[s346k]

mine isn’t that shrill, but it is loud. probably one of the least restrictive setups you can do while retaining a muffler. 2” primary headers, 3” x, midpipe and mufflers (magnaflow 4x9). mid range sometimes you can hear it trying to be rasptastic, but it stays pretty clean. high rpm sounds like racecar. mufflers are very deep and mellow at idle and low rpm. drones like a sob. i have a couple videos, but they don’t really do it much justice without the bass.

[RUTHLESS SS]

Originally Posted by MackSteelPrivateEye

Gee that sounds awfully swell.

https://youtu.be/LMII7KlekdM

[CoeusAscended]

Honestly it seems sound in videos really is down to the microphone and placement, Ive watched so many exhaust and headers videos by now and sometimes the one Im interested in sounds like ass, other times it sounds godly. Its hard to tell really. Exhaust manufacturers are usually finicky with editing as well, purposely making their product sound better and stock worse for example, so its tough to make a decision. Not to even mention volume is impossible to get through a video. I'd say go by general, recurring opinions on systems, for example its said a lot that headers into stock npp sounds tinny and rattley at high rpms, mbrp and awe exhausts sound low and rumbley, corsa extreme and borla attack scream with a slight rattle etc.

[oldman]

To me, a lot of guys think a performance exhaust = loud. Then they have to deal with rasp, drone et al. A performance exhaust sound is actually a by-product of a performance engine. A good running cam, tuned performance engine can sound good with a bone stock, all 4 cats in exhaust. Nay, not just good but, phenomenal.

The counter is not true, no matter how much is spent on headers, and the most exotic X pipe and sound cancelation tubes, mufflers etc, one can indeed get it to be loud, and one can indeed get a system with less or minimal drone. But it will NEVER sound and it will never be a built and cammed engine sound to 7200 RPM, that is pure mechanical glory.

After what 4 years now and a many tries, I'm currently on all four factory cats (two front are modified), Borla 60608 twin resonators, the rest including the headers are factory stock. The sound thru the 7200 RPM shifts is incredible, AND it is HECK of loud too.

I do think FBO, LT cats and the Borla 60608, stock after that, would be an awesome sounding exhaust. IMO (not counting Corsa's noise cancellation tech), the only way to get way from rasp and drone is to have a chambered and preferably packed muffler. The straight thru or (the chambered but not packed) can and probably will have drone and / or rasp at 3". I don't know of anybody that builds a bolt on chambered and packed muffler. I know packing is going by the wayside as it does not last a million miles. Two hemi super turbo dynomax mufflers out back probably would make a great no-drone system.
https://www.dynomax.com/sounds-of-dy...-turbo-muffler


It is my opinion, and I'm old, and this is subjective, loud don't = performance, except at the highschool parking lot.

[NA18CamaroSS]

Loud is definitely not equal to performance. On the flip side of the coin, a restriction in the exhaust will kill power.

An internal combustion engine is an air pump. More air in/more air out = more power. It's a matter of matching components to maximize air flow. Intakes, throttle bodies, and intake manifolds feed air into the engine. Efficient intakes, bigger throttle bodies, and properly designed intake manifolds maximize the amount of air that you can pump into an engine. Turbos and super chargers obviously greatly increase the amount of air that is pumped into the engine and increase the power potential a lot.
Correctly ported heads and properly designed camshafts increase the amount of air that the engine can ingest. Bigger is not always better however. On forced induction engines, a cam that is too big or has too much overlap can actually push the intake charge straight out of the exhaust, wasting the air and making less power. It's all about matching all of your components to achieve maximum efficiency in order to reach your power goals.
When it comes to exhaust, bigger is not always better either. While it is true that many OEM exhaust systems, from the exhaust manifold to the muffler tip, represent a restriction, and are not ideal for maximum power, it is possible to go too far the other way. The true art in designing an exhaust system is finding the optimal system for the application. An NA 1.6 liter Honda engine equipped with a header with 3" primaries and a 4" straight through exhaust will make less power than the same engine with a correctly sized header and a reasonably sized exhaust with a muffler. But if you add a turbo to that 1.6 liter motor and try to pump 8 PSI of boost through the engine, a 2" exhaust will severely restrict the power.
The same principles apply to LT1 V8's. A properly designed set of headers mated to a good exhaust system can take advantage of exhaust system pulses to aid in scavenging and maximize the power potential of an engine. There are many tricks to finding the proper header primary size and pairing sequences. The art of fluid dynamics has a big part to play in effective exhaust system design.
All that being said, there is nothing like the throaty sound of properly cammed and tuned V8 breathing through a nice set of headers and well designed exhaust.

