Lex Talionis

first.. no just HUGE Cube fan (new album in June).. have been for nearly 20 years (thats a funny one above about thinking Cube was a car ) second.. for exhaust.... "cant remove or modifying any emissions device" and not being able to pass smog are 2 different things. As long as I can pass smog, I would not worry 1 bit about modifying my exhaust. not one bit. the smog centers, as long is it is not a burden for them to test - like it was in your case with the turn down ends - are the only ones to really see your exhaust up close and the only ones to care and see it is modified. I mean hey, people have to replace exhaust systems all the time for various reasons, so it is a bit of a gray line there.. I would keep it looking stock, 2 exhaust outs with same tips in same place, so you would never know. I only wonder if this allows more bad gasses to flow out, or increase the flow rate of a bad gas or something and thus, the smog machine would nail you as the one thing about smog that sucks is that the results - in CA - get sent via computer right to the DMV so they know ASAP right then you failed. Then it is scramble time to find a way to pass. no thanks. personally, I would opt to not modify my exhaust to achieve a power and sound effect I enjoy if it compromises passing smog - more hassle than its worth at that stage. But you see/hear modded exhaust in SoCal around all the time, so I can't think it does, but do not know. anyone else know the effects on smog pass in doing a mod like this?

you never did explain why you elected to just swap the front muffler and totally removed the rear - as opposed to say 818EDGE's Gibson that kept both front and rear? you could have additionally done something from that 3rd column of the 40 Series (1 in plus 2 out) for the rear and had different results you suppose - I wonder of that would lower the pitch some, but then would you loose performance as you then have reduced airflow in the final 2nd muffler versus just straight out pipes? also, do you know if this has any effect on the ability to pass state smog requirements? I am still learning this aspect of exhaust, so thanks for the continued explanations.

well done! thanks, that really helps. comes through loud and clear. my initial impression is that I love the concept, but my gut reaction tells me that for my personal taste/ear, the sound is a bit higher pitched (??) than I might like and and more like a compact tricked out honda then a subtle lower pitch, deeper throaty rumble (??). The rumbling vibrato is there that I really like, it just might be too high pitched for me and to obvious. hard to explain it exactly. maybe more like a deeper V8 sound I seek?

so.. you like the sound? surprised by it? wishing it was more/less? is/ is not what you thought? I look forward to hearing your audio.. can you make a simple mp3 and post it with startup of car, idle, and rev?

very cool.. I would have assumed you would have just done like a 9424412 or something, but you changed it up totally. interesting. any reason why you just did not cut out what you had and put back right where you had it? did you learn/were told something about why doing it as you did it would be better than the rear muffler with dual exhaust out? how about that sound? you made no mention of the actual sound difference you noticed? I am very curious about this: louder, perfect, obnoxious, no chnage did it still just cost you $350 in the end? FYI, cooler engine temps are not always ideal. For example, in a Chevy 350 I have in my truck, they are spec'd and are known to perform ideally when the temp is around 190-200, going below that hinders actual performance. The dyno results show some interesting numbers for you. I wonder if the transmission has to adjust for this new reaching of RPMs faster than before in its shifting points?

HIDs rock and all LEDs also rock and I agree 100% - very much worth their money and time to install. especially all the LEDs on the inside of the car.

in a 2008 at least, that is already a LED system. so no need.

Sweet! thats what I am talking about. please do, it would help to have both. :hyper: BTW, why did you pick that model versus some of their others?

so what part # when I said tips, my 2008 has nice tips - I know some years/models do not, so I assume if they put back the exhaust outlets, and they have tips on them, they put them back. Sounds like that is what they do and if you had tips, they put them back on as they just reuse your 2 exhaust out pipes. report back about the sound. I would be very curious how you personally think it compares to the actual sound clip they reference?

what part # from that link did you get? I assume something from 3rd column, but which part #? That is a lot less than the Gibson setup, so I assume it is muffler only - also looking at the link it shows only mufflers. so, it is just the muffler, no tubing and they will cut out your muffler, weld to your existing in pipe, and weld back your 2 exhaust out pipes (with tips) back on to the new muffler?

just relative to this portion of your question.. at the time I used my X Plan I also qualified for, and used, 3 different cash rebates: Presidents Day, Ford Cash Back, Conquest Cash I did pay cash for my car so did not get into the financing... so my point is more that you can combine rebates and X Plan I was not under the impression that financing had anything to do with being able to use rebates AND X Plan at same time, but that financing plays more of a roll in WHAT rebates you can get (i.e., cash back or good APR but not both). BTW, this page http://www.fordvehicles.com/incentives/offers/ is pretty good about showing what Ford rebates/offers are happening now in your area and the caveats and requirements for each - also remember that your local dealer may have other rebates happening that are not listed there (Conquest Cash or a holiday sale) so ask about those as well.

