Car runs and idles just fine but on faster pulls it seems to take forever for the car to get through the gears... it sounds okay until around 4000 rpms in each gear then i hear a hesitation and the acceleration slows. the only problem with the car that i know of at the moment is a exhaust, which is in terrible condition. Any ideas?

 

Clogged cats, if you have them.

 

Actually, there's a whole laundry list of things that can cause your problem. Clogged Cats have already been mentioned; also consider leaky injectors, secondary actuators that are stuck, engine grounds, ECU grounds. There are probably others as well. Much has been written on the origin and solution of the 3800 hesitation. Start reading

 

"I have this hesitation whenever I accelerate right around 3500-4000 RPM
The dreaded 3800 RPM hesitation is cause 90% of the time by poor ground connections between the engine, the battery, and the car. Clean or replace all the under hood ground connections. On 86 model year cars , replacing/regrounding the pressure sensor's ground wire has helped (do not re-ground a 87 or later model year). If there is still a problem after that, look at cleaning the fuel injectors and (on a N/A) that your 5th/6th ports are operating correctly."

Right from the sticky above.