Im going to be swapping my hooker mid's out for a pair of pacesetter long tubes, I was wanting to get some of our all's opinions on weather or not there is a signifigant differance in sound between 3" and 2 1/2" piping ? im going to go with an x-pipe setup and probably sweet thunder mufflers. I was considering going with 2 1/2 tubing because it would slightly offer more ground clearance.

 

2 1/2 should be more than adequate for your setup. i use 2 1/2 and it works great for me.

 

IMO, if you are running true duals there is no reason for 3" piping on a LT1, assuming your is N/A and under 400 HP. I had dual 2 1/2" on my 350 HP GTO with a big block, and never had any performance issues. You will get better ground clearence, and it will cost less to.

 

BTW, car looks good.

 

Reallllly now...I was talking about this on a local message board and most people were bashing me telling me that 2 1/2 is far to small, that i should keep the y-pipe and go with a 4" pipe, or use 3" for the x-pipe. I had a feeling it was just personal opinion.

 

I went with a 3" setup and didn't lose a wit of low end. If anything, I gained torque across the board. Credit that to the X crossover. Because Lane's doesn't have a jig for LT1 cars, the best/easiest route would be to order the Summit or Jeg's universal X pipe kit and take it to a muffler shop to have them tweak it and weld it up. If you have slip fit collectors, band clamps work great.

Jason

 

As far as sound goes do you think reducing the size of the muffler from 3" to 2.5" make a huge difference in the sound of the setup?

 

It will be louder with bigger pipes.

 

I run Hooker LTs and purple horny header mufflers (3 inch) and I don,t feel any loss down low.
I have an auto with a stall and gears though.

 

SOTP = worse dyno in history.

A dual 3" exhaust is a lot bigger than even a single 4" exhaust....do you need a 4" exhaust...like the guys running 9's?

Look how many people are cooking on single 3" systems....

 

if you're staying single pipe exhaust, then 3" is good. but i dont think there is any benefit to going 3" dual over 2 1/2". and all you people saying you dont feel any loss with low end w/ 3" dual, did the dyno show the same? let me see a direct comparison to the 2 1/2" vs. 3". i doubt you'll show any gain going from 2 1/2" to 3" dual with your setups.

 

mine is going to be pacesetter long tubes, cutouts, 3 in x-pipe, dynomax bullet's with turn downs my buddy has it and it sounds like heaven

 

What I plan On having built. But then again I'll be sporting a solid roller 383. Yea, I think I'll need 3". hehe.

 

 

ANd since I dont have a CME, just atke away those last 90 degree bends at the end. But you get the jist of it.