i have an 03 with 60k on it. it sounds real throaty like the cat is gutted but when i looked underneath it looks like the exhaust was never taken off. the muffler still says ford. i asked a few guys that know of svt focus and says it is way too loud for stock. my question is, what can be done to the exhuast besides gutting the cat and still look factory? does anyone have a clip of exhaust stock with gutted cat so i can hear if it sounds the same. reason for this is im going to inspect it this and want to know if i should buy a cat.

Maybe has a highflow cat? I donno? Maybe an exhaust leak somewhere.

i have a stock exhaust on mine and it is waaaaay to quit for me. The way you discribe it it should be quit soft. Yes it is throaty but it is quit. The only way it would be louder than stock is if-A)stock cat has been gutted or-B)high flow cat but with a hfc it is really raspy and little louder.

Check your cat...I suspect you may not have one, but an Off road pipe instead
see this thread for reference
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86936

it is raspy and louder, maybe it is a high flow cat. what would a hfc look like?

What's up cobra666... a high-flow cat looks pretty much like the stock one:

http://focus.c-f-m.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1125

An offroad pipe would have no cat:

http://focus.c-f-m.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=76

Cobra666, take a picture if you can of your cat so we can see...

Do people actually gut cat's on there SVTF's?
Hmmmm.. Low budget mod-

Do people actually gut cat's on there SVTF's?
Hmmmm.. Low budget mod-

But good gains in power

yes very good power gains for a little 4banger LOL!

maybe your cat blew out and not it's clear.......who knows.....

does it really matter if its alittle louder them stock

he just wants to know thats all. We all wonder about little things like that. i know that I do.

i will get a pic up this weekend. only reason is i have to inspect it this year and worried if i will fail. believe me im not complaining. i love the way it sounds. im going to get a movie clip and put it on here also

here's the video

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/911bc83c-f5b3-448c-a429-98ed0116c582.htm


http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/1640/pic1zl4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That is most definately NOT stock. can you get your car up on jackstands and take pics of the underside?

still has the stock muffler underneath. i will take some more picks.

They might have taken out the resonator. . . .

i think your right because i didnt see one

Where is the resonator supposed to be? I don't think my car has one either!

From the front to back, the SVT exhaust system is as follows:

Header -> cat pipe -> flex pipe -> resonator pipe -> muffler -> "lunchbox" -> tip

It sounds like either the resonator or muffler was deleted ("lunchbox delete" is a popular mod, which replaces the last muffler with straight piping).

something sounds gutted or removed..

I've gotten rid of my lunch box, and it there is only a mild, mild change from the stock sound. I think of it as mostly a cosmetic upgrade.

As I was saying, I bet it was the resonator. That adds the higher pitch by removing it.

damn man
that thing sounds good just like that..
haha

i like it too, most likely why i bought it. what is a lunchbox the muffler? because if its something after the muffler its not there.

What's a lunchbox muffler?

When you look at the back end of a focus, there is a square, small muffler (resonator?) that sits just forward of the rear bumper. It shows on the non-SVT cars more, but it's present on all of the foci.

yep thats the resonator. I bought mine used and it sounded just like that. the exhaust went from the flex pipe-mufler-tip, person before me thought it would make it faster or something [screwy] me I didnt realy like the sound, too much like a rice cannon. I love my borla now it sounds so much better

Borla is DEFINATELY FTW. I love mine. [grinking]

that is the stock cat, but i would like to see what the underside looks like. something is missing.

We're just waiting on more pictures of his set-up. I'll wager like I said earlier it's less one resonator.

I think that is too loud just for one resonator but hey what do I know. I am just used to running nothing but muffler LOL now thats loud.

I can imagine. . . . .

on everything that I drive LOL

Looks like they removed the flex and cat... you can tell because it's a straight pipe from the header to the exhaust, not an 'S' shaped pipe where the cat would be.

I think it would be fun gutting the stock cat as well.

i dont know but it sounds like shit i would get it fixed asap

There's a cat. It's heat shield is held down with large hose clamps (like mine).

Looks like they removed the flex and cat... you can tell because it's a straight pipe from the header to the exhaust, not an 'S' shaped pipe where the cat would be.

I think it would be fun gutting the stock cat as well.

Are you looking at the right picture? The cat is clearly there.

Yes, I agree, the cat is MOST DEFINATELY there. Look right over the header pipe.