And man do they sound sweeeeet!

Let me start off by thanking everyone who has helped me here on the forum with advice, tips and info....Thank you!

Here are my thoughts:

Install -

The Borlas (11744 Axle-back) Agressive "Stingers" arrived yesterday. I went to the shop today and put the car up on the lift. The quality of construction, packaging, and care that Borla put into these pipes was immediately evident upon opening the box. The instructions that came with the exhaust were a medium-poor photo copy and were one revision old. Luckily I had printed off a newer copy in color from the website. The mini color pictures helped reassure me that I was doing things correctly. Needless to say, the instruction were good / adequate, and fairly easy to follow for a first-timer like me. A few things could have been slightly clearer. WD-40 on all threads and pipes to be seperated was a huge help too. The old pipes came off pretty quickly (though getting the mufflers out the back was a puzzle). Those things were pretty heavy too, amazing how much lighter the Borlas are. Removing the stock H pipe (per the instructions) and old mufflers was fairly simple, straight from the instructions, and easy for one person to do with some technical competence and strength. (I'm no rocket scientist or body builder).
Install of the new pipes was easier than I could have imagined. Again the instructions were pretty good, though here they became vague on when to tighten down certain things and in what order. The muffler section with over-axle pipes loosley attached went in like butter and aligned with the stock H pipe near perfectly! After some minor wiggling and adjusting, everything clamped down or tightened down nicely. Down off the lift she came, and I couldn't help but notice how shiny and sweet the new BIG quad tips looked. They were a perfect fit for my car. Thanks Borla!

Starup/Driving/Sound (Opinion Zone: Beware)

After depressing the start button, my baby came to life with a victorius "Vrooooom...Grumble...Grumble...Blub...B lub." AWESOME! The sound was PERFECT and exactly what I wanted/needed. A huge smile crossed my face knowing that I had made the right decision as other guys in the shop looked over to see where the NASCAR was parked. The pipes sounded great, deep, rumble, burble....solid is all I can say. All the video clips on the web don't do them justice when you actually feel the throaty bass and grumble that comes out of the car. Sweet! A couple revs confirmed that my $$$ was well spent.
Driving was awesome, a huge improvement. You can actually hear the exhaust and engine now, which is what a sports car/Vette should do. The car sounded strong and loud accelerating, yet had a comfortable purr just motoring down the road. Not too loud and really only a few decibels above the stock system under cruise conditions. Easy to have a convo in the car at 50-80 mph on the hwy...though loud when you gassed it! I really couldn't hear any dreaded drone. I have a 6 speed anyway, but there wasn't any drone to be found. Maybe around 1600-1800 there was some louder notes, but I had a tough time characterizing it as drone. To me it seemed like just a louder section as the RPMs went thru that part...but it sounded GOOD. I also can't even begin to describe how incredible the sound was under acceleration...just nice, smooth, loud, and well....agressive!

Nice work Borla, thanks Forum members who helped. Good luck with your exhaust decisions...but you know where I stand. Let me know if you have questions, I'll do what I can for a clip or photo soon.

 

Oh yeah, on one of the exhaust tips, as you look in there from behind, there are 2 metal "needles." I have no clue what they are, but they run perpendicular to the air flow and appear to be leftovers from the welds maybe? They are no kidding about the thickness and length of a sewing needle. Has anyone seen anything like this before? I think I'll break them out of there tomorrow with a pair of pliers.

 

Stingers are the best exhaust option for these cars...no doubt.

Honestly I was a little dissapointed because I thought they'd be a little louder when I put mine on, but Im' glad that drone is nearly non-existant and it's the best you can do to try and avoid the exotic sound that so many corvettes develop.

Glad you like your setup

 

Do you have the Automatic A6 trans or MN6. I am worried about drone with the automatic, because I was thinking of Borla Stingers for my 2007 C6/ A6.....

 

Stingers sound great with these cars...I am glad your happy!

 

MN6.

Borla also threw in a "free" hat too!

 

Nice. I had the Stingers on my c5 and I loved em. I mated it to a West Coast Corvettes crossover pipe, and the sound was very nice.

Exhaust mods, especially on non-npp vettes, should be mandatory.

 

Try some Kooks long tube headers with an x-pipe and you will have the best sounding vehicle in the world!!!

 

Stingers are by far the best sounding mufflers for this car.
And the rear tips look way better than the puny stock tips.

You made the correct choice!

 

 

I've got a set with LT headers and HF cats, and the sound is intoxicating!

 

what about drone w/headers?

 

Buster,

What about power? Any noticeable difference?

 

I love to take the top off and just listen to the Stingers as I go thru the gears.

 

I'm in the same boat as FloydSummerOf68 on the sound. I wish that mine were a little bit louder too but they're still great and I got a awesome deal on them.

 

I take it an axleback system is only for sound?

 

Yep
Remember with the NPP system, there's only a 6hp gain, and this is due to the straight thru design when the butterflies open. Unless your buying a aftermarket exhaust with this design, all the rest are chasing sound.
ymmv
Mike

 

According to Borla, there is a power gain by just the Borlas alone. They are free-er breathing and allow exhaust to flow thru better and easier than the stock system. Guys who have put these on and Dynoed the car say they did improve performance and HP...Borla says you will have a Hp gain. Most by the exhaust alone and a few more if you add the X-pipe. About + 12-15 Hp is what most guys see with the Borlas.

As far as noticing any power diff, not really...but the sweet sound and rumble really makes heads turn and you feel like you're going way faster!

 

Just had them fitted over here in the UK Got my Free hat Too!
Love the sound and the look over the 'Puny' Originals [as someone els commented!]

 

Borla claims that a 5 - 15% increase in HP can be achieved.

http://www.borla.com/faqs/

I am figuring when I installed my stingers I might have gained a 5% increase from my LS3. I am guessing its like 6 more HP that the NPP gives you. Dont forget the car is breathing better and if the computer picks up on that it will make adjustments to the fuel curve. But on the flipside a 6HP increase is hardly noticable anyway. And its probably making that increase in the upper RPM range.