Aftermarket Header Question

[Johnny5]

Hi I see on ebay that they have maximizer abd OBX headers. I currently only have a corsa catback (exhaust wise). I love the corsa sound but don't want to get too much louder. I heard stainless works with corsa (no cats) and it was too loud for me,. Anyone have a video clip or advice on which to buy?

[dredgeguy]

I am in the process of ordering Stainless Works headers with their cats. It is a direct fit to factory exhaust and to the Corsa exhaust I currently have on my car.

[KILLSHOTS]

I had OBX headers and Corsa on my car, with no cats. At full throttle, it sounded like all hell was breaking loose. I loved it, but I can see how it would be entirely too loud for most. Phil's (PhillipsLT5) car has SW headers and Corsa, but he has cats, and his sounds much more mellow than mine did. You're not really going to notice any difference in tone between OBX and SW headers. I think you'd likely be happy with the sound if you install cats, which have other benefits, as well. Good luck.

[cvette98pacecar]

Hi I see on ebay that they have maximizer abd OBX headers. I currently only have a corsa catback (exhaust wise). I love the corsa sound but don't want to get too much louder. I heard stainless works with corsa (no cats) and it was too loud for me,. Anyone have a video clip or advice on which to buy?

Don't Play games. Buy the Stainless works.

[RICKYRJ1]

Hi I see on ebay that they have maximizer abd OBX headers. I currently only have a corsa catback (exhaust wise). I love the corsa sound but don't want to get too much louder. I heard stainless works with corsa (no cats) and it was too loud for me,. Anyone have a video clip or advice on which to buy?

:blahblah::blahblah::blahblah: what do you mean to loud? Trade it in for a Kia then lol Listen to Robert get the SS you saw what happened with your other exhaust. :cheers:

[cvette98pacecar]

:blahblah::blahblah::blahblah: what do you mean to loud? Trade it in for a Kia then lol Listen to Robert get the SS you saw what happened with your other exhaust. :cheers:

LOUD??? He hasn't heard loud until he has been in a ZR-1 B&B stage 1.

[-=Jeff=-]

Loud I would be okay with

But DRONE is another story.. Happy with my Headers/Cats/Corsa

[ghlkal]

\I love the corsa sound but don't want to get too much louder. I heard stainless works with corsa (no cats) and it was too loud for me,. Anyone have a video clip or advice on which to buy?

I have SW headers with cats and corsa exhaust. The sound is just right for me. It's not too loud (except perhaps at WOT). There is no drone. I recommend having the cats as it cuts down the sound some and cleans up the exhaust (no smell).

Just my $0.02

[mike100]

Loud is fun for a car you only drive on Saturdays, but loud mufflers don't have the nickname "cop-callers" for nothing.

many of us have gone back to stock-ish pipe sets, installed cut-outs, or done the vacuum operated NPP muffler flaps to help make the car pleasant when you have to drive somewhere farther than 30 minutes away.

[WARP TEN]

Catalytic converters do reduce the intensity of the sound. Don't know by how many decibels but others have opined about a 20% reduction sound. I went a slightly different route in that I have SW headers with no cats (no more emissions testing for these cars in Illinois) backed by a stock 95 exhaust. Very livable and of course no drone. Somewhat louder than it would be with cats but probably too quiet for many in our group. Great for long stints in the car, like when I am, say, driving to Bowling Green. When I need to, I solve my "need for noise" and add back the roughly ten horsepower that the mufflers cost me with electric cutouts in front of the mufflers. I can dial in whatever sound lever I want. After trying a half dozen different exhaust systems over two cars and about 20 years, I like this setup best. But as Marc Haibeck points out, I have a child's span of attention when it comes to exhaust systems;) so who knows what might be next--Bob

[rkreigh]

Haibeck should love u for changing your mind, each time you do he gets paid. :saluting:

I don't know that the high flow cats affect sound much at all. the LSV "ate the centers out" and last time I pulled the exh we finished the job and hollowed out the "cat shells"

didn't really notice it get much louder at all which surprised me.

but I agree with Bob, a nice "reasonable" system with cut outs for those times you want to let the mighty lion roar is best of both worlds

I'm sticking with my B&B with x pipe and "cat shells" for now. I'm thinking about putting a c6 "flapper tip" on the exhaust and upgrading to a less restrictive muffler (2nd gen B&B is more quiet, but at a restriction "cost") for so far the throaty sound all the time and spending less $$$ has won out.

