What to do next?

[RedoutCamaro]

My car is almost all stock on the inside, haven't changed anything and I have a non-agressive tune just to increase the throttle responce and take off some of the warning screens and rev-limiter. Just resently got all new vinyls as well, but I am looking at doing some upgrades to the sound/performance. I am thinking about a CAI (Henessy or G5CR), Exhaust (Borla Attack Wheel Back or Cat back). I want to start somewhere around here, but I was wondering which I should do first and if I should spend the money to get Cat-Back when from what I have seen the axle backs are pretty much all I need at this point.

Let me know what you guys think I should do first > next > last.

[camaroitalia]

i would do an exhaust first, gives an amazing sound coming out the V8.. axle back will give ya that sound u want but the cat back will give ya the power

[ThaCamaroKid]

I am not sure on how much you are willing to spend but I was looking into just exhaust pipes for sound when somebody mentioned American Racing Headers, I looked into them and with the right cat back ARH headers w/ x pipes make some absolute amazing sound and performance

[Kendell347]

Have you looked at Cold Air Inductions Intake? If not, you should. I have a Borla S type axleback and its great.

[Pollock]

I plan on doing a cat back exhaust and CAI Cold air intake. It all depends on how much power you want.

[daveagogo1]

Well you already tuned the car so why not go all out and just do the full exhaust. That along with probably another tune will pick up some good ponies. You more than likely killed your powertrain warranty when you got it tuned so why not just increase performance now i say. Axle back seems a bit pointless unless it's someone trying to better the sound and keep the warranty.

[Murph0408]

i'd roll with the exhaust. not a big fan of CAI, although i don't have the V8 so it'll probably make a bigger difference for you than it would for me so maybe it really is worth looking into.

i just think these engines respond very well to exhaust systems (magnaflow in my case). even if the performance upgrade isn't that big it will definitely sound like a million bucks

[Bad70supreme]

A full cat back wont give you really any more sound then a axle back, unless you go with a 3" system. Also a full 3" system is not even going to give you any power, maybe 5hp.... if you want power from the exhaust you need headers. You can save some coin like I did and just pick the mufflers you want, and install them with the stock tips... also remove the resonators. You basicly just made your own cat back for a frction of the cost. My car sounds awesome, and picked up a little throttle response.

[scottyvegas]

slam it!

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by Bad70supreme

A full cat back wont give you really any more sound then a axle back, unless you go with a 3" system. Also a full 3" system is not even going to give you any power, maybe 5hp.... if you want power from the exhaust you need headers. You can save some coin like I did and just pick the mufflers you want, and install them with the stock tips... also remove the resonators. You basicly just made your own cat back for a frction of the cost. My car sounds awesome, and picked up a little throttle response.

I got about 23 horsepower out of my RotoFab CAI, but nothing from my exhaust. I have stock headers and cats, but I replaced my H-pipe with an X-pipe, removed the resonators, and replaced the mufflers with some Magnaflows. I think, unless you go with some headers, you won't really see any noticeable gain from an exhaust.

I would also recommend checking out some exhaust shops to see about having them "build" an exhaust, before you buy a package setup from Borla or whatever. The kits are designed to be installed in your garage, of course, but for less money than a Borla Atak axle-back would cost me, I had a custom exhaust shop fabricate a full cat-back with an X-pipe. I think I priced the Borla Atak axle-back kit at around $700, and for about $600, my local exhaust shop fabricated a full cat-back out of stainless piping with two Magnaflow mufflers.

Just my $0.02. I wouldn't say DON'T buy the kits, just price a custom fabbed job first. The shop that did mine welded EVERYTHING for me, routed the piping in exactly the same location as stock, and even re-used all of the stock hangers to keep everything mounted the same way.

So, yeah, in my case I went with a custom fabbed cat-back (X-pipe, resonator delete, twin Magnaflow mufflers) for less than the Borla Atak axle-back kit. Plus, I prefer to have my exhaust welded rather than clamped, too, so that was another reason I got my exhaust shop to do it. I love the sound, now, too. It's got a nice subtle rumble at idle, and doesn't drone at all on the highway, but will definitely speak up and roar when you get onto it. Just has a nice, deep, throbbing idle tone that sounds like it's got some power under the hood.

[RedoutCamaro]

Just purchased an Air Intake (Cold Air Inductions) Black powder coated with Heatshield. I was looking at the spreadsheet from JRE posted on the Performance parts side of the forums and decided on this one. Easy install, and pretty good performance. Just the first of many upgrades I will get. Thanks for your suggestions, Looking in to a custom fab shop for my exhaust, but not finding much around Austin, TX. Mostly imports and 4x4s. If anyone knows any good places around even DFW or Houston I would be willing to travel to get it done.

