I just installed this exhaust system on my sons car. I consider myself to be way above average when it comes to car skills. This exhaust system took 15mins to remove the original exhaust and close to 5hrs put in the new one on. I’ve have never seen something so poorly designed. It was initially impossible to get the tailpipes to line up and slide into the mufflers. If we unhooked the shocks and lowered the differential. The driveshaft would push the entire muffler/y-pipe down. If we pushed the axle up we didn’t have enough clearance to get the tailpipes into the mufflers. We end up having to disconnect the driveshaft and push it up out of the way so we could push the Axle down enough to get enough clearance. Then once we got everything loosely put together. We found that the passenger side hanger near the muffler was in the wrong place and we couldn’t get the tailpipe in enough because the hanger was in the way. So now the passenger side tailpipe rubs on the axle tube. When I called Holley/Flowmaster they advised to remove the system and send it back and they would replace. That sending out a new tailpipe wasn’t an option. This was after 6hrs of installation. This isn’t my first cat back system I’ve installed, probably up to 10 installs. This by far was the worst system I’ve ever done. Flowmaster customer service was brutal and this will be my last flowmaster purchase. This was done in my garage which I have a full lift, axle stands and every tool you could possibly need. So either I got one bad system or American Muscle is skipping some steps in their installation video. The car that this system was installed on was on a 2004 Mustangs with less than 30Ks on it. The only mods to the car are a ST 1/2” lowering spring, that’s it. The car is Pristine and in almost new condition. To clear the axle tube, we end up bending the passenger side tailpipe a bit to give it some clearance around the axle tube. That being said. With this system when you lift your car up on a lift. The full weight of the drive line. Differential and driveshaft will be resting on the rubber hangers of the exhaust system. Not a good design. If I knew what I was getting into I would of never told my son to go with the Flowmaster system. I wish I could post pictures of the clearance and design issues. At the end of the day my son is happy to have an exhaust system on his car. What good Dads do for their kids 😀
Just got mine delivered today and immediately came to check the comments. I cannot BELIEVE how poorly this thing is engineered. Here's a look at the issue I'm facing imgur.com/a/hAyD1zW In picture 1 you can see that the pipe is fitted into the muffler, but does not slide on far enough so that we can get the muffler onto the cat (picture 2). I know the instructions suggest "loosely mounting" the muffler but they can go F themselves with that recommendation. Doing so only makes it more impossible.
😂😂😂 I like the part wen he say gotta use your head an he really was using his head for the tail pipe to rest on. But great video I will save lots of money now that I know how to install.
On American muscle it says this exhaust fits a 97 though the video says 99-05 so I’m scared to buy it, any thoughts from people with more knowledge then me
@@ghostfacekilllahh There's nothing "wrong with an X-pipe." There's quite often a whole lot wrong with how enthusiasts use them. Speaking in broad generalities, an X-pipe tends to promote high rpm horsepower at the expense of preserving factory levels of low to mid range torque. The Essex 3.8 isn't a high rpm engine. It's a relic. It's the pinnacle of early 1960's 90-degree "V," single cam-in-block, pushrod actuated, two overhead valves per cylinder technology. It's more like a truck engine than a Eurpoean or Japanese sport car engine. Thank God. The Mustang Aftermarket is populated with far more salesmen than fellow members of the Society of Automotive Engineers. They want to sell you stuff. Whether you need it or not is irrelevant to them. So is whether it actually provides meaningful gains over stock. There is a particular Mustang vendor who shall remain nameless and who habitually spreads the lie of the "cheap, restrictive Y pipe exhaust" on the 3.8 New Edge Mustangs. They lie every single time they use that kind of language. You don't have to fall for that lie. You have a brain. Ford literally spent tens of millions of dollars developing the split-port heads for the 3.8 Essex in the New Edge Mustangs. They spent money on welded tubular exhaust manifolds. They spent money on using two catalysts per bank of cylinders. Do we REALLY think that same engineering team was stupid enough to do all of that, only to squander potential gains through a "cheap, restrictive Y-pipe"? Those split-port heads