[J. Quality]

i thought the exhaust was da whole thang....now i hear somthin bout the muffler tailpipe and exhaust are all different....someone help.....

whats the part you see hangin out the back

and is the exhaust the only part i need to add performance or do i need aftermarket mufflers and tai pipe

[evintho]

Your exhaust system is just that, a system. It begins with the exhaust manifold which is bolted to the head. Bolted to the bottom portion of the exhaust manifold is the exhaust pipe (probably a foot or two long). Next would be your pre-catalytic converter (if your car has one) which is clamped or welded to the exhaust pipe. Next is more exhaust pipe. Next is the main catalytic converter which helps control emissions. Next is more pipe. Next is the muffler which deadens the noise and finally your tailpipes. The tailpipes are clamped/welded to the end of the muffler and extend back and over your rear axle and exit out the back of the car. That comprises your entire exhaust system.

The part you see 'hangin' out the back' are your tailpipes (not sure if you've got single or duals).

When you hear 'upgrade the exhaust system' that means header or ported exhaust manifold, larger diameter exhaust pipe (all the sections including the tailpipes), high flow catalytic converter (get rid of the pre-cat, you don't need it) and a high flowing muffler.

[J. Quality]

could i convert my single to a dual exhaust

[74stang2togo]

With a 4-cylinder you'd just need a Y-pipe after the muffler to have dual tailpipes (but not much point with a 4-cylinder) or a Y-pipe after the cat to dual mufflers and dual tailpipes (again, not much point in doing it with a 4-cylinder).

On the V8 Mustangs from 86-93, they had a factory dual exhaust system that included factory stainless steel headers, an H-pipe that includes 2 pre-cats, 2 cats, and a crossover pipe, along with the A.I.R. pipe, and two fairly decent flowing mufflers that are fairly quiet. The aftermarket for better components for the V8 cars is so gigantic though that the possible combinations are literally endless and range from the stock 2 1/4" size all the way up into the 3"+ range. I myself have Flowtech 1 5/8" primary with 2.5" exit headers, with a MAC 2.5" off-road(as in, no cats or pre-cats, also as in, not street legal) H-pipe, with Flowtech's Warlock/Stinger 2.5" setup (which is the Warlock mufflers with turndowns at the rear axle instead of tailpipes).

On my 2.3 cars I usually just cheap-out by gutting the factory cat and pre-cat, and installing either a Thrush Turbo Muffler or Thrush Magnum Glasspack on the stock-size pipe, it's a wicked sound (but nothing like the V8 rumble you're probably after, you just can't get that with any 2.3, thought the exhaust sound of 2.3T is pretty mean in it's own right with a good muffler) and the mufflers are all of $20-25 plus either the hardware/tools to install it yourself, or have your local muffler shop do it (shouldn't cost more than $25-55 on average for the turbo muffler, a little more for the glasspack.)