I'd like to mod my exhaust, but it must be legal

[RussMcB]

Originally Posted by rkreigh

well I'm not bob but ...

This classic joke immediately popped into my mind. I first heard it (read it) in Road & Track magazine a long time ago:

I was driving the other day and came up on a Triumph Spitfire with a license plate reading 'BOBS MG'. I yelled over to him, "Hey, that's not an MG." The driver looked back at me and said, "I'm not Bob."

I'm not sure exactly why, but I've always thought that was hilarious.

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by RussMcB

This classic joke immediately popped into my mind. I first heard it (read it) in Road & Track magazine a long time ago:

I was driving the other day and came up on a Triumph Spitfire with a license plate reading 'BOBS MG'. I yelled over to him, "Hey, that's not an MG." The driver looked back at me and said, "I'm not Bob."

I'm not sure exactly why, but I've always thought that was hilarious.

Well I am Bob and I did once own an MG. But that's not my plate.

[Gunny]

Here's Bob's plate

[KFoster]

5ABI, maybe I like cars too much, but I think yours looks great. Love the wheels. As for Euro look, I guess maybe. I wasn't aware you could spend too much money on a car. Here is a pic of my Euro car. Unfortunately I sold it about this time last year to a buddy of mine that deals in Porsches and wanted it to keep for himself. Caught me at a moment of weakness. Now they have gone through the roof. On my ZR1 I have flowmaster cat back. Sounds pretty good. Not too loud. No drone. Not sure on the HP add, it was on there when I bought the car. Now the 930S was a different story. Many mods. When you got into the boost it would make a Harley pilot squirt three to four drops of pee in his chaps as you shot by.

[MuRCieLaGo]

Received Magnaflow 12468 resonator today. A bit too large, had to cut one bolt on each side. It is now installed.

The car sounds like a small V6, very quiet. Too quiet. Can't wait to get headers now.

[edram454]

Originally Posted by 5ABI VT

Lmfao no offense taken. I'm just not sure where that outburst came from. You mad bro? And for the record I work 12 hrs 7 days a week i'm no stay at home mom. Thanks for your input on resale. Never asked for it and don't care what you think nor will I ever!

Anyways was just providing input on the exhaust setup. Never claimed it to be anything special or custom or godly. Just a corsa exhaust on catted sw headers. And I was simply saying it may sound louder than it actually is because I have a microphone on the back of my car.

5abi I love your exhaust and sound so much I ran out and bought a corsa for my car. i think you car and your complete setup is fantastic. the sounds your car makes is the best i have ever heard from a zr1. there will be people who will be jealous or haters simply because there car doesnt sound like yours. what is there not to like in your car??? its all good and I am hoping my long tube header no cats car with a full corsa exhaust sounds the same as yours. I will be receiveing the car soon from south georgia corvette and i will let you know.

ed ramos #3028

[WARP TEN]

Catalytic converters do muffle the sound a bit. I think it makes it a smoother sound. When I was doing more in-depth research on exhaust systems way back when, I concluded that the cats reduced sound about 15%-20%. removing the cats does add a few horsepower but does change the sound a bit. I used to run mostly Corsa with cats, sometimes headers, sometime stock manifolds, but now run headers, no cats, stock exhaust. When cutouts are wide open, I don't care about the subtle difference in sound and tone!--Bob

[C4Ray]

Originally Posted by edram454

There will be people who will be jealous or haters.

I'm not a "hater" nor am I "jealous" and for you to imply that I or others are because we disagree then you are in error Sir. I already own a C4 and other "toys" and I live part time in Brazil where beautiful approachable women are all over... The single life ... No complaints here!

If we can respectfully disagree. Thank you.

[RussMcB]

Originally Posted by C4Ray

<snip> ... where beautiful approachable women are all over...

We need to see pictures (to prove you're telling the truth).

I'm guessing no one would complain too much about that type of thread hijack.

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by MuRCieLaGo

Hi,

I'm pretty much an expert regarding the road laws where I live, especially regarding exhaust systems.

1. We do not have emission tests, never.
2. Our primary concern is the noise, it is measured by the police officer's ear only (sonometer has no value in court).
3. Police officer usually goes under the car to take some pictures of the modified exhaust system, if he suspects it is too loud. I don't think he'll be able to do that with my ZR-1 (too low and he is not allowed to use a jack).
4. I live in a 50,000 people city, nearest ZR-1 except mine is 200 miles away. So the police officers have no idea how loud a ZR-1 should sound.

Rule #1: I don't want to be harassed by police officers.
Rule #2: I want to mod my exhaust performance-wise.
Rule #3: A bit louder than OEM should be OK, they don't know the OEM sound of a ZR-1.

Project:

I want to install headers and I want to empty the catalytic converters.

Do you think it will much more noisy doing that?

I would like to simply install a full exhaust system, but I can't because it is much louder for sure (and it would have that aftermarket look). If you know an exhaust system that is as loud as the OEM (or less), everything would be fine buying it. But I don't think it exists.

Sorry about all the threads I've been posting lately, I just have too much free time now and I'd like to work as much as I can on the car.

If you are going to install headers and gut the catalytic converters, your engine, even with stock exhaust, will be louder under all circumstances. This is because, when you remove or gut the cats, you eliminate probably a third of the entire system's ability to attenuate sound. Also, headers, in place of the stock manifolds and shields, will radiate noise from their structure in addition to the noise coming out of the pipes.

If the standard is a law enforcement officer's "ear" with the engine at idle, you're going to need some really good aftermarket mufflers.

Lastly, you mentioned that the law enforcement agency in your area won't have a standard to judge by because they don't know how loud a ZR-1 is. I'd be careful with that assumption because that means the officer is just gong to go on his intuition. Since he won't have a "baseline", he or she is just going to decide if the system is loud or not based only on his/her idea of what "loud" is.