were a major engineering feat at the time they were developed, but the principle behind them is a simple one of maintaining high gas flow velocity throughout the operational rpm range of the engine. That's exactly what the stock Y-pipe exhaust system is designed to do. It is designed to promote high gas velocity throughout the operational rpm range of the engine and, like the split-port heads, it does exactly what it was designed to do. Here's reality: a single 2.5" inside-diameter pipe can provide unrestricted flow of more gas than a 3.8 liter engine making 195 horsepower with a 5,250 -5,500 rpm limit can produce. That's not an "opinion." That's applied mathematics. Unlike certain Mustang vendors, math doesn't lie. The stock muffler IS restrictive, compared to louder aftermarket alternatives: a concession made to customers who don't want to hear their car running while they use it for mundane "car things" like commuting to work. The Y-pipe isn't and it can't be as long as math says that a single 2.5" inside diameter pipe can flow all the gas a 3.8 liter engine making 195 hp on a 5,250 to 5,500 rpm limit can make. With X-pipes, where the "X" is relative to the exhaust ports and tailpipe outlets matters, but that's too complicated to explain here. I mention it because how I had my exhaust set up kind of was an X. I retained a catted, O.E.M. X-pipe (Walker brand, new with fresh cats). I modded that to smooth the 2:1 merge. I did the same thing to the now discontinued Dynomax single in, dual out exhaust system that I used. My car made 215 naturally aspirated horsepower running that system. I doubt the little mods I did actually added much and I suspect I'd have had the same result if I just ran a fresh unmodded Y pipe, and bolted the unmodded single in, dual out exhaust system to it, and called it a day. Likewise, I'd have probably had the same result by simply ditching the stock muffler for a single Walker Super Turbo and saved about 40 pounds of weight in the process. Still, even with the catted stock type Y pipe I ran, that's 20 hp over stock and 7 or 8 of it came from an exhaust system that, according to a certain Mustang vendor or two, isn't supposed to "add any power." And it didn't add power; it just didn't take any away like the stock muffler does, for very valid reasons. The restriction isn't in the Y pipe. It's in the stock muffler, which has to be chosen to appeal to new car buyers who don't want to hear their car running. Back when New Edge Mustangs really were new, Kenny Brown did a version called the "3.8 Special" that was meant to be a turn-key club level road racer; an old school sport car that you drove to the track, raced, and drove home. Those typically dyno at around 215 hp, with the stock Y-pipe retained in the exhaust system. I basically did to my car what Kenny Brown's shop did to those "3.8 Specials" back in the day. I have nothing against X-pipes. I used an X-pipe system on a '66 Mustang GT I used in wheel to wheel road racing way back in the wayback when. But that had a built 289 that would hit 7,000 rpm in top gear. The engine and exhaust system in that case complimented each other. Unless you're going to make a 90 degree V6 wind up to six grand and beyond, I don't see any valid performance reason, from an engineering standpoint, to run an X pipe on one of these cars. Moreover, I don't see any valid reason to try to make a 90-degree V6 a high-winding engine that it essentially doesn't really want to be. The truck-like nature of this engine is the charm to me. It's what makes it feel bigger than it is. It's the flat torque curve and the ability to get about as much torque as the stock suspension architecture can make use of in street,autocross, or HPDE event / open track day road course driving. In modding it, my personal goal was to embrace what it was and not try to force it to be something it wasn't. That's what running X-pipes on these cars is to me: it's trying to force the engine into being something that it isn't and "dicking up" what it is in the process. H-pipes, by the way, assuming a properly-sized exhaust system, would preserve the torque curve of these engines, too, but the key is "properly sized" which, according to my math, available pre-fab stuff in the aftermarket isn't. There's a whole lot of stuff people do to these cars out of ignorance that dick them up, from aftermarket "cold air intake systems" that in many cases make less continuous power than the stock system does, to staggered tire and wheel set ups that exacerbate the problems caused by the mismatched front and rear theoretical roll centers of these cars, to lowering kits that actually cause worse handling, to more than that besides, including exhaust mods that don't make sound engineering sense.
