Advice and opinions needed on exhaust
 

Hey everyone, I'm back in the Mustang game again after a couple years. Sold my 07 GT a while back, I ended up missing it much more than I thought I would, so I just picked up a 14 GT in SGM, car only had 5800KM when I picked it up two weeks ago!

Anyway, I need some input from you guys.

I want this car to have the best sound I can get, without emptying the bank. The other day I picked up a used set of quad tip GT500 mufflers for cheap, and installed them along with the new valance. These sound much better over stock, but I still want more.

Now I've always wanted the Boss 302 side exhaust setup for my car, to me it sounds the best. I know these kits are getting pretty hard to come by, especially up here in Canada. I called a local dealer today, and they were able to find me one, but at 1700 bucks Canadian.. That's ridiculous. A performance shop I spoke with is willing to source one from the US and sell it to me for about 1350 CAD. Still very expensive.

So I've toyed with the idea of having an exhaust shop custom fabricate this setup for me. Stopped in at a few today, showed them what I wanted. Of the three shops I visited, they all said around 800 bucks total, and they all seemed concerned about ground clearance.

My biggest concern with going this route is that it won't sound how I want it to in the end, and I've just wasted 800 bucks.

What would you guys do in my position? Would you go the custom route? or would hold out and keep trying to find the actual kit? maybe find a used one somewhere?

Sorry for the long post.

I appreciate all your answers!

Dustin

You can save some serious dough by deleting the resonators which will increase your sound. Its not going to give u the boss sound but it will be louder.
Other option would be to do electronic cut outs but that will cost you 500 bucks installed.

The quads will be loud if you delete the resonators like Blown said above. I have an auto car with quads and it's plenty loud for me.

I have the single tip GT 500 mufflers with resonator delete and it's definitely louder than it was before the resonators were removed. Getting the resonators cut out will not cost that much and you can see if the sound is more to your liking.

You have to better define "best sound you can get". Do you want it stupid loud? Only loud at wide open throttle and quiet at idle? Drone? Deep or raspy?

Also "without breaking the bank" isn't very specific - what kind of budget are you after?

I currently have the Corsa sport quad axleback ($1000, DIY install) with my offroad x pipe ($300+$100 install). It's loud. Like, really loud - when I want it to be. It also sounds like stock on the highway and at idle. I didn't add them both at the same time either - starting with the axleback. It sounded good for awhile, but then I needed more, so I installed the offroad midpipe. Now I'm looking into doing longtubes, because while it's stupid loud, it's just not loud enough for me anymore. Perhaps because I'm starting to go def:D (or one too many explosions).

Why are you dead set on the Boss side pipes? I admit, they sound amazing in person, but trust me - you don't NEED side pipes to inform everyone your coming.

I have stock mufflers with the Boss Quad Exhaust. I also have the Ford Racing Track Cal Tune. I have not heard a better sounding S197 at idle period. Videos never do the exhaust justice. The only exhaust modification I would consider at this point would be the GT500 mufflers. But I personally like rolling through my neighborhood at night with out everyone hearing me coming. The Boss Quads with Restrictors removed do not disappoint. And at idle and low RPM they are not too loud to upset the neighborhood.

I have the Gt 500 single out Axe backs. They are like stock when cruising. Open her up ans she gets really loud. When I use the track Key it is really loud. These in my opinion are the best AB for the money. From what I understand the Gt 500 AB are made by Borla. If you want louder you can always put on the Boss 302 side pipes with electronic cut outs.

I personally don't think the boss side exhaust is that loud. I have them along with some borla s-type axle backs and it sounds really good. However, I'm actually switching to the kooks side pipes for a little more volume. The only time I feel like the boss sides are too loud is when going through the drive-thru with the lopey idle from the track cal tune. They sometimes have a hard time hearing me. lol

Congrats on a new Stang and welcome back to the stable.
The SGM is a great color choice.

My current set up is boss sides (plates removed) + gt500 singles + resonator delete.

I was on the same boat and feel that we have similar taste on exhaust ;) As you may have noticed, the best sound isn't all about going louder. At least IMHO. Being with an American muscle car, people would go loud, louder, loudest, longtubes, straight pipes and end up being stupid loud lol. But that's ok as long as you're happy with the setup. I just don't want to get pulled over especially mine being DD.

For me, what mattered the most was what I would hear from 'inside the cabin'. And I certainly didn't want to inform everyone miles away. My very own satisfaction. The boss side pipes are positioned **right there below** the side of doors.

I don't have experience with the custom works, but surely they will sound nice. 800 CAD (=575 USD) seems reasonable. Had some issues with the ground clearance when lowered the car, had to raise mine a tad bit because it would scrape over speed bumps. The factory boss side 'pipes' are somewhat flat (not normal rounded) looking if you noticed. I guess they still add some inches.

I'd start by removing the resonators. This is a must combo for gt500 axlebacks (single or quad) and is a good upgrade without emptying the bank. Search for the boss side pipes along the way.

To me, the best sound I've heard is the Boss setup, this is what I'm after.

I'm not looking for crazy loud to inform everyone I'm coming, I just think the Boss system has the best sound, not over the top, but still raw. As for budget? I'd like to keep this around the 700-800 dollar mark, which is looking hard to do.

This is exactly what I'm after


Would you consider selling the side pipes once you make the switch to the Kooks?

I think you and I are a lot alike! I want the sound inside the cabin, I want it to echo off walls in the drive through, but yet I don't want it obnoxiously loud where I'm attracting all the wrong attention.

To those of you who have suggested the resonator delete, I will look in to this. The sound clips I've heard so far sound pretty good.

Thank you everyone!

Dustin

I'm gonna hold on to them. I put a lot of time into finding them and I never know if I'll want to switch back. Keep an eye on the exhaust section on SVTP. They show up from time to time for a good price. http://www.svtperformance.com/forums...hp?390-Exhaust

^ Nathan... same setup I'll have soon. Kooks side pipes...but also with LTH's, H pipe with green cats, through to Corsa Extremes. Can't wait.

No cats, no resonators, GT500 mufflers sounds very nasty.