exhaust(ing)


H

HHGT

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BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
I also have both a Heffner H-Pipe and an Accufab X-Pipe and have used them with and without cats. In 6th gear at about 2000 RPM they droan like crazy. It's not the belly pans or anything else, it's the exhaust. What is a droan to one person may be a normal sound to someone else. Bony put an Accufab X-Pipe on his white GT (before he went with the Stainless Works headers) and he proclaimed on this Forum that "it had no droan at all". I thought his X-Pipe might be slightly different than mine and so I went for a ride with him. His droan was WORSE than my GT's. Evidently the component that was different was his ears and tolerance for that droan.

My GT currently has twin turbos, no cats, and a Heffner H-Pipe. It droans. When I put the cats on, it still droans. Without the turbos, it droaned. With every single exhaust I have had on my GT, in every combination, EXCEPT for the stock muffler and the Borla, it droans. If your car doesn't droan to your ears then it doesn't droan. But to someone else's ears, unless you are running a Borla or the stock muffler, it probably does. I have ridden in/driven a huge # of GTs with just about every combo over the last 7 years and I have never come across a single GT that didn't droan EXCEPT for those with the Borla or stock muffler.

Chip

:agree:

The drone is more pronounced with the windows up, for those that ride with the windows down they would say what drone and would probably be right.
 

lumber

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Aug 30, 2011
22
Well I ordered an accufab xpipe today, ill see if thats any better...
 

KJD

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 21, 2005
1,012
Location, Location
Well I ordered an accufab xpipe today, ill see if thats any better...

Great pipe and great value.

But you will still get some drone and even a slightly raspy tone at certain RPMs.

Unavoidable without some very serious engineering and custom effort. Even then ???

Ford engineers nailed the V-8 Mustang's exhaust note, didn't they?
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,060
Las Vegas, NV
How hard is the X-pipe to install? I put on the FRPP muffler but I think it's too quite. I'm not exactly into removing the bonnet to do the exchange though.
 

BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
How hard is the X-pipe to install? I put on the FRPP muffler but I think it's too quite. I'm not exactly into removing the bonnet to do the exchange though.

If you installed the FRPP the X-pipe should be no harder and is probably easier.
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,060
Las Vegas, NV
If you installed the FRPP the X-pipe should be no harder and is probably easier.

Rich installed the FRPP before I got the car. It looks to be pretty buried which is why I was wondering if it can be R&Rd without taking the cover off.
 

Specracer

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Nov 28, 2005
7,088
MA
Pull the air box, (one hose clamp, and 2 10mm bolts), lots of room then. Helpful also if you get the the borla tips off first. While you have the air box out, you can take a peek at the filter elements.
 

MDT

GT Owner
Jun 24, 2006
209
I had the stillen x-pipe put on a few months back. Now I can't drive the car without getting a headache. Both at 70-80 mph in 5th or 6th gear, and last week drove around 35 mph at low rpm with the windows down and ended up with a splitting headache that lasted a long time. I think Chip Beck originally said that a lot of people go back to stock and I agree. I wish I had left alone.
 

Fubar

Totally ****** Up
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 2, 2006
3,979
Dallas, TX
I agree with Chip about the drone. I have had several setups and ridden in several more. Everything but the stock setup had a slight drone at some point in the lower RPM range. It was slight did not bother me or I would have modified it ;) To clarify the term 'drone' a bit, I think it is going to be a low frequency harmonic sound that is transmitted and somewhat amplified by the frame of the car into the driving compartment (low frequency being the key here). I doubt many people would say it was bad enough to change systems... Chip is only stating that it exists and it is to be expected. If a person is used to a very refined driving experience, then the GT may not be their cup of tea to begin with, and certainly not a cat-delete header system. In any case, for the OP, if you have a cat-delete going into a Borla and you are looking for more sound volume then the racing headers are a viable option... so is an X/H-pipe. The end result will come down to personal taste but Chip is a reliable source of information and typically unbiased (sense he is not running any of these combinations, he has no reason to argue perfection for any one system over another)... beyond a simple list of available options, everything here is a matter of opinion.

