Kooks Full Exhaust - 2013 Mustang GT

[JonnyW]

Hey guys. I have a 2013 Mustang GT with the Kooks catback. Sounds awesome so far but I'll be adding 1 7/8 headers and an offroad mid pipe.
Any recommendations between the X and the H? I've only found one person who did videos of the Kooks full with offroad X and can't get any replies from the guy. His flyby sounds badass.
Haven't heard it at all with the H. Do you think there would be differences in drone and sound quality? I know a lot has to do with mufflers.
What I don't want is it to sound shitty and farty with a lot of drone. I just want a clean and pure, evil and aggressive sound thats screams at WOT.
Keep in mind that their catback deletes the resonators. Thanks for the feedback.

This is the video. The catback sounds deeper in person.
https://youtu.be/KiZ-sJlPBzw

 

[03Sssnake]

I personally love the X-pipe on these setups. I recently put ARH Longtubes on a buddies car with the shorty O/R X-pipe, Borla OTAs and GT500 quads, it is clean and crisp. I think the Lontubes clean up some of the raspiness usually attributed to an X-pipe, mine is a little raspy around 3-4K on stock manifolds, O/R X and resonator deletes thru 500 quads. Now my buddy wants it even louder and is considering the Kooks quads.

 

[JonnyW]

I personally love the X-pipe on these setups. I recently put ARH Longtubes on a buddies car with the shorty O/R X-pipe, Borla OTAs and GT500 quads, it is clean and crisp. I think the Lontubes clean up some of the raspiness usually attributed to an X-pipe, mine is a little raspy around 3-4K on stock manifolds, O/R X and resonator deletes thru 500 quads. Now my buddy wants it even louder and is considering the Kooks quads.

My only concern is the drone between the two. I have JHR motor mounts and Whiteline bracket so you can only imagine how much NVH is amplified. Its cool if its from intake/engine/exhaust sound, but drone will probably be worse than terrible.

I also understand that the design of the muffler is a large variable on how a mid pipe will pair up and sound. From the info I've gathered, Kooks is labeled a "race" style muffler. I'm not sure what type of muffler this would be considered.

Exhaust guides say that generally speaking, chambered mufflers should never be paired with an X pipe and are best suited for H pipes. Bullet style mufflers are the opposite.
The only thing is that the Coyote seems to have different effects with exhausts versus the 4.6L and other motors.

 

[SCalla1384]

I have a full kooks setup but 1-3/4 headers. In that video above, seems like the 7/8 are alittle louder and raspier. Mines a pretty smooth exhaust note with some rasp.

I personally like the x pipe. Not really a fan of an H pipe

 

[Dave_6]

I'll have the exact setup on my car in a few weeks hopefully. Just installed the 1 7/8 mid lengths and the off road x-pipe this past weekend. I still have the stock over the axle pipes (with resonators) and the GT500 axle back though. I hope to be able to order the full Kooks catback in the next few weeks as it is pretty expensive and I couldn't afford to buy it with the headers.

This video sold me on the full Kooks setup before I even had one of these cars:
[youtube_browser]wY48d9HZGpw[/youtube_browser]

I believe Kooks has revised their mufflers since then so they don't quite sound like that anymore. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[scotmach]

I'm running ARH 1 7/8 longtubes with an off road x-pipe back to the Kooks catback. I really like this setup.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_saMzoh5Rw

 

[Rct851]

i run the lethal 3' orx ans kooks 3' catback and it sounds fantastic. with 3.31s i get a little drone between 1800-2000 in 4th gear but that isn't a speed i use hardly ever. it actually quieter out from 2200-3400ish because the sound is so smooth then from there on up the sound builds in a fantastic way. im happy with it

 

[JonnyW]

I'll have the exact setup on my car in a few weeks hopefully. Just installed the 1 7/8 mid lengths and the off road x-pipe this past weekend. I still have the stock over the axle pipes (with resonators) and the GT500 axle back though. I hope to be able to order the full Kooks catback in the next few weeks as it is pretty expensive and I couldn't afford to buy it with the headers.

This video sold me on the full Kooks setup before I even had one of these cars:
[youtube_browser]wY48d9HZGpw[/youtube_browser]

I believe Kooks has revised their mufflers since then so they don't quite sound like that anymore. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though.

Mine has that distinct growl that hides underneath the consistent deep tone of the catback. Sounds awesome. Its like a growl that overlaps the roars. You can kind of pick it up in some of the videos. I think thats why sometimes people say the exhaust sounds raspy from the videos.

I'm running ARH 1 7/8 longtubes with an off road x-pipe back to the Kooks catback. I really like this setup.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_saMzoh5Rw

That actually sounds really awesome. I've heard ARH sound similar to Kooks Longtubes so this video helps. Is the sound any deeper in person or is the pitch and tone pretty accurate?

How is the drone with this setup? I just got off the phone with a guy from Kooks asking him about the mid pipes.. he says if I want to go with the X, be prepared for the drone. Pretty discouraging if you ask me. I'd still like other opinions, especially if I'm dropping this kind of coin.

 

[burnin4]

I have a full Kooks exhaust, 1 7/8 longtubes with hi flow pipe cats and catback. No cats will absolutely drone and stink, been there and done that, won't do it again.

[video]https://youtu.be/fjFC_5p2_So?list=UUmp2d7-h6TeM9FHzv5Mnfgg[/video]

 

[JonnyW]

I'll have the exact setup on my car in a few weeks hopefully. Just installed the 1 7/8 mid lengths and the off road x-pipe this past weekend. I still have the stock over the axle pipes (with resonators) and the GT500 axle back though. I hope to be able to order the full Kooks catback in the next few weeks as it is pretty expensive and I couldn't afford to buy it with the headers.

