mbreinin

As these are common questions that get asked over and over and over again..I thought I would document my personal journey through the land of Mustang exhaust.

Like everyone else, the first thing I wanted to do was make my Mustang sound good. I was amazed by the price of axle and cat backs for these cars. As I wanted to do more than just add mufflers to my car, I could not justify spending $700-$1000 for exhaust. So, I took the low road. No Borla, no Corsa, no Stainless Works for me. I figured I would make it sound good on a budget.

Like most guys, I started with the GT500. I also immediately removed the resonators because I thought they were too quiet:









Then, I decided that mid-pipe was too restrictive. I also didn't like the "chop" of the H. So, I got an X-pipe. A 3 inch Pypes X-pipe. This is also cheap, $125, and all stainless. After welding it in though, it is a $175 investment:





Never satisfied with anything....I had to try a different axle back. I chose MAC, because I love them on Fox bodies...and because they were under represented on the forums and YouTube. The MACs were a fail. They droned horribly. However, they were the king of deep. They lasted 20 minutes:





The MACs were returned, and exchanged for the Roush. About the second most popular axle back...but for good reason. They ripped:









I then got rid of my Pro-Cal tune, and got a full tune from AED. This meant I could get an idle lope tune. Oh, did those Roush sound evil:



What the hell, I have a real tune....let's eliminate the cats and see what that does!!!



What did it do? It made my car about as loud as a Winston Cup car.



Yeah, that was not going to cut it for daily driving. I had to borrow a set of stock mufflers, because I gave mine to a friend. Stockers were not bad with the O/R X and no resonators...but too tinny for my taste, they were wicked with the lope though:



They just sucked under WOT...although good enough to get an 11 second time slip!:



So, it was time for a change. What inexpensive axle back to get now? I had wanted to try the Dynomax Ultra-Flow around the same time I got the Roush. So, I said WTF. There were just about no videos out there on these...and no info. So, I sailed into the sea of uncertainty once again:









I liked them. However, they had a little too much "sizzle," a little too much rasp..and they "hooted." They had a resonance like blowing into an empty bottle. It was annoying, but not too bad. So, I was thinking of ditching them and trying the Force II. But, I had an idea. How about replacing the long lost resonators? No, those are restrictive pieces of crap. But, how about a pair of 3 inch Dynomax Race Bullet mufflers where the resonators were replaced with straight pipe? Hmmmmmm...might work:









So, there you have it. My 4 month journey through the land of exhaust. I am happy with where it is now, although the lope is weakest with the current "quad muffler" setup. I would say my favorite tone may have been the Roush with no resonators but with cats...followed closely by the current setup. The Dynomax is much deeper than the Roush ever could be. You can feel the Dynomax if you standing by the car.

Enjoy!

Mike

SynisterGT

Nice post Mike. Sounds like it came out the way you wanted it.

Didn't know you were over here to?

mbreinin

Thanks.

I live in Mandeville. I think it would be perfect...if it had long tubes.

Mike

Bmeline916

Just do it!

hawkeye18

Sounds great!

You might try some glasspack resonators in place of the pre-muffler mufflers - they deepen the sound without dampening it too much. They come in all different shapes, lengths, and diameters.

mbreinin

I have Dynomax Race Bullets in there. They are straight through 3 inch mufflers/resonators with a perforated inner core and ceramic packing. They are similar, but superior to, a traditional louvered glasspack.

Also, with an offroad X, I wanted to deepen the sound.

Thanks,

Mike

cpotts13

This thread is golden. Your car is awesome!!

Hytek

That's awesome man thanks for putting all that together! So where do I get one of these exhaust of the month club memberships?

Blackbird.

Great compilation! Too bad no Hushpower variants. I suppose I shall experiment a little my own.

mbreinin

LOL. We should put together an "exhaust bank" where we buy and send around all of the popular axle backs for people to try out. That would be cool.

