Just bought a 2012 GT

[Mrfoca]

Just bought a 5.0 after months & months of looking around. Wish I would of bought the car sooner. Very fun car.

looking at doing intake and axel back, any recommendations? Was thinking spintech exhaust wise but also seen Mac has a kit.

 

[Weather Man]

Congrats on the purchase.

Check with some of the vendors on here. Good package deals this time of year.

 

[nate714]

I suggest being patient and keeping an eye on the market section of the forum. http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?369-2011-Mustang-GT-and-V6-Parts-Buy-Sell

People sell barely used parts all the time, and it seems like every time I buy a part online, within days I see someone selling the same part cheaper here with minimal use. Or you can use ebay too, I've had amazing luck with both ebay and this forum.

That said, the Ford racing GT 500 axleback is a popular one. Most popular intakes seem to be Airaid, JLT, and Steeda (sorry if I missed a big one). The Airaid intake looks clean and has a MAF tube insert to use the factory tune if you aren't ready to have your engine tuned.

 

[nate714]

for example: http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...NIB-K-amp-N-Aircharger-CAI-with-sealed-airbox

 

[Dig Race]

Congrats on the car! I love my airaid intake! I have spintech super pro 9000s on my fox body and LOVE them, not real big about them on these. Mbrp has a nice cat back for price of most axel backs.

 

[Texas01GT]

I have kooks axlebacks and really like them. For the intake either buy one used or dont do one at all. I have an airaid i can sell to you though

 

[Mrfoca]

I've heard the GT500 is the best Axleback. Was looking at the JLT intakes but it says must use a tune. Why is that ? Don't know how aggressive I'm going to go in this car but I definitely want some sound and intake. I'm coming from a SRT-10 Ram that I modded up pretty heavy. Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

[nate714]

paying full retail for an axle back and intake (especially ford gt500 AB) you can easily spend close to a grand.

The JLT intakes are more aggressive, bigger, MAF tubing and filter, enough change in air flow to mandate an engine tune. Most people with highly tuned engines for drag races etc are probably using JLT. The Airaid is a great middle ground because it comes with the insert I mentioned in the MAF tube to keep factory tolerances, and if you decide later to be a little more aggressive with an engine tune later you can take out the insert. Without a tune, nothing will give you big gains.

Not sure about the '12 GT but the 13/14 have a sound tube running from the factory intake (which is a great intake btw, uses a closed CAI with a small ram air duct). There is also a goofy looking resonator chamber attached to the factory intake that alters the apparent engine sound being piped to the cabin. Any aftermarket CAI ditches the weird boxy resonator resulting in better sound and usually comes with caps to remove the sound tube if you prefer less cabin noise. I kept my sound tube in place with the Airaid CAI and I like it.

No CAI will really impress you without an engine tune, but they are still cool to have and will still yield some improvement. I'd certainly never buy a brand new one, but I love mine.

As for Axleback, listen to sound clips on youtube, and look for used ones. Pretty sure Ford thinks their GT500 muffler is worth $500ish. I got mine from a friend who gave them to me for the cost of 1 hr labor at a muffler shop ($100) because he was already swapping his gt500 mufflers for quad tip gt500 mufflers.

 

[Mrfoca]

paying full retail for an axle back and intake (especially ford gt500 AB) you can easily spend close to a grand.

The JLT intakes are more aggressive, bigger, MAF tubing and filter, enough change in air flow to mandate an engine tune. Most people with highly tuned engines for drag races etc are probably using JLT. The Airaid is a great middle ground because it comes with the insert I mentioned in the MAF tube to keep factory tolerances, and if you decide later to be a little more aggressive with an engine tune later you can take out the insert. Without a tune, nothing will give you big gains.

Not sure about the '12 GT but the 13/14 have a sound tube running from the factory intake (which is a great intake btw, uses a closed CAI with a small ram air duct). There is also a goofy looking resonator chamber attached to the factory intake that alters the apparent engine sound being piped to the cabin. Any aftermarket CAI ditches the weird boxy resonator resulting in better sound and usually comes with caps to remove the sound tube if you prefer less cabin noise. I kept my sound tube in place with the Airaid CAI and I like it.

No CAI will really impress you without an engine tune, but they are still cool to have and will still yield some improvement. I'd certainly never buy a brand new one, but I love mine.

As for Axleback, listen to sound clips on youtube, and look for used ones. Pretty sure Ford thinks their GT500 muffler is worth $500ish. I got mine from a friend who gave them to me for the cost of 1 hr labor at a muffler shop ($100) because he was already swapping his gt500 mufflers for quad tip gt500 mufflers.

Gotcha. The car is pretty much fast enough for me right now kinda looking for some rumble. I'm sure the more serious mods will come with time but for now I'm content with the car. Yes I did see that tunes with the intakes did yield better gains compared to the FIPK kit or something along them lines.

