Exhaust question

[LT-4 CE]

I recently bought my first vette - a 96 LT-4 Collector Edition 6-speed. One of the first upgrades I am going to do is to the exhaust. I have talked to Corsa, Flowmaster, Magnaflow, and B&B. I want the car to pick up the most hp for my money, but I do not want to make the thing stupidly noisy inside (just sold and street/strip Nova and got the vette for something more civilized!).

Each of these companies seems to be doing something a bit different. Corsa seems to be the best of all worlds, but is essentially $1,000. Flowmaster's kit is not very attractive, but is cheap by comparison. B&B is more than Corsa. But Magnaflow caught my eye. The do not offer a cat-back kit for this car, but claim their replacement mufflers will add comparable hp to the Flow and Corsa kit without needing to replace the stock resonator. Can anyone comment on the Magnaflow product? How's the sound. How's the performance?

Sorry for the long post, just tyring to get a handle on the best way to spend my money.

Also, I heard a rumor that SLP designed the factory exhaust for the 92-96 vettes for GM. Any truth to this?

Great site. Looking forward learning with you guys.

Chris

 

[vetteguy]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new car,a very good choice. I have been hanging around here and other forums for awhile and the Corsa system seems to get the best grades of any of the aftermarket systems. I plan on putting one on mine in the future. I also like the B+B system , it is alittle more expensive. Good luck and let me know what you decide, Guy

 

[CKA_Racing]

Have you also looked at Power Effects? I hate chrome so the black system really suited me. Plus it looks better when I have my Black GS wheels on. Better overall I think than if it were chrome or stainless. This system has mufflers with a six-position flap inside. Can be adjusted to fully closed to fully open. I play around with the settings often, fully closed for more torq around town and not as loud to fully open for high-speed runs and to make some noise. I also have it almost closed for autocross events to almost fully open for ¼ runs. On a stock OEM exhaust system you may get a tiny bit of resonance around 2,000 rpm on a LT4. Some cars with 3.90 and up rear gears say the resonance basically is gone. I had bought the system for my 1991 L98 and did use it on that vette. I removed it and installed it on my LT4 CE. I did not want to spend the money for the PE LT1/4 resonator section. So I just installed the 91 part number, which consists of the mufflers (they call them power capsules), the Y-Pipe, tailpipes, band clamps and two into one pipe adapter (needed for L98 only) on my LT4. You can cut approx 10 inches from the stock resonator and the PE system slides right on snuggly. No welding required. Easily done in your driveway. This saves you from spending money on the PE resonator. Plus down the road you may want to install an X-Pipe in place of the resonator. The Power Effects showed the most HP gain in a test run by one of the vette mags. But not enough to make that the deciding factor. Price is approx $839. The other deciding factor for me was the ease of installtion and quality. This system is rock solid and aligns up perfectly. I knew few guys that had issues with the b&b pipes and mufflers twisting on them no matter how tight the clamps were. The only issue the pe may have is the flap mechanism may need adjustment way down the road. I have had mine for four yrs now. Solid as a rock.

One question you need to ask yourself is, will you be doing any other exhaust mods like headers, high flow cats, etc. These mods will have an effect how the systems will sound and how much if any resonance you will have. Have you listen to any of the systems yet? I'm very picky on the way the car needs to sound.

I like the deep throaty sound at idle and during acceleration. Kind of like my old muscle cars. I listen to Flow masters, Corsa, SLP mufflers, B&B Triflows but have never heard the Magnaflow.
Flow masters are cool, have that muscle car sound but look like crap on a vette. Corsa is a good system; too bad I’m not crazy about the sound of the C4 system. The Corsa C5 pace car system sounds good though. Sound is a matter of personal taste. B&B 3 inch system resonates allot. Especially when you start modifying the rest of the exhaust. But the B&B has the best looking tail pipes of the punch. The SLP mufflers can be loud and have high resonance when you run headers and high flow cats. Never heard them on a stock vette .

 

[CKA_Racing]

Forgot to add the B&B does come in 2.5 dia. now. But i have not heard if this truly does cut down on the resonance.

 

[TerryD]

My buddie's 93 auto, sounds barely louder than stock(no resonance) but definatley revs quicker. If you're worried about resonance, B&B is the way to go. He had flomaster mufflers welded on previously but it was way too loud, unless you like that kind of thing. It was especially bad @ steady state cruising around 1800-2000rpm.

 

[vargod]

I recently bought my first vette - a 96 LT-4 Collector Edition 6-speed. One of the first upgrades I am going to do is to the exhaust. I have talked to Corsa, Flowmaster, Magnaflow, and B&B. I want the car to pick up the most hp for my money, but I do not want to make the thing stupidly noisy inside (just sold and street/strip Nova and got the vette for something more civilized!).

Each of these companies seems to be doing something a bit different. Corsa seems to be the best of all worlds, but is essentially $1,000. Flowmaster's kit is not very attractive, but is cheap by comparison. B&B is more than Corsa. But Magnaflow caught my eye. The do not offer a cat-back kit for this car, but claim their replacement mufflers will add comparable hp to the Flow and Corsa kit without needing to replace the stock resonator. Can anyone comment on the Magnaflow product? How's the sound. How's the performance?

