Simple....California. As far as I know there aren't any aftermarket long tube headers that are CARB compliant. I think a lot of cold air intakes are also not CARB compliant. Add to that the advances in tuning and technology over the last 20 years since the C5 was introduced and it's easy to second guess the engineers now.

 

It all comes down to 2 things
1.) Economics (otherwise known as "dollars and cents" in this case
2.) Government Regulations

As far as economics, GM, like every car company, is a private, for-profit business. They offered the best product possible at the MSRP. If buyers were willing to spend $100k on the car, more upgrades would have been included. It's no different than any other product. At it's price point at that period of time, it was almost definitely the best product on the market. So no other upgrades were "necessary".

Government Regulations limit what they can sell. California, if I recall, doesn't even allow headers. Going back to point 1, they made the car the most appealing product to their target audience (60+ year old males), and few of them want headers stock. Hence, no LT headers. Government Regulations with regards to emissions and safety also determine why a lot of the car design turned out the way it did, just like any other car.

You may not be "thrilled" with a stock C5, but considering you can buy it for $15-$20k, it's an absolute bargain. You can buy a great condition, low mileage C5 like I did for a bit under $20k and put $5k into it and have a gorgeous car that will eat almost anything else on the road for breakfast (with headers, cold air intake, exhaust--you should have at least 400-410 crank hp), great reliability, average cost of repairs...all for the cost of a new Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic or Chevy Cruze. That's how I justified buying mine and sticking $5k into soon-to-happen mods. Seems like a bargain if you ask me. My Corvette is just slightly nicer than my friends' Civics and Corollas.

 

When a car is designed, it gets a demographic, and budget, ( a cost to manufacture) and an MSRP. The car design is split up into projects, each with a project manager. Two issues in design are Time restraints and available budget. The project manager keeps the project on time, and within budget. The project manger controls these aspect through out the design phase..

Its pretty amazing to grasp how these slow improvements over the time allotted, enhance the overall design. I started on the C5 design in 1995. we had two years to design 6,000 parts, over see their compliance as designed, over see a dozen 1st and second tier suppliers from all over the world. have all those parts available, and all fit together in two years and deliver a world class car. There is only so much advancement you can do in that short time and with a tight budget.

The C5 and the LSX are Ideal platforms to make your own C5 a little more personal. I see it here everyday, everyone like to play engineer, and everyone one want to add their own touch. They are not under any time or budget restraints. Some have it in their mind that they are better than the Engineers, but in fact I have had literally thousands of PMs over the years here ( 17 years ) from shade tree engineers who totally screwed up their car. or thought they could push the limits of physics and design. These well meaning folks, look at a car and think its a simple matter to incorporate change, without much forethought.

Some people think they don't need an engineering education and want to prove that they are as smart as the engineers and designers.
There are lots of talented people out there without a formal education, but there is no compromise to a good education. Modding a car is a personal achievement.. when it is successful is rewarding, when its a failure, it is a long nightmare, as I've seen from many in PM. One of the big problems with modding is not have any means of testing any modifications. GM spends millions to test. Most shade tree engineers do not even know the term : " stacked tolerances "..

Good luck with your modifications. Have fun with it and don't break anything, or kill anybody in the process.

Bill aka ET

 

Cost
Emissions and sound regulations
Reliability
Mass production (ease of production - machine stamped parts etc)
Aesthetics - you may like the sound of long tubes but there are just as many people out there who don't care for it or the added heat in the cabin, etc.


There's probably dozens of other reasons but those are the big ones that stick out in my mind. The biggest two being cost and regulations.

 

I thought you said it well! Best wishes!

 

Federal mandated emissions regulations keep the manufacturers from producing vehicles in a certain way like having headers.

 

Well, no... there's nothing in the federal laws that prevent a manufacturer from selling cars with headers from the factory.
The issue is that each variant of the engine has to be specifically tested for compliance before it may be sold, and this testing is really expensive. So from a strictly economic viewpoint it doesn't make sense to offer the engine with a ton of options.

 

couple points from my perspective....most factory vehicles are built to a base standard that is within a budget and certain base performance standards. Beyond that....they don't care. Then it's up to you. Then many of us never leave anything alone......I can't remember the last vehicle I had that was stock....I change out whatever I like to make it what I want for performance and/or style. That's the great thing about this hobby!

 

Long tube headers do not promote quick enough catalyst heatup. It is because of emissions but you can believe what you want.

 

It's ALL about Socialism, you soak many $$$ into your Vette so you can at no cost to the buyer you eventually sell to, transfer you wealth as painless as possible all the while telling yourself that it was worth every penny . . . . . . . .

