Heard exhaust of L99 tonight - OMG!!!

[Hylton]

Some of you have heard the exhaust from my V6 and V8 videos I did last month. Basically they were of the cars sitting still and being revved up. All you folks who have been around performance cars know that the sound of an exhaust is very different when the engine is under load and that is really when you want to hear what the stock exhaust sounds like.

Anyhow, I had the opportunity to go check out an L99 tonight. When things were wrapping up, I explained to the person who had the car how much work was put into fine tuning the sound of the exhaust on these cars and that the only way to truly hear the fruits of the project teams labor, was to turn the traction control off and let her rip out of the dealership.

I have heard a lot of exhaust sounds in my life but I have NEVER heard a stock exhaust sound like that. There was about 10 of us watching/listening and the first thing I heard after the car could no longer be seen, was a Z06 owner saying "oh yeah!" as he nodded at me, clearly impressed. It's not only loud but it's a big tubular sound. Sorry to tell all you guys with after market exhaust plans - you will not want to change the exhaust.

Whoever hears the exhaust will not believe it is stock. When you have the opportunity, stand about 30 feet behind the car and listen to it drive off away from you at WOT - you'll be just as shocked as when you first saw the car. Whoever has met me knows I don't get impressed easily but to be honest, I'm still in disbelief.....I did not expect that!

For those who have not read up on the amount of effort that went into developing this sound, here's a few pics and a recap from an older thread:

Getting an Earful

How Do We Make the Exhaust Sound Right?
It goes without saying that the exhaust character of a pony car is vital to the success of the vehicle. The engine note is central to the Camaro's very being — it's part of the reason for buying the car in the first place.

We will not have done our job correctly if it comes out sounding like a turbocharged vacuum cleaner.

So just how do we decide what the Camaro needs to sound like anyway?

The process, like all of those that we do with GM Engineering, is reasonably simple but very complex. First, we identify a number of vehicles (some are usually competitors' vehicles and some of our own product) that we think sound good. We measure them with a tool affectionately known here in Melbourne as "Helmut." It is a very sensitive set of microphones attached in a facsimile of a human head that is carefully calibrated to accurately simulate the human hearing spectrum.

Helmut usually sits on a box in the passenger seat of the vehicle and goes for a ride with the driver as he or she performs various maneuvers. We then repeat the same procedure for all of our test vehicles to give us a comparative set of sound recordings for the cars. These recordings can be used later by the induction and exhaust development engineers to calibrate their parts to the intended sound pressure curves on various test benches and dynamometers. Incidentally, we also measure the cars from the outside to simulate what an observer is hearing as the cars drive past them.

We process the sound recordings using a fast computer and break them up into their constituent frequencies (this is called Fourier Transformation — named after the French scientist who invented the mathematics behind it), graph them, and document the portions of the sound which are pleasing and those which are not. These are then put into a virtual melting pot; we use some parts of one recording and other parts of another to create a master file, which is a composite of all of these recordings and sounds exactly the way we want it to.

We're all ears
We usually convene a cross-sectional group of marketing and engineering people in a soundproof room once the master file is done, play all of the files one after another through very sophisticated headphones, and come to some consensus on the new composite.

Typically, we then throw this composite file in a drawer somewhere, forget about it, and decide to copy the car that sounded the best in the first place. Simple, really.

One Final Step
Oh yeah, there's one last essential step. We all go out to the track and burn some serious rubber in the original test cars, just to make sure we made the right decision — and to remind ourselves how cool our jobs can be.
— Andrew D. Holmes

To everyone on the Camaro team who participated in this activity, THANK YOU! A grand slam!

[PQ]

Dude I gotta say it's posts and threads like these that make me just want to.................................JUMP UP AND DOWN IN ANTICIPATION OF MY NEW CAMARO.

I saw one in person yesterday and I am going absolutely ape shit with anxiety.

[mlee]

Might have just saved me $1500 bucks... Will have to wait and hear for myself. Thanks for the update.

[THE EVIL TW1N]

how loud can it be if there are sound decible regulations? Even the Z06 sounds relatively mild at WOT.

[Vash]

Yea louder is not always better. You can get resonation in the cabin etc etc whole laundry list of problems. The major companies still tweaking old camaro and vette exhausts after 15-20 years to give you an idea how long and how much work.

[PQ]

WOT?

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by irpq11

WOT?

Wide open throttle. Nail it baby!

[bdebde]

Originally Posted by irpq11

WOT?

Wide Open Throttle

[Camaro_Corvette]

LOL, I remember those pics I can't wait to hear the result!

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Hylton

Wide open throttle. Nail it baby!

Originally Posted by bdebde

Wide Open Throttle

Ok, I guess I'm an idiot. But thanx.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by irpq11

Ok, I guess I'm an idiot. But thanx.

I didnt know that one either......

[Hooy]

I have been concerned about this for some time!!

Aaaaaaaaaawesooooooooooooooooome.

[Visual_Perfection]

I think a lot of people initially that got a chance to ride along in a CTF car or drive one months ago had said it was too quiet, but I really think that was because of being in the car. Even in one of the reviews, I think it was Motor Trend maybe, they mention that from the inside of the car it is quiet, but they said when comparing the Mustang GT, Challenger R/T and Camaro SS from the outside driving away the Camaro sounds AWESOME and screams!

Anyways thanks for your take on this! Glad to hear they nailed it with the sound on this car. Videos on the computer really can never truely capture the real sound of it when you are in person.

[SScattergunSS]

Originally Posted by Hylton

Some of you have heard the exhaust from my V6 and V8 videos I did last month. Basically they were of the cars sitting still and being revved up. All you folks who have been around performance cars know that the sound of an exhaust is very different when the engine is under load and that is really when you want to hear what the stock exhaust sounds like.

