5.0 exhaust question

No, you did not loose horsepower. I have the same car...same setup. What you need now is a good set of headers and you will love how much better it sounds. You will pick up a few extra ponies as well.

Don Manning

i think it IS possible to lose power on the lower end.. i have a 95gt.. i had just cats and no mufflers.. it was cool.. i added 40 series flowmasters, it took off from the line even quicker.. then i took everything off and ran straight pipes from the headers... low end SUCKS now... higher rpm power is nicer but low end blows.. i put my cats back on and im good now.. id like to have my mufflers back on but i like the sound without them...

You didn't lose horsepower, but you did lose a ton of low end torque, which is why your car is now bogging down when you take off from a stop. High flow exhausts are only useful for high revving engines, which the 5.0 ain't. Another little plus from those Flowmasters is that annoying drone which occurs at cruising speeds. On a sustained uphill climb it is loud enough to cause your brains to drain out your ears! Go to Midas and have weld end their Mustang specific turbos. If that doesn't work put in a catco 2.25" H pipe with cats. ( Or if you still have them put your original cats back on.)

With the freed up exhaust, you lost some low-end torque. I did this to my old '87 LX and got the same feeling -- the car was lazy down low, but pulled harder up top. The best way to offset this loss is to add gears. 3.55s are my favorites for a street car, 3.27s if you do a lot of highway driving.

Going catless is certainly the cheapest route. However, it isn't the most responsible way to go. (Clean air is important.) The "best way", IMO, is a set of shorties headers, Bassani X-pipe with cats and from what I hear a Bassani cat-back.

Patrick '93 Cobra '83 LTD