[oldman]

The Lingenfelter 720 HP upgrade for the ZL1 does not touch the exhaust at all. The SS and the Zl1 share the a near identical exhaust system. The primary cat is 1.8 ID and has an 02 sensor stuck in there. By making it 2.0 ID and spacing out the 02 IMO really helps flow. The point being the stock exhaust is pretty good, and some of the smaller ares are easy to enlarge.


Agreed that LT with cats and a reasonable exhaust really wakes the car up. It is just too loud for me. Sound is related to total exhaust, so the more power the more exhaust, and piston speed, the higher the rev the louder the exhaust. So for me it is well worth the upto 50 HP I am "lousong" with a modified stock exhaust vs LT and cats. I will put my LT with cats back on (car is on stands now) to see if the Borla helps control the banshee wail I get at 7200 with boost. If not well I got too much HP anyway.

I will say NA built, it was pure glory at 7200 RPM with LT.. Reminds me of my old DZ 302 Z/28 but more potent.

[cmitchell17]

I think one of the problems is all the other noise besides the actual exhaust interfering with the sound. Also before I make a decision on sound I need to be able to hear it from different place and from outside the car.

To me it sounds good when you get into the throttle all the way until you get to WOT then you just get all this raspy, rattling, broke sounding noise. I have my CCM controlled to where in tour mode I have the valves 100% closed, this is just because the car is just way too loud even with the stock exhaust in my opinion. If you go WOT around other people it will be heard for miles. Problem is when the valves are closed it gets extra extra rattley sounding and maybe its from the NPP valves rattling even though I have done the cut off one of the ear and epoxy fixes.

[ssmike]

I have LT headers with high flow cats, stock mid section, and stock NPP. It sounds pretty sweet until about 4K rpms it sounds like the suitcase is gonna rattle apart! Also, does anyone have a loud raspy bark between upshifts I’ve 3k? Quite annoying

[Agent K]

I'm custom here...no drone, raspiness, and no tinny sound.

https://youtu.be/ApkS2lkjMmM

Took a lot of work to get it but I like it. I tried making it louder by switching to the regular link pipes (connecting pipes) in the back. It was a little louder but the tinny and raspy sound was back. So, I switched back to the custom setup.

So basically my setup is: LT headers (no cats), X-pipe with mufflers, rear connecting pipes with bullets, and stock NPP. No drone, no raspiness, no tinny sound at any rpm. Throatier than stock at idle with a little more snap, crackle, pop at start up and decels.

[oldman]

By read connection pipes do you mean the crush pipes that feed into the muffler? I had for a while contemplated putting bullets there. Pics would be helpful.

[ssmike]

Originally Posted by oldman

By read connection pipes do you mean the crush pipes that feed into the muffler? I had for a while contemplated putting bullets there. Pics would be helpful.

I was thinking about putting a pair of resonators there. I wonder if they’ll fit. +1 for pics.

[oldman]

https://vibrantperformance.com/catal...Path=1527_1032

race bullet will fit for sure, I was looking at their 12" normal bullet.

[Agent K]

Originally Posted by oldman

By read connection pipes do you mean the crush pipes that feed into the muffler? I had for a while contemplated putting bullets there. Pics would be helpful.

I have the full ARH system back to the NPP muffler...this eliminates the crush stock pipes. I had Flowmaster bullets welded into the connecting pipes that connects to the NPP muffler. The fitment was all done by me...so basically tack weld/dry-fit/measure/clock/repeat several times/dry-fit/weld.

[MackSteelPrivateEye]

Originally Posted by RUTHLESS SS

https://youtu.be/LMII7KlekdM

Please do some drivebys at various speeds.