[Patriot Motorsports USA]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

Also if you live in an emissions county in Texas (most of the counties near large cities), you will still legally need catalytic converters to pass the yearly inspection required to renew your registration.

In practice, they just plug into the OBD2 port to check for emissions codes so you might be able to get away with no cats if they don't do a visual inspection for cats underneath and they ignore the smell and your tuner tunes out the cat codes but not guaranteed and bad for the environment.

My house is based in Sugar Land, Tx... but my company is here in South Carolina. Its a cheat code of sorts but exempts all my vehicles from the Emissions Testing in Texas.

I tracked my ZLE for almost a year with the stock exhaust system... those who I know with failed cats are all running the OEM Oil cooler. The poor fueling with this system causes the over-rich mixtures when road racing and definitely hurts the cats. You can see raw fuel in the videos from the GoPro on the bumper. Once I removed the oil cooler and went with the Porsche RSR unit, the burning of excess fuel was gone.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by ZL1_1LE

Never mind I saw your location and now it makes even more sense.....did you move here from another state?

You would be surprised how many car enthusiasts are liberal. (Not saying the previous poster is)


To stay on topic, while I dont have cats on my car, the main reason (besides cost of high flow cats) was everyone i talked to said you would eventually blow 1 or both out after a while. A non-boosted application may be alittle longer but a zl1 it was guaranteed to happen. So I just said screw it and got the "off road pipe" option

[ZL1_1LE]

Originally Posted by AZIROC

You would be surprised how many car enthusiasts are liberal. (Not saying the previous poster is)


To stay on topic, while I dont have cats on my car, the main reason (besides cost of high flow cats) was everyone i talked to said you would eventually blow 1 or both out after a while. A non-boosted application may be alittle longer but a zl1 it was guaranteed to happen. So I just said screw it and got the "off road pipe" option

That's bad for the environment.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by ZL1_1LE

That's bad for the environment.

Yeah, I know. Once politicians, athletes and entertainers sell their private jets and sit next to me and the other common folk in a southwest economy seat, then ill start to care more.

[ZL1_1LE]

Originally Posted by AZIROC

Yeah, I know. Once politicians, athletes and entertainers sell their private jets and sit next to me and the other common folk in a southwest economy seat, then ill start to care more.

Ahh yes common sense, I agree, but when you say "no catalytic converters is bad for the environment' there is so much more that goes into what's bad for the environment then that baseless comment.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by ZL1_1LE

Ahh yes common sense, I agree, but when you say "no catalytic converters is bad for the environment' there is so much more that goes into what's bad for the environment then that baseless comment.

Dont get me wrong, for every day vehicles, they are needed as they do help the environment. Im specifically talking about track vehicles. I know there are alot of people that pull double duty with their cars (daily and track on weekends) and some are fortunate enough to have a dedicated track-only car. When it comes to those (double duty), then it will have to be a case by case and what's allowed for each person depending on their states/county/city laws.


But.. for the track cars, or just in general for track use, cats will fail eventually.

[cdrptrks]

Originally Posted by AZIROC

everyone i talked to said you would eventually blow 1 or both out after a while. A non-boosted application may be alittle longer but a zl1 it was guaranteed to happen. So I just said screw it and got the "off road pipe" option

I've seen others online who have had their ZL1 cats fail but I don't think it is a common issue with the SS (so far) that the original poster has.

[18.2SS.1LE]

Originally Posted by ZL1_1LE

That's bad for the environment.

If you're concerned about someone not running cats at the occasional track day, don't buy a performance car to unnecessarily burn fuel for fun. Virtue signal somewhere else.

[ZL1_1LE]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

I've seen others online who have had their ZL1 cats fail but I don't think it is a common issue with the SS (so far) that the original poster has.

Umm I agree lollllll I believe you meant to respond to our Houston friend ^^^

Originally Posted by 18.2SS.1LE

If you're concerned about someone not running cats at the occasional track day, don't buy a performance car to unnecessarily burn fuel for fun. Virtue signal somewhere else.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by Patriot Motorsports USA

No matter what you do, running with the OEM cats will eventually get you one to fail if you are truly pushing the car hard in Texas Heat.

I have logged over 14K track miles and love my ARH headers even though they are uncoated as I did not want any of the corrosion issues due to moisture in the wrap, oil fire possibilities of wraps and the added heat being sent through the transmission tunnel due to wrapping or coating the headers.

Mine are just natural and I have zero issues, running flat out for 30 minutes at a time producing over 750whp. The ARH headers are the highest quality and thus why they get a higher price for their value!

This is very helpful and good to know you are not having any heat issues. At the moment I'm leaning towards getting them ceramic coated because I worry about engine bay temps enough as it is, but perhaps I save myself a few hundred bucks and just install them natural.

