[Retiredone]

My dealer installed the FRPP dual exhaust and cai today. The car does run significantly smoother with smoother shifts but other than that the performance gain is no more than slight. The sticker with the cai said 91 octane, but the dealer said 93 is fine, which is good since most gas here is 93 octane.

Now the negatives. There is a rattle or noisy vibration on the left side of the car at certain rpm's or when the motor is under a certain amount of stress. First it came from the front of the car and I thought it was detonating, but then it started coming from the rear and I realized something is rattling in the exhaust. It could have easily been missed in the test drive since it occurs intermittently. I will go back to the dealer tomorrow.

With regard to the exhaust itself, it is relatively quiet outside the car, which is fine with me, but there is a drone inside the car at 70 mph. I can live with it since this isn't my daily driver but clearly the performance of the car doesn't match the noise level in the car. Maybe an XCharger is in my future.

Finally, the metal trim pieces that cover the cut-outs in the bumper (or whatever you call it these days) don't fit flush on the car. There is a noticable gap in each with one much worse than the other. I think the dealer was afraid to screw them down tighter for fear of cracking the paint, but I may try that anyway. I think a GT takeoff may also be in my future.

[stlwagon]

Did you have the Ford Racing tune installed too? Running anything but 87 without a tune isn't going to do you any good.

[Retiredone]

Originally Posted by stlwagon

Did you have the Ford Racing tune installed too? Running anything but 87 without a tune isn't going to do you any good.

Yes, the tune was installed. I had between 1/4 and 1/2 tank of 87 octane gas when I took it in and I filled it the rest of the way up with 93 octane. I'm sure performance will improve slightly when I get all premium gas in it. The car runs much smoother and shifts much smoother now, I just haven't seen a significant power boost; but perhaps I was just expecting too much.

With regard to the rattle or vibration I was getting yesterday in the left side exhaust, I couldn't duplicate it this morning. This is odd because it did it all the way home yesterday with even a moderate amount of stress on the exhaust. I'm going to wait to take it back and drive it over the weekend to see if it does it again. If it does, I'll take it back Monday.

Cruiser

[EVANLA_33]

The gains will be noticeable but not huge like a supercharger or turbo but it should free her up a fair bit. I can notice it on mine, pulls better & seems to want to go & I still dont have my muffler yet. Just a Diablo tuner & CAI for Injen.

[EVANLA_33]

that noise wouldn't be the intake hitting the hood?

[longalan2]

when ford retuned your computer for your upgrades, they gave you a very mellow tune. if you get a tuner from diablo sport they can give you a more aggressive tune. it's not hard to do and you can always reflash and make adjustments to the program so you can get more mods in the future.

[Retiredone]

Originally Posted by EVANLA_33

that noise wouldn't be the intake hitting the hood?

No, that isn't it. It's coming from underneath the car. I crawled up under there and everything seems to be really tight. I can't find anything that is loose; yet every now and then, always during acceleration, this sound comes up from underneath the left front. Sort of a brrrrrr sound, like something is vibrating heavily. It lasts for 3-4 seconds or so. I can also feel a very slight vibration at all times through the left foot rest. That wasn't there before the exhaust change.

In addition to this sound, every now and then when I hit a bump I get a clank like two pots being banged together. Usually it comes from the left rear of the car, but sometimes from the left front too. I try to go over speed bumps to recreate this with no success, but then I will hit a small bump and there it is.

Instead of going back to the Ford dealer at this time, I'm going to stop by a local muffler shop next week and have someone who deals with exhaust systems all the time take a look.

[Retiredone]

Originally Posted by longalan2

when ford retuned your computer for your upgrades, they gave you a very mellow tune. if you get a tuner from diablo sport they can give you a more aggressive tune.

I've already thought about getting a different tuner, both for now and into the future. I was thinking about calling Bama Chips and talking with them about just how much of an improvement they could give me over the Ford tune.

[mysticalsnake]

if you have a buddy that can do this, put it on a lift...if not get the car in the air and crawl under it. look at your spare tire well and see if the driver's side exhaust pipe is hitting it. We had the same problem with a rattle under certain conditions in my G/F's 05 V6. Go ahead and check the passenger side also, but our problem was with the driver's side, but check both just in case

[bldr52]

I appreciated your post on my thread, Retiredone. The mechanics at my dealer were messing around with the exhaust today while installing my T-lock. They determined that the bolt securing the last hanger on the driver's side was striking the bumper under certain road conditions. They put a heavy rubber cap on the end of the bolt to see if that diminished the problem. If noise persists, they plan on shortening the bolt a little. I was happy before, and am happier now.