Peyton

This summer I should be able to afford to fiddle the exhaust note on my 2SS. Stock is very civilized.

Is anyone here running the GM Performance Parts solution? Is it worth it? How's the sound, any difference in performance?

Cheaper to just switch the stock mufflers for Flowmaster Turbo 40s. Why or why not?

JakeRobb

Are you interested in increasing performance, or just changing the sound / making it louder?

I tend not to like solutions that just swap out the mufflers and leave all of the piping stock, so swapping out the mufflers for Flowmasters gets a big thumbs down from me. A full cat-back exhaust would be better IMO. I'd look at Corsa, Borla, and Magnaflow. All three will be cheaper, louder, and higher-flowing than the GMPP.

JasonD

The GMPP system is made by Borla.

JakeRobb

Is it identical to the Borla system, or is Borla making something different for themselves?

JasonD

The jury is out on that one. I believe it was hinted at that it is slightly different (other than visually) but if so and how much is questionable.

Peyton

My car is a daily driver, never goes to the track, and I don't race kids in tricked-out Civics. LOL On the other hand, once in a very-satisfying while, I get a clear lane and can drop it into fourth to pass some knuckle-head doing the speed limit in the fast lane, and that is worth the price of admission.

Flowmasters would make it louder, I love the 60s we put on my wife '06 Mustang GT. A full cat-back would be lighter than the stock pipes, a nice plus. The better exhaust would increase efficiency, improving power, mileage and longevity of the engine. All good things. Louder is important, but I'm not going for a straight pipes effect.

Is the GMPP exhaust somehow optimized for this engine? Who likes Borla, Corsa or Magnaflow better, and why? Are they all good, and is this about to evolve into a beans-in-chili sort of argument?

I wonder what the Corvette guys like, and why, and whether our cars' heavier weight makes that valid information?

JakeRobb

Personally, I'm a Corsa fan, but my opinion is based on how they sound on LS1 4th gens, not on LS3 5th gens. Each one sounds a little bit different. All three are very high quality and offer reduced weight, improved performance, and more sound. I couldn't tell you how they rank in any of those measures, but maybe that'd be good information to try to find.

On 4th gens, it breaks down like this. Corsa has the least drone at cruising RPM. Borla has the deepest pitch, Corsa the highest. Magnaflow is the raspiest of the three and sounds the most agressive, but also has the most drone when cruising. Borla's volume is adjustable from quieter than Corsa to louder than Magnaflow (but you have to get under the car with a wrench to change it -- and I'm pretty sure Borla's 5th gen exhaust has no such adjustment). Borla and Corsa are both substantially more expensive than Magnaflow.

For a sound clip of the Corsa exhaust on my 4th gen Z28, click on the link to my FQuick garage to the left of this post.

Also, next time you're passing a left-lane bandit, try 3rd instead of 4th.

Peyton

Good info, Jake, thanks very much!

I like the sound of the Corsas on your 4th gen.

The Borla's deeper pitch sounds interesting, but I'd have to hear it.

I guess I can check with the two Chevy dealers nearby, and tuning shops that work Camaros, and see if they can put me in touch with customers who've had the Borla/GMPP or Corsa cat-backs installed.

Any suggestions how to evaluate the quality of a tuning shop? I had an Edelbrock cam put in a small-block that I had in a Caprice, many years ago. It came out of the shop with the plug wires in the wrong firing order. Easy to fix, but that car never was quite right, again. This car, I care about 30 or 40 times as much, but I'm not sure how to evaluate what a top rate shop would be.

I'm near Austin, Texas if you just happen to know who the best shop is, around here.

Peyton

We quickly drifted away from the GMPP exhaust discussion to aftermarket, so I checked that message section. Links to Corsa YouTube videos led me to Borla YouTube videos, and this one is really helpful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL1jtp2n-W8

The "side by side" comparison with stock starts at about 8 minutes. Pretty illuminating!

Now, I need to figure out which shop knows what they're doing. Would a Chevy shop have less impact on any warranty issues?

JakeRobb

No less than any reputable shop.

JakeRobb

Here is a video clip of a 4th gen SS with Borla. It's adjusted as loud as it goes in this clip.

For more, go to ls1sounds.com.

JasonD

You have seen/heard the vids of my Borla exhaust, right? Go here and scroll down:
http://www.phantomss.com/category/2010-camaro-video/

Speaking of which...please participate in this thread.
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=753280

And for what is relevant to your quest for a shop...see post #39.

JakeRobb

Another good Borla example. Worth noting: that's with longtube headers, too.

SSCamaro99_3

A lot of the raspiness of the 4th gens was generated at the y-pipe merge. Seeing as the 5th gen is a legitimate dual system, this should be less of an issue. My 4th gen is a longtubes/true dual system and rasp is no longer an issue.

My car - http://www.ls1sounds.com/true_duals/...Ts_Hotcam.mpeg

2010_5thgen

borla makes the gmpp exhaust.