[WARP TEN]

Haibeck should love u for changing your mind, each time you do he gets paid. :saluting:

I don't know that the high flow cats affect sound much at all. the LSV "ate the centers out" and last time I pulled the exh we finished the job and hollowed out the "cat shells"

didn't really notice it get much louder at all which surprised me.

but I agree with Bob, a nice "reasonable" system with cut outs for those times you want to let the mighty lion roar is best of both worlds

I'm sticking with my B&B with x pipe and "cat shells" for now. I'm thinking about putting a c6 "flapper tip" on the exhaust and upgrading to a less restrictive muffler (2nd gen B&B is more quiet, but at a restriction "cost") for so far the throaty sound all the time and spending less $$$ has won out.
Yes Marc loves me now but in my youth I used to do all the exhaust system changes myself. Spent a lot of time on my back under the car on jack stands. Lots of great memories. One time when I was having a particularly hard time getting a Borla to fit together, my then high school age daughter studying in the room above the garage called my wife in and said, "Mom, you should hear what dad is saying!" Never used a Borla again and did my best to explain to said daughter that I would never use such words in public but I thought no one could hear me. But you are right my current system is one way to get the "best of both worlds" in terms of sound and performance.--Bob

[RICKYRJ1]

I like the the cut out option QTP & Dougs make a nice set. The QTP has a system with a remote control :saluting:

[Gunny]

time to chime in ...

after talking w/Warp Ten as well as listening to his setup I decided to go that route. Since I bought the 90 over 10 years ago I've been searching for the "perfect" exhaust (for me) and, through the years, have run the OEM, Borlas (two times), Corsa, and 95 OEM, some w/cats, some w/out, some w/OEM manifolds/cats, some w/SW headers. Some would be "perfect" in certain ways but not quite in other ways. And on and on. My exhaust for the past 2 years has been a 96 LT4 system, SW headers and no cats. I swore I was through modding/experimenting until I heard Bob's setup. Added QTP cutouts in late summer and drove the Z to Haibeck in late September for some additional porting, secondary deletion, and his tuning magic. Wow, what a difference !!! Marc dynoed with cutouts closed and open ... the difference is 15HP at the wheels and the sound difference is quite incredible. Best of all, you can "tune" the sound to your taste by opening the cutouts only as much as wanted. This is probably as "perfect" an exhaust (for me) that I will ever have on my Z.

[edram454]

i have drm long tube headers and corsa exhaust with no cats. great sound. tons of sound wot and not bad on the street either. no drone what so ever. best free flowing exhaust that I can think of other than zoomies.

ed ramos #3028

[MuRCieLaGo]

Is there a difference performance-wise between Stainless Works headers catted and non-catted?

[mike100]

Is there a difference performance-wise between Stainless Works headers catted and non-catted?

I don't have dyno testing to prove it, but I think the HP loss is all in the mufflers. My car was faster with the Stainless Works full cat-back running 3" catalysts than the car was with no cats and stock mufflers. both situations had long tube watson headers.

[Johnny5]

Is there a difference performance-wise between Stainless Works headers catted and non-catted?

I believe Marc Heibeck said the difference is about 3HP without cats

[Johnny5]

If anyone can PM me a sound clip or PM me and send me cell phone a clip Id love to hear SW with Cats to corsa cat back. I have clips of my corsa and play it everytime i get separation anxiety. I love the sound and don;t want to change that if i don't enjoy the header loudness for an additional 22 HP.

[We Gone]

I have SW long tube headers, when I first put them on it was without cats. It is loud and had a very tinny sound that I did not like... So I put the hi-flow cats on and it now sounds great. I could not tell any difference in power but I don't drive that hard.

With cats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=delqgeptb2A

[dredgeguy]

If anyone can PM me a sound clip or PM me and send me cell phone a clip Id love to hear SW with Cats to corsa cat back. I have clips of my corsa and play it everytime i get separation anxiety. I love the sound and don;t want to change that if i don't enjoy the header loudness for an additional 22 HP.

