Active Exhaust - Meh?

[Cz_Ziemniak]

Find a deserted, straight road.
Stop.
Put the car in Drag Mode.
Roll into the throttle, so you do not immediately begin a burnout, trying to keep traction as you commence moving, but as swiftly as you reasonably can putting the pedal down to the floor.
Stay in it.
Then ask her if it is slow.
Report her answer.

The standardization of turbochargers has spoiled us all.

I remember driving my friends tuned 595 Abarth and being shocked at how fast it was. It seriously felt like a rocket ship when the turbos came online, even though the powerband was only a few thousand RPM.

We ended up doing some pulls on the highway in the early hours of the morning. We punched it at around 35 mph and pulled to around 100 mph, and I walked him. We then tried while he was a little more in his powerband, and again I walked him.

I was in a bone stock 1997 Prelude, lmao.

The feel and push of torque down low has completely skewed our perception of what is truly fast.

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[MustangMitch69]

Active exhaust is my favorite "extra" and I purposely chose not to get performance pack.

Same here. I don’t need a gimmicky drift brake, don’t need summer tires, and don't need magneride. If I wanted a numb ride I'd buy an M2.

Did swap out the stock rims, buy the performance pack's chin splitter/spoiler, and add the brembos option for aesthetic improvements, but not for the price of the performance pack.

For me that money was better spent on active exhaust where I can have both a quiet commute to work and then a wild ride down back roads after work.

 

[Stanzi]

Find a deserted, straight road.

Stop.

Put the car in Drag Mode.

Roll into the throttle, so you do not immediately begin a burnout, trying to keep traction as you commence moving, but as swiftly as you reasonably can putting the pedal down to the floor.

Stay in it.

Then ask her if it is slow.

Report her answer.

LOL Man some of you are really testy about her comments. I can do that with the WRX now... but I can just dump the clutch and launch - it's AWD.

I'm making the same HP in a 500 lb lighter vehicle.

I've put $10K into her to make her that fast...

I'm still buying the Mustang - because I'm going to dump $12K in it and have the supercharger put on, where it definitely won't feel slow, and be at 800+ HP.

I can't do that to the WRX at this point without dumping $20-30K because the transmission will shatter, the heads will lift, and I'll have nothing but future problems based on my current experience.

Plus, I miss the sound of the V8 - currently I drive an "Angry Lawnmower".

LOL.

All that aside, in just normal daily traffic, turbo cars are more "fun" to drive than NA V8's. They just are. I can be in 5th or 6th gear, and just 1/3 throttle, and whoosh accelerate - easy and fun.

If Ford Motorsport sold a turbo kit that came with a warranty like their SuperCharger does, that's the route I'd go. But they don't... so Base model it is with PP & Supercharger.

 

[Bikeman315]

Wouldn’t it be easy just to add the quad tips?

It’s still pretty pricey once you get done.
https://modifymystang.com/products/2024-2025-mustang-gt-ecoboost-ford-quad-tip-rear-valance

 

[Stanzi]

The standardization of turbochargers has spoiled us all.

I remember driving my friends tuned 595 Abarth and being shocked at how fast it was. It seriously felt like a rocket ship when the turbos came online, even though the powerband was only a few thousand RPM.

We ended up doing some pulls on the highway in the early hours of the morning. We punched it at around 35 mph and pulled to around 100 mph, and I walked him. We then tried while he was a little more in his powerband, and again I walked him.

I was in a bone stock 1997 Prelude, lmao.

The feel and push of torque down low has completely skewed our perception of what is truly fast.

100%.

And that's all I was saying - turbos just have that fun feeling when they come on - and to my bride who, bless her heart, doesn't understand cars - and has probably never put the accelerator down 100% on any vehicle in her life - she doesn't understand exactly what's going on.

All she knows is it feels "more fun".

BUT... she's also pissed when the car is down for 2 months at a time while I troubleshoot effing EVAP codes and the car isn't drivable because some stupid Subaru line split from the heat. And I'm over that stuff too.

I will also say, her opinion of "Fast" is also very skewed. She's driven EV's for the past several years.

530 HP BMW M50, and now an Acura ZDX with 500HP, both AWD.

Love em or hate em - when you mash the go pedal on an EV - it's instant. Damn - from a 20 roll the M50 would make your cheeks literally tingle... unreal...

So that's her perspective... lol

I, on the other hand, want one of the last bastions of a Manual V8 left.

To be fair, it would probably be a 1LE SS if they still made them, but they don't...

So I'm venturing into my first Mustang. I'm joining the Dark Side. The Enemy I've Hated for Years.

