I mentoned in a posting last week that I attended Corvettes at Carlisle and had a set of AR Headers w/Cats installed on my 03 TR Coupe. I kept my quad round tip Borla Stingers. Carmen from the Vette Doctors did the tune. Well, on 2 hr trip home last Sat, I found there was severe resonance at around 1500 RPM. I loved the power and sound of the headers but the resonance just about drove me crazy. It was so bad, I told myself I could not live with this setup.

I recalled a post a year or so back where somebody had used the Car Chemistry inserts with their Stingers. When I got home, I ordered a pair. I installed these today and I have to say they work great. I am back to loving my car. No more drone at 1500 RPM and the car sounds great. Does not appear to be any loss in power. CC claims power gains in most applications as these are typically used for race applications where tracks have noise limitation requirements.

Here a a couple of links for anybody interested.
http://www.carchemistry.com/shop/ind...ct_detail&p=18
http://www.carchemistry.com/shop/ind...ct_detail&p=36

I used the muffler packing with my install for some added noise suppression. Car still sounds mean as hell, albeit without the resonance. These inserts install in the b-piple aft of the cats just before the rear axles. You will need a bench grinder to smooth up the disks so they slide easily into the pipe. CC recommends tac welding these in place or pop riveting for safety reasons. I went with the pop rivet method. Simple. Note, I did not use either of the restrictor end caps supplied with the inserts. These are optional.

For you guys thinking about selling your Stingers due to the low RPM drone you get with headers, try the CC inserts. They really work.

 

thx for the great post... I may have to look into this.

 

Sounds like what i need to do. Thanks for the post

 

great post

 

Great post, thanks for sharing

 

Did you use aluminum or stainless poprivets and did you pop rivet fore and aft?
Have you had any rattle associated with their use?

 

I wonder how much flow will be reduced with these

 

That's what I am wondering too. I can't imagine this not robbing some power,but..........at least it is an alternative

How much did it tone down the outside noise?

 

any pics? i have drone with my magnaflows and my corsa's(no drone at all) are loud as hell

 

Id much rather just switch to Z06 Ti's than plug those in my exhaust. Seems like you are taking a chance negating the benefits of the "performance" exhaust to begin with by plugging them in.

 

I used one 3/16th 3mm stainless steel rivel at the bottom of each pipe. Measured so I could catch one of the insert disk when drillig for the pop rivet. No rattles at all. My inserts were very tight. Slid in 3/4 of the way by hand and then I used a hammer to lightly tap in the rest of the way until insert end pipe was flush with the flange surface. If the inserts are really tight, you could likely go without the pop rivets.

 

Take a look at the site I linked to earlier. There is a write up on the inserts used for racing applications. In some instances the inserts make power. Total loss of back pressure may not always be the best thing unless you specifically tune for it. The disks and main tube connecting them all have holes or perforations all the way around. I doubt there is any significant power loss, at least none that I could feel. The whole concept here is to alter the sound frequency by chambering the exhaust.

Sound likes and dislikes are personal. My personal opinion was that I loved my stingers when I had them hooked to an x-pipe and stock manifolds and converters. After the header install, the system sounded good at idle but was obnoxiously loud at open throttle and resonance at 1500rpm was crazy. With the inserts, you have the option to use them with or without muffler packing. I decided to go with the packing. The sound of my car now is very deep at idle. You know the car had headers. The car is very smooth and deep throughout the rev range with no resonance at all. When you hit the loud pedal hard, the car really barks. I would say the sound I now have is similar to the Stingers with regular manifolds, only a bit deeper.

Yes, Z06 mufflers might be the best fix if you can find them. Might be able to pick up a set of take-offs at Carlisle or Fun Fest for next to nothing. These things are literally thrown in piles next to the Corsa and Boral installers tents. I did not want to take off my Stingers and sell them as I have over $600 invested and I like the look.

Do not really know what impact on performance will be unless I run on a dyno. Plan to do a head and cam package at ECS after the 1st of the year. Will know then when dyno numbers are available.

 

I just switched from GHL bullets to Stingers and I have ZERO drone. I really have no idea what people are crying about with drone, I drove the car for an hour in all different scenarios. I had the windows up cruising for awhile then a few high speed runs, all I know is that this setup sounds killer. Ive got LT LG headers, x-pipe with no cats and the stingers and its a killer setup.

 

Consider yourself lucky. Glad your setup is working for you.

 

I recently took my Borlas off & put Ti's on,it got loud after I did H/C,headers etc..,would like to hear a before & after with this setup,the borlas are sittin in the garage gettin dusty.

 

this is very interesting I really dont see how this won't rob power though. I understand its ported and has various holes that allow the gases to still flow through, but just the turbulence created by the device would be enough to disrupt the qantity of air that could flow through the pipe, especially on a high horsepower motor which utilizes the entire flow capability of the header. I think in an application where the exhaust pipe diameter is too large for the motor to utilize to its full potentional, this may benefit, as it would create more back pressure and increase the velocity of gas flowing through the pipe.

Seems like an interesting part. I would not be able to make any guesses on power loss, but as I said it would be entirely dependant on quantity of gas flow based on the power of the motor and the exhaust pipe diameter. Someone needs to post some dyno numbers.

All in all, seems like a viable option though.

 

I installed car stereo for forever. Dynamat makes sound deadening material and you can buy a bulk kit to stick on the floor of the vette in the trunk and the rest of the fllor up front. They also make a 1/2 inch foam you can put under the carpet this should help with the drone and also some of that nasty road noise these cars have anyways!

 

In fact, I sold the Stingers I had on the forum due to this. I love the way the Ti exhaust sounds.

This sounds like a very interesting solution but I still found the H/C, LG headers, and Stingers to be to loud for my taste.