H-Pipe, X-Pipe, no Pipe, what's your opinion?
 

My old girl has the Ford Performance FR500's (Basically the Borla S-Type) with the stock H-Pipe. It sounds great, but as usual I'm thinking I want something different. It's a bad habit that I'm quite sure no one else has. :) So, I'm looking for opinions from my friends here at the Mustang Source. Let's hear 'em, good, bad, or indifferent. I need help, or maybe a pill that would cure me of this genetic defect.

Jim

Jim, my friend I can say from personal experience I've had the Borla S-Types on my "06" GT for nearly 2 years now and if only I had known back then what I know about the S-Types now, I would've gone with the Ford Performance FR500S instead. The reason is the S-Types have a terrible drone to them when cruising in 5th gear between 1500-2500 RPM at approx 55-65 MPH and also when driving on non-highway roads at the same RPMs under light acceleration. From my understanding, the FR500S has no drone at all. Therefore IMHO the Borla S-Type and Ford Performance FR500S have basically nothing in common with one another whatsoever even with the stock H-Pipe, as they have completely different design constructions to them. Another difference between them is the FR500S produces a cleaner exhaust note with a slightly higher pitched tone with a small amount of rasp. The Borla S-Type, on the other hand, produces a loud, deeper and throatier exhaust tone with no rasp. Although IMO, the FR500S does produce an exhaust tone similar to the Borla ATAK. Anyhow as far as mid-pipes are concerned, it really depends on the type of sound you're looking for. If you're looking for that deeper/muscle car rumble sound, then you don't want to get an X-pipe, as X-pipes produce a higher pitched exhaust note similar to a NASCAR (without cats) or can also be described as producing more of an exotic/refined type of V8 sound (with cats) Also if running an off/road X-pipe, you can also expect to hear lots of raspiness and trumpeting as well. Therefore I would most definitely stick with either the stock catted H-pipe or perhaps look into getting an off/road H-pipe if you're looking to increase the sound volume of you're FR500S mufflers. There's also another option as well, also consider looking into the MAC ProChamber. The ProChamber has 2 options, it has the "cut n clamp" version that reuses your stock catalytic converters or the full off/road version that bolts directly up to you're factory exhaust manifolds. What I like most about the ProChamber, is it works similar to that of an X-pipe design which is more efficient over a traditional H-pipe when it comes to exhaust flow and also produces more of a deeper exhaust tone similar to that of an H-pipe, but it also smoothes out the pulses of the exhaust gases which can actually reduce trumpeting when running an off-road setup. At any rate, I use the off-road ProChamber with my Borla S-Types, but I'm seriously taking into consideration adding the crossover portion of the ProChamber to the stock catted H-pipe to find out if adding the stock cats may help in reducing the interior resonance drone caused from the S-Types. However, the only thing that sucks about the ProChamber "cut n clamp version, is that it requires cutting the H-pipe crossover section from the stock H mid-pipe. But it is what it is I suppose lol. Anyhow for what it's worth, you now have several different options and opinions in which to select from along with the pros and cons that each provides. In the meantime, we're always here to provide feedback and support whenever needed.. :)

-Rocky

Thanks for the help Rocky. I can say that the reports are correct, the FR500's have no drone at all. Ref. the X-Pipe, since I typed this I have listened to numerous YouTube clips of Mustang with the that set-up. While I realize in many of the clips the cars doesn't have the exact same set-up, I'm not convinced that the raspy note is what I'm looking for. Exhaust sound is a very relative thing, and what I like someone else may not. Dang it, at my advanced state of maturity (re:old) I find that I like a car that isn't quite as loud. For now I think I'll stick to what I have, and be happy, happy, happy. Then hopefully I'll wake up one morning knowing just what I want to do, but those days are becoming quite rare. :) Thanks again my friend, and I hope all is well in Rockyland.

Just as I mentioned, Jim, if the FR500S aren't quite loud enough for you, but still want to keep that loud/deep, throatier muscle car sound? IMO you're best options are to go with either an off/road H-pipe or go with the MAC off/road ProChamber mid-pipe that I use with my Borla S-Types. However, if you splice in a pair of resonators to your over the axle pipes? the resonators will help in eliminating the rasp and trumpeting that you hear when running an off/road X mid-pipe crossover. Otherwise, I would just stick with my current setup as is, just as you mentioned.

Rocky, I took a look at the Pro Chamber on American Muscle. But I think you're right, I'll just stay with what I have for now until I know exactly which way I want to go. Thanks again for your help my friend.

I really like the off/road ProChamber a lot, Jim. As I mentioned before, it smoothes out the exhaust and deepens the tone like an H, but scavenges and equalizes the flow more efficiently like an X-pipe crossover. Therefore you really get the best of both worlds IMO. In the meantime, I'm always glad to help out, my friend :cheers: