A review of the Mustang exhaust parts (thanks to afixer) confirmed my suspicions and shows that the stock V6 muffler has the exact same part number (Ford 5230) as the right side V8 GT muffler!

Can anybody confirm this through hands-on experience? I've read several posts about people swapping the GT for the V6 and claiming "how much better it sounds."

Comments?

 

I can't verify that the 2 mufflers have the EXACT same p/n, BUT, they are VERY different parts. The V6 muffler has 3 mounting points and the V8 has only 2. And the tip is completely different. I had the V8 muffler on my V6 and it does sound different as well. Hope this helps.

 

I dont know about the whole numbers thing, but they sure sound different...

 

"5320" is not even a whole Ford part number (they run 10-15 digits long)

The GT and V6 right side mufflers are NOT the same part. Different mounting, different (welded on) tip, different sound...

I've has both on my car. The V8 muffler is noticably different in both outer appearence and sound.

 

Okay, I was wanting "real world" info-thanks!

Here is where I was seeing the same part number for the V6 and the right V8 muffler:
Mustang Exhaust PDF here

It was posted by afixer on this exhaust thread

Ah--maybe I have it figured out! Are there different prefixes for the V6 and V8 parts? The diagrams have different numbers like N0018809, N0018810, N0018811, N0018812. Does that figure in to the Ford part number maybe? It certainly would make it much longer

 

A short Ford Part number primer..

Prefix 5R3Z Basic 5230 Suffix A



The prefix of the part number calls out the year and model of the car that the part was made for

The basic is the actual part, this is a muffler.

The suffix indicate engineering level of the part.

BTW I have a V-8 muffler on mine and its sounds great and seems to benefit the car's performance.

 

Thanks for the lesson! Makes sense...