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Not sure a video can do it justice but there you go.
Heads up, my borla didn't align on its own. Tried to do the install myself but the pipe just didn't line up so I had to take it to a shop. I know this isn't always the case though and I have no regrets.
Last edited by Lacey Wulfe; 01-30-2017 at 10:41 PM.
The price is right. This is the same Chinese one that is being sold under multiple brands, on eBay, etc. I've heard of a few guys buying them, but have yet to get feedback on fitment and install. If you are wanting an X-pipe for increased sound I would not suggest one with dual resonators. Power wise, I'm sure it has similar results as the name brands. Regarding weight, I'm sure it uses a thinner walled steel so it will likely weigh closer to the Borla even though it's 3" like the Corsa.
There's someone in the parts for sale that has the factory y-pipe with the cats knocked out internally. If I didn't have a Borla in my garage, I would have snatched it up.
Anyone measure the OD of the stock X-pipe? It looks larger than the Borla 2.75" and was wondering if its dual walled or insulated to reduce heat in the tunnel of the cabin.
I just added the Borla x-pipe and wanted to share my experiences and learnings.
Don't underestimate the install. It's straightforward on paper, and the "cute ginger" video way over simplifies it. It's time consuming, especially on your back. That video doesn't give you any of the bolt sizes either - you'll need sockets for 13, 15 and 18 along with a few extensions of various sizes.
There are an insanely high number of bolts with LOTS of threads on the tunnel plates (all 13 mm, two are 15 mm). No idea why Chevy thinks the tunnel plate needs to be locked down so tight, where the hell is it going? Anyway, make sure you start the job with a right angle impact or right angle drill with a nut driver. My drill and nut driver combo wouldn't work since there wasn't any room/clearance. Trust me, when your on your back on your driveway, this will cut your time in half or more.
There are also a couple of 18 mm bolts. So make sure you have 13, 15 and 18 ready to go along with extensions of various sizes. Again, right angle impact is absolutely important to make your life easier.
The borla pipe does NOT come with new gaskets (front) or a new rubber isolator (rear). I can sort of see why they don't ship another isolator as the stock one is easy to reuse, but not sure I understand why they don't send you new donut gaskets. Depending on how many miles you have on your stock pipe, the donut gaskets may not be in great shape to be reused. I'd recommend everyone buy a couple of new gaskets before taking on this job to be on the safe side.
Pay attention to the clamps between the borla x-pipe and stock muffler and how you mount them. I had them tucked way up and it was making contact with a heat shield and causing a rattle.
The borla x-pipe seems to be an inch or two shorter than the stock x-pipe. You'll likely notice the borla doesn't cover as much of the muffler pipe openings as the stock pipe did.
Here's my driving impressions after the borla x-pipe (60547) install:
Any power differences are minimal / not noticeable.
The sound difference is noticeable, but subtle, and mostly noticeable in higher revs only.
The biggest kicker for me, and unintended benefit is that it seems to make the car easier to rev / freer up and down the rev range. That changes the whole driving experience for me (positively), as I find this Chevy motor to be lazy and slow to rev. This alone makes this money well spent in my book.
No CEL or other warnings since secondary cats are not monitored (obvious I know, but just sharing) and when the tunnel plate is back on, everything looks very stock.
All in all, it took me a good 3 hours jacking up the car, crawling on my back in the driveway and working with hand tools only. If I did this again knowing what I know now, I could probably do it in 90 minutes. Or if I had a lift and wasn't crawling on the floor like a poor person, I could do it in 60 minutes or under. Someday...
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Upon getting the car in the air and seeing that many bolts on the tunnel plate, and without an electric impact, the entire project would have been put on hold until I drove to the local Home Depot and purchased the following!!
It would have been the best $130 you could have spent! I think I could do the entire x-pipe in about 30 minutes at this point (assuming the slip end of the pipes don't try to stick together.)
Upon getting the car in the air and seeing that many bolts on the tunnel plate, and without an electric impact, the entire project would have been put on hold until I drove to the local Home Depot and purchased the following!!
It would have been the best $130 you could have spent! I think I could do the entire x-pipe in about 30 minutes at this point (assuming the slip end of the pipes don't try to stick together.)
That will only work for folks with a lift! You need a right angle impact if you want to do the install with car on jack stands.