But you know what's cool?

My WRX Stock has a rev limiter of 6100 The GT is 7500. Can't wait to rev an actual V8 to 7500 RPMS. That's gonna be a blast.

 

[Starship Enterprise]

I remember back in the 80’s when in some cars I rode in, turbo lag was 5-10 business days.

Turbo has come a long way…

 

[Bikeman315]

I remember back in the 80’s when in some cars I rode in, turbo lag was 5-10 business days.

Turbo has come a long way…

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…….. I remember it well. Good times.

My first (pic not mine)

 

[Stanzi]

I remember back in the 80’s when in some cars I rode in, turbo lag was 5-10 business days.

Turbo has come a long way…

Yeah - look at the torque curve. This was with just a tune and an intake on E30. No other mods. I'd had the car at that point for like 400 miles or something - the Dyno sheet even says "Temp Tags" haha...

This was before the bulk of the money I spent, and I never dyno'd it because I just NOW got it fixed... Turbo Inlet, AOS, Front Mount Intercooler, Actual Flex Fuel Kit, Upgraded Fuel Pump, Tuned to E70.

If I was at 350 at the wheels on a Mustang dyno before all the other mods - I'm damn sure I'm right at 400 wheel now if not a touch over on E70, based on other's dynos.

But now that it's fixed, no check engine lights (which on a Subaru disable the entire car's drive systems and your dash is lit up like a Christmas tree and pulls power / limp mode crap)... I'm selling the mods and buying a GT which will be as fast STOCK. It's what I should have bought to begin with.

Live and learn.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Well, you will be six something 7 to the wheels after the Whipple. That ought to keep her happy.

I did not realize you had not purchased it yet.

I still suggest you try out the Drag Mode isolated country road scenario once you get the car.

 

[Stanzi]

Well, you will be six something 7 to the wheels after the Whipple. That ought to keep her happy.

I did not realize you had not purchased it yet.

I still suggest you try out the Drag Mode isolated country road scenario once you get the car.

Oh yeah. I plan to

Remember, I had a 1LE SS, and about 3 highly modified V8 Camaros prior to that. I miss the V8's... Even had 6.4L Scat Packs (both a charger and challenger) when I was in the car business 15/16.

Long tube headers, tune, etc etc. Never had issues with any of them.

Miss those old cars where you could do anything, tune them, and never have CEL's or issues.

Freaking EPA crap is driving me nuts on these new cars.

That's what's driving my choice.

Warrantied, don't have to mess with anything else, just bolt it on, and try and find traction someplace hahaha

 

[MustangMitch69]

For a factory car the s650 with active exhaust is pretty loud

I've had several people ask me what kind of exhaust I put on my GT and they're surprised when I share that's how it came stock.

 

[MustangMitch69]

Mellow cruising below 1600 RPM is relatively quiet in all modes.

The car is also isolates the exhaust sound much more than expected when inside with windows up.

Put the car in Track Mode and stand behind it and activate remote rev. Be sure to hit remote rev twice because the 2nd time is the more aggressive rev.

I love the active exhaust!

Convertible top down with Track Mode exhaust is incredible

 

[Stanzi]

Convertible top down with Track Mode exhaust is incredible

I can only imagine

 

[MustangMitch69]

As someone who loves black cars and has owned black cars......get the red lol I will never own a black car again as much as I love them ....just too hard to keep clean/ keep up (that being said I do love black so wouldnt be mad if you got the black lol)

Can confirm, haha. Black is beautiful, luxious, and sinister all at the same time when clean, but keeping it looking clean is a real chore. I chose black for my mustsng because mine isn't my daily driver. My daily (a BMW 3-series) is WHITE.

One of my first mustang "mods" was paint protective film which cost about $2,500 but PPF is never perfect, and debris still sticks to it. My mustang is garage kept and with a cover on, and STILL I have to go over it with a california duster and spot clean it with a wet cloth before being confident enough to pull it out of the garage and take it anywhere.

Having said all that, when it's clean it's absolutely stunning and I get compliments on it from strangers all the time. And not actively TRYING to get compliments like corvette drivers are always out doing

 

[MustangMitch69]

that was sort of my experience too- inside the car it just wasn’t that loud.

although I’ve been a musician in a past life and my media room speakers I custom built can hit 130db so I am probably half deaf anyway haha

Haha that's where I'm at too. I took part in the really dumb car speakers craze about 20 years ago where two 10's or 15's in the trunk with 130+ db bass was considered entry-level. I probably need hearing aids now, but if I get them I won't be able to pretend to NOT hear my wife trying to get me to do things all the time.

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