I NEED SOME ADVICE ON GETTING MY EXHAUST SYSTEM TO SOUND NICE AND NOT BURN A HOLE IN POCKET.
I HAVE A 64 1/2 COUPE 302 WITH AFTERMARKET PARTS.
I RECENTLY PURCHASED THE FLOWMASTERS 2 CHAMBER 40 SERIES MUFFLERS BUT IM WONDERING IF THERE REALLY MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVE A H OR X PIPE OR STRAIGHT.
I WANT 2 1/2 TUBING AND CUT OFFS BEFORE THE DIFF.
I HAD STRAIGHT 2 1/4 PIPE WITH STOCK MUFFLERS THAT CAME WITH CAR WHEN I BOUGHT IT AND I SOUNDS GOOD BUT I WANT THAT NICE MUSCLE SOUND.
The consensus is going to be that the X pipe will perform best. Which sounds best will be determined by your preferences.
Some people like how individual true duals sound (it makes the 'pulses' more distinct and clear). Some people the the general 'thunder' involved with an H. And some people like the X pipe for its higher rpm roar.
If I were doing a custom exhaust I'd go with an X. I'm okay with the H my American Thunder setup came with.
As for 'how much' better... thats tough to say. I would believe an X would give you a 5 hp gain over the exact same setup with an H, and that the H will be 5better than the exact same setup with true duals. People who quote other power gains, in general, over-generalize. IE, when someone exclaims "I gained 32 hp when I swapped to a
magnaflow exhaust with an x pipe!!!" you might glaze over the fact that they were swapping out an old, stocker true dual setup with 1 7/8" pipes and factory exhaust manifolds and added headers and 2.5" pipes throughout.
IMO... if you, like me, got the American Thunder setup and already have your H pipe and piping... then just keep that for now. It'll sound great and there's no reason to go shelling out tons of money to replace brand new stuff.
If you just bought the mufflers... have a shop fab together whatever setup you like if sounds your thing. Try to listen to some examples of each before hand. If you're basically here to get the biggest dyno number, get the X.
Out of curiousity, any more details on your engine build? Like most things, theoretically an X might make progressively more sense the higher your engine revs, whereas an engine with a stock or mild cam might not really use the X pipe's extra flow as much.
Also, press the caps lock key once.