Personally I like the deep tone a muffler adds to this car. The Borla and the Flowmaster both do a good job making this, very short, exhaust system sound a bit more like a front engine American V8 (for better or worse).
 

Fubar

Totally ****** Up
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 2, 2006
3,979
Dallas, TX
I had the stillen x-pipe put on a few months back. Now I can't drive the car without getting a headache. Both at 70-80 mph in 5th or 6th gear, and last week drove around 35 mph at low rpm with the windows down and ended up with a splitting headache that lasted a long time. I think Chip Beck originally said that a lot of people go back to stock and I agree. I wish I had left alone.

I am sorry to hear you are having problems with your new exhaust system. Do you still have the stock muffler? I have one if you threw yours away. If tinkering with cars is something you care to do, then you might try to add some damping spacers to the points where the exhaust attaches to the frame (this is a completely theoretical suggestion, I have not tried it).
 

BlackICE

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2005
1,416
SF Bay Area in California
I road in Sandman's FGT. He has the same system as Fubar. IMO that is the best compromise of sound. Loud enough to know the car means business, but not too loud to get into your head. I didn't hear any droning which I do with my Accufab.
 

Tiny

GT Owner
Feb 19, 2012
76
Silicon Valley
Hi guys.....was going to stay out of this but what the heck....so I had Shelby do the GTCG x-pipe, no idea what it's like to live with...but I like the sound of straight pipes in a race car and a few cars I ran that way for the street (sorry neighbors)....I never understood the stereo thing in a car like this (no need to respond on that, to each his own)...love listening to an engine for hours....every car I've own that I changed the exhaust system on had drone at some low RPM spot, you could always find sort of an irritating resonate freq drone (for some but not me)...my 997.2 turbo has an interesting exhaust system (among other upgrades)...it has a key fob activated bypass that puts 50% of the muffler out of the way...in that mode if you run around 2k rpm in 6th the drone is like a 1000W silly mo-fo subwoofer in the car and I will invoke that situation on purpose for the unsuspecting passenger....run flat out all the time and guess what no drone in any car/exhaust configuration :)
 

MDT

GT Owner
Jun 24, 2006
209
I am sorry to hear you are having problems with your new exhaust system. Do you still have the stock muffler? I have one if you threw yours away. If tinkering with cars is something you care to do, then you might try to add some damping spacers to the points where the exhaust attaches to the frame (this is a completely theoretical suggestion, I have not tried it).

I asked the mechanic to hang onto it as it wouldn't fit in the GT. Have not been back to Phoenix since to pick it up, or have it re-installed. Still haven't decided what to do but if I don't get used to it will have to go back as I couldn't take a long trip in the car as it is.
 

FENZO

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 7, 2008
1,518
Lafayette, CO
Keep it in a lower gear, I'm not even sure why this car has a 6th gear. More $ in fuel, less $ in aspirin.
 

lumber

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Aug 30, 2011
22
Put on the accufab x with cat delete midpipe and stock manifold. Definitely louder, all around.

I can hear what some would call a drone/resonance/vibration at various points in acceleration,
but it's just the nature of the beast.

I would agree that the borla did sound very clean, but unfortunately left me wanting more volume.
The x pipe does the trick, the car sounds much meaner.
 

rbracing

New member
Sep 22, 2012
2
I see that Ford Racing is selling the M-5230-GT muffler again but at a much increased price
 

Gary

GT Owner
May 11, 2006
471
Festus, Missouri
Have A 2005 GT, yellow all options. Have the Borla racing header from Ford racing. No muffler, just reverse cones/ It's loud. is there a muffler available for this exhaust system?
 

Ed Sims

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 7, 2006
7,853
NorCal
You have no idea what loud is unless you are behind Ralphie's GT!

Ed
 

Gary

GT Owner
May 11, 2006
471
Festus, Missouri
Don't be to sure.