so wait.. your saying you got the map lights changed and they come on when the door opens, but they do not come on when you push the button? If so, I wonder if these stems from your install. You did WAY more to install these than I did. I never removed the frosted trim piece, just pulled it down slow and easy. I never removed the aluminum pieces around the bulb. Not even sure why that was needed or why you did that? but it might be because of your extras steps that your push buttons may not trigger the map lights - if I follow your issue. I suspect that when you took all that down and put it back, the push buttons - clear plastic lens - is simply not triggering and hitting the on/off switch up where it use to. So, the bulbs still get power and so they come on when the doors open, but cannot be triggered when you push the buttons as the buttons are not lining up as they did and trigging the switch. Might have jostled more around when you took all of that off, or not lined it back up perfect. As I said, I never took any of that stuff off. Yes, they are a PITA I agree.

www.blueovalforums.com is by far the best place to get the answers to this question. It gets minimal play here, but is a key topic there. As I recall it, it was not really spelled out in any 1 place all together packaged as one FAQ like one may want it, it was more spread out across reading many posts/threads on the topic that you get the sense and details of X Plan usage. I got all the answers I needed by just browsing the www.blueovalforums.com posts on X Plans and kind of gleaned what was key to know.

it has only been up a few days since your request.. I think mine took several days to have someone finally provide. You might try to be more proactive and find someone offering to give them. IIRC, as it has been a bit since I did the X Plan from Blue Oval, I also remember reading posts of people saying they have them and just PM them to arrange. Did you try that option and see if someone is offering if you contact them?

I see only a listing for 2007 at this time (G27619630) but no 2008. I suspect that will change at some point. Any real world notice of HP changes right off the bat? Were you able to keep and use your tips? Listen to the stock FX 35 sound clip on this website does yours sound like that?

great.. break yours and then when you regret it, I can sell you mine

UPDATE: SOLD SOLD SOLD Looking to unload my barely used OEM Ford speakers from the Audiophile sound system. I had them a few weeks before upgrading to new higher end speakers. I know selling them is a long shot, but I figured maybe someone might blow a set or want the OEM so I would just post up and leave the post and maybe over time.. someone will find use for them :unsure: anyway... PM me an offer if they are ever of interest to you - maybe we can work something out. they are just sitting around sealed up in a box right now and I hate having unused stuff sitting around. I called Ford to get a value idea on these and they said since they came out of the Audiophile sound system they are better speakers, upgrades, than those from the NOT Audiophile sound system.

I need to chime in here... For as much as I love my white sand tri coat Edge, I have to admit that as I spend more time with it and cleaning it and seeing every surface of it as I clean it in various light conditions, it really has one of the lowest quality paint jobs I have seen or had on a car. I can point out dozens of small and slight imperfections: bumps, what looks like dust/dirt particles under paint, thin paint in areas (like under edge of wheel wells), contamination, rough bumpy spots (like around the headlights), and then some just imperfections I can't name that look like tiny tiny splatters of another paint color. I would consider the paint and quality of paint job my biggest actual gripe about this car. oh yeah... and I paid extra for this color/paint job to boot <_<

it 'might' have been, but I did not check. There was no way I would have left it, even if it was a tad brighter, as I would not want to be able to look into the reflector and see the bulb, wires, etc. If I were a betting man, I think the extra 'possible' brightness would have been negligible. But hey, the were cheap to make so I could make some clear ones also. I can tell you, they are pretty bright. They still do the job just fine. I only tested last night outside my home, but they still seem perfect bright and you can see the ground just as with the dingy incandescents. When I went out to test last night, I tested like it would be real world. I stood back and unlocked the car as I was walking up and I did not 'feel' in my gut any less brightness. I felt no discernible differences that was like "wow, that does not work or is less light or does not do the job", other than it looks really kick ass. A better test will be to go to a totally dark pitch black area and see what they are like with no ambient light from house lights or street lights. I suspect the result will still be perfect as we know the LEDs put out a cleaner, brighter and more light all things being equal. Also, I need to drive it around and see just how stable they are - do they shift, come loose, etc. they could fail at that stage.. not sure yet. the interesting thing about these LEDs is that since they are 1 sided, LEDs on only 1 side, nothing on back side, no real need for a metal reflector behind them as no light from back there to bounce down. I do wonder if that plays a role in brightness as I wonder when using an incandescent that puts light out all directions, the metal reflector behind the bulb shots stray light back down in addition to the light already aiming down? not sure. but again, the resulting look an feel is as important to me as the actual light output, and since I 'feel" no difference, the goal was achieved. I suppose if it looked cool but put out like no light, light that did not even hit the ground, I might call it a failure and go back.