Hey everybody, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com and this is my detailed review of the aFe
Mach Force XP 3-inch Cat-Back Exhaust System featuring the split side exit configuration
available for your 2015 and newer 5-liter powered F-150.
In this review, I'm gonna do my best to tell you what you can expect with the aFe as far
as sound, materials, and construction, and we're even gonna talk a little bit more about
the install later on in the video.
And on the topic of the installation, I can tell you thanks to the detailed product list
and the detailed instructions, you're looking at a one outta three wrenches here on the
difficulty meter.
There is a little bit more work involved with a dual split side exit configuration, but
I will have some more detail later on.
The Mach Force XP from aFe is gonna be a great choice for the Coyote truck owners out there
for a few different reasons.
First and foremost, this is gonna be a great middle-of-the-road system in regards to price,
landing just below that $1,000 price point.
But in my opinion, it's gonna deliver a construction materials that far exceed the price tag.
Secondly, it's gonna deliver plenty of bark for the five-liter truck owners out there
who crave a little bit more presence for their rig, but at the same time, it's gonna deliver
that bark through one of my favorite configurations, the dual split side exit option.
So Advanced Flow Engineering or aFe for short, is one of those companies that might not have
been around as long as some of the other heavy hitters here in the field, but their popularity
has really skyrocketed as of late, especially in the truck aftermarket.
Now their bread and butter is certainly gonna be in the intake and exhaust side of things,
but their product lineup has expanded as of late.
But since we are focusing in on the exhaust for the purposes of this video, let's break
down the sound profile here from the Mach Force XP.
And honestly guys, I really have nothing bad to say about the tone here, just classic V8
muscle coming from the twin five-inch tips.
Slightly deeper tone overall and one that's gonna fall pretty much in the middle of the
pack in regards to overall volume.
So, that makes my choice an easy one for my wake the neighbors scale.
I'm going middle of the road here, three out of five on my on my one to five, or one to
wake the neighbors scale.
You're certainly not gonna pegging any decimal meters here, but at the same time, people
are certainly not gonna question whether or not the truck is stock.
With the sound covered, let's talk a little bit more about the build and execution here
from the aFe system.
And honestly guys, again, just like the sound, I really have no complaints about the build
or construction with this particular system.
This is a full stainless steel system.
The aFe is 409-grade, to be exact.
Yes, it's not 304, but at this price point, that's really not all that surprising.
And I can't stress this enough, guys, if you do see a lotta road salt during the winter
months, if you're truck is gonna see a lotta snow, take my advice, go with a full stainless
steel system, 304 or 409 it really doesn't matter.
Obviously, that 304 will be a little better for you in the long run, but both will be
better than the aluminized steel when it comes time to prevent corrosion.
Along with that 409-grade stainless steel, you're also gonna be looking at 3-inch mandrel-bent
tubing basically from tip to tip here with this system, exiting out the rather large
5-inch polished tips.
You can grab these things in black if you like as well.
But regardless, you're gonna have the "aFe Power" plaque kinda riveted on the side there.
It looks good, it's not over the top.
Done in a tasteful way.
Shaping the sound, we have a single 21-inch muffler, single inlet dual outlet.
aFe actually claims that this thing's gonna help absorb any high pitched noises, which
our sound clips tend to back up.
If you've heard the sound clips, this is a very deep sounding system overall.
Now aFe claims that their truck picked up 9 horsepower and 17 foot-pounds of torque
with this system installed, but I don't want you guys to get hung up on power numbers here
because that's really not what this thing is all about.
And in most cases, aFe's numbers are going to be the best case scenario.
For most owners out there, the gains are gonna be minimal at best when it comes to horsepower
and torque.
Instead, you're looking at more of a sound or appearance upgrade first, and that certainly
is gonna be the case here with any cat-back for your five-liter truck.
When it comes time to open up your wallet, you're gonna find the aFe, again, to be a
middle-of-the-road cat-back in regards to overall price, right in the $800 range for
the polished tip version.
You can pick up the same cat-back with a ceramic black coated tip instead.
It's gonna add roughly 100 bucks onto the price tag.
Now at this price point, you're gonna be fighting with systems like Magnaflow, Stainless Works,
and even some of the higher-end MBRP Pro series stuff as well.
So you have a lotta choices to make in this particular price range and you do have to
do your homework.
Switching gears, let's talk install.
And for a dual exit system like this which can sometimes be a little bit more involved
or a little bit more work, that really wasn't the case here with our shop truck.
So I'm going one out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter, and about an hour or
two in the shop or garage before you're making some noise.
One thing I do really enjoy about the aFe system here is that, yes it is designed to
fit basically all cab and bed-sized F-150s out there, but instead of including one single
long mid-pipe that should be cut down to size depending on your wheelbase, they include
a couple of different mid-pipes to be used with different wheelbased trucks.
So ultimately, there's gonna be no cutting needed to get this system bolted up to your
ride.
Instead, you're really only looking at some basic hand tools for the install, including
a socket set which will be your tool of choice here for most of the install, along with a
cordless impacter air, if you have it.
Obviously, you'll need to get that stock system out of the way before you can proceed.
Once that is out of the way, aFe recommends starting from front to back, hanging the mid-pipe
and the muffler assembly first.
Once that is in place, go ahead and install the passenger side tail pipe section followed
by the driver side tail pipe section.
Save your final tighten up to the very end and you should be good to go.
Now aFe also recommends retorquing or rechecking your bolts after roughly 50 to 100 miles,
just to make sure nothing's loosened up on you.
So if you have roughly 1,000 bucks or less to spend on a new cat-back for that V8 powered
F-150, I think you're gonna enjoy the aFe, and here's why.
The sound is right where it needs to be for a big V8 powered truck.
The construction materials are all on point, given the price.
And finally, that dual split side exit configuration looks good on just about any truck out there.
So that is my review of the aFe Mach Force XP, which you can find right here at americanmuscle.com.
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