Borla vs Roush

[Honest Mike]

Hey guys, I know, I know, another exhaust question, sorry in advance!

I've narrowed my choices down to 3 after watching countless YouTube videos for my 2014 Mustang GT. The Roush, the Borla S Type and the Borla Atak. Seems the S Type is more popular than the Atak? I've never heard any of them in person. For the people who have, is the Atak too loud? Too raspy? I want the car to sound good, real good, but not loud and obnoxious. Which one adds the most horsepower?

It seems the Roush doesn't come as a cat back system, just axle back, true?

If I went with the Borla, is it worth it to get the whole cat back system, or just go with the axle backs? If ya spent the extra cash on the whole cat back system, is it going to make a little more power over just doing axle backs??

 

[AJstang]

Axle-backs don't add horsepower. I would go with the S-type cat-back. Nice deep rumble, quiet during cruise and sounds great during WOT, oh and no drone. Also do you ever plan on making changes to the headers or mid-pipe? That should play a big part in your decision of which mufflers/catback to get. Example being Roush a/b with longtubes headers and o/r mod pipe will be loud as f***

 

[Honest Mike]

Really, no horsepower change? All the cold air intake threads say the samething, no horsepower change lol and I read a K+N drop in air filter actually loses horsepower lol.

Not sure if I'd ever do headers and full exhaust on this car or not, but if I did, I wouldn't want it to be too loud, it's my daily driver..

 

[blksnke2]

Really, no horsepower change? All the cold air intake threads say the samething, no horsepower change lol and I read a K+N drop in air filter actually loses horsepower lol.

Not sure if I'd ever do headers and full exhaust on this car or not, but if I did, I wouldn't want it to be too loud, it's my daily driver..

That is true about the K&N filter.

I would say Borla S-Type if you keep resonators. I had the S-types with an Offroad X-pipe and no resonators and it was just a bit much for me...I could only imagine how loud the Ataks would be.

 

[usnfenix]

Hey guys, I know, I know, another exhaust question, sorry in advance!

I've narrowed my choices down to 3 after watching countless YouTube videos for my 2014 Mustang GT. The Roush, the Borla S Type and the Borla Atak. Seems the S Type is more popular than the Atak? I've never heard any of them in person. For the people who have, is the Atak too loud? Too raspy? I want the car to sound good, real good, but not loud and obnoxious. Which one adds the most horsepower?

It seems the Roush doesn't come as a cat back system, just axle back, true?

If I went with the Borla, is it worth it to get the whole cat back system, or just go with the axle backs? If ya spent the extra cash on the whole cat back system, is it going to make a little more power over just doing axle backs??

the exhaust question has only one answer and its universal no matter what car you drive. pick the one that makes you the most happy, not the internet.

 

[stags]

the exhaust question has only one answer and its universal no matter what car you drive. pick the one that makes you the most happy, not the internet.

^^This.

I bought flowmaster outlaws as my first exhaust thinking that I could cut the corner financially and be happy. I was dead wrong- the drone made driving the car nothing but misery. I have since put on some Corsa Extremes which I think are perfect, but that falls into the category of beauty is in the ear of whoever is listening. So, based on those choices, I would say go Borla so you have a no drone guarantee if nothing else. Do it right the first time.

 

[ZincYellowGT281]

I have the Borla ataks. I love these mufflers sounds awesome has a rumble and pops. I have the stock h pipe. The car gets compliments everywhere I go. Its all preference but after having these mufflers I honestly wouldn't go to another brand.

 

[Honest Mike]

Thanks everyone for the responses so far!

 

[ERS]

I was in the same position you are. Ended up going for the Roush and its great. To be honest though, I preferred the sound of the S Types to everything else I heard, including Roush, but it was a close second and I was worried the S Types would be to quiet. The cost was the main reason I went Roush. I couldn't justify the price of the Borla's. I do now love the sound Roush's and get compliments all the time. But Id like to get an off road H pipe and I know the Roush AB's will be way to loud. If I found a used set of S Types cheap, Id pick those up for my future O/R setup. But I don't think you can go wrong with any of your options, it will sound great either way.

 

[skwerl]

I was in the same position you are. Ended up going for the Roush and its great. To be honest though, I preferred the sound of the S Types to everything else I heard, including Roush, but it was a close second and I was worried the S Types would be to quiet. The cost was the main reason I went Roush. I couldn't justify the price of the Borla's. I do now love the sound Roush's and get compliments all the time. But Id like to get an off road H pipe and I know the Roush AB's will be way to loud. If I found a used set of S Types cheap, Id pick those up for my future O/R setup. But I don't think you can go wrong with any of your options, it will sound great either way.

I bought the Roush exhaust for my 2014 and loved the sound but they were simply too loud for me. They sound like sex but I don't want to draw that much attention to myself when driving. Replaced them after 3 weeks.