Sorry for the long post, just tyring to get a handle on the best way to spend my money.

Also, I heard a rumor that SLP designed the factory exhaust for the 92-96 vettes for GM. Any truth to this?

Great site. Looking forward learning with you guys.

Chris

SLP used to make a system for the C4 but they discontinued it late last year. I bought a pair of flowmasters series 50, used but like new. The guy I bought them from had weld a pair od C4 tips on them. You can't tell the difference in the look, but it sound a lot stronger.

 

[Springer's LT4]

If you're worried about resonance, B&B is the way to go.

Your the 1st person that I've heard to say B&B is the way to go... typically B&B are the loudest both inside and outside (resonate like mad), with Corsa being the best interior noise (low) and exterior (loud)

I personally don't like the way the Corsa sound... to me they sound like a boat in water. Flowmasters are going on my car, most likely with stock tips welded in place.

The best advice I can give you is visit a vette show some time and look/listen to the different systems... maybe ask the owners to go for a ride in them, it's truely the only way to decide what exhaust system is for you.

 

[C4DC]

I have the Corsa and like them. Their web site has sound clips to listen to. It is well made and quiet at cruise, and I like the tips. I got mine for $745 and I think I saw them at MAD or ecklers for the same, you may have to wait for a sale. Iv'e heard that flowmasters are the least expensive, but have lots of resonance depending on the install. Like others have said, try to listen to the system before you buy.

 

[Hot-LT4]

I agree with Springer's LT4 that the Corsa exhaust sound is not what I like either. It's a very popular choice with members in my club though. Try to listen to as many systems as you can at shows etc.
The Power Effects system that CKA Racing talks about is one I would like to see and hear in person. It may be the best of both worlds with its adjustability.
When I bought my LT4 2 years ago, the previous owner had gone with Borla. On my car it has a good deep throaty sound, but I've heard it sound plain on some others.
Enjoy your decision making process, there are many good systems to choose from.
Steve

 

[CKA_Racing]

Here is PE's web site. They do have sound files available for download, but they are really bad. Not worth the effort. They really should update the sound files.
http://www.powereffects.com/
You can also switch out the black tips for the chromed version. The guy named Joe is really easy to talk to. He will send you info about the exhaust and some test that were run by one of the corvette mags. He will do a follow up call just to see if you are still interested in purchase. Sure he wants to make a sale, but I think it shows that they have good customer service.
You should hear a ZR1 at full throttle with the PE's. No other exhaust sounds so good IMHO.

 

[NewGuy]

You should consider just taking the resonators out of your car first. Cheap conversion, sounds great, get as much added power as any of the cat-back systme and something you can test for a very little money.

 

[Topless]

Or you could have a complete custom exhaust made for you. (I did)

It cost me a little more than getting a Corsa system, but I went 3", and had the outlet of the cat customized. It now has a 3" outlet with mandrel bends to the rest of the system. Pretty trick.

I agree with looking/listening around a lot first.

Good luck.

 

[Denny Nelson]

headers

I have been knocking around the exhaust subject for a few months now. I am thinking of going with headers first and listen to the results before making an exhaust system decision. Has anybody tried this? Any suggestions as to which brand of headers?. I am heading [ha ha] to Hedman right now.

Denny

 

[wx briefer]

It is my understanding that the exhaust manifold on the LT4 is pretty darn good as is.

The corsas are nice and mellow, I like the sound of a flathead inboard burbling in the water. They used to be quieter before the hot cam installation. Now they get to be a little intrusive into the cabin. As long as your exhaust is still hanging in there, I would suggest you wait to purchase a system until you have ridden in a vette with the particular system.

 

[LT-4 CE]

Ended up buying the Magnaflow and am very happy! Good sound and great looks. The only resonance problem is in 6th gear under 60mph. But down shifting to 5th keeps you at about 2,000 rpm and the resonance is gone.

 

[tboo]

Anybody try Borlas on an LT-4?

 

[Wamp]

power effects

Anyone have pics of the power effects exhaust on thier LT4 and maybe some GOOD sound files? I like the idea of a tunable exhaust. Wife wants her car sounding like 74, with Hooker sidepipes (at least for a little while)

 

[jplay]

i removed the mufflers and had the old tips welded to the new 2.5 pipe. it had a good sound under power but a little louder at idle then i took out the resonator for a louder idle. it a little hard on the ears in the lower gears

 

[James Price]

Corsa Exhaust

I have a 96 CE Lt4..

I have a Corsa system on it. It sounds nice but not too loud inside. (sets off alarms in parking garages)
Everyone says it sounds nice when I drive by. The performance of the car is outstanding.
Also..my chrome tips and stainless mufflers and pipes look great. I polish them every now and then which really looks nice.

 

[vetsvette]

I've got the Flowmaster cat-back system and like it fine. Running it w/hooker shorties and no cats and it sounds awsome. Stay out of 6th gear below 60 and the resonance isn't bad. Not the prettiest system but with my black racing stripe and GS wheels I just touch them up with a little black header paint every now and then and they look fine.