I almost got a set of Outlaws, but never the Hushpowers as people complained about drone with those. Plus, I hate to admit it...but I think that is one of the worst names in the history of exhaust marketing, and this really turned me away from them.

Also, as you can see, there was a mixture of super-popular (Roush, GT500) and almost untested (MAC, Dynomax) in my trials. There were other "untested" exhausts that also really intrigued me, like the Gibson, MBRP Streets, GMS, Spintech, Force II, Pypes and even some homebrewed stuff like Moroso spiral mufflers going in where the resonators were and having my guy make me a custom axle back. I really wanted to find something new and exciting that I would be credited with discovering. I have already steered a few people towards the Ultra-Flows, so maybe I am on to something.

Mike

RobDis

Excellent post. I do like the dynomax setup. Sounded very good. Id love to hear it in person. My brother in law lives in Mandeville. As a matter of fact Im going to be in Mandeville this week. Gotta go over to Banner and have some stuff checked out. I bought my Stang at Banner as well!

RobDis

Where did you get the Dynomax setup as well?

mbreinin

Let me know when you are around and maybe we can get together and you can hear it. I actually bought my Mustang at Robinson Brothers in BR. I am not a huge fan of Banner. I have never been treated well by them when visiting their dealership, and have never been contacted by them for service, despite making 3 attempts to schedule appointments through their online service appointment form.

Believe it or not, Amazon.com! $313 with free second day air shipping with Amazon Prime.

Mike

RobDis

Cool. I should be over there Wednesday for an alignment check. I talked with the guys t StangHi last time I was home and I may purchase their package that will include LT's. Not sure yet. If I do that and I don't like the way the GT500's sound I will change. Ill message you if I decide to hang out in Mandeville for a while and give them a listen. Thanks!

SynisterGT

Maybe we could get together wed as well cause I wanna here it to. Im down in Nola.

RobDis what set up are you running?

mbreinin

I work in Metairie, at the Lakeway 3. Send me a pm and I will send you my phone number. You can come by the office any time you want to hear it in person. I will take you for a ride too, if you would like.

That goes for you too, Rob. I am always up to meeting Mustang guys.

Now, back out to finish the LCA job (I installed them wrong the first time, LOL).

Mike

drewzx3

Sounds good mike. Thinking about selling my race bullet catback and trying something else.

Blackbird.

I've heard that alot but it's honestly never bothered me. I don't know your age but maybe it's because i'm a bit younger than most here and I don't mind it yet. But at the same time it only happens if the rpms drop really low in 6th on the freeway. In which case I just pass in 5th then it's all good again once I put it back in 6th. Otherwise I don't hear any drone. I have to agree it's probably got one of the worst names for exhaust. Not a doubt in my mind why their name was changed shortly after I had them installed. I don't even know which one is the pair I have. I also am afraid to change exhaust, because one I don't do the installs myself and what if I don't like the sound of it? I pay labor to have them remove the current ones install the new, remove them again then install the old ones again. I wish I had people on here in the bay area that had other systems so I could compare. Hell I just wish there were some around here period.

RobDis

I'm down for an impromptu meet. Timing will be key. I fly in from offshore Wed morning but there really isn't a set time for that. All depends on weather conditions. It may be early like 10ish or it may be closer to 12. I will PM both of you my contact info and we will go from there. I usually spend a little time in NOLA on my way home anyway.

I have the GT500's and the Heartthrob 3" H-Pipes and over axle pipes.

11stgGT

I love the MAC exhaust on my 99GT. Finding the right tone was a lot easier with the 2v. Ive had a similar experience trying to find the right exhaust with my 2011 as you. Put on mufflers, get a x-pipe, change to h-pipe, change muffler, install resonators, remove cats, change muffler. After the last change I figured it was not only easier, but more cost effective to purchase headers, then work my way back. Right now I have 1/2 the Stainless works exhaust, and it will take me another month to buy the rest. The satisfaction of not having to change it ever again will be worth it to me.