Hi. Owned the car for a couple weeks, pretty happy, not a power house but compared to my 2.3L's and 2.0L's for the past 7yrs a 3.8L seems alright (not a powerhouse but fun to drive with a stick). I'm not interested in 1/4 mile times, really if a car can only do a low 15 its just more incentive to stay out of trouble for me, i'm more interested in how fast it can go through a autocross course. However i would like my exhaust a little more i don't know a little less ford 500 and a little more GT 500. Anyways, looking around through sound clips and youtube I've been trying to find a exhaust system to slightly improve the performance and sound of the mustang. Everyone seems to be saying dual exhaust is the way to go, but the problem, alot of them sound a little too fart-canish for my tastes. I think i have in my head the burble of a smallblock v8, but the problem is if im not mistaken, a v6 just isn't going to put out the volume of gases to make that kind of noise. Heres my question. Instead of going with a dual exhaust like everyone is pushing, has anyone tried modifying the existing single exit exhaust with just a better muffler, or slightly larger exhaust tubing from the cat back? The performance won;t be the same as a true dual exhaust granted. But with all the cylinders exiting from one single exit the wouldn't the back pressure stay high enough to keep the torque up (and help you exit corners quicker and apex better) and with all the exhaust gases going through this single muffler, the volume of gases might be enough to (with a performance muffler) make the car sound 'merican. This theory makes sense to me, but if someone can tell me why im wrong, please chime in. Sorry if this question seems ignorant, exhaust work really isn't my strength. I'd take what i can get to help out the performance of the car, but i'd hate to spend the money on the exhaust and have it sound like a fart can.
I have heard some decent single muffler setups, but have always liked the look of dual even though its only a V6. As far as what setup to go with, that is a neverending debate. Find a good performance muffler shop and tell them what your looking for. That is what I did for my exhaust setup and I am happy with it.
I totally agree that visually a dual exhaust looks SO much better, but i'm hoping a single will help me keep back pressure up enough, and push enough volume of gas through to make a performance muffler sound more burblely and less raspy. Thanks for the input, nice car, you seem helpful posting alot in this forum.
i have a 94 3.8 and i put on a flowmaster dual exhaust (super 40's i think) and a pacesetter h-pipe, i love the sound of it, now its by no means as deep as a v8 but it sounds good for a v6
A single system won't sound much different than duals. The fact that the V6 is even firing and lacks 2 cylinders is why it sounds more like a 4-banger than a V8. If you want to avoid the ricer sound, find a muffler that is damn-near silent at idle. If you can hear the V6 idle, it's gonna sound like ass at higher RPM's. I used Mac Flowpaths; quiet idle, but sounded decent at WOT.
For the record, since you're new; I had an '01 V6. The Macs sounded decent. Now I have the 5.0, and the same kind of mufflers with an O/R H-pipe, and it sounds badass.
beans beans the musical fruit...... but seriously a flomaster 40 series or a magnaflow replacement muffler and a 2.5" pipe out the back of the muffler to the exit would be good. i also agree that if you can hear it at idle, its not gonna sound good at wot.
