axle back and cai questions - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

larietrope · 01-07-2010, 12:12 PM

Is it correct to assume an axle back muffler set up is buying sound not HP and a cai will produce some HP and torque gains ? Do they have any effect working together or can I just add a cai on my LS3 alone ?
Does the cai effect lower rpm performance ? In other words, at what point of the rpm scale does the cai really improve performance ?

MarylandSpeed · 01-07-2010, 03:18 PM

Axleback is mostly a sound mod...no real performance gain. Intake makes some power..but not enought to make a SOTP difference without a tune. You can add the intake alone and be just fine.

axis · 01-07-2010, 03:20 PM

The axleback, generally, will not gain you HP. The stock exhaust is that good at flow. It just doesn't make a lot of sound. Think about it, you have 2.5in pipe with OEM cats running to straight through mufflers. You replace ONLY the rear section, which is foot or two of 2.5in pipe and replace the straight through quiet mufflers with straight through louder mufflers. Where's the restriction you'd need to eleviate to gain HP? Not sure if the M6's gain HP from switching to a X-pipe instead of the OEM H-pipe and removing the resonators. The A6's should gain a little from removing their resonator/H-pipe setup with a X-pipe but it's different than the M6's. The bigger gains come from LT's and highflow cats in both applications.

CAI's replace the restrictive OEM setup with a higherflowing one. When done properly, they should gain you 5-20whp, depending on the one you choose. Most of the better ones advertise around 15whp gains but as with everything YMMV. Both together shouldn't net you anything over the CAI alone.

Avalnch · 01-07-2010, 08:49 PM

If it sounds faster, then it probably is faster, n'est pa?

01-07-2010, 12:12 PM	#1
larietrope Drives: 1970 Boss 302 Join Date: May 2009 Location: South Carolina Posts: 267	axle back and cai questions Is it correct to assume an axle back muffler set up is buying sound not HP and a cai will produce some HP and torque gains ? Do they have any effect working together or can I just add a cai on my LS3 alone ? Does the cai effect lower rpm performance ? In other words, at what point of the rpm scale does the cai really improve performance ?

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01-07-2010, 03:18 PM	#2
MarylandSpeed Account Suspended Drives: 2012 ZL1 & 2010 2SS/RS Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,378	Axleback is mostly a sound mod...no real performance gain. Intake makes some power..but not enought to make a SOTP difference without a tune. You can add the intake alone and be just fine.

01-07-2010, 03:20 PM	#3
axis Search Ninja Drives: 2010 Black 2SS/RS A6 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Central Ark Posts: 7,183	The axleback, generally, will not gain you HP. The stock exhaust is that good at flow. It just doesn't make a lot of sound. Think about it, you have 2.5in pipe with OEM cats running to straight through mufflers. You replace ONLY the rear section, which is foot or two of 2.5in pipe and replace the straight through quiet mufflers with straight through louder mufflers. Where's the restriction you'd need to eleviate to gain HP? Not sure if the M6's gain HP from switching to a X-pipe instead of the OEM H-pipe and removing the resonators. The A6's should gain a little from removing their resonator/H-pipe setup with a X-pipe but it's different than the M6's. The bigger gains come from LT's and highflow cats in both applications. CAI's replace the restrictive OEM setup with a higherflowing one. When done properly, they should gain you 5-20whp, depending on the one you choose. Most of the better ones advertise around 15whp gains but as with everything YMMV. Both together shouldn't net you anything over the CAI alone.

01-07-2010, 08:49 PM	#4
Avalnch Drives: Rally Yellow Camaro+Avalanche Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Vancouver Posts: 1,110	If it sounds faster, then it probably is faster, n'est pa?