Pypes exhaust??

[Brett88lx]

Hello people. I just put a new Mac catback on my 88lx w/ GT40 crate motor,B303 cam, T5, FRPP shorties, O/R H-pipe.

I'm not that impressed with the Mac system. It fits like CRAP and it sounds like an old pickup truck.

I was hoping any of you can give me a DETAILED DESCRIPTION of what kind of sound the Pypes violator catback would produce with my current settup, thanks.

 

[Daggar]

Not a technical issue

--moved to talk--

 

[SPEEDYLIFSAVR]

I cant really comment on the cat back but I did buy their X-pipe and was very disappointed with the quality. no hangers and it was actually made a few inches too long which pushed my tailpipes up aganst my bumper , drove me nuts .

 

[bt15]

Mine is fine. It's similar in sound to flowmasters in that it's chambered, but it's not as harsh, if that makes any sense. The chambered muffler drone is still there at the right RPM, but outside the car, it's quieter at idle than flows (which I had on the car previously). However, when you nail it, it seems louder outside the car, yet not as obnoxious in the car as the flows.

Overall, the fit and finish is pretty good. I had no hanger problems, but it's all "cut to fit" system, so you'll have to cut a little out of at least one of the pipes from the muffler to the axle, but it's not that bad. I cut, hung and welded mine to fit in about 3 hours, and I'm pleased. I wish that the stainless tips were longer is all. They are about 2 inches shorter than the stockers.

 

[Brett88lx]

Mine is fine. It's similar in sound to flowmasters in that it's chambered, but it's not as harsh, if that makes any sense. The chambered muffler drone is still there at the right RPM, but outside the car, it's quieter at idle than flows (which I had on the car previously). However, when you nail it, it seems louder outside the car, yet not as obnoxious in the car as the flows.

Overall, the fit and finish is pretty good. I had no hanger problems, but it's all "cut to fit" system, so you'll have to cut a little out of at least one of the pipes from the muffler to the axle, but it's not that bad. I cut, hung and welded mine to fit in about 3 hours, and I'm pleased. I wish that the stainless tips were longer is all. They are about 2 inches shorter than the stockers.

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it. That sucks that I might have to cut it.

 

[Darkwriter77]

Check my Myspace page for video/audio (inside and outside) on what the Pypes Violators sound like with a cat'ed X-pipe - with an off-road H, it should be pretty close to the same, but with a tad more lumpy burble to it and only slightly louder.

I love mine to death, in spite of the fitment problems I had for awhile with their extra length. I bought the early mild-steel versions of them they had back at the WFC9 exhibit last year ($80 for a pair!), and so I wound up having to saw off 1" from the end of my flow tubes to avoid having the tailpipes rub against the rear axle tubes. The new versions they have out now are stainless and properly-sized (I think they even have hangers welded on, but I'm not 100% sure), but the sound is exactly the same.

Stupidly, I swapped 'em out when I made my own side-exit exhaust (which you hear/see in the 2nd half of one of the two videos on there), but ended up re-installing the Pypes muffs after awhile because the Dynomaxes sounded too much like a redneck towtruck with glasspacks (think Scooter from the Dukes of Hazzard).

I get more compliments on my exhaust's tone than anything I've had on there before, and I've had a few - Flowmaster 40's, Dynomax Super Turbos (standard cat-back), Dynomax #17676's (side-exits), Pypes Violators, and (I think) MAC muffs (they were already welded on there when I bought my notch, and the kid had no idea what they were). They're mellow in volume until you romp on it and they don't get wicked until about 3000 RPM when they really seem to open up with the NASCAR-ish roar. The sound is VERY directional, too, because they don't sound too loud when you stand beside or in front of the car (or sitting in it), but if you're straight behind it at any distance, it's mean as hell.

