Stopped at a custom muffler shop today and spoke for a while on exhaust. He did all my exhaust on my 97 cobra so he knows what I am going for. He want to try and custom build using what looked like an h pipe that had a flex tube to form the H and then go straight through magnaflows with no resonators. Then add a great looking 4" tip on them. I told him about the drone that I heard about so be took me for a ride in his vette to listen, and it wasnt bad at all. I could get this all done for under 600.00. What are the thoughts on this

 

you are better off getting a axle back unless you are removing the cats and stuff. A nice roush or borla system would be half that and you could install it in 20 mins.

 

I agree. Start with an axle back and go from there. Borla ATAK for me. Zero drone.

 

If the shop is Kinney's, then they will take care of you. They've done work for me before and they do not want you to deal with drone. I had a custom setup from them that they recommended that initially had some unwanted resonation. When I brought it back to them after a few hundred miles they changed to a different, more expensive muffler at no additional cost to me which did fix the issue.

If you're inclined to go custom then I recommend them. You'll not only get a custom sound, but also your choice of tips (widest selection I've seen in a shop). Speak with Kirk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiLnc...yer_detailpage

Note I have no affiliation with this shop -- just a previously satisfied customer. Even though I've typically gone custom exhausts on several cars before, I am inclined to go Borla on the Mustang due to the amount of engineering put on the overall system.

 

holy cow Kinneys is all the way out in Watauga!!! This shop is Lewisville Muffler. I am tired of trying to figure out what is best. I like the sound of of the Roush and the Borla Atak but big difference in price. This guy is standing by his exhaust option for me so I guess I will try and think it over for the next few day. I am just tired of the mustang sounding so tame

 

Off Road X-Pipe and Flowmaster Super 44's. Best sounding exhaust with minimal drone. H-Pipes sound like crap on these new 5.0's IMHO. Trumpet like crazy unless you spend another $600+ on an axle back.

 

It would be h-pipe along with straight through magnaflows

 

I'll buy all of the Borla axle-backs you can find me for $300 each, since that's essentially what you are saying here. I'll re-sell them for $500 each and still save most people at least $100 off the lowest Borla price I've seen.

OP: In my opinion if you think you'd like the Roush, then I think you should try that 1st (under $400). Then if you don't like it you can re-sell it for maybe a small loss and then go for your custom setup. I love a custom setup, but my only issue with it is the irreversibility if you don't like it.

 

Hard to mfind what you like for sure. One thing I noticed in the original post.....the ride in the vette....

...different engine
...different tranny
...different sound deadening
.......and the big thing......." I told him about the drone that I heard about so be took me for a ride in his vette to listen, and it wasnt bad at all."

That sounds like the drone is still there....just not as bad.

To me, if the test ride is not in the same model car, it means nothing other than that car sounds good/bad/so so....

Also.....drone to one may not be drone to another.

$600 is a bunch for "wasn't bad at all" vs NO DRONE.

 

I wasted alot of money on exhausts in the past few years before I coughed up the dough and got Borlas... Learn from my mistakes!

 

Which ones did you go with because originally I was down to borlas and Roush

 

Borla > Roush. To me, it's worth the extra money. Zero drone and nothing comes close to the ATAK system in my opinion.

 

On this car... Borla ATAK catback (my fav exhaust on EARTH!) On my 05 I had gt500 (too quiet)... Then magnaflows (ridiculous drone) ... I can tell you firsthand that the roush's are a great quality exhaust if the price is too good to pass. For the best of the best, choose whichever Borla sound out of the 3 in their lineup that you like the best... Either way, you'll be happy when your cars rumblin'... Be it roush or borla

 

Throw some ARH headers and SSW 3 inch cat back with out the cats. I've got it on mine and it sounds awesome. No drone on the highway at all, and screams at WOT.

 

Here's a guide I made compiling exhaust video clips for the 5.0. Might help with deciding what sound you like. There are some custom setup's in there too, mainly muffler deletes.

2011-2012 Mustang GT 5.0 Exhaust Guide

 

+1 on the Magnaflow drone, they are horrible. I got a good deal on them but I wish I would have bought something else. Not to mention the fit was not perfect and no way to get it that way without rebending the pipes. Should call them Magnadrone. Something cheap usually ends up costing me a fortune.

 

I made a video yesterday of my Mustang. I have a BBR O/R X-pipe, stock pipe back to the stock resonators, then stock pipe over the axle to where I had a set of Flowmaster Super 44's installed. Total cost, X-Pipe $250 (GREAT HP gains!!) and the cost of the mufflers and install, $300.

Now watch the video. You will see me doing the donuts and get a great idea of how it sounds outside the car. Then you will see a clip of me in the car, windows up, cruising at 60-65 in 6th gear, which is turning 2,000-2,300 RPM, the loudest conditions for drone. You can barely hear it. Then the last clip is of me doing some fast shifting. Windows down. You get to hear your baby SING!! I've tried a few different exhausts and by far, this set up is the best of them all. Loud when you want it to be, yet you can creep out of your neighborhood without pissing people off. You can have a normal conversation with the windows rolled up and if you aren't WOT, you can also do that with the windows down.

Paying $600+ without also getting an O/R X-Pipe from a reputable dealer is crazy IMO. The ones the exhaust shops use are typically shorty X-Pipes installed after the cats. Zero performance gain. I had my intake and tune in the car before the exhaust. Dyno'ed 387/379. After the O/R X-pipe was installed along with the Flows, I dyno'ed 410/389. Solid gains for only $250.

Edit: I have not heard a new 5.0L 'Stang with an H-Pipe that sounds as good as the X-Pipe. The H-Pipe trumpets badly. On the 4.6L 'Stangs, an H-Pipe is the way to go. But that changed when the 5.0's came out.

 

Thanks guys for all the feedback, I am going to rethink what I am doing and will post what I decide to do.

 

Good luck! I tried a few different setups before settling on this one.

It's good to see you've got the fastest color as well!