[Bama 2SS/RS]

Originally Posted by RedoutCamaro

Just purchased an Air Intake (Cold Air Inductions) Black powder coated with Heatshield. I was looking at the spreadsheet from JRE posted on the Performance parts side of the forums and decided on this one. Easy install, and pretty good performance. Just the first of many upgrades I will get. Thanks for your suggestions, Looking in to a custom fab shop for my exhaust, but not finding much around Austin, TX. Mostly imports and 4x4s. If anyone knows any good places around even DFW or Houston I would be willing to travel to get it done.

You really can't go wrong with a cold-air intake on these cars. I'm sure you'll notice an immediate improvement the first time you drive it with the CAI on it. I know it made a noticeable change on my SS, anyhow. It just felt like the engine would rev quicker if you juiced the throttle while stopped at idle, and it pulled noticeably harder. I mean, it won't double your horsepower or anything that radical, but you should definitely be able to tell with the butt-dyno the first time you drive it with your CAI.

I can't help you when it comes to exhaust shops in TX, since I'm in Alabama, of course. But good luck in your search. When you find a shop, ask them as many questions as you need to so you can try to gauge the quality of work they'll do, ask about any experience with Camaro exhausts, etc. Also be sure of what you're getting from them, as far as pipe material, type of bending they do, etc. Even an "import" or "4X4" exhaust shop may be able to hook you up with something nice, so I wouldn't rule them out until you ask and they say they won't work on your car.

If all else fails, and you can't find a good exhaust shop, I'd recommend just picking up an axle-back kit from Magnaflow, or Borla, or whomever you decide to go with. When it comes to the kits, I don't see a whole lot to gain by spending the extra dough for a cat-back from those companies. The axle-back kits will get you the sound you want, and the cat-back kit won't really get any more power for you than the axle-back. Besides sound, the other tremendous improvement is getting rid of the crappy looking giant trash cans hanging out underneath the back of your car. It really looks a lot better, as well as sounding better.

Anyway, good luck finding a good exhaust shop in your area. And also enjoy the cold-air intake.

[CWI]

Originally Posted by Bama 2SS/RS

You really can't go wrong with a cold-air intake on these cars. I'm sure you'll notice an immediate improvement the first time you drive it with the CAI on it. I know it made a noticeable change on my SS, anyhow. It just felt like the engine would rev quicker if you juiced the throttle while stopped at idle, and it pulled noticeably harder. I mean, it won't double your horsepower or anything that radical, but you should definitely be able to tell with the butt-dyno the first time you drive it with your CAI.

I can't help you when it comes to exhaust shops in TX, since I'm in Alabama, of course. But good luck in your search. When you find a shop, ask them as many questions as you need to so you can try to gauge the quality of work they'll do, ask about any experience with Camaro exhausts, etc. Also be sure of what you're getting from them, as far as pipe material, type of bending they do, etc. Even an "import" or "4X4" exhaust shop may be able to hook you up with something nice, so I wouldn't rule them out until you ask and they say they won't work on your car.

If all else fails, and you can't find a good exhaust shop, I'd recommend just picking up an axle-back kit from Magnaflow, or Borla, or whomever you decide to go with. When it comes to the kits, I don't see a whole lot to gain by spending the extra dough for a cat-back from those companies. The axle-back kits will get you the sound you want, and the cat-back kit won't really get any more power for you than the axle-back. Besides sound, the other tremendous improvement is getting rid of the crappy looking giant trash cans hanging out underneath the back of your car. It really looks a lot better, as well as sounding better.

Anyway, good luck finding a good exhaust shop in your area. And also enjoy the cold-air intake.

Your car will lose a few pounds too.

[RedoutCamaro]

Originally Posted by Bama 2SS/RS

Anyway, good luck finding a good exhaust shop in your area. And also enjoy the cold-air intake.

I got a good recomendation from a fellow club member in the club I am a part of Central Texas Camaro5 Coalition. I ended up going with a 2.5" straight back exhaust with Flowmaster Outlaw Competition style mufflers up at the Cats. It makes the sound more pipe driven,(sounds like a 70s car now) and also feels like more power is accessable because of the straight through design. All the pipe was custom bent and welded, and 15" black chrome tips finish off the exhaust. Very happy with it.

It sounds unique but aggressive. Now to get that Decel fuel cut off noise tuned out. It is very very loud now. haha