Shop This Flowmaster Force II Dual Cat-Back Exhaust: muscle.am/2Grsdhi
Subscribe For Daily New Mustang Videos: muscle.am/SubscribeAMyt
I just installed this exhaust system on my sons car. I consider myself to be way above average when it comes to car skills. This exhaust system took 15mins to remove the original exhaust and close to 5hrs put in the new one on. I’ve have never seen something so poorly designed. It was initially impossible to get the tailpipes to line up and slide into the mufflers. If we unhooked the shocks and lowered the differential. The driveshaft would push the entire muffler/y-pipe down. If we pushed the axle up we didn’t have enough clearance to get the tailpipes into the mufflers. We end up having to disconnect the driveshaft and push it up out of the way so we could push the Axle down enough to get enough clearance. Then once we got everything loosely put together. We found that the passenger side hanger near the muffler was in the wrong place and we couldn’t get the tailpipe in enough because the hanger was in the way. So now the passenger side tailpipe rubs on the axle tube. When I called Holley/Flowmaster they advised to remove the system and send it back and they would replace. That sending out a new tailpipe wasn’t an option. This was after 6hrs of installation. This isn’t my first cat back system I’ve installed, probably up to 10 installs. This by far was the worst system I’ve ever done. Flowmaster customer service was brutal and this will be my last flowmaster purchase. This was done in my garage which I have a full lift, axle stands and every tool you could possibly need.
So either I got one bad system or American Muscle is skipping some steps in their installation video. The car that this system was installed on was on a 2004 Mustangs with less than
30Ks on it. The only mods to the car are a ST 1/2” lowering spring, that’s it. The car is Pristine and in almost new condition.
To clear the axle tube, we end up bending the passenger side tailpipe a bit to give it some clearance around the axle tube. That being said. With this system when you lift your car up on a lift. The full weight of the drive line. Differential and driveshaft will be resting on the rubber hangers of the exhaust system. Not a good design. If I knew what I was getting into I would of never told my son to go with the Flowmaster system. I wish I could post pictures of the clearance and design issues.
At the end of the day my son is happy to have an exhaust system on his car. What good Dads do for their kids 😀
What year is his car may I ask?
@@dereklight4804 2004
Just got mine delivered today and immediately came to check the comments. I cannot BELIEVE how poorly this thing is engineered.
Here's a look at the issue I'm facing imgur.com/a/hAyD1zW
In picture 1 you can see that the pipe is fitted into the muffler, but does not slide on far enough so that we can get the muffler onto the cat (picture 2). I know the instructions suggest "loosely mounting" the muffler but they can go F themselves with that recommendation. Doing so only makes it more impossible.
😂😂😂 I like the part wen he say gotta use your head an he really was using his head for the tail pipe to rest on. But great video I will save lots of money now that I know how to install.
The American Thunder Catback system with the Pacesetter H-Pipe adapter sounds a million times better. It’s what I have on my 02
Hey I'm searching for exhausts for my 6 your setup has me curious. Perhaps you could post an exhaust video
Long tube headers ?
Hey will it fit on a v6?
I must have 4 my 99 Ford Mustang
Is there a gasket required between the cat and the Y pipe? I don't see on the parts list that one is included in the kit.
Does this exhaust add any hp to the mustang?
There not as loud as those MAC cats you guys have on the site.
On American muscle it says this exhaust fits a 97 though the video says 99-05 so I’m scared to buy it, any thoughts from people with more knowledge then me
Can this exhaust system come with turn down tips?
Is there a way you Can you do this with a pypes x pipe?
Why would you want an X-pipe?
@@jerroldshelton9367 this is old but what is wrong with an x pipe?
@@ghostfacekilllahh There's nothing "wrong with an X-pipe."
There's quite often a whole lot wrong with how enthusiasts use them.
Speaking in broad generalities, an X-pipe tends to promote high rpm horsepower at the expense of preserving factory levels of low to mid range torque.
The Essex 3.8 isn't a high rpm engine. It's a relic. It's the pinnacle of early 1960's 90-degree "V," single cam-in-block, pushrod actuated, two overhead valves per cylinder technology. It's more like a truck engine than a Eurpoean or Japanese sport car engine.
Thank God.
The Mustang Aftermarket is populated with far more salesmen than fellow members of the Society of Automotive Engineers. They want to sell you stuff. Whether you need it or not is irrelevant to them. So is whether it actually provides meaningful gains over stock.
There is a particular Mustang vendor who shall remain nameless and who habitually spreads the lie of the "cheap, restrictive Y pipe exhaust" on the 3.8 New Edge Mustangs.
They lie every single time they use that kind of language.
You don't have to fall for that lie. You have a brain.
Ford literally spent tens of millions of dollars developing the split-port heads for the 3.8 Essex in the New Edge Mustangs.
They spent money on welded tubular exhaust manifolds.
They spent money on using two catalysts per bank of cylinders.
