Exhaust (or, maybe I'm getting old)

[Jet45]

I bought the car with the Pypes muffler deletes already installed. Maybe it's me, but I'm starting to find them obnoxious. It's not the loudness (I love a good high-volume exhaust note), but the sound quality is race car raspy without the race-car volume. I prefer more of a deep muscle-car sound, like the original 5.0 flowmaster rumble.

I've spent a couple weeks listening live in person to a few different setups; I know by now that the 3v will never sound like an old big-bore so all illusions aside... Everyone has their own favotites and will recommend Borla or Roush etc, so I'm not looking for opinions regarding sound. I've heard them all, and so far my personal favorite with stock-everything-else is the Flowmaster American Thunder. Nice and deep with practically no drone. I'm kind of sold on them.

There's only one problem: Flowmaster's reputation for rusting out too quickly. Been bitten by that before. They do have the stainless kit but only the pipes are stainless, and the price is a bit steep for just 2 mufflers and some short pipes.

Anyone have/had FM AT's and had good luck with them? If they last 5 years then I'll consider it good...

 

[808muscle]

I had them for about two years. But once I added the blower they didn't sound right. IMO borla s types have the best tone. Deep and throaty and I don't have a drone issue.

 

[06silverbullet]

i will never buy flowmaster garbage. i had them on my car and they burned through the welds ect.

 

[Kylar]

I have the Borla stinger s-types, they have a real nice tone, but sometimes i wish they were just a bit louder. I'm on stock headers and stock h-pipe, and i get zero drone. I might try an h or x pipe with high flow cats to see if they gives me the loudness i want. I dont know how some people say the stingers drone, unless maybe it changes with longtubes or x pipes.

Ive had some SLP custom axlebacks and they were super loud and drone monsters, had a JBA Axleback, nice deep tone, but wished it was a bit louder, also didnt like the way the tailpipes looked and stuck out. Pype pypebombs, they werent as loud as i thought they were going to be. They also didnt drone as much as i thought they would, mild drone around 2000rpms, but not bad enough to annoy me. They sound great at idle and medium throttle, but slightly trumpety and a bit unrefined at WOT which is why i switched to the stingers.

As far as your choice of the flowmasters american thunders, i havent personally used them. However a large majority of reviews said they droned like crazy, which is why i didnt even consider them. Not sure where you are getting the no drone info? They are also overly expensive for non-stainless IMO.

 

[Deez-67]

It's not that your old it's that you know what a good exhaust tone sounds like. So many people are so quick to rip off the cats and run loud ass exhaust. I often wonder if they have ever let someone drive there car as they follow behind them because they don't sound good at all. The raspy ass loud noise that comes out of a open up 3V is just as bad as some ricers running around.

 

[Jet45]

i will never buy flowmaster garbage. i had them on my car and they burned through the welds ect.

Disappointing! That was my previous experience as well, and something I wish to avoid at all costs. So, that brings me to my second choice, which is:

...borla s types have the best tone. Deep and throaty and I don't have a drone issue.

And looky here, not really any more than the FM AT's. And I do like the sound of these, right after the AT's. This may be the way to go.

It's not that your old it's that you know what a good exhaust tone sounds like.

Yup, spent much of my youth being loud & obnoxious, and with experience comes refined taste.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[07 Boss]

I actually threw my catted H-pipe back on the car because I like the tone better. I'm gonna get some glass packs or something to weld into my O/R pipe.

The only way you're ever going to get that old school sound is to mount up a mid muffler system and put some pipe between the mufflers and the tips.

 

[o2sys]

Jet45 the only way you gonna find the perfect exhaust is trying each combo out on yourself.

Exhaust noise and tone is so subjective I myself went through like 20 different combinations.

 

[Boaisy]

I've never liked Flowmasters. I almost bought a 07 that had them FM AT's, and droned like a son of a bitch at cruising highway speeds. When I was still at the dealership, one of the salesmen and I took it to go pick up a car at a sister site (about an 80 mile trip total). We ended up riding the highway in 4th because the drone was so unbearable. Couldn't hear the radio, the passenger, or even yourself.

I also had a friend who used to own a 2012 GT500. She had Flowmasters on hers because everyone told her "it is the shit!" It also droned, and you could hear the drone from a mile away. She ended up switching to Magnaflows before trading it in.

Ever since I've owned a Mustang, I have yet to believe "Flowmaster's" and "No Drone" go together in the same sentence. Like others have stated, Borla S-Type will keep that deep tone, but still have a clean aggressiveness. Also since Borla's are T304 Stainless, you won't have to worry about the rust.

As far as O/R or High-Flow Mid-pipe setups, you may want to look at Touring in that case. Terry has that kind of setup on his Bullitt:



and an O/R X combo with Stingers:


S-Type stock everything else:


Touring stock everything else (with a funny ending):


Though I have a Coyote, I went from ATAKs to Touring when I got the O/R setup, and have loved it ever since. I have a slight drone at highway speeds, but nothing that overpowers the radio, or talking. Borla does a lot of R&D on their exhausts to try to get the best flows with little to no drone.

 

[WJBertrand]

Another vote for Borla and not mentioned is that they are made entirely of stainless (pipes and mufflers) so rotting out should not be an issue.

 

[Jet45]

Terry's Bullitt sounds amazing, this is what I would want ultimately, but for the short term I'm going with Borla Stinger S-Types on my otherwise stock setup.

When I rode in the car with the Flowmaster AT's (the 60 Series), I didn't notice a drone, probably because I'm so used to the howling loudness of the Pypes muffler deletes. After hearing the Stingers by comparison they are definitely more livable in the cabin than the AT's. The car with AT Classics (40 Series) on the other hand droned worse than my deletes, which I didn't think possible. Plus I believe he had a hi-flow mid which may have enhanced it.

Thanks for all the input!