Best catback system?

hooligan98 · 05-11-2006

I am looking for some suggestions on which catback system I should buy. I have a 2.5" off-road H-pipe and the rest is stock. I want to gain as much power as possible, have good sound outside the car but not extremely loud inside. Does anybody know about the system made by Ford Racing? My first thoughts were to go with Flowmasters, but I dont know what kind is best suited for me (American Thunder, Force II or Force III).

itali83 · 05-11-2006

I have the american thunder series (40 series mufflers) with an o/r h-pipe and absalutely love it!!! Flows are the best sounding muffler to me and with the open h-pipe they really roar. It is loud when you put the hammer down but once you get it in 5th and on the highway, you can definitly have a conversation with a passenger without having to yell or anything. To me it's just right, loud enough, but any louder and it'd probably be annoying.

jjgt06 · 05-12-2006

i agree ben, flowmasters are the best bang for the buck,and are great sounding without be to loud only when you want them to wake up and bark,, sounds like a great system to me i would go with the american thunder series too! good luck, jj

RadzStang · 05-12-2006

I have the MagnaFlow catbacks and they have a loud deep sound to them. I really like the sound of them and I have had a lot of comments that my car sounds excellent. People turn their heads when I'm coming down the road. My neighbor told me it sounds like thunder when I start my car up. So I can't say how good the Flowmasters are because I like mine too much. I may be mistaken on this but I thought I read somewhere that the MagnaFlow's offer the best performance gain for the exhaust.

So Money · 05-12-2006

flowmaster all the way man. I got them and I love em - sounds awesome and the chicks love it. OH yeah!!!

STONECOLD · 05-12-2006

I have the flows as well and like the sound but I also like the SLP Loud Mouth cat-back, I think it sounds great.

hooligan98 · 05-12-2006

Did you guys notice any difference in performance with the Flowmasters?

itali83 · 05-12-2006

I honestly don't think you'll feel any difference no matter what cat back system you get. The original system isn't that restrictive to make a difference when you put an aftermarket system on. Now I did notice a difference when I put my o/r h-pipe on but that's another animal in itself.

carguy1985 · 05-12-2006

people argue flowmaster doesnt flow as good as the competition, but i love the way they sound, sometime mines can be to loud but.... eh what the hell

hooligan98 · 05-20-2006

Would a aftermarket catback system make more of a difference than shorty or long tube headers?

GTStang31 · 05-20-2006

Shorty Headers offer minimal hp gains. Long tubes are great but if you keep the rest of your exhaust stock it wont make a difference. I would suggest starting from the back and make your way foward. For example order a cat-back system now and when you have enough cash saved up order the mid pipes. Then last do the Headers. If your going to go with long tubes you probably want to order the headers and mid pipes at the same time because they take a shorter type of mid pipes. As far as performance gains, they are all pretty much equal except a few hp/tq. SLP's are REALLY!!!! loud while Flowmasters provide the well known Mustang rumble. Magnaflows are also a straight through muffler like the SLPs but are quiter then flowmasters. Bassani probably makes the best exhaust components and are also very expensive.

tkb01029 · 05-20-2006

I put a S/S Magnapack cat back system on my 2003 GT GT convertible - also have Saleen series IV supercharger... the sound, well it does have several sweet spots mostly above 3/4 throttle in the 3000+ rpm range. For just tooling around or cruising down the road, in that case the sound becomes quite fatiguing. As far as any performance boost - I have not dyno'd with the Magnapack cat-back system. The stock headers, h-pipe and cats are still in-place, so whatever HP gains might be I am sure it is only slight.

Good luck - if I knew then what I know now... would have gone for quieter system.

Jokers97GT · 05-20-2006

I have the Magnaflow Magnapacks catback on my PI headed 97 GT and I love the sound of it. It has more of a race car sound where Flows have more of a old muscle car sound. The best thing to do is visit the websites of Magnaflow, Flowmaster, ect and listen the their sound bits and decide for yourself. Everybody has flows and I wanted something different. Also the Magnaflow kit is more expensive but it is made with SS pipes and polished mufflers so they look better and last longer than most systems.