So my current setup (Hooker 1 3/4 long tube headers, hooker y-pipe, into a Borla exhaust) is going to be changed this spring to what it should have had a long time ago. Some larger primaries on the headers (going with some Kooks 1 7/8). I am keeping my Borla, but my question is, what Y-pipe should I get for this combo? I actually haven't looked at this stuff in quite a while, and I don't even know what my options are as far as what will fit. This is of course for my Camaro in my sig.

Any help?

 

I have the Kooks long tubes with Kooks y-pipe with cats. Kooks makes a nice y-pipe w/o cats too. I used to have a Borla on my '95 Z but went with a Corsa cat back this time. I really like the sound of the Corsa. Not too loud at low speed light throttle but sounds AWESOME when you get into it.

 

Okay, so Kooks makes their own y-pipe as well. Well, that sounds like it should work. Kooks makes great headers. I am guessing their y-pipe is also good.

Basically I want to know what all my options are here that will work/fit. Then, out of all the options, I would want the least restrictive/most power making y-pipe.

Any other thoughts or options?

 

The best Y-pipe is the one that fits without modification... and that will pretty much always (and only) be the one made by the same company that made your headers.

 

Makes sense. But what are my other options? Who else makes one that will fit (unmodified) for the criteria above besides Kooks?

 

I can't speak for other brands but my all Kooks set up fit great and the ground clearance is good too. My car is still @ stock ride height but I have zero complaints. No banging, rattling or clearance problems. Kooks aren't cheap but they are top quality.

 

Kooks headers are great, and I am sure their y-pipe is no exception. It is probably the Y-pipe I will go with, I was just trying to see if there were any other options to pick from.

 

Honestly, I would recommend going with a custom Y-pipe. At first thought, it may seem excessive, but for the price of a Kooks Y-pipie, you may want to think about it as an alternative.

I have Kook's longtubes on my car and have a custom Y-pipe. The thing that I can't stand on the Kook's Y-pipe is the merge. On a high hp car such as yours, you really need a good merge like the Flowmaster 3"-4" one. Buy that, then have a good fabricator local to you just make the Y-pipe on the car. I doubt it would be much more than just paying the $350 for the Kook's version.

Don't get me wrong, Kook's makes GREAT stuff. I have a set of their headers on both my LS1 and LT1 cars. But, that merge is quite inefficient on a higher hp car.

Just a thought.

Jason

 

Back when I had a mufflex Y-pipe, it was a 3" to 4" Y-pipe, and then got reduced again to the 3" to my Borla. 4" is less restrictive than 3", however I find it hard to believe it will gain anything when the header and cat back systems are both 3". To me doing this makes NO sense.

The only advantage I could see about having someone do a custom Y would be fittment. I think the best power would be made by keeping the entire exuast system the same diameter (3"). Am I wrong?

 

I'm sure ideally an X-pipe with true duals in 3" would be the optimum setup but you would have to deal with custom fitment under the minimal space available. Unless you have the pipes fit over the axle for rear exit, it's pretty noisy if you dump before the axle.

 

Nope, I'll be going with the headers and some form of Y-pipe. Are there any other options that haven't previously been mentioned?

 

In short, yes But, I understand how it's easy to draw that conclusion since everything after your Y-pipe will still be 3" in diameter.

I gained 8rwhp with my custom Y-pipe (Flowmaster merge) over the stock Kooks Y-pipe on my H/C LS1 combo a few years ago. I'm sure the gain would be more like 10rwhp ALONE from the merge on a FI car. And, I still had a 3" catback on my car (SLP dual/dual).

Any time a fluid (air/exhaust in this case) moves through an orifice, it incurs losses from bends, turns, merges, and even through a strait pipe. In this case, cutting a hole in an existing 3" diameter and essentially jamming another 3" pipe into that one at almost a perpendicual angle is VERY inefficent.

Also, if you do go this route, it's also important to reduce the 4" outlet to a 3" over a distance. The 4" to 3" reducers that reduce over 1" in distance are not optimal. A reduction in diameter over 4" in length would be much better.

Here is a link from 'tech with some good reading: http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/genera...er-y-pipe.html

Hope this helps.

 

With 614 rwHP, I'd think the 3" Borla would be a significant limitation. Why not a 4" Mufflex catback? I had Mufflex build a custom 3" Y-pipe using the Flowmaster 2x3->4" merge that Jason mentioned, and then continued back with the 4" catback. The only reason I switched to duals was because the Gear Vendor O/D unit interfered with the Y-pipe, and the Mufflex catback weighs a lot.

http://www.injuneer.com/images/photo...t/TADS4in.jpeg

Funny.... everything in that 11 year old picture is gone.... ACPT CF D/S, early Spohn torque arm design, Mufflex Y-pipe......

 

Fred brings up another good point on the catback itself in your application. A 4" Mufflex is a very high flowing setup. I use/have used a Mufllex 4" on my LT1 car for almost 10 years now. The Flowmaster muffler that Mufflex was using for a while is not ideal though. They switched over to Spintech a few years ago (or maybe it's just an option?).

I think you could see upwards of 650rwhp on your car with just a new exhaust setup(Kooks, Y-pipe with proper merge, and 4" catback).

The most efficient (and liveable noise level) 4" catback setup that I've used is a modified Mufflex. It consists of a Dynomax Ultraflow welded bullet muffler in the I-pipe and a Borla XR1 (strait through design) in the stock location.

The good thing is that no matter what direction you decide to go, you can sell your exisiting stuff for a decent dollar cutting the price of a new setup down.

 

Mufflex still offers the 4" catback with either the Flowmaster 30-series Race muffler or the Spintech.