When I bought my first Mustang, I was so excited. As I drove away from the dealership the power and exhaust sound overwhelmed me. I was in love. About a week later another Mustang drove past me, and well, the exhaust sounded amazing! My exhaust was completely drowned out. So, I began my excursion for a new and more beefy exhaust system.
The first thing I shopped for was the headers. The headers are the main inlet to your exhaust. They extend from the engine and through the catalytic converter to the mid pipes. There are many choices for the average consumer. Long tubes, H-pipes, X-pipes, and short tubes. In Florida, emission checks are not mandatory, so many people buy off road headers. Be aware if you are doing this. Your Mustang is going to smell, and you will end up with black exhaust stains on your back bumper. You need to decide whether you want rear exit pipes or side exit pipes before making this purchase. For me the choice was H-pipes with a rear exit. There really isn't any big difference in the X-pipes or H-pipes, and the long tubes are obviously longer ,and the short tubes are short. Long tubes allow for a cleaner more concentrated flow while the short tubes allow for quicker flow and more pollution. Side and rear exits are just for looks.
The next step is too shop for a cat back exhaust system. The cat back is the muffler, and the mid pipes that extend from the catalytic converter (cat) to the muffler. You can purchase this in one package, or buy the muffler and mid pipes separately. This is where most of your sound is going to come from. The wider the muffler is the more noise it will make. Just make sure the connectors are appropriate for the other parts. You should also look for mandrel bent mid pipes to allow more flow and less back pressure.
The tail pipe and tip are the final pieces to the exhaust system. The tail pipe attaches to the rear of the muffler and flows towards the exhaust tip in the rear of the car. You can buy round, square, oval, or just about any shape you want. If you are looking for a loud exhaust you will want a large diameter pipe here as well as the rest of your system.
With all of the exhaust systems parts covered, you can now decide the look that you want, and who will be installing them. Mufflers come in many different set ups and colors. Choose wisely and think about your future plans with your Mustang. You don't want to install a $1,000.00 set up just to remove it because its not up too par with your new parts. If you are having a mechanic install them, make sure you do some research on the mechanic. It is important to find a trustworthy mechanic. I try to avoid non-corporate shops, unless there is a highly reputable mechanic in my area. The problem with mechanics that are making profit on the work that they do is that they want your car to break down. The more your car breaks the more money they make. So, be careful with who works on your car, and don't rush in to anything. You don't want to regret an expensive choice that you made because you were so excited that you couldn't wait. Now, Enjoy your extra 15 horsepower and mean sounding exhaust.
