I know that's a very broad question, but I specifically want to know what makes a Mustang exhaust note so melodic, while most sbc's sound more raspy.

I'm not really a fan of Mustangs, but everytime I hear one with an aftermarket exhaust, the sound is music to my ears.

I'm sure my Firebird will never sound like a Mustang, and I wouldn't really want it to anyway, but what makes the Mustang sound like that?

possibly because they use either "x" or "h" pipe and not a y-pipe setup

yea, mustangs have a dual exhaust setup, so it will sound different that a single setup.

My original answer was going to be "the size of the tip and what color LED's are in it"

I know the pipe configuration makes adifference, but even with a true dual exhaust, the sbc just sounds different. I think it must be something about overlap, or exhaust port configuration....or something.

Anyone else have any ideas?

They came with factory headers and true dual exhaust with a h-pipe crossover. :/ Wish GM did stuff like that, at least on the GTA's, Formulas, and IROC's.

and doesn't the rustangs have a 4/7 firing order switch?

If they do, that seems like it would change the exhaust note. Can't you do that to a chevy, too? A special distributor or something?

It's the firing order that makes them sound distinct.

Small Block Ford: 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
Small Block Chevy: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2

When you say mustang I assume you mean the 5.0's right? Well with the limited knowledge I have of them I can say that yes they do generally have a traditional dual exhaust, most of which are H-pipe from the factory. They also employ a different firing order, which there was a HO and a non-HO order. I believe they also have a shorter stroke than a Chevrolet 5 liter, all which might contribute to the smoother exhaust note your hearing.

Max,

EDIT: Just read the above, that kinda answered it. To the other question, I believe they have a 4/7 swap cam for the SBC. I read something about it giving less crankshaft deflection with notable gains in higher HP engines.

idle.
haha
Disregard this post.

The two main factors are firing order and valve timing. Thats why LSx's have that weird sound... they have a unique firing order from almost everything else. Combustion chamber design plays into it too, but not as much as FO and valve timing does. The LT1 has all 3 doing for it, and thats why they sound so awesome.

I think the firing order was the key I was looking for. When doing a 4/7 swap cam, do you just switch the wires on the distributor? That sound like it might be a good idea...

It's not that easy. You will also need a special camshaft.

I'm mainly replying to the above bold text. If you take the 351 and late-5.0L Ford firing order and renumber the cylinders like a Chevy, the firing order is 1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3. Which is the same as the Chevy Gen III and IV (LS-series) V-8s. Just a bit of trivia I came across on hotrod.com
yep, new firing order becomes 1-8-7-3-6-5-4-2

...............................That's what he said

Just to add to everything else, induction is what really does it to me.
A fuel injected car always sounds domesticated to me. You can "louden" a fuel injected car, but it just sounds like a tame vehicle with a loud-speaker.

A carbed car (i'm not even thinking about bigger cams here yet), will always have a nicer growl to it. Even basic '80s chev trucks (small cam), will sounds nice, vs a cammed up FI mustang for example (1997 car year for example).

But a cammed up small block chev with a quadrajet? Oh boy, that sounds beautiful. A Q-jet's secondaries cracking open sounds pretty intimidating

For some reason I missed that part. I tend to read through them rather fast.

ford firing order is only "different" because Ford counts the cylinders in a different order.... they may have a 4-7 swap. but so do the ls1's

Yep, they have a 4-7 swap as well as a 2-3 swap compared to a gen I sbc. I mentioned that in post #14.

to better illustrate my above post here is a crappy paint illustration...(sorry its late and ive had a few drinks)

gm firing order 18436572
ford 18736542

you must have had a bunch of drinks cause neither one of those is even close to right!

gm:
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1

ford:
8 4
7 3
6 2
5 1

be careful...the sbf's all had the same firing order...actually, all ford v8's had the same firing order, except for one of the 351's, i believe it was the 351M that was different...

ironic...

what you meant to say was
8 4
7 3
6 2
5 1

fixed...

actually my diagrams are right and my ford firing order wrong. #1 is on the opposite side of GM, gauranteed.... i am a ford technician(definetly not braggin just stating a fact).
15426378 is for the non h.o. 5.0 and 13726548 is the H.O. firing order(different cams)

while the gm order on gen I/II small blocks is 18436572.... gen III/IV hav a 4-7swap

alrighty...i'm not gonna argue then...and i'm willing to accept defeat, lol

i still think the gm one you posted is not correct...should be 1 3 5 7 on the drivers side and 2 4 6 8 on the passenger

haha well we are both wrong then... my GM diagram is wrong. 1357 drivers side and 2468 pass. side

oh well drunk posting FTL

bwahahaha

im still not getting this though...
the firing order in a typical sbc is 1-8-4-3-5-6-7-2, which gives a definite pattern since the right bank is 1-3-5-7 and the left bank is 2-4-6-8.

however the ford order than you are posting makes no sense.
the engine would literally vibrate its self apart.
the banks are 1-2-3-4 and 5-6-7-8 respectively...

im confused

GM # 1 is the front left(drivers)side Odd #'s on the left even on the right
Ford 1-4 is on the right(passenger) 5-8 on the left. It been posted before but it should look like this.

GM
8[ ]7
6[ ]5
4[ ]3
2[ ]1

ford
4[ ]8
3[ ]7
2[ ]6
1[ ]5

GM fireing order 18436572 Ford either 15426378 or 13726548

Ford 15426378 is identicle to GM 18436572. 13726548 looks to be both a 4-7 and 2-3 swap(in GM) if I am looking right.