GaSouGustang

Hey ya'll, I'm new to the forum thing, but I figured this would be the best place for help! I was wondering a few things...

1) Which type (X or H) fits the 2012? I know they had made a hybrid of the two for this year, but will either one fit, and what are the pro/con(s) to each?
2)I have a few mods so far, but was wondering what my next mod should be... I don't want to void my warranty, as I just bought the car last summer and have 50k miles left on the warranty.
3) A friend of mine got his Cobalt SS tuned and the engine blew up on him. I don't want this. What's the deal with tuning?

Thanks for the help guys!

hogasswild

I don't know of any 3.7l's that have blown a motor either with or without tuning or even with FI. Bama tunes seem to be very popular and that's what I have. I've put probably 30,000 miles with the motor tuned, works great to me.

As for the X or H pipe, it all depends on who makes what and if it is made for the car. X-pipes make more power, H-pipes are more for sound. BBK and Lethal are a couple companies making x and h pipes.

GaSouGustang

will either of them fit on the 2012?

and what exactly does the tune change? what are the tunes, period? I'm clueless as to what that actually is...?

sonicx

1) Yes
2) H: Deep rumble muscle car tone; X: Raspy pitch like a stock car. The difference in power really only comes into effect with catted vs. off-road. Xpipe vs. Hpipe (if both are of the same either o/r or catted) aren't really different in hp.
3) In the long run skip the "canned" email tunes and take your car into a rep dyno show and have your car professionally tuned. You'll see more hp & tq then what emails tunes can give you. Plus you'll get to see (on paper) your car's power levels. All cars are have programmed tunes with factory settings. A tune allows you to modify these settings which will enhanced throttle response, optimize your air/fuel ratio, tweak variable camming, etc..... which all results in your car creating power.

GaSouGustang

So if I wanted a little more rumble, as well as a little more power, what should I go for?

Is the tuning safe? Where I live, I don't know of anywhere to take my car to have it tuned. What should I look for, and what questions should I ask?? I can NOT afford for my car to get effed.

GhostStrykre

here's a video of a guy who installed an offroad x-pipe, and some long tube headers. the x-pipe, the headers, and his roush exhaust make plenty of noise for me.. the headers really contribute to this, and it certainly sounds beefy and muscle-car sounding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDAHDHUjHUw

sooo if you want more beef than that, go with the H-pipe, but you'll sacrifice power. to me the off road x-pipe, and long tube headers are good enough. the guy who made this video compained of droning with the roush axle-back exhaust, and others say after market axle back exhausts are earsplittingly loud when added to a longtube header, off-road x-pipe configuration.

so if it's that loud, i like x-pipe for the power gain.

as for the tune, make sure you get a Cold Air Intake with it. tuning is largely safe, based upon what i've read, but done improperly it can mess things up. if you have to go in for maintenance, you have to flash your tune back to stock or your engine warranty is voided.. but there's ways the shop can GUESS if you changed your engine tune. telling the shop that your battery died will get you around this discussion supposedly.

for me, i own a 2012 v6, and im gonna upgrade other stuff before i get around to engine warranty voiding actions. my 2011 ford edge just started having problems at 12k miles, so im gonna play it safe for a little bit.. i figure i'll tune my mustang around 20k, or 25k miles.

sorry if this is really convoluted.. sometimes im not very articulate...

sonicx

Take it from someone who's been around these cars on the dyno, your not even going to notice the power difference between a X and H. Only the sound preference matters

For cars unwarranty; make sure you get a dyno/tuner combo. That way you can reset it back to the factory settings if you need to take it back in for service.

I'd go to the "Regional Section" here on MF or PM a user within the same state as you and ask. That should be easy enough. Otherwise GOOGLE. Find a shop and then research it.... read about reviews n such.

When you go in. Tell them you want to be able to restore you factory and would like a handheld tuner in addition too a dyno. Tell them your mods. They will do the rest.

It's all pretty simple

If you've never worked/know/used tuning or dyno shops don't tell the OP based upon what i've read n such. You have to be pretty brain dead to mess up tuning your car with just a handheld device. Now if your dyno tuning yourself & buy the software program different matter. May need a PHD ahaha jk. Nah, really it's hard to do with (example) a SCT from AM with "canned tunes" or if a dyno shop loads a custom tune for you on a SCT device. Even if you did manage to screw it up there's a reset you can hit that will restore your previous settings. So you don't have to worry.

Shops (if they know what they've doing) don't guess. Maybe cardealerships guess. They plug in there scan tron reader and read through your car codes. These codes will appear different if you have loaded a custom/canned/ect tune onto your car. Now restoring you factory set tune. And your golden. They have no proof you ever changed it because the codes with come up within the specs.

And unless you know things for certain don't go around trying to BS dyno tuners/shop mech/ based upon knowledge read on the internet. Because if your getting you info only from that chances are they've prob you that to there advantage not yours

GhostStrykre

i'm sorry, but if i've read someone who says they've experienced problems post-tune personally, then i'm inclined to take it into consideration. it's not quite the same as someone saying that put a CAI on and got 1000 RWHP on their next dyno. people tend not to (but its still possible) lie when they screw up their own stuff. its not the stuff you really enjoy bragging about. i'm not claiming to know how, or why it happened, im just merely stating that it is within the realm of possibilities and is something to keep in mind. it's also why i said that i read it, so that the OP would know i do not speak directly from experience.

but hey, if you want to tell the OP that there's no chance of screwing up his motor with a tune, then go ahead. that's simply something i wasn't going to, and won't say. there's always a chance. all i'm sayin.

SC_Kona_Blue

Here is my video of Headers. X-pipe and mufflers. ALL Bassani.

GaSouGustang

Having talked to a guy at the exhaust shop, I got some questions.

Will the BBK shorty x-pipe fit without the BBK headers?

If a custom built x-pipe for my car is an option, which is better, a BBK or a custom job?