Which exhaust is better

[BLACK95]

Hey there, I am trying to decide which exhaust to order. What do you guys think of the Borla or the Gibson? I've narrowed it down to these two, but can not decide which one to get. I plan on getting the BBK headers from Truck Performance Center along with the throttle body and mass airflow meter. Do you think it would matter which exhaust you put on?

 

[yob_yeknom]

Borla.
No contest.

They were the pioneers in cat back exhaust systems and are still the best IMO.

 

[RTStork]

Yeah, I'd probably say Borla too, but Gibson makes excellent products also. The price difference would be the deciding factor for me.

 

[X24]

I think Borla is better but you can probably get a custom job done for less. Just get a flow master muffler and have someone bend the pipes.

RTStork... if you dont mind telling me im just wondering what you paid for the dual exhaust. Mine was $450 with a flowmaster 50 dual in/dual out and 2 stainless tips.

 

[Michigander]

If you have the $$, go borla.

I didn't so I bought a flowmaster and had custom pipes made.

 

[MSTNGGUY88]

Correct me if i'm wrong but Dynomax made cat-backs before Borla was around. When I had my 88 stang Dynomax was the only company that sold cat-backs for it.

 

[RTStork]

Originally posted by 98FordX24
RTStork... if you dont mind telling me im just wondering what you paid for the dual exhaust. Mine was $450 with a flowmaster 50 dual in/dual out and 2 stainless tips.

I bought two single in/single out series 40 Flowmasters from Summit for $60ea, then I had a muffler shop weld them in and some 2 1/2" pipes, which was $100, then two 3 1/2" chrome tips for $30, so $250 total.

 

[leenjen]

borla is expensive, but i never heard a complaint about their cat back system. my uncle has a gibson cat back on his ranger and he likes it a lot. it has a real deep sound.

 

[jimbo74]

Originally posted by Michigander
If you have the $$, go borla.

I didn't so I bought a flowmaster and had custom pipes made.

i second that.... i love the way borla sounds....but for the $ like >$200 flowmaster 40 non deltas and custom pipe-single out....i had to have it replaced becuase i hacked it and then needed an inspection later down the road....still total investment was under $220.....it was like $100 for first instal,$70 for muffler, and 50 for the fix to get it legal again after i hacked the first installed pipe due to an accident

 

[leenjen]

so jim, is your explorer totally legal now??

did you put a hood on it?

 

[nosaj122081]

I don't know much about the Gibsons, but I'd probably go for the Borla setup. It's stainless steel and mandrel bent, so you can't go wrong. If you go custom, I had my Mach 1's exhaust done for 200 (duals all the way back, header collectors, H-pipe, 40 series Flows, stainless tips), but its of course alluminized and press-bent.

 

[FROADER]

I love my magnaflo. I just bought the muffler from the shop and had them bend some 2.5" pipes for me. Cost me $150 total. Sounds good, does it's job. No complaints about it.

 

[TSTONE]

QUESTION - I'VE LOOKING AROUND AND READING AND TALKING TO LOCAL MUFFLER SHOPS(INCLUDING ONE LISTED BY FLOWMASTER AS AN INSTALLER), AND GETTING CONFLICTING REPORTS? THE FLOWMASTER APPROVED INSTALLER TOLD ME THAT EVEN IF I HAVE THEM INSTALL THE FLOWMASTER COMPLETE SETUP THAT I REALLY WOULDN'T FEEL A BIG DIFFERENCE BECAUSE OF THE STOCK EXHAUST HEADERS/Y-PIPE & CATS. IS THIS TRUE? IT SEEMS MANY OF YOU HAVE REPORTED A NOTICABLE DIFFERENCE. IN MY AREA EMISSIONS ARE A JOKE SO DROPPING THE CATS ARE NO BIG DEAL, BUT ARE THE FACTORY HEADERS & Y-PIPE STILL GOING TO KILL ANY PERFORMANCE GAIN?

HELP

TODD
P.S. sorry bout the caps my keyboard was stuck

 

[leenjen]

you can get headers to improve the exhaust flow, but removing the cats is a bad idea. it will actually hurt performance on the explorer. it is meant to run with the cats in place. you could try high flow cats, but many people said that the factory cats are just as good.

 

[TSTONE]

thanks for the heads up on the cats. i'm not really interested in doing headers(mainly because of the cost) i just want to do a cat back system, but in 93 i'm told ford dropped the exhuast size down to 2.0"(vs. 2.25" in 92'), and thats why i would see little or no difference - any 93 owners out there that have experienced this?

todd
p.s. i'm still reading the mega-threads and hope to find something there

 

[RTStork]

Originally posted by TSTONE
QUESTION - I'VE LOOKING AROUND AND READING AND TALKING TO LOCAL MUFFLER SHOPS(INCLUDING ONE LISTED BY FLOWMASTER AS AN INSTALLER), AND GETTING CONFLICTING REPORTS? THE FLOWMASTER APPROVED INSTALLER TOLD ME THAT EVEN IF I HAVE THEM INSTALL THE FLOWMASTER COMPLETE SETUP THAT I REALLY WOULDN'T FEEL A BIG DIFFERENCE BECAUSE OF THE STOCK EXHAUST HEADERS/Y-PIPE & CATS. IS THIS TRUE? IT SEEMS MANY OF YOU HAVE REPORTED A NOTICABLE DIFFERENCE. IN MY AREA EMISSIONS ARE A JOKE SO DROPPING THE CATS ARE NO BIG DEAL, BUT ARE THE FACTORY HEADERS & Y-PIPE STILL GOING TO KILL ANY PERFORMANCE GAIN?

The entire exhaust system is restrictive. The converters, the headers and the stock muffler. So if you replace the stock muffler with a free flowing one, you'll free up the power that the stock one was robbing. Probably only 10-15hp, but a gain is a gain. Later on if you decide to do headers, they will just add to the total increase in horsepower. Exhaust mods build on each other. Don't bother with removing the converters as you would probably lose more torque than you would gain in horsepower.