Less muffler, but my exhaust got quieter????

[Eggsy3V]

Hi all, I'm relatively new to owning my 2008 GT and also new to this forum, so let me know if this isn't the appropriate place to ask this. For a little context, I bought the car with a Flowmaster American Thunder axleback already installed. It wasn't nearly as loud as I wanted, so I took the car to a very reputable custom exhaust shop in my area to get an x-pipe welded in place of the factory h and a muffler delete. I love the new tone of the car, but it has gotten quieter somehow. Especially at low rpms (It screams on the highway at higher rpms). Does anyone have any experience with this?

P.S. I now considering a cat delete to boost the level of sound, but noticed there aren't any aftermarket pipes to delete just the cats (I've seen some for the 11-14s). Does anyone know of any, or have experience with fabricating them yourself?

 

[86GT351]

You will have a very hard time finding anyone to delete the CATS. It is against the law.

 

[Eggsy3V]

You will have a very hard time finding anyone to delete the CATS. It is against the law.

right, that's what I'd heard. That's why I was asking if anyone had experience with a more DIY solution.

 

[86GT351]

DIY solution really depends on your mechanical skills. Long Tube Headers can't hurt, however they can be labor intensive especially if never been done before.

 

[StockishS197]

X pipes do often have destructive interference and cause the exhaust to be quieter at lower RPMs. At higher RPMs the frequency and tone do increase but I have found H pipes generally are louder from a dB perspective due to the lack of a forced merge.

Also important to note that just because your car might SEEM quieter, it very well could be louder on the outside. FMs tend to drone pretty bad on the inside, even compared to straight pipes.

No exhaust shop will touch your cats. It’s an instant fine, potential jail time. With the new EPA regulations, off-road h pipes are even harder to find, even for off-road use.

If you want better tone and volume overall, longtubes with high flow cats are your best bet, though you should check with your local emissions requirements. Also requires a tune.