[Spaceman]

Originally Posted by TransamGTA350

Excellent advice from M Camarolina. I'm in the same camp. The car needs very little to go out on track. Brake fluid and track alignment. Then as you get a little faster, dedicated track wheels/tires, camber plates (for a little more front camber) and maybe upgraded brake pads (although the stock pads can take a lot of abuse). These minor mods will not affect the factory warranty and it takes a driver with a lot of experience to extract everything the car has setup like this.

I know you say the warranty isn't important to you, but what happens if/when it spins a bearing on track? Going to be a pretty big expense for a new motor out of pocket. It's not super common, but also not rare either.

It sounds like you're pretty set on doing LT headers though. I would advise against, maintain your warranty and put the money toward seat time (that will drop your laptimes much more than headers will). But, you asked about potential issues. I have not run LT headers on my Camaro on track, so I can't say anything specific regarding that, but have installed headers on other street cars. The headers are going to get really hot, so you need to make sure any wires or hoses nearby are protected from the heat. You may need to move things out of the way for clearance and use some of that silver foil wire wrap.

Regarding the safety gear upgrades, when you do, it needs to be all or nothing. I would not do a harness bar. If you're going to do it, I would do at minimum 1/2 cage for rollover protection, fixed back containment race seats and harnesses. It really needs to be a whole package or, leave it be.

I would however recommend in the meantime to get a Simpson hybrid S (which will also work with harnesses later on) and a fire extinguisher (if you don't already have one). A fire suit is also not a bad idea as you get faster and push harder. Regarding moving around in the seat, are you locking the seatbelt with the seat retracted back and then moving it forward into your driving position so that the seatbelt is very tight (to the point where it's uncomfortable)? That helps a lot. Also use your left leg on the dead pedal to push your upper body into the seat back.

Thanks for the input. In regards to your suggestions, when I wrote the original question I had already placed the order for my headers. So, in terms of saving money, it was already a moot point. I just wanted to ensure I didn't overlook something before I installed them on the car.
Undoubtedly, seat time is king in terms of reducing lap time. The point of me buying long tubes wasn't to set better lap times, more so to have more fun on both the street and track. The good news is I have a dedicated sim rig, and while it doesn't make 1 to 1 transfer of actual seat time, it does a great job of teaching fundamentals, and even some more advanced racing techniques at a fraction of cost of tracking a car.


I would like to think of myself as a rationale and logical person. However, when I heard how my car sounded compared to other cars on track or even some plain jane trucks on the street my brain enters "smol PP" mode and I immediately want my car to be louder. The alternative would be I order an axle back system through Borla or Corsa with NPP, but that alone will set you back $2K+ and there is 0 performance benefit. Headers just seemed to be the way to go in terms of adding volume with a small bump in HP as well.


As far as seat upgrades, I may hold off for awhile. Like you said, A roll bar is the better option over a harness bar but there is a $2K price tag difference in that expense alone, on top of seats, harness, seat bracket and all the accessories. I was using a bit of hyperbole when I said "we were flying around." My instructor was a bit, but as for myself I can confidently keep myself in place with the stock seatbelts. However, if you watch the video I posted, It's quite obvious how much I am straining a lot to keep myself in the seat, even if my brain doesn't interpret that while I'm driving. I'm sure if my body was fixed in place, rather than me tensing up every corner, I could find a tenth or two.

[1LEThumper]

I and in the same boat myself. I’d like to pick up some sound and a few more HP as I do run the car on the track and street. Coming from a C6Z picking up a few HP in the Camaro would be welcomed.


What did ARH say about coating? The engine harness on the passenger side seems to be the biggest issue I have read about.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by 1LEThumper

I and in the same boat myself. I’d like to pick up some sound and a few more HP as I do run the car on the track and street. Coming from a C6Z picking up a few HP in the Camaro would be welcomed.


What did ARH say about coating? The engine harness on the passenger side seems to be the biggest issue I have read about.

The harness you can move behind the coolant tank if you are worried about it.


My headers were coated from kooks and I can see why people worry about it since I moved ny coolant tank out of the way to install the headers, I just moved it behind the coolant tank as well.

[DaveC113]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

As far as seat upgrades, I may hold off for awhile. Like you said, A roll bar is the better option over a harness bar but there is a $2K price tag difference in that expense alone, on top of seats, harness, seat bracket and all the accessories. I was using a bit of hyperbole when I said "we were flying around." My instructor was a bit, but as for myself I can confidently keep myself in place with the stock seatbelts. However, if you watch the video I posted, It's quite obvious how much I am straining a lot to keep myself in the seat, even if my brain doesn't interpret that while I'm driving. I'm sure if my body was fixed in place, rather than me tensing up every corner, I could find a tenth or two.

Do you know about the locking seatbelts? Pull the belt all the way out and let it go, it'll lock and then you can lean forward to tension it, and if that's not enough you can start with your seat a little further back than normal and move it forward until you get enough belt tension.