LT Headers Volume with Borla Touring Catback

[ChitownStang]

So I'm at the point with my Mustang that I need a noticeable power increase.
I don't track the car but when I stomp on it I love feeling HP & torque and I want more but I don't want much more interior noise or possible drone.
I really think that my borla touring catback with the borla resonator is the perfect muscle car deep sound. I'm looking at the Catted American Racing or Texas Speed long tube headers. Do they create and noticeably different interior db level? I'm 39 and not trying to impress anyone with the sound of my exhaust, I take the car on long road trips sometimes, drone or loud noise in the cabin would really annoy me. Any advice would be great
Thanks

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[JuRuKi]

LTHs WILL make your exhaust louder. Drone wont change much if you didnt have any before or at least it didnt for me. Oh and expect a little more rasp in the higher RPMs.

 

[ChitownStang]

Thanks JuRuKi,
Good noticeable power?

 

[JuRuKi]

I felt a good bump in power, specially midrange. One of my favorite mods so far!

 

[ypena02]

I felt a good bump in power, specially midrange. One of my favorite mods so far!

Are your LTH catless?

 

[Rick@LASTREETCARS]

LTH will definitely give you more volume, not necessarily drone. You may pickup some lower resonance under 2krpm though if cruising or light throttle, but not terrible and very short lived.

Rasp will be very minimal with the Touring exhaust, little more with S-Type and maniac mode (lol) with the Atak.

You'll love it...but most power will be seen up top, not at all midrange...get a solid tune for it to help with that.

 

[JuRuKi]

This is a dyno LMR did of the BBK long tube headers, as you can see most power was made from 3k rpms and up.

You'll love it...but most power will be seen up top, not at all midrange...get a solid tune for it to help with that.

 

[Rick@LASTREETCARS]

This is a dyno LMR did of the BBK long tube headers, as you can see most power was made from 3k rpms and up.

Yup..absolutely...I've unfortunately seen others not so good...no so well tuned, etc. too.

Do you know what other mods they had on the car as well, or was it stock with the header only change?

 

[Rick@LASTREETCARS]

This is a dyno LMR did of the BBK long tube headers, as you can see most power was made from 3k rpms and up.

Yea...their car was off road and no cats, with Air Raid and NGauge with Lund tune...works everytime!

OP wants catted and the Borla Touring doesn't breathe quite ad well as the MBRP they used for testing....should all work well though...

 

[BmacIL]

Yea...their car was off road and no cats, with Air Raid and NGauge with Lund tune...works everytime!

OP wants catted and the Borla Touring doesn't breathe quite ad well as the MBRP they used for testing....should all work well though...

How do you figure this? There is nothing to back that statement up, as the resonator is not restrictive (straight through, with an H-pipe internal), and the mufflers are also a straight through design. The 2.5" to 3" argument is not valid at these power levels.

 

[Rick@LASTREETCARS]

How do you figure this? There is nothing to back that statement up, as the resonator is not restrictive (straight through, with an H-pipe internal), and the mufflers are also a straight through design. The 2.5" to 3" argument is not valid at these power levels.

The Borla systems do not perform the same across the board. I'm not saying it's going to suck and be bad or a loss...long tube headers give best high end performance...no issue there, and great low end too...the more you breathe the better...the better the tune, the better results low and top.

Not comparing apple to apples doesn't guarantee the same results though, and the 3 different Borla's have different dyno curves as well...not marginally different, but louder in Borla's case is more performance. Trying to compare a car with a more open exhaust, long tube headers and no cats, to a car with cats and long tubes and an exhaust that isn't as open, isn't the same and the same results can't be expected.

Close and similar results...yes.

 

[JuRuKi]

It is a known fact that catbacks dont make any substantial difference in power for the S550's. The only difference is sound.

 

[Rick@LASTREETCARS]

It is a known fact that catbacks dont make any substantial difference in power for the S550's. The only difference is sound.

Correct...absolutely...but in the case of comparing a car with cats to a car without cats...that changes, that's point I'm trying to make. The OP will not get the same result using cats than he will without CATS, as the BBK test shows...that's all. Whether they are 300, 200, 100 or factory cats, it's a restriction that affects performance.

 

[BmacIL]

The Borla systems do not perform the same across the board. I'm not saying it's going to suck and be bad or a loss...long tube headers give best high end performance...no issue there, and great low end too...the more you breathe the better...the better the tune, the better results low and top.

Not comparing apple to apples doesn't guarantee the same results though, and the 3 different Borla's have different dyno curves as well...not marginally different, but louder in Borla's case is more performance. Trying to compare a car with a more open exhaust, long tube headers and no cats, to a car with cats and long tubes and an exhaust that isn't as open, isn't the same and teh same results can't be expected.

Close and similar results...yes.

That's not how acoustics works. You can attenuate volume without restricting flow. There's a bigger difference in run to run variation than you'd see between the three catback systems. Long tubes don't all have the same primary lengths, nor do they all have the best/most efficient collector designs. Those have a big effect on where they make their power.

 

[Rick@LASTREETCARS]

That's not how acoustics works. You can attenuate volume without restricting flow. There's a bigger difference in run to run variation than you'd see between the three catback systems. Long tubes don't all have the same primary lengths, nor do they all have the best/most efficient collector designs. Those have a big effect on where they make their power.

I understand how acoustics work...trust me...I get it. I have also installed and tested the Borla kits on same car, over a year ago, and there is a performance difference between the versions of the Borla systems. Like I wrote, It's marginal, but there is a difference. Since most of us on forums look at every single hp and tq measurement to make decisions much of the time, knowing that helps when advising on a solution. In reality, yes, no difference between them.

With that written, most, like 99+%, don't care about 5hp here and there (or in this case like 2-3), but some do, especially if they are installing multiple mods that have various effects on performance and power band.

Not all long tubes are the same though...very similar these days...and nobody unless a fully custom high dollar build, is getting completely custom equal length headers anyway...it's just not affordable for most anyone to again justify the small gain from it, let alone the room to build them in our cars.

I'm in agreement with everyone here...not trying to contradict or get you to believe something else. The best performance is the most open solution, which does translate into the loudest setup in the end...if made for the right combination of mods etc.

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