 

[Dig Race]

You need a tune if the maf housing is bigger (most of them are) my car is only intake and a 93 sct can tune. I can say it makes a little more power but it drives 1000 better.

 

[Rct851]

Save your money on the intake. Gt500 axle backs on other wise stock exhausts sounds alright but it is quiet.

 

[nate714]

^resonator delete hehe

 

[stags]

Intake wise, steeda and air aid make great kits. As long as it's tune required gains between kits are negligible. Best bang for your performance buck will be an aed tune.

As for exhaust, these cars are prone to drone. Do it right the first time. I'm a big fan of my corsas but borla sounds great too, both guaranteed no drone

Welcome to the 5.0 club

 

[D1984]

i can tell you one thing, i bought my flowmaster outlaw axleback slightly used on ebay for 150 bucks, and it sounds badass. i get compliments all the time, even from other coyote owners with different aftermarket exhaust who think my car sounds better. however, it has a good amount of drone around 2000 rpm, which i mitigated by putting a beanbag chair in the trunk and deleting the sound tube. it's loud, but not too loud for me. with cat deletes it would be way too loud though

 

[Dig Race]

It's a mustang tho it should be loud it will have some drone it's v8 muscle. If you wanted quiet and comfort you could have got a fusion.

 

[nate714]

It's a mustang tho it should be loud it will have some drone it's v8 muscle. If you wanted quiet and comfort you could have got a fusion.

my brother's el camino has similar flowmasters and had the same complaint. He said he loved it but after an hour of freeway drone it was borderline nauseating. The car does sound amazing when we start it up and rev it, but I wouldn't commute in it lol. The comparison doesn't quite hold up with close to half a century difference in automotive tech, but there is a point where drone is too much. I'd keep the resonators if I had one of the more aggressive mufflers that border on a muffler-delete.

 

[Mrfoca]

I'm shocked at how many replies I've got so far lol.

Okay I went ahead and bought the Heartthrob muffler delete kit. Had a ton of good reviews about it and didn't cost much. I have a short commute to work and I don't mind loud exhaust systems. Think next is going to be the JLT intake and tune. Defiantly appreciate everyone's opinions so far

 

[nate714]

Man way to go jumping from "fast enough for me right now" to the deep end: eyeballing the JLT intakes with tune, I applaud your commitment - you won't be disappointed. I've read posts on here that the JLT's only match up with the factory 80mm throttlebody, but most people agree the bigger TB's are a waste of money. (I got my TB used, so I'm happy).

I have the Heartthrob 3inch H-pipe and over-axle pipes with resonator deletes. The kit needed to be chopped off and wrestled with for the muffler shop to get it to fit. I'd expect to run into fitment issues with any similarly priced kit, making some headache with install, but I love the sound of my heartthrob kit paired with GT500 axleback. In terms of bang for your buck, heartthrob is awesomely priced. Can't comment on durability, it's only been on the car for a month. The shop did a couple spot welds for me because I read reviews of the provided clamps loosening up easily.

 

[Mrfoca]

Man way to go jumping from "fast enough for me right now" to the deep end: eyeballing the JLT intakes with tune, I applaud your commitment - you won't be disappointed. I've read posts on here that the JLT's only match up with the factory 80mm throttlebody, but most people agree the bigger TB's are a waste of money. (I got my TB used, so I'm happy).

I have the Heartthrob 3inch H-pipe and over-axle pipes with resonator deletes. The kit needed to be chopped off and wrestled with for the muffler shop to get it to fit. I'd expect to run into fitment issues with any similarly priced kit, making some headache with install, but I love the sound of my heartthrob kit paired with GT500 axleback. In terms of bang for your buck, heartthrob is awesomely priced. Can't comment on durability, it's only been on the car for a month. The shop did a couple spot welds for me because I read reviews of the provided clamps loosening up easily.

Don't get me wrong man it is fast. But I'm hearing so many people who own these cars tell me about how much more it's capable of. I'm a car guy no doubt

My brother has a 89 with a 347 stroker. My cousin she has a 2012 Shelby and my best friend owns a 04 terminator mystic vert. I'm sure I'll be asking many questions as time goes on

I'll post some pics up soon of the car.

 

[KushBandit]

Another slow car in the making op: lol

Don't waste your money on an aftermarket CAI unless you plan on doing more mods. Even with a tune, the stocker flows just fine. Unless swapping intake manifolds, you won't see gains.

The only CAI that makes more power is the Airraid model, and those are usually mated to a bigger throttle body and intake manifold. Shaun@AED has tested them and posted results here before.

No offense meant, but have you tried searching for these questions? Exhaust and CAI are literally the two most asked questions when it comes to Mustangs.