Just went through MF website.. 200cell cats are actually have metallic substrate material and looks pretty easy to flow. I chose ceramic material cats which looked exactly oem grade inside. May this influence on sound/drone? I just didn't want it smells but wanted to improve flow. How loud it is? Except drone at slight to mid load at 1800-2000 I would say it is "barely noticeable")) Not annoying definitely.

 

After waiting a week for a stainless steel 2" crossover pipe I was informed today, by Car ID, that it will not be available until the 18th.

They were supposed to have TWO IN STOCK!!!

So now I am going to have other parts dependent upon this arrive and will just have to hope that the Car ID part will be available on the 18th.

I am not welding anything so depend upon slip fit and band clamps.

Also I understand that exhaust cutouts will fail any inspection in MA and most other states. So that idea is out.

 

I was thinking of doing the same thing and going 2.5", but at the time I only wanted to do the cats & x-pipe. Originally, I didn't want to change the rear section, but that sure changed when my cravings for more power and beefy V8 sound grew.

I have the following system:
MF 59975 200cell cats 2.25"
MF 10790 Tru-X pipe 2.25"
MF 14211 2.5" oval mufflers

New 2.25" pipe from the X-pipe back (not mandrel bent ), original tips have been extended.

Magnaflow recommended either the 14" deep oval mufflers, or 18" deep if I was still getting drone.

It's going to be a case of trial and error for you, until you get the sound you really like with very little/no drone.

Maybe Magnaflow X-pipe & 18" deep ovals might work? Contact Maganflow support and ask them what they recommend.

 

The Paramount bolt on 200 cel cats really did just slip in to the piping coming out of the front resonator with no problem.

The piping in and out of the resonators on my car is 2" OD which is why I want a 2" X-pipe. 2.25" will not be a tight fit as far as I can tell.

Wherever possible I want to fit pipe into the existing flared OEM pipe.

2" SS X-pipes seem to be rare as compared to 2.25" or 3" which are easily found on Ebay and every where else..

I was planning on replacing the rear resonator first to see what that sounded like and if necessary then going on and taking out the front resonator.

All of this keeping the stock mufflers.

 

Well, I would share my experience since .. I went through 4 modifications of my full exhaust. As I said before I did all on 2.75" tig-welded stainless pipe just because it goes straight butt-end to magnaflow's 2.5" components. If I knew that earlier I would go 2.25" magnaflows to play with 2.5" pipes or less. That is my first conclusion of the journey - no go bigger than 2.25". Second one is "performance is first" myth for our say non-turbo cars. I felt no significant difference in performance going from complete stock through all modifications to the final one which is completely separate pipes from each bank. If you choose "the sound is first" route you will get more satisfaction from your money spent and maybe get some performance plus or no power loss as a bonus but for me as I said was all around placebo. V8 jag on separate pipes sounds something between Subaru and 5.5L gelandewagen.. well articulated without that hollow sound that generates "scavenging improvers" like h-x-pipes or dual resonators

below is my chart for my concrete car and setup (because everything may change if get different pipe size or type of component or manufacturer). 5 mark is maximum for my taste:

setup 1: MF ceramic cats + true-X resonator in place of first stock resonator + big oval resonators in the rear =setup 2: MF ceramic cats + H-pipe right after trans box + tru-X resonator in place of first stock resonator + big oval resonators in the rear =setup 3: MF ceramic cats + H-pipe right after trans box + big oval resonators in the rear = setup 4: MF ceramic cats + separate bullet type Vibrant resonators + big oval resonators in the rear = setup 5: Plan to change rear oval resonators for active once (x-force) to have the ability to "switch the lights off" or again weld in pure x-pipe (not tru-x resonator that was the source of drone as I figured out) but in the rear, just after bullet resonators. Not sure yet, as all who hear the car say: don't even think to change anything Time will tell..

 

Excellent write up Alex.

I ended up with just deleting the front resonator and replacing it with an x-pipe.

With the rear resonator delete the sound was just way too loud so have settled with just deleting the front and keeping the stock rear.

I do not notice any increase in power but neither do I notice any decrease in power. Also no drone at cruising speed 75-85 mph.