If your Mustang is still breathing through the factory exhaust, you're missing out on improved sound quality and extra horsepower, especially if you're running a power adder. Even if your car has only simple bolt-ons, a free-flowing exhaust brings the fun factor up a lot, not to mention providing a good base for future mods.
The exhaust on Editor Kinnan's '87 LX made him the laughing stock of the Ford building here at EMAP Petersen. Even the art directors who don't drive Fords were taking pot shots at the thrown-together sections of tubing that made up Kinnan's exhaust system. [Ed. note: Hey, I didn't do it. I bought it that way!] However, the one thing the LX did have was a killer sound. That was mostly due to the Flowmasters that made their way into the crumpled exhaust system.
To remedy this situation, we got on the phone with JBA Headers and Flowmaster. The reason you don't see an H- or X-pipe manufacturer listed is because we planned on using the Tri-D Industries H-pipe left over from our H-pipe vs. X-pipe story in a previous story. However, the H-pipe and Flowmaster after-cat went together like oil and water. The convex mounting flange of the H-pipe was too big for the convex opening in the Flowmaster system--not by much, but enough that we would have had a big-time exhaust leak. In place of the catalytic H-pipe, we found a BBK off-road H-pipe which was languishing in the shop and decided to use it instead. The county Kinnan lives in does not inspect for emissions, so it was the perfect situation in which to use the off-road pipe.
The pipe that was on the car just about mimicked an off-road pipe anyway, so we forged ahead. Exhaust components make for a pretty straightforward installation, but set aside at least a day if you're doing it yourself.