I can't make up my mind on headers and tune

[jravenfan]

I would like to get LT headers and a tune but I have a few concerns.
1) with less than 12,000 miles I am worried about voiding my warranty.
2) worried about passing Maryland emissions testing.
3) worried that it may be too loud as mine is my Daily Driver and I am on the phone (blue tooth) a lot.

I want the Performance gains of LT and Tune,
What are your thoughts for those that DD and need to be on the phone a lot ?

Anyone regret due to warranty or noise issues?

[nyrfan]

2 words: stop worrying!
2 more words: Do it!

Did mine at 5K miles, no regrets. Talking on phone or BT no issues. The only time you may have an issue is if you change our your exhaust to an exhaust with a lot of drone.

[SNSSTR]

1. The warranty thing is something only you can decide on. There are other mods you can do that won't void your warranty, but some dealers are mod friendly. My local dealership knows I have a cam, tune, headers, and a bunch of other stuff but they are still willing to work with me. For instance; my rear main seal/rear engine cover area is leaking. There's a TSB out for it and they are willing to fix it under warranty even knowing I have all that stuff done.

2. To pass emissions, you should be able to put high flow or green cats in there and pass just fine. Maybe some Maryland guys can chime in. Or Maryland Speed.

3. When I put on my headers and swapped the cats for off-road connections, it did make it louder, but not so loud that I couldn't carry on a conversation or talk on hands-free. My fiance' told me it wasn't loud enough. So I bought exhaust cutouts. hehehe

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by jravenfan

I would like to get LT headers and a tune but I have a few concerns.
1) with less than 12,000 miles I am worried about voiding my warranty.
2) worried about passing Maryland emissions testing.
3) worried that it may be too loud as mine is my Daily Driver and I am on the phone (blue tooth) a lot.

I want the Performance gains of LT and Tune,
What are your thoughts for those that DD and need to be on the phone a lot ?

Anyone regret due to warranty or noise issues?

First question: L99 pr LS3? Big difference in what a tune does for you.

If your warranty is a big concern then my advice is stay away from LTs for now. A tune can cause problems with your warranty. But you can get Kooks "Green" cats which do seem to eliminate CELs without a tune. Their only drawback is they are twice the $$ of the standard cats. The Tune does not add much power on an LS3 but does make for a stronger feel by decreasing torque management. A tune makes a bigger difference on an L99.

If your warranty is a big concern then my advice is stay away from LTs for now. A tune can cause problems with your warranty. But you can get Kooks "Green" cats which do seem to eliminate CELs without a tune. Their only drawback is they are twice the $$ of the standard cats.

As far as noise goes, do you have NPP? (LS3 only) If so adding LTS will make your car much louder. If not the LTs will not add too much noise with stock cans, but the sound is not all that great and wide open sounds horrible to my ears (IMO). So you can add aftermarket somewhat quiet axle backs like Magnaflow streets, but there will be some drone. To cure that add the Magnaflow xpipe.

Like you I like a quieter car. I have managed this with both the standard SS setup and NPP. You can look at my 1LE build, link below for NPP, and My SS build. See the link in the first post in my 1LE build for the SS stuff. I have rune both my Camaros with LTs and no tune. I traded in my first SS with no problems.

A tune can hurt your cars trade in value if the dealer checks. Also if you sell your car privately you owe it to the new owner to tell them it was tuned. This throws off some buyers. If you want to keep the car more than 5 years or 100,000 miles then no worries. If you have any questions you can PM me.

Just adding a CAI will be a noticeable power change, your car will not be loud, and you can easily run 12s if you also add DRs. You can also add a ported TB for a little snappier throttle response with no tune worries.

[Titan]

I am in the same boat as you. I enjoy the fact that I can get in my car and go anywhere without worrying about issue with warranty. I have the Solo High Flo cats and it is not enough. I would like to waken the car up with both headers and a tune. I just have yet to pull the trigger on it. I only have 6K miles. I am thinking of doing it next month and have the car the way I want for the spring.

[the_fast_one]

Warranty goes bye bye with a tune.
Kooks makes a green cat for their headers that supposed to pass all emissions
As far talking on the phone, I talk on mine using the blue tooth all the time with no problem.

I void my warranty with the work below at 8k miles.

[Kelly@PCMofNC]

Whether or not you should mod it if you are worried about the warranty is a decision only you can make. These are pretty great cars with good longevity, I personally would not worry about it, but everyone's different. I mean heck we were just putting headers on a ZL1 that had less than 100 miles on it the other day

What kind of emissions testing do you have in MD, OBDII plug in or sniffer test? Either way it ought to be fine.

