Exhaust "grace" period

[POINTCOVER]

How long are you guys waiting to install exhaust mods? I'm talking mileage here. Thanks

 

[Blackcobra]

The Mustang tuners at Springfield Motorsports (Jon Dega's place in Northern VA) said no particular time was necessary, but that if you were erring on the side of caution then they would put 1000 to 1500 on a car and change the oil (and oil filter of course) once or twice during that time before doing mods. Since $36K was a lot of money to me I'm going to err on the side of caution... so I changed the oil at 600 miles and will change it one more time in that 1000 to 1500 range and then immediately start modding. How about you?

 

[VintagePorscheG]

I had mine about 10 days or 800 miles when I changed mine... Oh yeah and I cleaned up the stock one and wrapped it up in the shipping materials from the aftermarket and stowed it in the attic... You never know...

 

[lethal]

Vintage, do you enjoy your fr-500? I'm still seriously looking at it for a bolt on easy breather...

I guess I'm looking for long term impressions. My car has a build week of 9/16, so hopefully I'll be in the owners club soon.

Oh, drove my co-workers 03, just got it, 250 miles... wow, it is a sweet car, completely netural when I was forced to get on the brakes. =)

 

[LIGHTNING LARRY]

I changed my exhaust the second day I had my L.:thumbsup:

 

[Fred G]

Hey Lethal,

The FR500 worked out well for me. I picked up 11.5 HP over stock (average) which, from what I’ve seen recently, might be a little less than a Magnaflow or Mac C-B. Among other things, I went with the FR500 because its not too loud…sounds pretty much like a stock ‘01 Snake. If you need the sound though, on Saturday at Mustang Magic, I had the opportunity to hear just about aftermarket exhaust available, and based on a happy medium (which I know is pretty subjective) think I might give the nod to the Magnaflows. Like the FR500, I believe the Bassani and Magnaflow are also stainless, and thus pretty pricey.

 

[dmreitz]

Interesting question... A friend of mine saw a special on TLC awhile back. They were talking about modifying cars, and the topic of exhaust came up... the recommendation was that you wait until about 2000-2500 miles to break in the computer, engine, and the rest of the system before you change out your exhaust. This recommendation was from some expert tuners (I wish I could remember where they were from - but it was a well known shop I think).

Anyway, that's my plan... not sure how true it is, but I figure it's not going to hurt to wait - I'll have 2500 miles in no time...

 

[Haboo]

Lethal - glad you enjoyed the ride! :beer:

I'm also interested to hear anyone else's experience with the FR500 system, or any suggestions for a comparable system.

 

[Blue03Cobra]

I loved the sound of two-chambered flows welded in on my '98 DOHC. I'm going to try the 2 1/2" American Thunder catback, I'll let you know how it sounds.

This car is too damn quiet to wait 2,500 miles to change mufflers...:-D

 

[Haboo]

I agree. I really liked the sound of the stock system on my '99 GT, and I find the Cobra to be much quieter. I'm not sure I can wait to hit the 2500 mile mark to make changes.

 

[Red2k3cobra]

I could never of waited 2,500 miles this car is too quiet, I put on the maganflow catback at 250 miles. Also, by 550 miles I added a K&N took out the air silencer, 2.80 pulley, ngk's. I love this car

 

[lethal]

Haboo-

Did JC pick your login? hehe.

Anyway, yes, thanks for letting me drive the car. It was like a rocket man... simply on rails... power without hesitation.

Barry, get my car here please!!!! :coolman:

 

[Haboo]

No problem Lethal. You're welcome to drive anytime.

BTW - JC didn't pick the sign-in. Its the code name the pilots used for the for the SR-71 so as not to give away their actual identity while in flight. It was the most appropriate thing I could think of when pressed to come up with something creative at the registration screen. :idea:

And Barry, thanks for hooking me up early! We're having a blast with it! :rolling:

 

[CWCobra]

I bought the FR-500, didn't like it - too quiet. Will sell for cheap. Make offer. Ran it for 7 days/400 miles. Still in original box. Need to get it outta my garage floor. Had it sold to a dude for $500. He lost his job, and I lost the deal. Any reasonable offer considered. Am located in southeast TN - Chattanooga area. PM if interested.
Thanks,
CW

 

[Cobra'03]

Originally posted by dmreitz
Interesting question... A friend of mine saw a special on TLC awhile back. They were talking about modifying cars, and the topic of exhaust came up... the recommendation was that you wait until about 2000-2500 miles to break in the computer, engine, and the rest of the system before you change out your exhaust. This recommendation was from some expert tuners (I wish I could remember where they were from - but it was a well known shop I think).

Anyway, that's my plan... not sure how true it is, but I figure it's not going to hurt to wait - I'll have 2500 miles in no time...

I scoured my brain, but cannot think of one reason why those "experts" would make that suggestion. In the old days of carbs, points, etc, maybe. Today the electronic engine controls in closed loop feedback engine controllers are adaptive systems, not a slice of cheese - it does not need to age, bed in, mature, go through puberty. I had my exhaust waiting and put it on with 23 miles on the odometer - chip retune at 200 miles. Happy mortoing at 300.

Now, if you are planning major, EPA-unfriendly, mods like no-cats, pulleys that cause the heads to rattle, etc. you might want to wait to sort out any niggling little problems since you are not likely to want to pull everything off and reinstall.