Possible Exhaust Options for 05 GT

[Abandonhope16]

I will most likely be getting an 05 GT in the near future (hopefully) and was wondering if there are any options for improving the tone of the exhaust without sacrificing the stock mufflers.

[DeepFreeze2]

Here's the road I took. I had the resonator removed at a local shop and had a straight piece of pipe welded in it's place. After driving around for a few days I felt that I wanted more sound so I bought some mufflers and had them fabricate a cat-back exhaust for me. The resonator "smoothes" the sound out (popping, backfiring), but the OEM mufflers absolutely KILL the sound of the engine. Plus it was a less expensive route for me and sounds good.

[firedawgs]

+1 for the resonator. If sound is what you are looking for, then take out the resonator.

[Abandonhope16]

Would it make any sense to put in a larger pipe from the cat back to the stock mufflers and remove the resonator? Or is it just the same thing as if I only replace the portion of pipe where the resonator was?

[DeepFreeze2]

You could. My setup is 2.5" (from cat to Y-pipe) and 2.25" (y-pipe into mufflers). After looking at the resonator when it was removed from my car, it didn't appear to be all that restrictive. But the stock mufflers are a whole different story. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if someone were to get aftermarket mufflers only, the resonator wouldn't hurt if it was left in place.