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5K views 66 replies 27 participants last post by  thebigjimsho 
#1 ·
Okay I have only had my V for a couple of days and I am ready for an upgrade in the exhaust department!! The only thing is I cannot decide if I want to go with an exhaust system with headers or if I simply just want to go with an exhaust.

I guess it comes down to a few issues.

1) Don't get me wrong, I love to hear and feel the power, but will I be able to make a telephone call in my V and have no trouble carrying on a converstation if I decide to go with Magnaflows and Kooks? I know at WOT, it will be LOUD, but how loud will the inside of the cabin be at normal cruising speeds.

2) Is the HP gain of adding headers worth it over simply getting the exhaust?

3) On my old K5 Blazer, I had headers put on there and the engine would get SO HOT that the plug wires would burn eventhough there was no direct contact. Is this going to be a problem with the headers on the V?

Thanks for the help!
 
#2 ·
If you are questioning it, go with Magnaflow first. If you decide that you want it louder and want more power, add Kooks. I was happy with Magnaflow for about four months, then I got the itch form more power and a deeper sound.

The sound of Magnaflow and Kooks is glorious!
 
#7 ·
If you want the most HP, get B&B headers! :stirpot:
:lies:

I would much rather do the headers AND catback at the same time as opposed to one now and other later! So... B&B = more hp than Kooks!!?? Is this for real or just personal preferance?

Also, I will not be running cats. Will this affect my 02 or computer readings??
It's all up to personal preference or which you can find for the best deal on.

I am not running cats and have passed inspection every time. As long as you are tuned and have no check engine lights you will pass inspection. Your local tuner can turn all your O2 sensors off and fix any check engine lights caused by the headers and no cats. What state are you in?
 
#4 ·
I would much rather do the headers AND catback at the same time as opposed to one now and other later! So... B&B = more hp than Kooks!!?? Is this for real or just personal preferance?

Also, I will not be running cats. Will this affect my 02 or computer readings??
 
#5 ·
That's an excellent question for SkullV!! :lildevil:

Where ya at Ted??

Before he recently went to a very generous land/sea dyno, we both had gotten tuned from the same tuner on the same stingy mustang dyno. He has kooks/and a (dont know brand) catback, and I have B&B headers/catback and I pulled like 10hp on him.

As far as the O2 readings, just have the tuner turn em off.
 
#8 ·
All those exhausts sound great and even better with headers. :thumbsup: If you're worried about the sound level while cruising to make telephone calls, Corsa (even with headers) might be the least noisy but will rival any of 'em at WOT.
 
#10 ·
i have a x-pipe with my own mufflers and its very quiet ..

I will be getting headers shorty so ill see how much louder it is.

Im also cammed so its a bit louder then stock ..but not anoying at all..

I love loud pipes, love the way the muffler delter sounds on the v

....But my old camaro had a slp loudmouth and you could barly talk to the person beside you let alone talk on the phone.
 
#11 ·
Thanks guys! I live in NC and I am not worried about passing inspection since I have my "connections", but that is awesome that it will still pass inspection!

I have heard that with headers, that a proper tune is a MUST otherwise you will actually loose hp with headers!!!! I'm sure that this is old news on this message board, but that really surprised me. I am glad that you guys say that with the windows up that it sounds pretty "muted". Exactly the response I was looking for.

Now about the x pipe..... I have heard not one, but several people that hate the way the x pipe sounds on their V. One person even mentioned that it made their LS6 sound like a 4 cylinder. While I am sure that this was a gross exageration..... does the x pipe alter the sound as opposed to just running them straight back?
 
#14 ·
I have heard that with headers, that a proper tune is a MUST otherwise you will actually loose hp with headers!!!! I'm sure that this is old news on this message board, but that really surprised me. I am glad that you guys say that with the windows up that it sounds pretty "muted". Exactly the response I was looking for.
You'll also want the tune to keep from running too lean which can kill your engine...
 
#12 ·
1) Don't get me wrong, I love to hear and feel the power, but will I be able to make a telephone call in my V and have no trouble carrying on a converstation if I decide to go with Magnaflows and Kooks? I know at WOT, it will be LOUD, but how loud will the inside of the cabin be at normal cruising speeds.
I have 5% of the hearing in my right ear and 95% in my left, so interior drone/cabin noise is something I can't afford when driving around clients in my "company" car. I have TPIS longtubes, xpipe and magnaflows. The typical response I get from 55+ year old business owners is:
"Yeah! Now THATS a Cadillac! Stand on it for me."
I wont ever go back to just exhaust, car sounded like a god damn electric razor.

2) Is the HP gain of adding headers worth it over simply getting the exhaust?
30+ hp out of EVERY LS series engine Ive ever seen tuned with headers.

3) On my old K5 Blazer, I had headers put on there and the engine would get SO HOT that the plug wires would burn eventhough there was no direct contact. Is this going to be a problem with the headers on the V?
I have not had this problem, sounds more like you had an issue with wires being to close or not properly adjusting the air fuel ratio for headers - the air/fuel mix will lean out and thus needs to be richened or the heads will run hotter, sometimes burning valves, headers get hotter, etc.


Long story short: You want headers.:thumbsup:
 
#13 ·
Well, I don't think you will loose HP with headers and no tune, but a tune is best. I picked up 18 HP with my tune over stock tune. I am basically full exhaust with headers, KAI and light weight flywheel.