Anyhow, I had the opportunity to go check out an L99 tonight. When things were wrapping up, I explained to the person who had the car how much work was put into fine tuning the sound of the exhaust on these cars and that the only way to truly hear the fruits of the project teams labor, was to turn the traction control off and let her rip out of the dealership.

I have heard a lot of exhaust sounds in my life but I have NEVER heard a stock exhaust sound like that. There was about 10 of us watching/listening and the first thing I heard after the car could no longer be seen, was a Z06 owner saying "oh yeah!" as he nodded at me, clearly impressed. It's not only loud but it's a big tubular sound. Sorry to tell all you guys with after market exhaust plans - you will not want to change the exhaust.

Whoever hears the exhaust will not believe it is stock. When you have the opportunity, stand about 30 feet behind the car and listen to it drive off away from you at WOT - you'll be just as shocked as when you first saw the car. Whoever has met me knows I don't get impressed easily but to be honest, I'm still in disbelief.....I did not expect that!

Hylton, this is great news for me to hear since I am getting the L99. I must also say how much I enjoy reading whatever you write. You're one of a small handful of our members, that I really make it a point to pay attention to what all you have to say! Thanks for the post.

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

Listen to it when he romped it in Stephs video. He had traction control on and it rocked.

[see5]

It sounds less good when running on 4 cyl.

[camarorick]

When I fired up the SS at my dealer, I found that it was a little tame at idle. I'm looking forward to hearing the WOT sound !!

[linkwpc]

How does it sound at idle? Same as the LS3?

[tjbusa]

Originally Posted by bdebde

Wide Open Throttle

It may have originated from boating as the owners manuals for the motors reference this WOT frequently.
I look for the day to hear a ss getting aggressive, it may be my own with the lack of camaros in this area, mustang territory.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Visual_Perfection

I think a lot of people initially that got a chance to ride along in a CTF car or drive one months ago had said it was too quiet, but I really think that was because of being in the car. Even in one of the reviews, I think it was Motor Trend maybe, they mention that from the inside of the car it is quiet, but they said when comparing the Mustang GT, Challenger R/T and Camaro SS from the outside driving away the Camaro sounds AWESOME and screams!

Not only is this exactly correct, but it was done by design. They wanted the car to be extremely quiet inside, but have an authoritative sound outside when "getting on it". After 25 years of playing with Camaros, I want to hear the Boston Acoustics stereo system while others hear my car.

Very important to all - do not assess the exhaust sound by driving the car. Get out of the car, stand back a bit and let someone else get on it (if you can tolerate that).

Originally Posted by Visual_Perfection

Anyways thanks for your take on this! Glad to hear they nailed it with the sound on this car. Videos on the computer really can never truely capture the real sound of it when you are in person.

I did have the ability to take video of it but you are right, it would be pointless. The video would not catch the experience of the exhaust note bouncing of the buildings around you when you can't see the car anymore (yes, it does that ).

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by SScattergunSS

Hylton, this is great news for me to hear since I am getting the L99. I must also say how much I enjoy reading whatever you write. You're one of a small handful of our members, that I really make it a point to pay attention to what all you have to say! Thanks for the post.

Thanks! That means a lot to me. Aside from the joking around, I put a lot of effort into what I do here and it's really nice to hear that.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Hylton

Thanks! That means a lot to me. Aside from the joking around, I put a lot of effort into what I do here and it's really nice to hear that.

You've earned that level of respect, 100%.

[Shurenuff]

It's great that the stock exhaust sounds great, but one of the main reasons I'm going aftermarket ASAP is to get rid of the large and visible mufflers that can be easily seen from behind the car.

If they were hidden by the rear fascia or at least painted black, I could probably live with them.

[nol300]

Originally Posted by Shurenuff

It's great that the stock exhaust sounds great, but one of the main reasons I'm going aftermarket ASAP is to get rid of the large and visible mufflers that can be easily seen from behind the car.

If they were hidden by the rear fascia or at least painted black, I could probably live with them.

+1

Why do they always have the muffler visiable it would be different if it was a nice polished piece but they are ugly.

[mutant chicken]

Originally Posted by Visual_Perfection

I think a lot of people initially that got a chance to ride along in a CTF car or drive one months ago had said it was too quiet, but I really think that was because of being in the car. Even in one of the reviews, I think it was Motor Trend maybe, they mention that from the inside of the car it is quiet, but they said when comparing the Mustang GT, Challenger R/T and Camaro SS from the outside driving away the Camaro sounds AWESOME and screams!

Anyways thanks for your take on this! Glad to hear they nailed it with the sound on this car. Videos on the computer really can never truely capture the real sound of it when you are in person.

You really want the ride inside the car to be quiet so you can enjoy that premium sound system right? My '67 Firebird had a kickass motor, exhaust, etc., you could hear it coming from a mile away, problem was you couldn't hold a conversation in the car either. Sound dampening in 1967 consisted of a piece of carpet, that was it. Be thankful that Chevy has progressed a bit since then ! You want all the good noise coming out the back.

I also ride a Harley, and for some reason a lot of my fellow riders think it is cool to run straight pipes, or at the very least the loudest pipes they can find, quoting this silly line that loud pipes save lives... stupidest thing I've ever heard, the sound goes out the back and it's too late to do you any good , it's not going to stop that car from pulling out in front of you.. all it does is tick off our fellow motorists. Louder is not always better, it doesn't mean better performance, it just means louder ...

Listen to your car first, then decide. I'm not saying you have to leave it stock, not by any means. I have changed the exhaust in both my truck and my bike but since this is a first year car I am leary of voiding the warranty in any way .....