I know this has probably already been touched on, but does anyone have any suggestions on some exhaust systems that they really like?

i have an 03 flareside extended cab 3l v6 with stock exhaust, and i'm just looking to upgrade the whole system for something that sounds nice without being obnoxious and increases fuel performance even if it's just a tiny bit. in summary:

1. Keep it under 400 if possible
2. Nothing too loud please (this is the most important)
3. No preference on style

Thank so much for reading this, you're helping this new car guy with his new baby!!

 

Welcome to the forum

All Rangers come with scavenging exhaust manifolds, and Cold Air Intakes(CAI)

The exhaust manifolds create a lower pressure at exhaust valves in mid-RPM range to "scavenge" power that would normally be needed to push exhaust out.
This is what 3rd party "headers" do, although they can be made for low RPM range or high RPM range.
So there are 3 choices for scavenged power, low, mid and high RPM ranges

The exhaust pipes, Cats and muffler from manifold back to tail pipe should have no restrictions.
No car maker runs any 4-stroke engine with "back pressure", thats a myth.

You can use same size exhaust pipe or larger, but not small diameter
And never go from large to small, i.e. 2.5" pipe to 2.25" muffler to 2.5" pipe
But you can go smaller to larger but must stay larger, i.e. 2.25" pipe to 2.5" muffler to 2.5" pipe

Larger diameter will have deeper sound, just look at a pipe organ, same air goes in to all the tubes, larger longer tubes have the deeper notes

Dual exhaust costs more but can make better sound and you could then add "X" or "H" pipe to scavenge a bit more power

Scavenging exhausts work by creating a Velocity in the pipe at the head, then that pipe goes into a larger pipe, the collector
When the Velocity of the smaller pipe gets to the larger pipe it causes a drop in pressure in the larger pipe, and any pipes connected to it, think of it as a siphon, the weight/velocity of a liquid in a siphon hose creates a low pressure at the other end which "pulls" out more liquid.
Scavenging exhaust does the same thing, the length and diameter of the head pipe and the diameter of the collector will set when the lowest pressure will occur at the exhaust valves, above my pay grade, lol.

The myth of back pressure comes from factory scavenging exhaust manifolds and people who tried "free flow" exhausts
Say the factory manifold uses 1.5" pipe at head, "Free flow" used 2", so it reduces the velocity and cuts off any scavenged power
test drive shows LESS POWER, "WTF!!!, this engine must need back pressure", and thats where the myth comes from

"Free flow" straight pipes, each cylinder exits on its own pipe, no collector, can also scavenge power, the exhaust pulses are used, the diameter of the pipe and length are used to create a velocity that in a certain RPM range will cause a drop in pressure at that pipes exhaust valve, racing cars and dragsters use this

"X" and "H" pipes use opposing exhaust pulses from each bank of a V6 or V8 engine to scavenge a bit more power, by connecting a dual exhaust the opposing pulses create a lower pressure in the opposite pipe between pulses so it "pulls" exhaust out which means pistons/crank lose less energy pushing it out.

 

What about just a CAT back system, my choice would be DynoMax.

I believe they are designed to increase the scavenging effect in the exhaust.

 

Question
Sort of along the same line. Can an exhuast tip change sound? Or are those crazy things just for looks?

 

Thanks alot for this i really appreciate it!

 

Depending on the design and what the tip is for, yes, it can absolutely change the sound.

My Dad had an regular aftermarket trim/tip on his old P100 (european Ford pick up) and due to it not fitting exactly, it gave it a nice kind of hmm, how to describe this? just something more interesting and beefier sounding, even though it was just a straight four engine.

 

MADMAXX

Love the name. I might look into those big horns to put on the back of my ranger.

Thank you

 

I had the MBRP straightthru turndown kit with my 4.0 when I owned it. It sounded great at idle and under 2500 rpms sounded great too. A little growl. As soon as I gave it a lot of gas or got up to cruising speed (60mph) there was a drone. It might have had to do with the turndown. I'm sure if you extended it out the rear or even turned it so it came out the side there would be less drone. I also paid way less that what you want to spend. Amazon has it for $225 for aluminum and $275 for stainless steel.

It is a cat back system and was very easy to install. It also uses factory hanger locations.