B&B headers with thier exhaust is the way to go. I have with high flow cats and the resonitator style and have absolutely no issues with makeing calls when cruising. In fact I am upping the ante and remove the cats and go with an X-Pipe. I talked to whistler (offroad pipes only) and Mike with B&B and am convinced. Mike told me that the X-Pipe actually cut down on cabin drown as it gets the sound out the back and is not held up under the car with the resonitator. He went on to talk about how his brother, the owner, has one of our cars as a daily driver and he felt that the V exhaust was the best exhaust the company ever did.
 
#15 ·
At this point there is no question in my mind that my Kook's/Magnaflow setup makes more power then the full B&B setup. It's all in the tune. I prefer the sound of a the Magnaflow cat-back but if you want nascar sound go with B&B. Now if you want to sound like a motorboat with a pissed off outboard motor go with Corsa.
 
#16 ·
LMAO! outboard motor, please... :want: magnaflow and b&b have nothing on corsa when it comes to sound... if you want to scare the little kids and piss of the neighbors when you rev it, go with corsa... of course it's personal preference
 
#19 ·
i have corsa catback and it is only loud at WOT... now that isnt enuff... when i get the cash i am definitely doing headers!!! and swapping out those tunnel mufflers for an Xpipe!!!

kooks and corsa!!!! no better combo... gives a F1 kinda sound at WOT.
 
#22 ·
Haha, obviously it comes down to personal preferance! MY... and I want to stress... MY personal preference is something that sounds refined. Now when I say "refined", I am in no way referring to volume level. You can have a very refined sound at both low and high volumes.

One of the things that I loved about the Audi S4 (4.2 V8) is that with an exhaust it sounded like "expensive" horsepower. Now no flamming here since this is JUST my personal opinion!!!!

I just much prefer the sound of a F40 Ferrari with Tubi exhaust over a 1970 Chevelle with glasspacks!! Which header/exhaust combo would give me a very clean badass sound? Loud would be great, but it is not my #1 deciding factor. I just want people to turn around and say...what the hell is that thing and not confuse it with an old pickup truck with an exhaust on it.
 
#27 ·
Haha, obviously it comes down to personal preferance! MY... and I want to stress... MY personal preference is something that sounds refined. Now when I say "refined", I am in no way referring to volume level. You can have a very refined sound at both low and high volumes.

One of the things that I loved about the Audi S4 (4.2 V8) is that with an exhaust it sounded like "expensive" horsepower. Now no flamming here since this is JUST my personal opinion!!!!

I just much prefer the sound of a F40 Ferrari with Tubi exhaust over a 1970 Chevelle with glasspacks!! Which header/exhaust combo would give me a very clean badass sound? Loud would be great, but it is not my #1 deciding factor. I just want people to turn around and say...what the hell is that thing and not confuse it with an old pickup truck with an exhaust on it.
Based on this description of your preferrences the exhaust you will want is the Corsa.
 
#25 ·
I have heard that the corsa at idle is a bit quieter than the magnaflows. I would love to be pulling in a parking space or leaving a parking space at slightly above idle rpm and people turn around and say OH GOD.... thats a beast!!!!!! Would corsa or magnaflows accomplish this best??
 
#26 ·
Magnaflow. Idle is great!

Corsa had a great sound at WOT...i'm not sure if it's louder than Magnaflow, they are two totally different sounds.

Here are several videos of my Kooks and Magnaflow... http://www.youtube.com/user/whisler151
 
#29 ·
I have the variety pack exhaust on my car and I think its one of the best sounding cars I've ever heard. Of course I may be biased lol I have Kooks 1 7/8" headers, no cats, stock pipes and resonator going into flowmaster mufflers because they were free. Now most would say flowmaster? Give me a break, those are for ******** in rustangs. Okay I'll give you that one (keep in mind they were free which makes them even better!) but it sounds so good with the factory resonator. When you stand behind the car you just feel this deep rumble in your chest. You can literally feel the concussion its so deep. When you rev it, it never gets raspy or foul sounding like most ls engines. The tone stays deep and I have never had a car that gets so many compliments on the exhaust. I have people ALL THE TIME asking me to rev it up lol Of course my car has a little chop to it with the LG cam so it makes it sound that much better. But for a cheap thrown together exhaust, I'd take on any of you with your overpriced stainless cat back lol
 
#31 ·
My car still sounds better :stirpot: Well it did anyway lol My blower is off getting fixed but the guy stopped returning my emails a week ago. Anybody near Decatur GA want to go kick some ass?
 
#32 ·
:bonkers:

You need someone to go in and rescue your girl. I wonder if he's done molesting her yet...
 
#33 ·
He said it would ship out last monday. Somebody probably got a hell of deal for a CTS-V maggie lol I'm seriously going to go down there if he doesn't come up with something. Its a 12 hour drive. I can make it 8 : )
 
#42 ·
Has anyone thrown headers on and left the stock cat back in place????? No vids on youtube...
 
#44 ·
Crash- You and I are having the same dilemma and I have the exact same taste in sound. Decide on anything yet?



Anyone ever run Borla? I've heard a few clips of it and it sounds like stingers for the vettes imo. I had a C5 with B&B Bullets and it was loud and sounded badass but I want something a little more refined for my V. Any input on the Borla?
 
#47 ·
I wish we had enough room underneath to dump the exhaust just before the rear wheel (through the factory side skirt).
 
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