Exhaust suggestions

Cobra 01

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Hello all,
I have an 01 cobra still with stock exhaust. I am looking at putting a new set up my car this year. I have looked at a bunch of h & x pipes along with cat-backs and I am having a hard time deciding on which ones to go with. I do not want an exhaust that does all the cracking and popping (can't stand that). I am looking for that old school muscle car sound and growl. Ive looked at borla, magnaflow, flowmaster just to name a few. Does anyone have any suggestions?
 

tones_RS3

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Have you done a Youtube search??
Search the year Mustang you have with Flowmaster or Borla, etc. Probably your best bet.
 

FIREBALL

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Ive gone through this with mine, first I went with Flowmasters, then I went with Magnaflows. I wanted that old school sound like you do. But after trying those and doing other research and Utube I finally came to the conclusion that you cant get that old school rumble from our engines. The biggest reason why is there are not enough cubic inches and after that its the 4 valves per cylinder and cam timing. The Flowmasters are louder than the Magnaflows and they both only have a slightly better idle sound than stock. The other problem is and it will be a problem with any straight thru muffler including Borla is that there is the dreaded 1900 to 2200 rpm drone that reverberates through the interior.

On our cars the straight thru mufflers have more of a raspy scream than a roar or rumble. So for now I have gone back to my stock mufflers----they really do sound pretty good and with no drone. You will definitely be louder with the straight thru mufflers but they are not going to sound old school. I know that this is not what you want to hear--I didnt either but it is the reality of it. Someone here might try to say that you can get the sound you want with one of the straight thrus but if they do then they dont know what old school sounds like. There is a difference between just being louder compared to old school rumble.

Flowmasters arent completely straight thru but their baffles dont do much and they have no
sound deadening material. Flowmasters are old school but they dont sound old school on our cars.

H pipes like stock will give you slightly more rumble than an Xpipe, but Xpipe will give you very slightly more H.P. The stock H pipes are small in diameter I have thought about going with a bigger one but dont know if that would do anything for sound?
 
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scottydsntknow

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Go to a Mustang show. Or google/forum search exhaust threads, you'll find thousands of them dating back to 2001 or older. The only one who can answer this question is you. Someone here could tell you 100% go with X brand and everyone will agree but you might think it sounds like shit.
 

FIREBALL

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I am looking for that old school muscle car sound and growl.

Above is what the O.P has described and wants for sound. The old school muscle car rumble and growl can not be had from a stock or nearly stock 4.6. The only possibility for that sound from a 4.6 might be to bore, stroke and cam it.
 

GodStang

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Above is what the O.P has described and wants for sound. The old school muscle car rumble and growl can not be had from a stock or nearly stock 4.6. The only possibility for that sound from a 4.6 might be to bore, stroke and cam it.

I am cammed, bored, and stroked, and my car still does not sound like old school. These are mod motors not push rod motors. Each person will have their own likes and hates for exhaust setups. For the most part 96-04 4V Mustangs will sound close when having the same exhaust setups. So you can get an idea off of youtube. It does not have to be exactly the same year.
 

FIREBALL

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^Now there is someone who knows old school sound and now we know it cant be had with our motors.^
---notice in my comment I said it might help to bore, stroke and cam it--- but your testimony settles it---
 

blownstang4.6

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Vrs o/r x pipe and Flowmaster on my Mach. You won't really get the muscle car sound from a straight thru muffler. JBA also makes a chambered muffler. I had their chambered stainless cat back on my GT with an MRT H pipe and really liked it. The JBA cat back is getting hard to find, but there are still a few places that carry it. Mac also makes a chambered muffler.
 
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FIREBALL

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You dont get (muscle) old school sound from Flowmasters and other aftermarket baffled mufflers either, what you get is LOUDER but not old school sound. And you also get the bad 2000rpm drone.
 

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