Comparision vid: 2017 GT Stock Exhaust vs. Ford Performance by Borla Touring Catback

I don't see how I can change the thread title.

MODS: Please edit the title to say

Comparision video: 2017 GT Stock Exhaust vs. Ford Performance by Borla Touring Catback Ford part# M-5200-M8SB

Souldriver said:

to be clear the mufflers for the FR by Borla, and the regular Borla are different. And this is independent of the mid pipe or reso being run.

Also at EJS2016 how do you know which one is which from the video alone?

Edit: because his sig under it all says it.

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Thank you. My sig does indeed say what I have installed. I could see how the video could be confusing, but I do say at the start of the video "Ford performance by Borla."

mikes2017gt said:

I don't see how I can change the thread title.

MODS: Please edit the title to say

Comparision video: 2017 GT Stock Exhaust vs. Ford Performance by Borla Touring Catback Ford part# M-5200-M8SB

Click to expand...

You can do it. Click edit, Go Advanced on the first post.

mikes2017gt said:

Though I mention the exhaust by name several times, and I think I do say "Borla Touring" and the thread title says that....I do say in the first part of the video, specifically, "Ford performance by Borla catback." I had no intentions of being misleading. I paid retail price for my exhaust kit from an online dealer and I got what I got. I had NO idea there actually was a "Borla Touring" catback in addition to the "Ford Performance by Borla Touring catback" nor did I know they had different parts.

For the record, here is what I bought: https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-5200-M8SB

My system looks exactly like what is pictured in the link above, and came in a Ford Performance box. I will try to change the thread title to ensure no misunderstanding.

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:
All good!:cheers::ford:

Thread title changed and link to exact Ford Performance part inserted at beginning of OP. Thanks.

I also have the Ford Performance Touring Catback by Borla, and am quite happy overall with the sound.

However, I did drive it off and on for 2 weeks, while doing a bunch of suspension work, without the mufflers, and it sounded a lot like the GT350 in sport mode, maybe a bit louder. Everyone that heard it without the mufflers thought it sounded pretty awesome and kept asking what exhaust I put on it. Couldn't fly under the radar at all with the mufflers removed.

Kind of didn't want to put the mufflers back on, to be honest.

bandit67 said:

I also have the Ford Performance Touring Catback by Borla, and am quite happy overall with the sound.

However, I did drive it off and on for 2 weeks, while doing a bunch of suspension work, without the mufflers, and it sounded a lot like the GT350 in sport mode, maybe a bit louder. Everyone that heard it without the mufflers thought it sounded pretty awesome and kept asking what exhaust I put on it. Couldn't fly under the radar at all with the mufflers removed.

Kind of didn't want to put the mufflers back on, to be honest.

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I had the same experience, but with an electric cutout. I was very pleased with the sound of no muffler. After a month of never closing the valves, I cut off the electric cutout, cut off the mufflers , and had some tips welded in the mufflers place. The tips improved the sound even more. Couldn't be happier.

Drone killed this system for me.

Dudie7 said:

Drone killed this system for me.

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I put the FP/Borla Touring Cat Back on shortly after I got the car and I've been happy with it.

I do get a little bit of drone right at 2000 rpm, but the done isn't too bad and it immediately leaves when the rpms are increased or decreased just a little. It's a very narrow rpm window and I never really cruise at that specific rpm range.

And thanks OP/Mike for conducting the comparison test. That was interesting. :cheers:

Great video - many thanks for taking the time to do this. Don't have my GT yet but the FR Borla exhausts are top of my list at the moment so this really helped!

:cheers:

Mike, I know you clearly acknowledged that SPL measurements were conducted using some controls and conceded the less than idea testing location. I would suggest to anyone considering their own testing to measure in an open space (half space) to avoid room modes.

I'm curious to know what weighting was used to measure SPL. I presume the dB figures provided were peak levels? At what frequencies were the peak levels taken?

Mikes2017gt - curious if you listened to the AWE Touring Cat-Back? Thanks for the detailed work on the video! Much appreciated.

I have this same exhaust on my 2016 GT w/ perf pack. It sounds really awesome and agree almost zero drone. Really goes from quiet to loud depending on the accelerator and gives a very nice burble and makes the ride more enjoyable. Believe me, I know about drone,,, try my 1983 Porsche 928,,,,, can hardly hear the bass in the radio at certain RPMS.. LOL. I love this exhaust and yes it is the one from FP with an X-pipe. Also agree this kind of thing is subjective and thanks for doing this in a more menaingful way than standing there with your iphone.

Sorry for the late replies; started a new job last week and things have been nuts!

I was happy to do this video; I watched a LOT of vids during my research and me being a bit of an audio guy I was disappointed that the majority of the videos had really bad sound to the point that you couldn't really hear what the exhaust sounded like or any real diff b/t exhausts. I knew I could do better and that's what I tried to do. Glad folks are finding it useful!

As for the tech bits of the video: I measured the exhaust SPL with a Umik-1, C/fast weighting and the mic was recording full spectrum (20Hz-20KHz); no filters applied at all. The Umik-1 I was using comes with a calibration file, which was loaded into the REW program I used to take the SPL levels. It's a very flat, very accurate mic specifically meant for sound calibration. Link to Umik-1:
https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1

Link to Room EQ Wizard (REW) for those interested. https://www.roomeqwizard.com/ The software is actually used for analyzing the acoustic response/properties of home theaters and concert halls. It happens to have an SPL measurement app built in. I use about 1% of what the program can do. But hey, it's free.

The SOUND you HEAR in the video was recorded with a RODE NTG-1 shotgun mic, which was actually pointed at the laptop screen, about 5 feet or so away. LOL! It's a great mic and picked up the sound nicely. The Rode mic did have an 80Hz highpass filter engaged (forgot to mention that earlier) so there wasn't much under 80Hz recorded. No cellphone or laptop speakers play anywhere near that low and most "computer speakers" don't have much under 150Hz unless they have a separate subwoofer or you're using studio monitors for computer speakers, like I do. I can honestly say that the sound you hear in the video is 99.9% of what it sounds like in person.

JohnK said:

Mikes2017gt - curious if you listened to the AWE Touring Cat-Back? Thanks for the detailed work on the video! Much appreciated.

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I didn't b/c I don't think it was out when I bought my exhaust back in early Feb. After hearing the soundclips out there for the FP/Borla Touring, I was pretty much convinced it was what I wanted. The fact that it was a Ford Performance part sealed the deal for me. The price that Levittown Ford Parts had on it didn't hurt either. Side note: they raised the price after I bought mine...I think I got a really good deal that I wasn't supposed to get.

I'm very happy with what I have though I'm sure I'd be just as happy with a few (not many) of the other systems out there. Someone recently posted a video of a Krona catback that I think sounds darn good.