Socialism works great until you run out of someone's else's money

 

Evil-Twin:
Well put and I couldn't agree more for the most part.
I have a lot of respect for you and what you did with GM.

The thing is, your car is about as far from stock as any I've seen. It's modified with all the same high end after market parts others are using.

I realize there are no cheep stuff or bastardized parts on yours but still.

 

in one way or another I have modded just about all my cars or trucks !!! I want my vehicles for my taste and uses and mod them accordingly !!!!

 

a Car design has to appeal to a broad swatch of people, that's why GM asks former Corvette owners for their feedback. The Demographic is the first consideration in the design phase. Who is going to buy this car and who can afford it. Gm could make a 250,000 dollar Corvette , but they chose not to.

To your point Rob, I did to my car what I wanted with a lot of forethought. For example. my rear brake ducts are much nicer than the Z06 brake ducts. I think if we took a poll the choice of which looks better would be obvious. The thought might have been , why didn't GM do that. Just to give you some perspective, the Z06 ducts were an afterthought with no design time or budget. the cost to manufacture those ducts are under 15 dollars. Putting my ducts in a Zo6 would have added a complete redesign of the rocker panel, and a cost to manufacture in the hundreds. What most people do not understand is when you make 6000 parts a little bit better. it increase the cost to manufacture by thousands. I was turned down for a product improvement revision because it added 7 cents a copy with 7 units in each car. to the cost to manufacture. 49 cents total. It was better, but it cost more and did not reduce weight, and there was a viable design ( my design ) in place and already under production.

A C5 is an ideal platform to personalize.. But what I like , others may not.. also the cost tom mod my car added thousands to the cost.

Keeping the C5 in budget and on time were high priorities. Closely followed by any revisions to make the car lighter. EG. the Z06 windscreen was made 10% lighter by making the windscreen 10% thinner.

People who know nothing about designing a car are always the first ones to slam the design, and what GM Should a Coulda done.

 

What engine mods are you running?

I have made very minor and tasteful mods to get good street results.

 

You could make the same argument for every car at every level for any manufacturer! The answer is simple or complicated depending how you look at it. If you try to squeeze more hp out of anything you most likely can with some sort of trade off but that was said many times hear in different ways.

Think big.....put a sc on it but be prepared for spending a lot more than the price of the sc


Good luck

Ps look up the zip tie mod.

 

One thing they told me at ECS when tuning my car - "GM wants everything HOT to help reduce emissions" - witness double-wall (heavy) exhaust manifolds to keep heat in, etc. I know that by putting in a 165deg thermostat, headers, insulated tunnel plate, and computer tune I've reduced the interior temperature of my ride and also picked up performance (and perhaps even MPG) along the way.....

 

I had mine tuned by ECS and I went with a 180 stat, runs 192 all day and runs excellent. Heat is a major enemy of about everything on a car, definitely engine and auto trans if so equipped. Seems strange to me that almost every other GM car or truck with the LS engine runs below 200 and almost never above, yet the performance Corvette runs 200 or above ??? I have had many GM trucks and a SS Monte so I know what they run at, I never want mine to run hot !!!

 

Funny and true!

 

Why ask why??

 

I've posted this many time... Heat is necessary to keep the oil and additive package from being destroyed by shear. There is a reason why the LSX design can get 400,000 miles. And it not because it runs cold.
There is some truth to the emission issue, but Heat was the denominator to make the First 200,000 mile motor design on the planet. when the oil is hot and flowing there is no shear..Running below 190 is a motor killer.
You can listen to those who got their knowledge from their grandfather who worked at a Buick dealership in the 60's or you can get the truth from an actual insider to the design of this car..

Tuners???? you pay them to give you more HP... they cool the motor down to allow for more advance, which gives you more HP and they know that the factory tune is rich as a protective measure, and they take advantage of that rich mixture. What they don't tell you is that running an LSX motor too cold will shorten the life expectancy by a more than anyone would want... since a cold motor reduces the clearances and puts too much shear pressure on the oil which destroys the additive package...you motor runs unprotected, especially the top end.. WE have seen this in GM engine test lab where a cold motor will burn through piston # 7 and its been documented here for that very thing.... the OLM and the heat specific additive specification in cooperation with Mobil Oilin the LSX Y body engine where part of the certification of complaisance for the first 200,000 mile production engine on the planet.

Like I always say.. Be very careful who you listen to on this forum.. Lots of urban legend and especially " Alternate Facts" untrue facts