I have a Corsa exhaust and just ordered SW headers with the SW cats. They are being coated now and I should have them in about 2 weeks so will be able to let you know.

[RussMcB]

Johnny, just making sure I'm following this accurately.

You have stock manifolds, stock cats, Corsa catback system, you like the sound, are considering headers but don't want to lose your current good sound.

Right?

Does your current Corsa system have a center muffler/resonator?

[RICKYRJ1]

He needs headers !!!!!!!!! :-D:-D:-D its not to loud

[Johnny5]

That is correct. I have ported plenum, IH, corsa catback and chip. I love the sound, but idk if itll be annoyingly loud if i do headers. 1 day i think im
Gonna buy it than im thinking idk if $1500 is worth the 18hp

[Johnny5]

But i listened to 5avibt youtube and it does sound just a tad deeper than my car. He has SW cats and corsa. Sounds good, i love that admiral BLUE!!!! If i could find a used set of headers id probably pull the trigger. Yes it has the center resonators, whatever comes with the corsa cat back

[Vette73]

Hey John just go with the OBX headers...So far mine are fine and the material is good...
The stock manifolds are very restrictive when you see them up close...

[Johnny5]

I want cats John. Obx has fake cats

[RussMcB]

I want cats John. Obx has fake catsMy OBX headers did not come with fake cats.

So, I'm guessing you need to pass emissions testing where you live?

[Vette73]

Yeah no cats on the OBX....I got my car inspected today and it was only ten bucks...Safety inspection.....You don't need cats...

[efnfast]

My OBX came with fake cats. I don't see why you couldn't add a set of aftermarket cats if need be.

[George Maz]

Yeah no cats on the OBX....I got my car inspected today and it was only ten bucks...Safety inspection.....You don't need cats...
Good to know. I'll be getting NY inspection soon. I have SW headers, X-pipe, B&B exhaust, Cats deleted ...it all sounds great with some porting and Fidanza flywheel.

[C4Ray]

I like Bob's (WARP 10) exhaust setup the best so far in this thread. Just be forewarned that C4s drone badly if the stock system is altered.

Question: What is the ideal C4 ZR-1 setup Cat-back with the most HP unleashed but NO drone?

[Gunny]

Question: What is the ideal C4 ZR-1 setup Cat-back with the most HP unleashed but NO drone?

"ideal" is subjective and will probably not be the same to everyone ... and without an exhaustive set of dyno comparisons of the various exhaust combos available all done back to back on the same Z my best guess for the most HP with NO drone is headers -> no cats -> Corsas.

I've tried numerous setups on my Z ... some had a lot of drone, some had minimal drone but only 2 systems had NO drone: OEM and Corsas. I'm currently running a setup very similar to Bob's except that the catback I'm using is a 96 LT4. When Marc had my car for porting/dyno tuning he did back to back dynos with the cutouts open/closed ... the OEM mufflers keep everything quiet w/no drone but with a cost of 15HP at the wheels. With the cutouts fully open the exhaust is LOUD and there's enough drone to make my ears hurt. The Corsas are also very LOUD, especially w/out cats, but I never detected any drone when I ran Corsas, headers, no cats.

[C4Ray]

"ideal" is subjective and will probably not be the same to everyone ... and without an exhaustive set of dyno comparisons of the various exhaust combos available all done back to back on the same Z my best guess for the most HP with NO drone is headers -> no cats -> Corsas. I've tried numerous setups on my Z ... some had a lot of drone, some had minimal drone but only 2 systems had NO drone: OEM and Corsas. I'm currently running a setup very similar to Bob's except that the catback I'm using is a 96 LT4. When Marc had my car for porting/dyno tuning he did back to back dynos with the cutouts open/closed ... the OEM mufflers keep everything quiet w/no drone but with a cost of 15HP at the wheels. With the cutouts fully open the exhaust is LOUD and there's enough drone to make my ears hurt. The Corsas are also very LOUD, especially w/out cats, but I never detected any drone when I ran Corsas, headers, no cats.

Interesting .... Thanks for commenting.

[edram454]

yeah i noticed a difference from my flowmasters unmodified and modified... i have headers, corsa and no cats..... and NO DRONE.. the best.


ed ramos #3028