Norm Peterson

Some people can appreciate a wider range of exhaust sound than others. There really is more to the sounds of automotive life than V8 rumble, even if what you've got really is a V8.



That's because of the way V6 manifolding groups the cylinders with respect to the firing order. All evenly spaced. All sixxers will have the same general sound with any given merging of the individual cylinders in the firing order

What an X-pipe accomplishes for the crossplane V8 is close to the natural dual-exhausted sixxer sound, mostly just at a higher pitch than the V6 at any given rpm.


Norm

Jas5

This and the Bassani setup (pricey as well) sound the smoothest to me. Not import-like, since I relate import sound with 4 cyl. and v6, but it's not all raspy like flowmasters are.

adidasUNT8

If you want the sound of a 350z, then sell it and get a 6-cylinder mustang then look at getting an axle back. That's your best option.

jsimmonstx

+1. No matter what you do, a V6 will sound like any other 6-cyl car on the freeway. Ask me how I know.

To the OP - if you have an American V8, you're not going to be able to make your car sound "more exotic" unless you build custom mufflers that generate the sound you want. Keep in mind that this might adversely affect power as well, but hey, it's your car.

Norm Peterson

X-pipes do come pretty close. Not to being a perfect V6 sound match, but the sound does have a smoother character to it (which I think is what OP was getting at with his term "exotic").

I once built a 2 into 1 into 2 exhaust system for one of my cars due to my state's insistence that a single catalytic converter could not be legally replaced by two. So I merged a pair of 2-1/2" pipes into a 4" inlet converter and back out to 2 x 2-1/2 after it. Essentially, the 4" x 4" converter was acting as the "X" in an X-pipe. What I got sound-wise was a nice smooth snarl echoing off median barriers and tunnel walls as the revs were brought up through the midrange.

The classic dual-exhaust crossplane V8 sound is kind of choppy by comparison, and its appeal lies specifically in the rudeness of that sound.


Norm