This video sold me on the full Kooks setup before I even had one of these cars:
[youtube_browser]wY48d9HZGpw[/youtube_browser]

I believe Kooks has revised their mufflers since then so they don't quite sound like that anymore. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though.

Sorry for the double quote and post, but please return back to this thread and give us your thoughts on the full Kooks system with the offroad X. I'd really like to see a good write up of it. I'll be doing one myself once I install. I'll probably pull the trigger on the X pipe and post a review, then pick up an H to compare and give an update comparing the two. Pretty determined to get to the bottom of this :read:

 

[scotmach]

To me the Kooks have an excellent tone and sound really deep without being to loud. I don't get any drone but I'm running 3.15's.

 

[JonnyW]

Agreed on Kooks having a killer tone. I just stumbled upon a video that really portrays what I'm interested in exhaust wise. Check out the beginning of this. Would this be considered longtubes and an offroad H? Its obviously blown and cammed but I'm not sure if an X would be capable of making this much of a throaty sound. Though I could be wrong since I haven't heard either in person.

https://youtu.be/zg2Mz9Mmhz8

 

[Dave_6]

Sorry for the double quote and post, but please return back to this thread and give us your thoughts on the full Kooks system with the offroad X. I'd really like to see a good write up of it. I'll be doing one myself once I install. I'll probably pull the trigger on the X pipe and post a review, then pick up an H to compare and give an update comparing the two. Pretty determined to get to the bottom of this :read:

Will do, but like I said it will be a few weeks. I'll at least have it running by the end of this week with the current cat back setup (GT500s).

 

[Dave_6]

Just to update the OP, I went ahead and ordered the Kooks catback yesterday but it won't arrive until Monday. If I have enough daylight I'll get some quick vids with my phone after I get it installed.

 

[JonnyW]

Just to update the OP, I went ahead and ordered the Kooks catback yesterday but it won't arrive until Monday. If I have enough daylight I'll get some quick vids with my phone after I get it installed.

You're going to love the sound and you'll thank yourself for spending the extra coin on the catback and not just the axlebacks. I can't imagine how quiet the exhaust would be if the resonators we're deleted. Keep in mind that these mufflers do use packing and it needs to set in before you can fully enjoy the experience of the exhaust. Going from stock, to muffler deletes, to the Kooks catback, I was kind of disappointed at first with the volume level. That's after I first had someone drive by me right after the install. 2,000 miles later, I had someone do another driveby and oh my GOD does it sound good. The sound thats produced after break in is deeper and more aggressive/more throaty. Before break in, it sounds smooth without distinct characteristic aside from the growl. You'll know what I'm talking about when you hear it. As for headers, I'm confident that this system will project a beautiful sound level when the full exhaust is installed. Tame yet intimidating when cruise, and balls to the wall get the **** out of my way when you punch it. Just how a full exhaust system should sound.

As for my update, I anticipated MGW to ship out my Race Spec on roughly the 10th of April. To my surprise, it went out yesterday. I'll be waiting until Monday or longer to order up the headers/ mid pipe. I'm still on the fence about what I'll decide to go with. Sales Manager of Kooks, Matt Neal, says both sounds are a 50/50 toss up. Although he prefers the H pipe, he says the X pipe does sound awesome as well. As far as drone goes with the 1 7/8 headers and offroad mid pipe, I can't fully say how bad it would be. Kind of a big deal because as much as I hate to say it, I know Stainless Works offers their full system that was made to work together from the get go without drone, or so they claim. I really wanted to pull the trigger on their full system, but I felt pretty betrayed that 1. they only offer an X pipe, and 2. They offer both the X and the H with the 2015 models, which I'm not a fan of. The 2015 doesn't looks muscular enough for an H pipe sound IMO.

Anyways, down the road I'll probably end up experimenting with both mid pipes for personal experience reasons. When I do, I'll be sure to make a thread on my findings and preferences.

 

[JonnyW]

Dave, let me know how as soon as you get the system installed. I'm eager to put my order in. Check out this video of an offroad H and GT500 mufflers. Sounds insane. If an X pipe can't top this sound, I'm definitely getting the H.

https://youtu.be/hquB3on7sgc

 

[Dave_6]

It's all gonna come down to whether I can get the damn x-pipe to fit. It's been a major PITA.

BTW, my car did sound exactly like that ^^^ one before I did this.

 

[JonnyW]

It's all gonna come down to whether I can get the damn x-pipe to fit. It's been a major PITA.

BTW, my car did sound exactly like that ^^^ one before I did this.

What was your setup before?
I've heard similar issues with getting the mid pipe on. it is a damn tight fit. Try getting the headers and x pipe on with the catback OTA pipes loosened and then fit them on.

 

[Dave_6]

I had a Lethal off-road H with the GT500 mufflers just like the one in that video.

Here is a thread I made with the issue(s) I'm having: http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...81-Kooks-1-7-8-mid-lengths-installation-issue

 

[Dave_6]

Way too short but it's all my friend got and I didn't want to piss of my neighbors:
[youtube_browser]d9ETOnRU6RI[/youtube_browser]

Got to get the car on a lift where we can properly adjust the exhaust as it is rubbing in a few places and is crooked from the x back. I'm just happy I could finally crank it back up! More vids to come for sure.