What's inside 2018 GT mufflers?

[awhitegt86]

I put a Roush H pipe on my 2021 GT - there was drone, and it was just too loud for my poorly aged ears. I wound up purchasing a brand new OEM resonator to replace - when I put that back on the car, it was QUIETER than when my car was brand new. Over the next few weeks, the sound changed a bit, and it became just slightly louder, back on par with how it had been originally.

The photos of the packing / mesh within the stock resonator reinforces my theory that some of the packing burns off as time goes on, and it will get a bit louder.

The increasing db level is due to the packing "carboning up" as opposed to disintegrating. Mine has 20K on it and it's louder noticeably from month to month. I used to own and operate a muffler shop and we cut up a lot of stuff postmortem just to see what was in there and how it was aging.
I really like the factory non-active system and glad that I didn't opt for the active one. My 2012 was so quiet-I had to spend $2,000 to get it to sound like my '20.

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[Earlsays]

The increasing db level is due to the packing "carboning up" as opposed to disintegrating. Mine has 20K on it and it's louder noticeably from month to month. I used to own and operate a muffler shop and we cut up a lot of stuff postmortem just to see what was in there and how it was aging.
I really like the factory non-active system and glad that I didn't opt for the active one. My 2012 was so quiet-I had to spend $2,000 to get it to sound like my '20.

INTERESTING - so, do the carbon deposits reduce the efficianct of the packing material? I really like my stock exhaust as well, my 2014 GT and my 2015 GT were shockingly quiet. Even the resonator delete on my 2015, it was STILL quiet, changed almost nothing....which is why I was so shocked at what a change deleting it on my 2021 was....I think they made it just perfect for a factory exhaust.

 

[awhitegt86]

My opinion, which is worth exactly what you paid for it lol, is that the carbon build up causes the packing to be harder if you will, and less absorbent. I think it causes the hot gasses to exit faster than they would if they were lingering in the muffler.

 

[Earlsays]

My opinion, which is worth exactly what you paid for it lol, is that the carbon build up causes the packing to be harder if you will, and less absorbent. I think it causes the hot gasses to exit faster than they would if they were lingering in the muffler.

Did you ever remove all the packing material, weld it back up, and reinstall? Curious if it would be significantly louder or different (worse) souding?

 

[awhitegt86]

Did you ever remove all the packing material, weld it back up, and reinstall? Curious if it would be significantly louder or different (worse) souding?

We did so with a 2006 Mustang that the owner wished to maintain a stock appearance. Cut both mufflers open from the top, gutted them, and welded the tops back on. It was louder, but not what I would call pleasant sounding. We suggested filling the cases with small racing mufflers or resonators, but never heard back from the customer.

 

[Twistrr]

I have 21 gt with active exhaust with an xpipe. Its getting long tube headers shortly and I'm afraid it's going to be really loud. In quiet mode its still pretty quiet but normal mode is louder than sport mode with the stock resonator(from what I remember) but sounds really good. In sport or track mode its louder than normal mode but I can't tell much of a difference between the two modes other than they sound absolutely glorious.

 

[Darren M]

Insides of a 2023 GT with active exhaust.
Inlet is on the right, exits are on the left.

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