Hey, guys, Stephanie with americanmuscle.com, here with a review of the Kooks Catback exhaust
system, available for all 2015 and newer GT Mustangs.
We're gonna be talking about a few different things with this exhaust today, but mainly
we'll talk about the sound of the Catback and the install.
The install for the Catback is easy.
It's a one out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter, since Catbacks for the S550 simply
bolt right up.
But this is a Catback for a Long Tube Header equipped car, so you'll also need to install
those at the same time, which is gonna bump this install up to a three out of three wrenches.
But I'll get more into that later.
You should be checking out this Catback from Kooks if you're shopping for a Catback for
your S550 that'll work with a set of Kooks long tubes, and provide a lot of volume, but
a deep sound as well.
The main components of a Catback are the main items responsible for the sound, are the mid-pipe
of the Catback and the mufflers.
And Kooks offers this system with their race mufflers and an H-Pipe.
First of all, this Catback is designed to be used with Kooks Long Tube Headers, so it
has a shorty style mid-pipe.
The mid pipe is an H-Pipe, which is known for giving more of a deeper tone when you
compare that to the sound that an X-Pipe offers.
So, if you want volume, you wanna go with an X-Pipe.
If you want a deeper tone, you normally go with an H. Then we have Kooks Oval Race Mufflers
to go along with the H-Pipe, and even though this does have the more toned down H-Pipe,
I'm still gonna label this Catback as aggressive.
So, the sound is affected by the Long Tube Headers that you do need to run of course,
but together they produce a good amount of volume and a very deep tone that doesn't have
much raspiness.
This setup is loud, but there isn't a ton of sound distortion to it.
I will say that there is some drone at cruising speed, but that's the only downside of this
system, in my eyes.
Depending on if you go catted or off road with your headers, you get a little bit of
a different sound, but nothing crazy different.
This system will give you a full three-inch exhaust, since the Kooks' Long Tubes have
those three-inch collectors on them, so this Catback needs to pair with those.
As far as the sound rating goes for this one, I'm giving the sound rating on the Catback
itself, but like I already said, the headers are going to have an impact here.
I'm gonna call this a solid four out of five on the loudness scale, with one being a quiet
upgrade, and five being a very loud upgrade.
So, as far as materials and construction, I already mentioned that this is a full three-inch
system.
One of the only true full three-inch systems out there available for the S550 GT anyways.
This Catback is also a full stainless steel.
Of course, mandrel-bent tubing for smoothness, which is expected, and the tips are four-inch
black stainless steel.
When it comes to price, Kooks is usually on the more expensive side of things when you
compare prices across other brands, but that's because of materials, construction, fitment,
and just plain results.
This Catback is gonna cost between $1,500 and $1,600, with those tips driving the price
up a little bit.
But also keep in mind that you have to pair this with Kooks Long Tubes, so you can expect
to add those to the purchase list here.
So, at the end of the day, you'll have spent some good money on an exhaust system, but
it's money well spent, in my opinion, considering the performance and the sound that you'll
get.
As far as the install goes, a Catback install in an S550 is nothing major.
Catbacks just bolt right up.
But since this is a Catback designed to be paired with a set of Long Tubes, you have
to install the Long Tubes at the same time as the Catback.
That's going to make this a project.
You can expect a full day in the garage, maybe a weekend if you don't have any help, and
this is gonna be a full three out of three wrenches in the difficulty meter.
You'll need a full tool box for the install, with an assortment of different sockets, wrenches,
and extensions.
And ideally, a lift as well, but you can do this on jack stands if you really have to.
For the header install, you're looking at things like disconnecting the steering shaft,
dropping the starter, and removing a motor mount.
You need to do this so you can raise your motor slightly with a jack to give you some
more room.
The Catback install then is very simple like I mentioned.
Just replacing the exhaust from the resonator back, and moving your hangers over to the
new Catback, so I'd recommend taking them off with the factory exhaust when you drop
that.
It will just make the swap a little bit easier.
The Catback will come with all new clamps for you too.
And having a helping hand in this case is really gonna benefit you, but a day of wrestling
and some pretty penny spent on these mods, is totally worth it, in my opinion.
Wrapping things up here with the Kooks' Catback exhaust with an H-Pipe, this Catback is designed
to be used with Kooks Long Tube Headers.
This is a full, stainless steel, three-inch Catback that features an H-pipe and Kooks
Oval Race Mufflers for a great-sounding setup.
You can check it out more online right here, at americanmuscle.com.