Is new Exhaust worth the money

[Chad96]

Purchased 96 CE LT4 last July. Would like to get a nice throaty sound and of course up the power a bit. Any ideas as to which system is the best? I have been looking at the B&B system. Any body have some insight for me? Thanks.

[80vette_ca]

Just buy some headers and run open headers, no cats, no mufflers. You'll get a loud aggressive sound, sure it's not legal, but you'll like the sound.

[Vettelt193]

How much do you want to spend? For under $100 i cut out my mufflers and ran straight pipe. I kept the resonator to keep the sound more mellow... It works great for me, and was very cost effective. I did this on my '93 as well, and have logged many miles with the setup.

[96corvetteLT4]

When running straight pipes in place of the mufflers, does that eliminate the resonance when cruising under 2k rpm in high gear?

I have Borla mufflers and they sound good, but resonance kills any chance of having a conversation cruising on the highway.

[Skant]

As far as I understand, all of the options have bad resonance except the stock exhaust and the Corsa exhaust. Oh and probably the power effects when they're in the closed position (does anyone actually put them in the closed position?).

As for the question of whether the exhaust systems are worth the cost... that really depends on what you're after.

If you're looking for the most acceleration you can get out of a grand or so, then install 4.10 gears in your rear end instead.

If you're after sound, there's a lot of options ranging from cheap to very expensive. The loudest options tend to be the cheapest. At the opposite end, you have the Corsa exhaust which is designed to be loud when you hit the throttle and quiet when you're cruising, and that technology will set you back nearly a grand.

As for horse power gains from exhaust, the common wisdom has been that all the cat back systems have approximately the same performance boost. Somewhere around 15hp on an LT4, it seems.

- Skant

[Vettelt193]

the resonance is not bad with straight pipe. The only time you have any problem is when going too slow for the gear, so let's say you are trying to increase speed at 45 MPH in 6th. You will get resonance then, but not while running 70+ MPH. If you are running 2k RPM, you will be doing 90 with very little exhaust noise in the interior. Soooo.. to make a long story short, if you are in the correct gear, you won't get it.... AND the only time i get any anyway is when accelerating, not while cruising.

PS: please keep in mind the straight pipe i am talking about is from the resonator back, not from the cats back. This makes the car sound very good, but helps keep the interior noise down.

[96corvetteLT4]

Thanks for the info. I may try straight pipes from the resonator back since it is pretty cheap. I am also considering getting some pipe and extending the existing tips about 3-4 inches to see if that has any effect. Both fairly cheap trial-and-error projects.

[3 Deuce]

MagnaFlow Corvette Kit is my choice...SS and dual round tips and the sound just gets better and better

[Fugitive]

Here's what I think. I bought the Flow Master system and have been very happy since I cut off the resonator and welded two seperate pipes! The sound is crazy! Loud under acceleration but nice deep rumble at idle and cruise. If I could do it again I would have cut the factory resonator and had some Flows or Borlas, B&B, or whatever you prefer and have them installed. Would have saved money and given the same results. Hope that helps Chadd 96! Fugitive

[Vettelt193]

Originally posted by 96corvetteLT4
Thanks for the info. I may try straight pipes from the resonator back since it is pretty cheap. I am also considering getting some pipe and extending the existing tips about 3-4 inches to see if that has any effect. Both fairly cheap trial-and-error projects.

Please note the sound of the car will change depending on the shape of the tips. Round makes the most and cleanest sound ouside the car... any other shape screws up the sound waves and tends to make more sound inside the car and less outside. I am currently using the factory rectangular tips... my '93 had quad round. the quad round sounded much much better, and had less sound coming in. Another note is the size of the pipe.... if the size keeps getting bigger, it is easier for the sound to get out as well, and also amplifies the sound... like a megaphone. Anyway, just some ideas since you are thinking about playing with the system a bit.

[Chad96]

Thanks guys.
3 Deuce- any resonating from the magnaflows?
Fugitive- You mean replace resonator with just pipes and buy just the mufflers?

[3 Deuce]

There was some resonance when I first got them, but they mellow as they age...I've got less than a 1000 miles on them and they just get mellower...the low rpm has changed now that I have a 3:73 gear also...but around town or on the highway, I'm more than pleased