Holy ....
- Thread starter scraze66
- Start date
As a mechanical engineer who has worked in the industry, I'd tend to be very selective about aftermarket exhausts for the C8, and I think there are only 2 exhaust types I'd fit to my C8: OEM, Borla.
The factory performance exhaust was designed and built by a German company called Tenneco, and it was very well designed from the aspects of durability, heat shielding, noise. With the valves open IIRC it barely comes in under most legal noise limits. If you like louder? That's fine... The factory flex joints are designed to take years of use, whereas many "universal" flex joints as used on a lot of aftermarket exhausts have not been designed for the specific bending moments of the C8, which could in turn reduce reliability. A lot of work went into the heat shielding on the OEM exhausts because heat management is an issue on the C8. Many aftermarket exhaust manufacturers will claim their exhaust are just fine without heat shielding, but wiring harnesses and hoses sometimes take years to rot out due to heat exposure. Fine on a race car, your choice if you drive in stop and go traffic with everything getting heat soaked, and you're keeping the C8 long term. Finally performance, a lot of aftermarket companies claim performance gains and weight savings, however in the real world after the ECU readjusts a lot of times gains will be less than initially present at installation, and marginal at best over the factory performance exhaust. Most weight savings are due to a lack of heat shielding.
Borla is the only aftermarket company that I know of that has put the time and engineering into designing exhausts for the C8 that match OEM requirements for heat shielding, and flex joint durability, and IIRC Borla makes the only aftermarket exhaust option offered by GM for the C8.
Some info on the engineering that went into the factory performance exhaust:
Tenneco C8 Corvette active exhaust system
Tenneco C8 Corvette active exhaust system Dmitri Konson Megan Wikaryaszwww.sae.org
Borla videos on the C8 exhaust where David Borla discusses the challenges in meeting OEM specs, and how they were able to do it on their own exhausts:
Any other companies taking the same care and attention to detail as Tenneco or Borla to ensure long term reliability?
Paragon ? Meh ..... Borla Atak all the way .... all day long
It is common. They all do it, but depends on the hearing acuity of the driver. It is relatively loud if you have good hearing. Won’t bother the older guys.
Yeah, till the neighbors go to your house with torches and pitchforks.Paragon ? Meh ..... Borla Atak all the way .... all day long
Could be the clicking from DI pump. Some cars with DI it’s more noticeable than others, especially at idle.
Bunny Hop
Power User
Either (1) some Corvettes have an unusual sound or (2) the usual senior citizen Corvette owner has poor hearing .... It is a very faint sound that even I didn't notice for the first 1500km
.... It is a very faint sound that even I didn't notice for the first 1500km
Even you ? Wow .Either (1) some Corvettes have an unusual sound or (2) the usual senior citizen Corvette owner has poor hearing
Too funny.... Most of us old guys that aren't in denial have hearing aids and hear better than most of the zoomers here.... lol....
Bunny Hop
Power User
My ears are like Spock s, I hear everything. The wife says, too much.
