Exhaust

[Macam1984]

I've been thinking about an exhaust for my Camaro since I've gotten it and just not getting around to doing something about it. Of course never having done anything like this before the only two names I knew were flowmaster and magnaflow. An old work associate recommended corsa, he told me that they specialize in Chevy and that some corvettes come stock with corsa exhaust but I haven't found much evidence supporting that( honestly I didn't dig too deep though). When I do the exhaust I plan on doing everything, including headers and I would like to do the installation myself at a self service shop i know I El Paso and I get a week off work at a time( is that a reasonable amount of time to get it all done?). My tentative plan is to have the cat-backs sent to a welder I guess at least a week in advance before I plan on starting the work and possibly the headers shipped to a shop to get a powder coat done. Same guy mentioned above recommended kooks headers since corsa didn't seem to have headers for my camaro. Any thoughts on these or recommendations on other brands?
Also as far as a tuning chip, do dealerships sell those so as to avoid voiding my warranty? And that do people do with their stock exhaust after they put a performance kit on?

[pyroguy]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your Camaro purchase. There are many MANY exhaust options that you can check out sound clips on youtube over, but the best thing is to get out to some shows and listen to them in person.

As for Corsa exhaust, it is 1 of 2 systems guaranteed not to drone, the other being Solo. Corsa is a little more expensive, but sounds great. IMO, it is a little quiet before installing headers, but once you do it gets pretty loud. As for the headers, Kooks is a very high quality set of headers, other high end brands include ARH and Stainless Works. Mid level headers include OBX, Texas Speed, and Stainless Power. Cheap headers that people have been excited about lately are Speed Engineering.

Here's a couple of clips of my exhaust set up. I am currently running Kooks long tube headers with high flow cats and Solo's Mach XL catback.

Pre tune

Post tune

[Macam1984]

Thanks for the input, sounds like I have a lot more research to do, but I'm in no rush, for this investment I plan on doing it right. BTW your camaro sounds great!

[CamaroFred]

You know that headers will require a tune. And a tune will void your powertrain warranty. There is no 'chip'.
Cat-back won't affect the warranty.

[BRN2SPD]

Borla atak, resonator delete and stainless works longtube off-road headers is loud enough for me. Little drone and my car screams from 3k rpm and up

[JerTM]

Mine had the Corsa installed when I bought it. It sounded pretty good, no drone at all. But it really woke up when I put the long tube headers and high flow cats on.

[Mr. Stacy]

How many miles on your car? You may want to wait for the long tube headers until after your oil pump fails. Go with a cat, or axle back for now and keep your warranty valid. JMHO

[PalmerGA]

Originally Posted by pyroguy

As for Corsa exhaust, it is 1 of 2 systems guaranteed not to drone, the other being Solo.

Don't know about Corsa, but the Solos with J-Pipes are great. Very nice sound and come from dealer adjusted for no drone. However... the J-Pipes are adjustable so you can determine the amount of drone, should you want some.

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by Macam1984

Thanks for the input, sounds like I have a lot more research to do, but I'm in no rush, for this investment I plan on doing it right. BTW your camaro sounds great!

Thanks. I researched for about a year on my catback and even longer on my long tube headers. When I was purchasing my headers I contemplated Texas Speed strongly at first, but ultimately went with Kooks because of a few reasons. 1) American made, important to me but not to all; 2) High quality; 3) Guaranteed for life; 4) Free ceramic coating from www.Marylandspeed.com with promo code freecoatkooks. I am convinced I made the right choice and I'd buy them again if I had to. When comparing headers make sure you include all of the costs, O2 extensions, cats (if desired), ceramic coating (if desired), new gaskets (go with GM they're the best), warranty (if that's important to you).

Happy modding!

[Macam1984]

Lots to take in all at once, thanks everyone!!! I'm liking this forum already! Bunch of damn gear heads... Haha

[Dmpsix]

Yeah as mentioned before, might wanna hold off on the tune if you like your warranty.

There's a lot of debate on here on whether it truly voids your warranty or not and it all depends on if your local dealership is mod friendly. Mine is, I had my car serviced for some random check engine lights more than once.

Others have had their entire warranty voided over the smallest of aftermarket mods.

Gotta pay to play though! I don't think there's a single person here who regrets their long tube headers and catback exhaust!

[Stroke9]

Originally Posted by Dmpsix

Yeah as mentioned before, might wanna hold off on the tune if you like your warranty.

+1

OP I have a 15 1SS as well. Do you not have the quad tip and the NPP exhaust?

My car sounds awesome from the factory, but after my warranty expires I'm going with either HF cats and LT headers or just headers. I really can't get confirmation on this... but some forum members have said we already have high-flo cats from the factory.

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by Stroke9

I really can't get confirmation on this... but some forum members have said we already have high-flo cats from the factory.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but NPP exhaust is only referring to the catback setup. You have the same cats as any other SS. But I will agree, if the OP has factory NPP exhaust that getting a catback should be avoided and just go with LT headers. If mine was equipped with a NPP I would have left it alone.

[frankwjr]

Do you want power or sound? Factory cat delete or replaced wit HFC = most power gain for the buck..IMHO..when I measured the internal dia of stock cat it was 2.25....and you have 2 cats...ARH HFC down pipe is 3in dia pipe necked down at both ends to 2.5...this simple bolt on equals serious seat of the pants power increase with major change in exhaust note...dynoSteve then worked his magic...

Has anyone JUST replaced the stock cats with the HFC down pipes combined with tune? Stock cats can be swapped back in if necc..very easy process...

I would rather spend the $1k plus for a CAT BACK exhaust on a cam kit..side by side the cam'd car will be faster...stock cat back has ZERO restriction until wat about 500rwhp+..?

I would rather build power and let the "sound" take care of it self...

Any discussion of warranty and upgrade is just that, a discussion...I personally would never pursue a warranty based on a modded car UNLESS it had ABSOLUTELY nothin to do with the upgrade..ie cammed car and the trunk leaks...lol..but thats just me...