflow x-pipe
Magnaflow Cat-back

Idle - Nice, not loud
Normal driving - Medium and no drone
Aggressive driving - loud/very nice sounding
 
H pipes have that "traditional" mustang tone...deep, loud. X pipes tend to be a tad quieter at idle and loud at WOT. more of a raspy tone. X pipes flow a bit better but the difference is almost not worth worrying about.