TO BORLA...OR NOT TO BORLA....

[corvettecamaro]

I have had the borla stingers on my car for about 3 months now and i thought that it sound great. They are axle back only and from the inside of the vehicle it sounds deep and loud. Today my wife drove it home while i followed her in our other car and the sound from outside wasnt what i expected. This was the first time i heard the car driving. I've heard it at idle, and sounded o.k., but driving it did not sound like a muscle car.

Does anyone have any advise on what I can do to get a meaner more muscle car sound out. I would still like to use my borlas. Just wondering if putting on headers and even changing the cat back would make the car sound better. Any advise would be helpful. Thanks. By the way, everything in this engine is stock except for the axle back borlas. I live in California and i would like to make sure that it still passes smog and that warranty is not void. Sorry for the long post. Just disappointed with the sound.

Thanks

[ZZcamaro]

Put on ARH longtubes and it will sound like a totally different car. The difference will be night and day!

If you need more info on the ARH systems let me know. They make a great product and I am sure you can find plenty of info on here about them.

[rcracer78]

SOLO PERFORMANCE FOR DAYS!!!

[corvettecamaro]

I looked at the website and it sells the ARH long tubes for $1800. What comes with that. Is that just the headers alone. Or does it come with the cats and x-pipe. Picture shows only headers. But explaination says complete kit with cats and x-pipe. Also, will that fit with the borlas.

[teapot]

Make sure you keep doing your research. There's tons of info throughout this site concerning LT headers. From what I have seen, LT headers tend to throw engine codes that require tuning to correct. Engine tunes typically void powertrain warranties (from what I have researched). However, headers and a tune are great for both sound and performance. Decisions, decisions...

[ZZcamaro]

Originally Posted by corvettecamaro

I looked at the website and it sells the ARH long tubes for $1800. What comes with that. Is that just the headers alone. Or does it come with the cats and x-pipe. Picture shows only headers. But explaination says complete kit with cats and x-pipe. Also, will that fit with the borlas.

That would include the cats midpipes and all teh way back nearly to yoru current axle-back system. You will have almost a complete new exhaust.

If you are interested let me know, send me a PM. I will do my best to answer all your questions.

[corvettecamaro]

Also...the car is lowered approx. 3" all around. Am I going to have clearance problems with headers like the old camaros did with long tubes.

[corvettecamaro]

anyone ran their car without headers for awhile and then put on headers later...notice a huge difference in sound or just a little bit?

[vsgls1]

Originally Posted by corvettecamaro

Also...the car is lowered approx. 3" all around. Am I going to have clearance problems with headers like the old camaros did with long tubes.

No, the ARH headers fit like a glove, nothing like the SLP headers on the 4th Gens. You will not have any clearance issues.

[vsgls1]

Originally Posted by corvettecamaro

anyone ran their car without headers for awhile and then put on headers later...notice a huge difference in sound or just a little bit?

I ran it 250 miles before the headers went on. There was a noticable difference in sound with the stock exhaust, especially after it opened up after a few runs on the dyno.

[IROCanSS]

Originally Posted by corvettecamaro

I have had the borla stingers on my car for about 3 months now and i thought that it sound great. They are axle back only and from the inside of the vehicle it sounds deep and loud. Today my wife drove it home while i followed her in our other car and the sound from outside wasnt what i expected. This was the first time i heard the car driving. I've heard it at idle, and sounded o.k., but driving it did not sound like a muscle car.

Does anyone have any advise on what I can do to get a meaner more muscle car sound out. I would still like to use my borlas. Just wondering if putting on headers and even changing the cat back would make the car sound better. Any advise would be helpful. Thanks. By the way, everything in this engine is stock except for the axle back borlas. I live in California and i would like to make sure that it still passes smog and that warranty is not void. Sorry for the long post. Just disappointed with the sound.

Thanks

LS3 or L99? This makes a huge difference as the L99 has some other stuff under it to compensate for the AFM.

The LS3 should sound great with the Borlas. I had the axel back on my C6 and they were amazing! I am expecting the same sound in the Camaro as the Camaro is louder to begin with.

If you have the L99 the axel back system is not enough if you want the loudness. You need the cat back system but there is a downside. When the AFM kicks into 4-cyl mode, you will have drone. You can tune the car and have the AFM shut down but this will likely void your warranty (if you care). If you want the sound and don't care about the drone you need to upgrade to the cat back system to take out the resonators in the L99 that the LS3 does not have. The added resonators are robbing most of your sound.

I am considering going with the Borla stinger axel back and having the small resonator behind the cat on the LS3 taken out. I will be keeping the cats as I don't want to go to jail.

[chappy48]

I have a Borla S type cat-back on my L99 and I was afraid of the drone, but it's really not bad at all. The people that say that must be really picky or want a quiet cabin. I, for one, enjoy the sound of my V8 The only time you really get drone, like has been said before, is when the AFM kicks in. But even then you have to be in the exact right rpm range and be slightly accelerating for it to be really bad. When I hear it, I just give the throttle a quick dab and get 8 cylinders going...problem solved

[Speed74SS]

I love the Borla Cat-Back on my car - sounds perfect.

[Edrock]

Originally Posted by corvettecamaro

I have had the borla stingers on my car for about 3 months now and i thought that it sound great. They are axle back only and from the inside of the vehicle it sounds deep and loud. Today my wife drove it home while i followed her in our other car and the sound from outside wasnt what i expected. This was the first time i heard the car driving. I've heard it at idle, and sounded o.k., but driving it did not sound like a muscle car.

Does anyone have any advise on what I can do to get a meaner more muscle car sound out. I would still like to use my borlas. Just wondering if putting on headers and even changing the cat back would make the car sound better. Any advise would be helpful. Thanks. By the way, everything in this engine is stock except for the axle back borlas. I live in California and i would like to make sure that it still passes smog and that warranty is not void. Sorry for the long post. Just disappointed with the sound.

Thanks

Well, if you do anything other than GMPP, your EXHAUST system warranty (not powertrain or bumper to bumper) will go poof. But that's no big deal since whatever exhaust you go with will last longer than the warranty anyway. Borla makes the GMPP solution by the way.

Have you considered any Flowmaster products? Also, Doug Thorley in CA makes short tube headers that should be legal. Check out the rev clip in my sig to get a small sample of a deep American Muscle Car sound with the Flowmaster Super-44 mufflers. The whole setup from headers all the way back to exhaust tips, including labor was less than $1,700, done by a local performace exhaust shop. Good luck.