S197 Mustang Exhaust Systems - Completely Exhausted

Does your S197 still wear its stock mufflers? If so, you'll find plenty of options to make your Mustang look and sound better in our guide this month.

As long as there have been hot rodders, there have been people wanting to change how their car's exhaust sounds. From the days of glasspacks and exhaust cutouts to today's high-tech stainless steel offerings, computer designed to control resonance, the age-old upgrade of a set of mufflers is something that will never die.

For Mustang owners, this holds true as well. From the classic owner ditching the transverse single muffler for a set of duals, to the Fox owner yanking off the cats and adding a 2-inch after-cat system (still one of the most recognizable exhaust notes on the road!-Ed.) to the new S197 Mustang, exhaust upgrades are often one of the first things a car owner does to individualize his or her ride.

For the S197 crowd, Ford saved these owners a lot of headaches by placing the mufflers at the very end of the exhaust system (necessitated by the mid-ship mounted poly fuel tank). These mufflers have an integral tip design and are attached to the mid-pipes via a reusable band clamp. Those lucky enough to own an S197 can swap out a set of mufflers with a hand ratchet and a few sockets in their driveway in less than 30 minutes. That's a far cry from the Sawzall and welder jobs on past Mustangs for a pair of mufflers. Even if you did a complete "bolt-on" exhaust kit in the past, it required jackstands or a lift and several hours of work. So, for you S197 owners, we've researched the top-selling muffler kits from the major players out there and compiled them all here in this guide. We've attempted to list any other exhaust parts for S197s (tips, headers, crossovers, and so on) as room allows. Be sure to check out the manufacturer websites, as many have audio clips of their systems.