[jph2275]

I have Texas speed longtubes with no cats and no mufflers. Never had an issue with the hands free phone. Biggest seat of the pants mod I've done besides the 3.91 gear swap (which is still #1). Do it

[jravenfan]

Originally Posted by Kelly@PCMofNC

Whether or not you should mod it if you are worried about the warranty is a decision only you can make. These are pretty great cars with good longevity, I personally would not worry about it, but everyone's different. I mean heck we were just putting headers on a ZL1 that had less than 100 miles on it the other day

What kind of emissions testing do you have in MD, OBDII plug in or sniffer test? Either way it ought to be fine.

I think it,s just OBDII, and look under it with a Mirror, as far as I know no sniffer test.

[jravenfan]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

First question: L99 pr LS3? Big difference in what a tune does for you.

If your warranty is a big concern then my advice is stay away from LTs for now. A tune can cause problems with your warranty. But you can get Kooks "Green" cats which do seem to eliminate CELs without a tune. Their only drawback is they are twice the $$ of the standard cats. The Tune does not add much power on an LS3 but does make for a stronger feel by decreasing torque management. A tune makes a bigger difference on an L99.


As far as noise goes, do you have NPP? (LS3 only) If so adding LTS will make your car much louder. If not the LTs will not add too much noise with stock cans, but the sound is not all that great and wide open sounds horrible to my ears (IMO). So you can add aftermarket somewhat quiet axle backs like Magnaflow streets, but there will be some drone. To cure that add the Magnaflow xpipe.

Like you I like a quieter car. I have managed this with both the standard SS setup and NPP. You can look at my 1LE build, link below for NPP, and My SS build. See the link in the first post in my 1LE build for the SS stuff. I have rune both my Camaros with LTs and no tune. I traded in my first SS with no problems.

A tune can hurt your cars trade in value if the dealer checks. Also if you sell your car privately you owe it to the new owner to tell them it was tuned. This throws off some buyers. If you want to keep the car more than 5 years or 100,000 miles then no worries. If you have any questions you can PM me.

Just adding a CAI will be a noticeable power change, your car will not be loud, and you can easily run 12s if you also add DRs. You can also add a ported TB for a little snappier throttle response with no tune worries.

it's a L99 no NPP, I already have CAI and ported TB, looking to take it to the next level, damn mods are addicting.
thanks for the Feedback.

[45thAnniversary2SS]

Had some work done today under warranty and I have headers and tune. They never even bring it up.

As others said, only issues with hearing on bluetooth would be with certain brands. I have Stainless Works catback and there is no drone at all.

Do it. It's an entirely different animal after.

[mikeyg36]

Originally Posted by jravenfan

i posted this in the general discussion but thought I may get more input here.

I have L99 with CAI and ported TB, everything else is stock.

I would like to get LT headers and a tune but I have a few concerns.
1) with less than 12,000 miles I am worried about voiding my warranty.
If something was going to happen it would have happened already, just make sure the car is tuned by a reputable tuner. My personal opinion would be to talk to Matt@FSP and have him hook you up with the LTs and a tune.
2) worried about passing Maryland emissions testing.
If you have a tune you will pass inspection since the tune shuts off the CEL. LTs are legal in MD as long as it has cats. I personally went without them, but that's your decision.
3) worried that it may be too loud as mine is my Daily Driver and I am on the phone (blue tooth) a lot.
With the stock catback it will only be loud when you put your foot down. It's too quiet IMO. There's a vid of my exhaust (LTs, no cats, stock catback) in my build thread if you want to hear it.

I want the Performance gains of LT and Tune,
What are your thoughts for those that DD and need to be on the phone a lot ?

Anyone regret due to warranty or noise issues?

Answers in red

[b0r]

It only voids a portion of your warranty and they have to prove that your modification caused the problem in question for warranty. That being said, bring your car to life. You have to pay to play, as they say here on C5. Get some ARH/Kooks 1/78 and a tune.

[The_Blur]

According to Maryland's emissions website, you only get OBD testing. That means that your car passes as long as the car is tuned accordingly. Don't worry about OBD tests. Any tuner can get you to pass that.

As for low mileage, I know the feeling. My car has low mileage, too, but I am considering headers and a tune. The key is a reputable tuner, as mikeyg26 said. Find someone you really trust.

Lastly, let's talk noise. Your neighbors will eventually forgive you. Go loud.