Jimb416

I have a stock '01Z and I have the cash to start bringing it to life. I am wondering if anyone has started doing long tubes and an X pipe but leave the titanium exhaust? I know it probably won't really be much louder but I would follow that up with some mufflers soon enough, honestly I'm not sure about mufflers yet but plan on going with Texas Speed 1 3/4" headers and X pipe. Maybe some of you have pros and cons from experience? Thanks.

BuckFarack

I've got ARH 1 7/8 headers with the stock Ti exhaust. It's quiet at idle and sounds great when you get on it.

Jimb416

So what did you do that you went with the 1 7/8" headers? Do you have a cam or anything else going on?

BuckFarack

supercharger and cam

MY03C5Z

Plenty of people do LT's and keep the stock ti, that's what I did last year, I do have the ti bypass mod too. I love the sound, a little louder than stock at idle and up to 2500-3k. 3k to redline it really screams, I love the sound. No drone at all while cruising at 65 and up. If you want to wake the neighbors and scare young children then you probably want something aftermarket.

grantv

Had my 04Z 3 years. Put Texas Speed headers, MagnaFlow cats and X on during the first winter (and a MO tune from TSP as well). Great power and drivability improvement as expected.
Idle is maybe a tiny bit louder, definitely a bit louder when hitting it, and the sound thru the Ti's is great (if not perhaps a bit queit).

00__Vette

IMO, I think Intake and headers should be the first mods. You'll get a lot from those two mods.

I'm going to do a clutch first, because its going to be harder after LT headers. I already know I'll need it with my end goals, and if I do headers before the clutch.. I'll have to remove them. So for me, clutch is the best first mod.

For simple first mods, go aftermarket intake and long tube headers. You'll also need a tune.

NosLaser

Long tubes and an off road x will be significantly louder even with stock Ti exhaust. It is actually a very popular setup, and the only reason to really change the exhaust on a C5Z is if you want an even more aggressive sound as they make minimal if any horsepower difference.

JETZ

Stock stock?
Get rid of the rubber shifter, then headers, cats, X pipe, muffs, intake (Vara Ram.)
Lower asap, mod mod mod

frank

bwill03z

Stock ti's flow great and are super light but just too quiet at low rpm's. I was pleased with what my car dyno'd with lt's, high flow cats, xpipe and stock ti mufflers.

JeremyGSU

I had a Vararam, Kooks 1 7/8 headers, no cats, and the exhaust bypass mod and the car was loud.

Cheesecake 07

Kooks 1 7/8's, 3" catless X, Halltech Venom intake and a tune netted me 30rwhp/25rwtq over bone stock.

Car sounded so much better, lost about 20lbs and even got better MPG. Literally no downside.

Somebody mentioned a clutch...that 30hp was enough to get my clutch to hate life. Pedal was stuck to the floor after every 3-4 high rpm shift. Just heads up.

00__Vette

What RWHP did you make with those mods?

bwill03z

392

00__Vette

Wow! That is really great power.. makes me really excited to get me a set of LT's.

Is that all you have is Headers, X-pipe and a tune? No CAI, ported TB or anything like that?

bwill03z

Yeah definately, I was shocked at how much a set of LT's woke the car up... well worth the money. I also have a Vararam cai but thats it, everything else is bone stock... other than NGK plugs and GMPP wires.

00__Vette

I have only a VR intake right now, looking at LT headers. I was saving up for a clutch kit and to pay for the labor, but I'm really wanting to just say screw it and grab some headers.

Problem is, I have a bit of issues now with my stock clutch and I know with more power I'm going to have more issues with my clutch. First world problems, huh? LOL

bwill03z

Haha yeah I know right! What's wrong with your stock clutch? I think it's recommended to upgrade from stock if you're making over 400rwhp. I plan on getting a cam in the near future so I will be clutch shopping too. As far as the LT's I wouldn't blame you for going ahead and getting them. If I had it to do over again I would spend a bit more and get either Kooks, American Racing, etc... I had to have the o2 bung capped and redrilled on the pass side because it was way to close to the starter.

00__Vette

I took the car to the drag strip after I installed the VR intake and during my first pass I did a little burnout to scrub the tires. I must have burnt the clutch because during that pass, the RPMs went up but I wasn't accelerating. I let it cool down and was able to make a couple ok passes. That was on stock tires and I lifted the throttle between shifts. If I had kept the throttle floored during shifts, I think it would have been worse.

But another time I was on the highway and downshifted then went wide open throttle. During my 3-4 shift, once I left the clutch off, the RPM's hung before the clutch grabbed and then finally I started to accelerate. It was brief, but shouldn't have happened.

I fear if I add some DR's at the strip I'm gonna be screwed.

S.C. vette

Exhaust + manifold = tune