Drone is only an issue between 1500 to 1800 RPM (with OEM headers and cat'ed or off-road X-pipes), so depending on what speed you cruise at and what gears you're using, that may or may not bug you - I spend most of my time at 2000 to 2400 RPM at cruise (highway or in town), at which point the exhaust is completely civil and subtle ... until you downshift or romp on the throttle, of course.

I plan on throwing a pair of Violators on the Town Car whenever I get around to having the time/cash to upgrade that old beast. (Sadly, having to sell the notch soon and keep the Lincoln, but I'm transferring a few goodies over to it from the 'Stang.) I've become something of Pypes' unofficial pimper-of-exhaust-products ever since I bought 'em.

 

[Brett88lx]

Thanks alot for the info. I'll probably keep my Mac's on her for a little while but down the road I plan on getting the Pypes 304 stainless kit with Violator muffs(within a couple of months). I really hope it sounds sick with my H-pipe.

Thanks again.

 

[bentley429]

Cant believe you had fitment problems with the Mac catback, prob one of the easiest things I have done to my car. I also have a Mac X pipe which has hanger which I also thought was a nice peice, the ball and socket idea is great if you ask me.

 

[Darkwriter77]

I've been considering ditching my Dynomax tailpipes and picking up a set of those MAC tails, just because I can NEVER get these stupid things to line up evenly and straight. That, and just the other day, one of them decided to wiggle itself out of the back of the muffler because it turns out I only had it about 1/2" in there when I clamped it. I had been working in the dark by shakey-flashlight vision when I'd done it, but it FELT sturdy enough ... because these stupid fixed-shape tails are such a PITA to maneuver over the axle, get into the muffler, align it to avoid hitting/rubbing against everything, AND to actually get the thing even on both sides so as not to look retarded/ghetto.

Being that I sort of have to sell the notch pretty soon (serious money crisis), though, I guess it's not so much an issue ... although I could still probably adapt a set onto the Town Car by adding an bit of extra length to 'em. Pypes Violator muffs with MAC tails and an off-road X-pipe (of whatever brand) = $450 worth of total happiness.

 

[Brett88lx]

Cant believe you had fitment problems with the Mac catback, prob one of the easiest things I have done to my car. I also have a Mac X pipe which has hanger which I also thought was a nice peice, the ball and socket idea is great if you ask me.

My passenger side exhaust tip sticks out 6 inches from the rear bumber. The driver side sticks out 2 inches. It *****ing sucks balls.

 

[bentley429]

My passenger side exhaust tip sticks out 6 inches from the rear bumber. The driver side sticks out 2 inches. It *****ing sucks balls.

That makes no sense, not saying its not lieing but I really cant see how thats possible.

 

[Darkwriter77]

SIX INCHES? Sounds like you might've accidentally switched up the flow tubes - that's the only way I can imagine coming up with THAT big of a difference in length. One flow tube's a couple of inches longer than the other because the X- or H-pipe always has some funky offset - I think they did that because the flow tubes also have a different bunch of little bends for the right versus left sides, so they did it so they wouldn't get switched up. Although, unfortunately, they didn't label them with a "this side up" thing, so it's still easy to put 'em on wrong even when you have 'em on the right side, which is half of what took me forever to fit the thing up the first time around. I couldn't figure out why the heck the passenger-side muffler would either be laying up against the subframe toward the outside, hanging way too low, or pushed right up against the driveshaft - had to wiggle the stupid flow tube out of the muffler and turn it four or five different ways before I got it to fit just right.

So, maybe measure out your flow tubes and compare 'em to what side of the X- or H-pipe connection you've got them attached to. You might have the long flow tube on the longer side of the crossover, which will push everything back.

My length fitment problems were the same for both sides, not just on one side - the original Pypes Violators had about a 16" case length instead of the 14" case they now use, so both tailpipes were rubbing metal-to-metal against the axle tubes and the tips were sticking WAY too far out the back for my liking. Trimming 1" off the end of both flow tubes (not the tails, because cutting anything off of them wouldn't leave enough pipe to clamp onto before the upward bends) was all I needed to make things relatively happy.