Did you by chance have a fit issue, my pipe was about a half inch off (width wise)
and had to get it done by a shop (im not the hulk although i did try to muscle it)
But we only realized that after everything was off and done. we had already gotten as far as atteching the new pipe at one end
We just pulled the donuts off the old one and it worked fine
we also used jack stands which i think got us a lot more clearance, Enough to use an electric impact anyway.
I also thought it sounded great, (see my video several posts up) Especially on a cold start in loud mode... mmmm
Last edited by Lacey Wulfe; 03-27-2017 at 03:14 PM.
Did you by chance have a fit issue, my pipe was about a half inch off (width wise)
and had to get it done by a shop (im not the hulk although i did try to muscle it)
But we only realized that after everything was off and done. we had already gotten as far as atteching the new pipe at one end
We just pulled the donuts off the old one and it worked fine
we also used jack stands which i think got us a lot more clearance, Enough to use an electric impact anyway.
I also thought it sounded great, (see my video several posts up) Especially on a cold start in loud mode... mmmm
Man sorry to hear that. I had no fit issues except for the borla being a bit short on the muffler end. Everything went together easily.
I recently installed the Corsa x-pipe. I used the 12 inch race ramp cradles. So I had more than a foot of clearance between the ground and myself. Also I agree with using an electric tool, like a drill, to make removing the large number of bolts easier. I bought a 3/8 inch adapter so that I could use sockets with my DeWalt drill. If I had less clearance that might not have been the best tool, but since I had so much clearance it was no problem at all. I simply used a standard ratchet to loosen the bolts and used the drill to accelerate the removal afterward.
Make sure you have a torque wrench and know the torque values for all of the bolts. The Corsa instructions included all values except for the tunnel bolts which I found on a sticky on this forum.
The most difficult part for me was separating the stock X pipe and the cat back system. After loosening the clamps, it took me and a buddy both underneath the car holding on to the rear section, with our feet on the stock X pipe pushing them to try to separate them. Even then it took about 5 to 10 minutes of effort. If the car were on jackstands I'm not sure I would have been confident enough to do this. But since the car was on the race ramp cradles it felt seriously stable.
Also I went ahead and bought a grommet puller for $20 because I knew that it would make the job easier. Plus I know that some friends are going to be doing exhaust work in the future and they can also use it. It made grommet removal easy.
Lastly my impressions of the result: the exhaust is noticeably louder across the board, although not necessarily "better", just more "different". Others have said that the Corsa sounds "smoother" and I would agree with that. The raspiness is actually a bit reduced and I wish that were not the case. But on The other hand the high rpm sound is awesome. It definitely sounds a bit more like a high-performance car, like an F1, and less like a truck or standard muscle car. If you are a fan of more exotic cars, you will probably like the sound of the Corsa x-pipe better than the stock sound. If you like the traditional muscle car sound you might want to go with the Borla and/or a full cat back system. At this point I am not really sure what I will do down the road. I could see myself adding headers and replacing the whole system in a few years, but this sounds really good for now.
Did you by chance have a fit issue, my pipe was about a half inch off (width wise)
and had to get it done by a shop (im not the hulk although i did try to muscle it)
But we only realized that after everything was off and done. we had already gotten as far as atteching the new pipe at one end
We just pulled the donuts off the old one and it worked fine
we also used jack stands which i think got us a lot more clearance, Enough to use an electric impact anyway.
I also thought it sounded great, (see my video several posts up) Especially on a cold start in loud mode... mmmm
I had a similar problem yesterday when I installed mine. However my one was about 1/4 inch too close together at the other end of the pipe.
I managed to use a wrench to lever the two pipes apart for long enough to get the 4 bolts in and start tightening them in turn, which sorted the alignment out.
My install took about 2hrs with Race Ramps at the back and axle stands at the front.
I used a full sized DeWalt impact gun to unbolt everything. I cant imagine how much my arm would have hurt after manually wrenching every one of those bolts otherwise!
At startup from cold, the car is a lot louder. It lets out an almighty pop (which actually scared a few kids at my daughters school yesterday). Driving around normally I wouldn't say it is any louder in the cabin at least. When you get on the throttle I would say it is maybe 15-20% louder.
01-17-2017, 12:18 AM
Sound clips