On my previous car I had the Borla Touring (on a catless setup) and they sounded awesome. So when I was shopping for another set of Borla Touring for the 2014 I found the Ford Racing Touring (which I assume was made by Borla) and bought them. With the cats they are a bit too quiet but still sound good.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'S' types but the open flow through types are going to be too loud, even with cats. Borla makes one of the best sounding chambered mufflers for our cars.

Don't waste your money replacing the rest of the exhaust unless you're adding a ton of power. The stock exhaust flows very well and you won't find any advantage to an aftermarket exhaust until you get over 600hp.

 

[bullet3z]

skwerl, not sure if you know this or not but Borla changed the line up a while back. Now they make 3 types of axle backs for the 5.0's. they are the Touring, S type and Attacks. The Touring is a little to quiet. The Attacks are a little to loud and would be even more so if you went headers or catless X or H pipes.

I have the axle back S types and they sound good. Loud when you get on it b

 

[skwerl]

^ Sounds perfect then, but I'm not buying a third axle back for this car. The Touring was nice on my Bullitt with catless long tubes and a TVS but a bit too quiet on my stock 5.0 with cats.

 

[HEMI LOL]

atak or go home.

 

[ZincYellowGT281]

atak or go home.

^yes!

Hey hemi, I was going to ask you about your rim set up. Is there anything you had to do to make them work with the brembo brakes?

 

[11_Ingot5.0]

I have off road Hpipe, lethal over axle pipes and Borla S types and I love the sound. It perfect volume wise only loud when i stomp on it but its louder for everyone else with there windows open then for me. I also had roushes and Magnaflow competition catbacks and borla S types sound the best and loudest.

 

[niterydr]

I pieced together a catback for my roush axle backs. BBK aftercat x, jpc over the axles, and roush axle backs.

The combination sounds great and cost less than a set of borla axle backs. I get compliments all the time.

 

[mattaglover]

I have had all 3.

Borla atak was great with the rest of the exhaust stock. If you do an off road x or h it will be extreamly raspy and sound like you are full throttle at 2000RPM.

Borla s type are too quiet with the rest stock and sound pretty good with the resonators removed. In your case buying the whole catback. They sounded amazing with an offroad x. No drone.

Roush same as the atak. They also rust.

To add one more I now have kooks with off road x and it is by far the best sounding one in my opinion.

My 2cents.

 

[Honest Mike]

All good info, thanks for all your replies!!

Yes, I agree the Borlas seem very expensive, but you only have to buy it once, right? Lol

Yes, I have heard some problems with the Roushs rusting..

I like the Atak too, but judging by YouTube videos, it seems a little too raspy, sort of like an older hot rod car with glass pack mufflers. Never heard it in person, just judging by how it sounds online in videos.

The Roush and S Type are my 2 favorites and I'm leaning towards the S Type..I think..lol

 

[Tech4Dummies]

All good info, thanks for all your replies!!

Yes, I agree the Borlas seem very expensive, but you only have to buy it once, right? Lol

Yes, I have heard some problems with the Roushs rusting..

I like the Atak too, but judging by YouTube videos, it seems a little too raspy, sort of like an older hot rod car with glass pack mufflers. Never heard it in person, just judging by how it sounds online in videos.

The Roush and S Type are my 2 favorites and I'm leaning towards the S Type..I think..lol

The ATAK has a nice little burble when cruising and then it absolutely roars at wide open throttle. I've heard a Borla ATAK catback w/ stock cats in real life, it's not raspy. It snarls. I've never heard an exhaust system for a 5.0 that has better sound quality. Makes the 4v with tiny cams sound like the all-American badass that it is, instead of many of these exhausts that sound odd in one way or another, like the stainless works exhaust? Way too high-pitched and metallic. Flowmasters? I'd rather sodomize myself with a pinecone. You get the idea.

It is worth noting that the ATAK system without cats moves toward the ridiculous side, and it does become somewhat raspy, especially under boost. But i've heard much worse, and it retains that certain American muscle car growl with the rasp, it retains the correct tone, where no other exhaust I've heard can be that raspy without having that ear-piercing tone. I personally would get high-flows at the very most, as far as the cat issue is concerned.

The kind of camera/mic people use for all these YouTube videos differs vastly, and I've seen vids where the ATAK system sounded kinda awful, but I know of one or two videos that sound pretty close to the real thing. I'll see if I can find them real quick.

 

[Tech4Dummies]

Here you go. This is probably the closest i've heard to what it actually sounds like. This guy had the ATAK catback in this video, everything else stock, stock cats, stock shorty headers. Fast forward to 1:58 for a wide open throttle pass. The first part of the video is just a cold start and the second part is some normal driving to give us an idea of how it sounds around town.

[youtube_browser]DFcZLg9JVoM[/youtube_browser]

Pretty sure you can get the ATAK catback from southerncarparts for like $150 off btw.