 

[Brett88lx]

Thank you continuously for all the feedback and responses. So to answer both of your responses:

1. For reference, my H-pipe is fine. No abnormal lengths or bends. Very new.

2. I'm not sure if you guys are aware but the new Mac catbacks are designed with new tips. The first half of the tip(starting form the axle) is 21/2 inch polished stainless. The finishing tip is a 3 inch slip fit rolled edge(very gaudy). The older Mac catbacks had a ONE PIECE 2 1/2 inch chrome tailpipes. Now the tips are two piece.

3. In the directions, Mac specifically states that both flow tubes are exactly the same(length and shape), which they are.

4. In conclusion, I have no idea ahy this kits fits like such crap. I just want my original 2 1/2 inch lx tails back. That is why I am considering Pypes, because the whole system is 304 stainless and it they offer both the original tails and the 3 inch slip fit tails.

Any more feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Darkwriter77]

That might explain it, then. Generally, both flow tubes are NOT supposed to be equal-length. There's a notation in the 50resto.com catalog about the MAC exhaust products that pretty much states you have to use all-MAC stuff it make everything fit. So, if your H-pipe isn't a MAC piece, there's the problem right there - MAC made their stuff to fit only MAC stuff, basically. You'll likely have to either hack a couple of inches off of that one flow tube you've already got, or buy a set of OEM-fitting flow tubes (Dynomax has 'em) and hook up your muffs/tails to that. The tailpipes, themselves, are surely the same length. If you lay under there and give it a look, I'm pretty sure you'll find that one of the mufflers is sitting back a lot farther than the other, so that should pretty much confirm the issue.

Just trim or replace the fow tubes and that should solve your problem a lot cheaper and more easily than replacing the tailpipes and everything else.

 

[Brett88lx]

Thanks alot Darkwriter. I never thought of that. I'm pretty sure I'm ordering the Pypes kit though. But I really wish I knew more about how they sound. I don't want to buy the Pypes kit if it sounds like *****.

 

[Darkwriter77]

Again, check my Myspace page to see how they sound...

http://www.myspace.com/darkwriter77

Also, Pypes' website has some videos with fairly decent examples of how they sound with various setups ahead of their mufflers - H-pipes and X's, off-road and cat'ed, that sorta thing.

 

[Brett88lx]

Again, check my Myspace page to see how they sound...

http://www.myspace.com/darkwriter77

Also, Pypes' website has some videos with fairly decent examples of how they sound with various setups ahead of their mufflers - H-pipes and X's, off-road and cat'ed, that sorta thing.

Every time I go to check out the Pypes sound clips, they won't work. My media player says that there's no Codec or some crap. They only let me hear the 94 w/ beast system. It doesn't sound bad, but it's a bit raspy and when he let off the gas, it kinda sounded like a fart. I wonder how the violators sound with an H-pipe.

 

[Darkwriter77]

Probably about the same as the X, minus the raspy tone. H's tend to have more burble and low-end rumble to 'em (think old-school muscle sound); X's are more high-end rasp and snarl (a-la NASCAR). I opted for the high-end because with my X setup, it sounds more sedate than an H during normal driving. I don't like it to be roaringly loud ALL of the time.

 

[Brett88lx]

Probably about the same as the X, minus the raspy tone. H's tend to have more burble and low-end rumble to 'em (think old-school muscle sound); X's are more high-end rasp and snarl (a-la NASCAR). I opted for the high-end because with my X setup, it sounds more sedate than an H during normal driving. I don't like it to be roaringly loud ALL of the time.

Do you think that Violators are going to sound too loud and burbly/rumbly with my H-pipe? I wish someone had a clip of the Violators with an H-pipe on a 5.0.

 

[Darkwriter77]

It shouldn't. Volume will be exactly the same between an off-road X and an off-road H - the only difference will be in tone.