JGT

I've been trying to find the perfect sounding exhaust for my Mustang and I am getting frustrated. I now have a Mac catted Prochamber and Borla Stingers. I have done quite a bit of research and from what I can tell, this is one of the deeper, old-school sounding setups you can get. I am not interested in ridiculous volumes, so I stayed away from an off road pipe. And X-pipes are higher pitched and raspier, so I stayed away from those as well. My only other midpipe option was an MRT H, as I hear these are high quality and very deep.

For the most part, my setup does sound nice...But there is SOMETHING missing that I just can't put my finger on, SOMETHING is just not quite right. I think part of the problem is I am waaaaay to picky. I want it to sound perfect, and I really just don't think it does. On top of that, I have to deal with all these LS1s and LS2s with their gigantic engines rumbling around. I have grown up hearing Mustangs, so I have this idealized sound in my head, and I just can't mimic that with my current setup.

Obviously, these are lower displacement engines, so we won't get the sound of the beefy 5.7s. I have also heard that we get a different sound due to the placement of the mufflers at the rear, so older Mustangs have a certain sound that we can't emulate. Most people seem perfectly happy with their exhaust, but I just seem to hear a lot of whispers and rumors that, when judged against the history of american muscle, the sound of the S197s just don't quite cut it.

These are some of the opinions I have on various exhausts based on my research:

Corsa = No drone, but only screams at WOT, doesn't give you that deep grumbly sound at idle and lower speeds
Magnaflow/Flowmaster/JBAs = Many people are happy with these, but from what I hear if you are looking to get the absolute best, deepest, meanest sound, these aren't the way to go, also these are pretty low on the loudness scale
Borla/Bassani = These two seem to sound very similar, deep and grumbly, but the Borla's are louder.
SLPs = Loud as hell, but not a real deep, toned sound
Mac = I think these are right up there with Borla/Bassani as far as deep, old school sound
IMCO = Don't know much about these, have heard some good things

So, is it really true that, as far as muscle cars go, S197s really don't sound that great?

Or are headers the answer?

hammeron

someone pointed out that the
firing order on some of the various 60's/70's
muscle cars, is a big part of why they sounded
the way they did and why it's hard to match
with our stangs of today....

lynwood78

I was looking for that deep and raspy sound so I went with the Mac axleback with Bassani X-pipe. I love that set-up. Now I'm looking for some L/T headers to go with it. I also want it to be a little more louder than it is right now but I never want to loose that deepest in my car.

classj

They dont sound like any 60's big block car I have if that is what you are asking. It has a nice tone to it stock IMO. Sounds good. With the CAI and tune it screams at high RPM's almost porsche or M3 like.

The new stang needs a tougher sound at idle. But then again, so does pretty much everything else new I can think of including the vette. None of them have that rumble just sitting there.

doodad

i think the best sounding stangs are S195s period!!

05gtdriver

Why not try a side exiting exhaust? Not sure what they would sound like on an S197, but at least it wouldn't have the mufflers in the rear, like currently. I've grown up around muscle my whole life, I think every generation of V-8 powered cars have their unique sounds characteristics......btw a guy that owns a new Z06 parks in the same garage as I has an aftermarket exhaust on it and man, let me tell you, that car sounds nothing like a vintage V-8 muscle car.....but it sounds WAY EVIL! Besides, for myself, I find the new Mustang completely satisfying(I'm in my 40's) in it's exhaust note/tone. Sounds like a V-8 to me.

bl1nk

Have you tried modifying the exhaust yourself and moving mufflers further up the pipes, more towards the cats? That would produce a deeper tone than having them at the rear, also Im sure once you open up the rest of the exhaust that the tone will change so its just a matter of experimenting to find something you like.

Personally I have the SLPs and I love the sound of them , Im just looking for a little more loudness while cruising/idling. Other exhaust mods will change the sound of the axle backs depending on what you go with, so thats what looking into. If for some reason the headers and mid pipe I get make the SLPs too raspy for my taste then Ill look into some different axle backs, thats a ways down the road though. Honestly I think people work from the wrong direction (myself included). Alot of people get the axle backs they like, then work their way up the exhaust towards the engine, only to find that the ABs they once liked dont sound the same anymore, so theyre off in search of new ones (many revert to stock). I like a deep rumbling exhaust as much as the next guy, and honestly some of the firebirds/camaros Ive heard sound pretty nice (I know Ill get flamed for that one, sorry guys but I like all domestic muscle). We just dont have the displacement that they do. Maybe if we were to switch our engine for something along the lines of one of Fords 520 big block strokers (assuming the thing would even fit) then we would have quite a sound.

OxSMSxO

This is still one of my favorites.
Click here to see Video

MBDiagMan

I am not sure, but it sounds as if you want a car that sounds like a sixties car.

There are several differences in our modern Mustang exhaust systems and a dual exhaust system found on one of our cars in the sixties. Our current systems, even with the catalytic converters are WAY better flowing than most any dual exhaust system of the sixties, even with headers. Here are some if not all of the differences. These same differences effect the sound just as much as it does the flow capability:

MOST all exhaust systems, even on the moderately powerful V8's of the sixties were smaller pipe, many of them 2" pipe, some 2 1/4" and a few, very few were 2 1/2". Since restriction is one form of muffling, then that in itself will make a sound difference. In case you don't think of it, 2 to 2 1/2" doesn't sound like much bigger pipe, but remember that the area, thus the flow potential of a round pipe increases with the square of the radius, thus a 2 1/2" pipe has 64% more area than a 2" pipe. A pipe that flows better by 64% will make the sound MUCH different. The difference in flow potential should be obvious.

Most exhaust systems of the sixties, at least on modified systems with loud mufflers had no crossover. Many cars came with crossovers and many people plugged them off to make the cars sound better. A crossover obviously makes a big sound difference. You basically double the frequency of the basic sound pulses.

Firing order makes a huge difference in sound. In the sixties, most kids had glasspacks on their cars, and I could hear a car then and tell you if it was a Ford, a Chevy, a Pontiac or a Mopar. The firing order was the sound signature.

The catalytic converters obviously have an effect on the sound of the exhaust system. I don't think anything else has to be said about that.

The most obvious and the variable you have been working with is the muffler. Muffler technology has expanded so much since the sixties it's unbelievable. We have the Flowmasters with shaped baffles, the turbo type mufflers with sound reflectors along with multiple chambers and perforated pipes as compared to the mufflers of the sixties that almost always relied strictly on restriction for their sound deadening properties.


SOooo.... all that said, there are only a couple of variables that you have to work with on your Mustang when trying to change the sound. You can eliminate the crossover, and change muffler types. Most anything that you can do to change the sound to that of a car of the sixties would decrease exhaust flow or be illegal.

GT Premi

This isn't a big block, so it's not going to sound like a big block. The poor 289ci V8 from the 60's gets no respect. That's what the S197 GT sounds like. That and the 389ci(?) V8 in the Mustang in the movie Bullitt.

[edit]
And wasn't that one actually a 289 in disguise, anyway?