cat-back...buy or fab up?

[chris@borla]

Originally Posted by axis

Then you'll have to fab up your own or wait another year, until the "hotness" has worn down.

Even when the hotness wears down the prices will be the same. Heck axle backs for 05 up Mustangs have stayed the same and some have gone up. If any of you guys are interested in the S type axle back let me know. I will put something together for you guys.

[Johnny1]

Thanks bpoirier

[chappy48]

Originally Posted by caverman

Yes...but it's the removal of the factory H-Pipe and using an X-Pipe in it's place that's going to give you the HP gain plus better throttle response.

I'm not an expert on the topic but go look at say MBRP's site. They have dynos of 20 rwhp and 24 rwtq. I think Borla was showing basically the same thing.

So...it's not the muffler that's making the difference, which is why the axle-back doesn't increase HP, but it's the X-Pipe that's making your difference.

All that is beyond the decrease of weight and manderal bent pipes.

Ted at Jannetty Racing has dyno'd cars, before and after cat-back installs and has seen no gain. I would be skeptical of manufactures claims. A lot of it is marketing. Instead talk to independent shops that have no connections to the companies that manufacture these parts. I would trust their word over the manufacturers.

[Iwantone2]

From experience, I went to a muffler shop and had them do my exhaust. X-pipe, 2.5" pipe, Magnaflow mufflers all for $500. Gained a good 10 hp over stock. L99

[toehead93]

That sounds right, about the same price as an axle abck but with the benifit of an x-pipe.

[Edrock]

Fab up. That's what I did and used the savings to get DT shorty headers to boot...all installed for the price of some of the catbacks solutions out there. Good luck.

[JDP Motorsports]

The HUGE advantage to a manufactured Cat-Back is the mandrel-bent piping. Most muffler shops don't have a mandrel-bender laying around, they use compression bends which disrupt flow. The other advantage to a manufactured cat-back is they will try different combination to get the X-Pipe in the correct location in relation to the engine for optimal performance. I know Magnaflow for instance will try 20+ different combo's to find the right set up. An engine is basically an air pump, the more efficiently you pull air in and get it out the more HP, Torque and fuel mileage you'll get.

The Magnaflow 3" 16483 for instance was designed using a blown Camaro because they know people buying the 3" systems will be making a considerable amount of power.

Another thing that I find interesting is some of the X-Pipes out there. Example # 1 is a True X-Pipe and the exhaust pulses work as an extractor or vacuum if you will and it help the exhaust move out.



This example is much cheaper to produce but it doesn't offer the same benefits and can sometime create turbulence as do H-Pipes.



So far as pricing goes you can get a Magnaflow System for basically the same price as the other less expensive offerings and you'll have a much better system. If you're interested just let me know. We can also get the components (X-Pipe, Mufflers) at a great price.

Please feel free to call, email or PM me anytime with questions!

Kind regards,

[Gunmetal]

well said