Magnaflow catted X. It was cheap (purchased it used from a fellow Cobra owner), easy to install (great fitment), and provided good power gains. Midpipe "how-to" install (thanks to fnsweet.com - plenty of pics!): http://www.fnsweet.com/pics/kevsS3/x_install.shtml
i went with the bbk o/r h pipe and dynomax cat back with superturbo muffs. I went with this because i like the sound of the dynomax. It almost souunds like stock at idle but when you open it up it really wails. It also has no drone like some of the others have when cruisin. My brother inlaw has this setup on his 97 and i liked the sound of it. I also had nice seat of the pants increase as well
i went with the bassani o/r X and magnapacks. i knew that the regular magnaflows were going to be too quite for my taste. i love the sound i get, it has a lopey cam sound to it and at WOT it screams like a virgin touched for the very first time. the install was pretty easy, only took like 4-5 hours for the x pipe and catback with breaks. i got like 25 horsepower roughly from them too so i am very happy.
I have run three different mid pipes on my cobra. BBK O/R X-pipe, sounded like complete crap with my flowmasters dumped, went with the flowmaster american thunder cat back and it still resonated like crazy. I then went with a BBK O/R H-pipe, it had a great sound with my flowmaster cat back. I then switched to a 99 cobra motor, exhaust manifolds were different so my 96-98 pipe would not work. Thats when I bought my VRS O/R X-pipe, by far my favorite, a little raspy with the flows, it is louder than my old H-pipe, but the thing sounds just sick under WOT.
bassani offroad x pipe. i got a killer deal on it, the stainless steel construction sold me also, and at the time bassani was making more power than everything else out there. fitment is awesome, and what i love is this thing is soooo much lighter than the stock h pipe. bassani is just quality. catback is magnaflow. without the x pipe u would think the car was still stock. put the offroad x on and now the b!+c# screems. i love my setup, allz i need is headers to complete. ive been running this way for 3 years now. i havent considered changing it.
UPR o/r X-pipe and flows. raspy, but awesome sound at full throttle. A trans am revved at me at a stoplight the other day, and his setup was significantly deeper sounding though, but I think that's just the 5.7 talking.
I'm in love with my VRS o/r xpipe with magnaflow CB! The sound is perfect for me. Quiet at idle and cruising, but like its been said before, it screams at WOT!
If power is what your are after then there is only one to choose from: DR. GAS I run the Dr. Gas X w/Cats and Maganalfow cat back. Before that I ran a MAC H-Pipe O/R w/Flomasters and the sound was the loudest and meaness. The Dr. Gas WITH CAT made MORE power than the MAC H-O/R. Naz
What NAZ said. If you have headers, many will qualify, but Dr. Gas is the best for manifolds IMO. Todd
BBK LT's and off-road into 2 chamber flows, sounds awesome. They are on a friends car and it was hard to install, unless you have a lift.
Ford racing catback. Sounds great with stock H-pipe (pretty tame at idle and highway speed, loud at wot) and it was easy to put on.
I chose the Bassani X pipe with cats because in an old issue of MM&FF they said that with that Bassani pipe and the Flowmaster 3 chambers that they had on Project Superfly (And my car already was equipped with those) it gave the engine tone a Ferrari-esque sound at high revs. Sold! Plus, Bassani was about the only manufacturer of X-Pipes at the time.
I got it off a guy who wrecked his Cobra. He only had it on for 2 months. I paid 300 installed, I think Ford wants $360 for it out of the catalog. I cannot say how much I love this system. It sounds awesome.
Everyone usually goes w/ the Bassani but I decided to go w/ the Magnaflow Catted X and Catback! Great fit, stainless steel and cheaper than Bassani. Sounds GREAT too! I get looks from everyone when I'm going somewhere and I'm on it.
MagnaFlow Catted-X pipe picked that bad boy up for $100 from a fellow COBRA owner he went to a off road x-pipe
