I just spoke to an exhaust shop and he says the catback it's worth it, just swap out the mufflers. He says that my 03 cobra has a stainless steel exhaust and the catback is the say diameter as the original anyways. I wouldn't gain anything by swapping out the entire system, just swap the mufflers. What do you guys think? Thanks
I think that stock is 2 and a 1/4 inch and after market is 2 and a 1/2 I'd go with borla stingers, Mangnaflow or bassani.
I am wondering the same thing. It seems too much of a shame to rip out all that brand new stock piping to put on pretty much the same thing. Im interested in Magnaflow mufflers currently. Subscribing for the info. peace
I installed Borla Stingers last weekend... and I was pleasantly surprised. I knew I would like the sound, but I couldn't believe how much faster my car is now. The previous owner put a drop in K+N filter in, and there are no other mods done to my car. I use to punch it and the boost would sit right at 8 lbs... Now with the Borlas my boost sits right on the 10psi tick mark. I can't wait to install the JLT CAI now... hopefully I'll pick up another psi.
It is worth it. If you decide to just weld in mufflers, at least change the mid pipe. Get rid of the 2 extra cats and go with an x-pipe. That's where you will see the power increase. Or go off-road, even better.
The pipes will be a bit bigger, but also the bends will be better. No crimped bends in most of the aftermarket catback systems. On a 03/04 Cobra I highly recommend swapping out the catback & put a CAI as a bare minimum on these cars.
boost is a measurement of restriction . If you got 2 more psi from exhaust - then you just added some major restriction. Yikes...Free-er flowing exhaust should reduce restrictions, which will reduce boost - but raise power.
I put a Borla Catback system on my pickup and am totally in love with the sound, so I'm dying to put one on my 03 Cobra but just can't justify the $ when the stock system is stainless from front to back. A Catback system means that it is a complete exhaust from the cats all the way back to the tips, right? Do these Borla Stingers that I've seen you all talking about come in just the muffler alone? If so, are they worth it that way? I think this is what the original question was, but maybe I didn't see the answer I was looking for Dr Wu, aren't they testing where you live in PA? At any rate, I'm really glad I found this site!!!
Your stock exhuast is not exactley 2 1/4 all the way through. Right before the mufflers it drops to 1.9" delivery plus the stock sound is weak. You will pick up no less than 22 RWHP from any catback on a 03 Cobra but I gaurantee your now going to struggle with which one for which sound you are looking for. I have had over 15 mustangs and love the sound of the two chamber flowmaster but you may want the pop of the magnaflow or the borla. Mustangexhaust.com is a great reference for sound but find some cars and hear it first hand. Don't worry about the stainless part; Ford uses 400 less grade SS and it will develop surface rust just like treated alum. I have a few friends that tried the Borla and absolutley hated the combo (complained it was to loud and droned out plus they lost RWT).
Theres no way borlas are restricting the exhaust flow,dynos tell it like it is .True, restriction will cause more boost but so will a CAI .When I put borla stingers on mine,the power was like night and day.I also got more boost but that was with a CAI .you'll know too when you change your exhaust and you will ,its just a matter of time
I agree 100%! There are people out there who weld in replacement mufflers and keep the stock pipes. You will see an increase in performance from this because the stock mufflers are pretty restrictive. You'll see a much greater increase if you replace the whole cat-back with full 2.5 inch tubing. U.M.
They are testing but I am running x-pipe w/cats. No problem. These high flow cats are so good that it's almost like running no cats. Just enough to be legal.
My friend had flowmasters on his 4.6 gt mustang and I had flows on my 87 gt before I sold it and I thought they were too raspy sounding,but I guess its just a matter of taste
If you read my post (the one you quoted) more carefully, you will see I was commenting on cyberdave's post where he states that he picked up 2lbs more of boost from Borla Stinger's alone. Something is very wrong if you pick up boost from Exhaust! Nowhere did I state that a CAI will or will not produce more boost since this post is about catbacks. Regarding if, or when I decide to change exhsust on this partiular car, Im sure I will gain rwhp. I sure did on my 98 cobra. But I will quickly freak-out if I gain boost! I would not be surprised if I lost a pound though due to the free-er flowing nature of the better muff's peace
For the original poster, rdefino: What UM said above. Swapping out the mufflers is "good," while swapping out the entire catback for one that is mandrel bent throughout is "better." Relatively speaking, of course. Aftermarket catback systems are mandrel bent, meaning that they maintain the same size inner diameter throughout the entire piping whereas the factory catbacks are not mandrel bent (factory crimping at the bends reduces their inner diameter). Having said that, you can see why an aftermarket catback *might* be a better idea, especially at higher power levels. However, if you are on a budget, swapping out the factory mufflers only is still a worthwhile upgrade - so don't stress too much. If you have the coin, just spend the extra dollars on the entire catback & install it yourself. If you were to cut out & weld in mufflers alone, at a shop, you would probably wind up spending the same amount of money - so you may wind up spending the same amount of money in the end...food for thought. G'luck!
cobra90gt... that was an excellent response you made my decision a whole lot easier (but created another... which catback system to go with) I don't expect anyone to tell me, since everyone has their own sound opinion, but I was very happy to hear somebody say "go with the catback vs just the mufflers" if you can afford it. guess I'll just wait til next summer
Ok, I am hearing that Borlas and Flows are the best sounding from everyone I quess, but here is my question, what about us guys with the N/A Cobras such as my '96? The exhaust will sound different even with the same (similar) cat-back because of it not having a supercharger of course......also, since the new ones are supercharged, they get bigger gains from bolt-ons, DHFB said no less than 22RWHP, what about the gains on my '96? And what exhaust catback would sound the best (meaning low gumble at idle, solid noticable rumbling at cruizing, and a screamer at WOT) on my car? thanks
Tat98Cobra - So what would explain my increase in boost? I'm positive that I don't have any leaks in my intake system... any ideas?