Do we REALLY think that same engineering team was stupid enough to do all of that, only to squander potential gains through a "cheap, restrictive Y-pipe"?
Those split-port heads were a major engineering feat at the time they were developed, but the principle behind them is a simple one of maintaining high gas flow velocity throughout the operational rpm range of the engine.
That's exactly what the stock Y-pipe exhaust system is designed to do. It is designed to promote high gas velocity throughout the operational rpm range of the engine and, like the split-port heads, it does exactly what it was designed to do.
Here's reality: a single 2.5" inside-diameter pipe can provide unrestricted flow of more gas than a 3.8 liter engine making 195 horsepower with a 5,250 -5,500 rpm limit can produce.
That's not an "opinion." That's applied mathematics. Unlike certain Mustang vendors, math doesn't lie.
The stock muffler IS restrictive, compared to louder aftermarket alternatives: a concession made to customers who don't want to hear their car running while they use it for mundane "car things" like commuting to work.
The Y-pipe isn't and it can't be as long as math says that a single 2.5" inside diameter pipe can flow all the gas a 3.8 liter engine making 195 hp on a 5,250 to 5,500 rpm limit can make.
With X-pipes, where the "X" is relative to the exhaust ports and tailpipe outlets matters, but that's too complicated to explain here.
I mention it because how I had my exhaust set up kind of was an X. I retained a catted, O.E.M. X-pipe (Walker brand, new with fresh cats). I modded that to smooth the 2:1 merge. I did the same thing to the now discontinued Dynomax single in, dual out exhaust system that I used.
My car made 215 naturally aspirated horsepower running that system. I doubt the little mods I did actually added much and I suspect I'd have had the same result if I just ran a fresh unmodded Y pipe, and bolted the unmodded single in, dual out exhaust system to it, and called it a day. Likewise, I'd have probably had the same result by simply ditching the stock muffler for a single Walker Super Turbo and saved about 40 pounds of weight in the process.
Still, even with the catted stock type Y pipe I ran, that's 20 hp over stock and 7 or 8 of it came from an exhaust system that, according to a certain Mustang vendor or two, isn't supposed to "add any power." And it didn't add power; it just didn't take any away like the stock muffler does, for very valid reasons.
The restriction isn't in the Y pipe. It's in the stock muffler, which has to be chosen to appeal to new car buyers who don't want to hear their car running.
Back when New Edge Mustangs really were new, Kenny Brown did a version called the "3.8 Special" that was meant to be a turn-key club level road racer; an old school sport car that you drove to the track, raced, and drove home. Those typically dyno at around 215 hp, with the stock Y-pipe retained in the exhaust system. I basically did to my car what Kenny Brown's shop did to those "3.8 Specials" back in the day.
I have nothing against X-pipes. I used an X-pipe system on a '66 Mustang GT I used in wheel to wheel road racing way back in the wayback when. But that had a built 289 that would hit 7,000 rpm in top gear. The engine and exhaust system in that case complimented each other.
Unless you're going to make a 90 degree V6 wind up to six grand and beyond, I don't see any valid performance reason, from an engineering standpoint, to run an X pipe on one of these cars. Moreover, I don't see any valid reason to try to make a 90-degree V6 a high-winding engine that it essentially doesn't really want to be.
The truck-like nature of this engine is the charm to me. It's what makes it feel bigger than it is. It's the flat torque curve and the ability to get about as much torque as the stock suspension architecture can make use of in street,autocross, or HPDE event / open track day road course driving.
In modding it, my personal goal was to embrace what it was and not try to force it to be something it wasn't.
That's what running X-pipes on these cars is to me: it's trying to force the engine into being something that it isn't and "dicking up" what it is in the process.
H-pipes, by the way, assuming a properly-sized exhaust system, would preserve the torque curve of these engines, too, but the key is "properly sized" which, according to my math, available pre-fab stuff in the aftermarket isn't.
There's a whole lot of stuff people do to these cars out of ignorance that dick them up, from aftermarket "cold air intake systems" that in many cases make less continuous power than the stock system does, to staggered tire and wheel set ups that exacerbate the problems caused by the mismatched front and rear theoretical roll centers of these cars, to lowering kits that actually cause worse handling, to more than that besides, including exhaust mods that don't make sound engineering sense.
@@jerroldshelton9367 how long did it take u to write all that out 🤯
@@ghostfacekilllahh Less than ten minutes. I type fairly fast for an old geezer.