This is a pain and omg I want to kill
myself for doin this.....
Remember to check out the Exhaust Q &
A thread in the forums!
This is what you have just for your information
if you're stock
1994-98 and 1999-04 3.8L V6 Mustangs
come with a single exhaust system from the factory. The headers on our cars
are arguably the nicest headers that Ford has ever put on their cars. After
the headers, the exhaust has to travel through 4 cattalitic converters; 2 on
each side. After the cats, the exhaust moves from its two different pipes and
it forms a "Y". The tip of the "Y" is what connects to your
stock tailpipe and muffler (which is incredibly restrictive). The exhaust is
then forced through the stock muffler and out a single tailpipe. All the piping
on the y-pipe and tailpipe and muffler is 2 inches.
This is what you should have if you just want some cheap exhaust and dont plan
on doing much to your car
A number of companies sell aftermarket
catback systems; a few are available on online websites.
Some examples are: MAC flowpaths, Flowmaster catback, Magnaflow catback, and
Borla catback; all bolt to your existing "Y" pipe and then bend off
to form 2 pipes which go to 2 different mufflers. all pipes on these kits are
2.5 inches. With no modifications on your car, this exhaust will loose some
torque; about 5 footpounds to be exact. You will gain horsepower from turning
your car into dual exhast. With small modifications, you can get your torque
numbers back up.
Some Chambered Mufflers:
-MAC flowpath
-Flowmaster (there are tons)
-Warlock
If you dont want to get a kit made by
a company and want to do something custom, get any CHAMBERED muffler and 2.25
piping (so that you wont loose torque).
Again, the best bet for keeping your
mustang fast if it's staying stock is to get chambered mufflers, which keeps
back pressure on your engine, allowing for the most power. I would not recomend
taking Catalitic converters off or putting aftermarket headers and midpipes
on if your car is staying stock; you will not gain power.
Now for those of you that want a system
that is dual and dont have the cash to spend, a good system to get is OEM equipment
off a GT (aka GT takeoff's) They will give you dual exhaust for cheap. They
have okay mufflers on them, but they aren't loud. They are a lot better then
our stock muffler though. You can get GT takeoff's and then weld in mufflers
if you're looking for better sound. The great thing about GT takeoff's is that
they are 2.25 inches, so they will be great for you people that aren't doing
much to your Mustang.
As for chambered flowmasters, there are
many kinds (rated in order of loudest to most quiet)
-Single chamber
-Double chamber 30
-Double chamber 40 (most common most muffler shops put these on)
-Double chamber 50 (quietest) of the dual chambers
This is what you will want to do if your
going to do some serious modification in the future, or you have them now
First off, if your engine has any poweradders
(ie, turbocharger, cams, supercharger, or nitrous) you will want something wider
and free-flowing. Normal chambered mufflers will limit your power gains. If
you are running a supercharger or turbo, your best catback system would be something
that is "wide open". This will help you make the power that you are
looking for. They also tend to be louder mufflers. Some wide open mufflers are:
-Borla
-Magnaflow
-Magnapack
-DynoMax
-SLP "Loud Mouth"
-Racing Bullets
-Turbo Mufflers
You should go with 2.5 inch piping because
this will give you the most gain. Also, the pipes should be manderel bent, which
means that when the pipes are bent they remain 2.5 the entire time. A counterexample
of manderel bent tubing is when muffler shops construct them (where the piping
has ripples in it). The "rippled" tubes are worse because they will
slow down the speed of the exhaust flow.
Also, with a poweradder you should not
keep your stock "Y" pipe because it is incredibly restrictive as it
is. A number of companies make aftermarket midpipes, both with high flow cats
and without cats. In certain states, vehicles will not pass emisions without
the catalitic converters on. The catalitic converters will slow down the speed
of the flow, but they will allow your vehicle to be street legal.
With the addition of any power adders
or CAMS as well as any mods that will give you more than 250 hp at the crank,
you should get a new midpipe that is 2.5 inches, as well as a free-flowing catback
that is 2.5 inches (you WILL yeild more gains with this over chambered mufflers)
Mid pipes can be bought with or without cats and in 2 different styles, "X"
or "H". "X" pipes tend to be more raspy then the "H"
pipe. an "H" pipe will give you a lower, more muscular tone as an
"X" pipe will be more raspy and more exotic sounding. Both will yeild
about the same gains, so dont be afraid of which one to get, just get the one
that you will like the sound more.
As for piping diameter, for power adders
if its just a supercharger or turbo on a stock block without going over about
380 rwhp, I would not recommend going 3 inches. You have a good chance of being
too open to the point that you will loose power.
Headers
There are several different headers available
for our Mustangs. Certain headers are better for certain applications. I have
heard of people putting MAC and other companies SHORT tube headers on, and actually
showing signs of power loss or no power gain at all. Many argue to say that
our stock headers are actually as free flowing as aftermarket headers. The only
header that I could possibly recomend is a LONG tube. Not only will it improve
your exhaust flow, but it will also add a new tone to your exhaust note. The
long tubes work best on a modified engine, mainly one that has moderate work
done to it (ie, CAMS, Supercharger, Turbocharger).
Stock headers aren't as bad as some might
say. They are actually arguably the nicest headers that have ever been OEM equipment
on Mustangs. They look more like regular shorty headers then stock headers.
They are not restrictive enough that they should be a priority on your list
to change. If you do replace them, I would recommend the Long Tubes over the
shorties because they will yield more gains.
Piping
There are three different pipes to my
knowledge that exhaust flows through. This is a list of the fastest flowing
to the slowest flowing pipes:
1. MANDERAL bent piping is the fastest
flowing piping availbile if your pipe is 2.5 inches at a strait point then the
pipe will be 2.5 inches even when it is turning or going over the rear axle.
It has no fluxuation in size so the exhaust never has anything to slow it down.
This is the absolute fastest exhaust piping.
2. OVAL bent piping is when they take
a strait pipe and use a machine to bend the pipe which turns the perfectly strait
and round piping and turns it into an oval this slows down the speed of the
exhaust only a little. It doesnt really have any affect in sound and this is
what comes stock on our mustangs and on GT's.
3. RIPPLE bent piping is usually standard
equipment when you get a custom exhaust shop to do your mustangs exhaust. This
piping is 2.5 inches and has ripples in it that fluxuate from 2.25 to 2.7 inches
and these ripples are used to bend the pipe over the rear axle because manderal
bent pipes are very expensive and are very specific to certain applications.
The ripple acts like another muffler form the what it is designed. It also does
not sound as loud as manderal piping because the sound waves bounce backwards
when they hit those ripples and it makes the exhuast sound very different. (its
a little more quiet)
Almost all of this information is NOT biased material it is a proven fact that
straight through design mufflers will yeild more HP and TQ gains over chambered
mufflers this is just to show people the different choices that are availible.
It is your choice of what mufflers and piping and headers to get this is just
to help some poeple out.
I hope all this stuff helps you guys
in your choice of exhaust for your Mustang...... gunner shoot me.... my fingers
hurt from typing all this
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