I’m not a big fan of the factory sound with or without the valve open. However, I love having the stealth option for when I’m near a cop or starting up the car during odd hours.

A cutout sounds like a great idea on paper, but what do you guys think? I’m not a fan of eBay parts either, as they usually fail. I had a friend with a Camaro Z28 who always bought eBay parts, and his cutout failed after a couple years. What are some good brands with cutouts?

Pros and cons in general, and with keeping the factory valve as well?

 

they're great if you want some obnoxious noise coming from somewhere that isn't the back of your car.

from what I've seen, it seems like all of them leak eventually. some much sooner than others. you have all the **** tier stuff that'll leak in weeks to months, then the really high quality ones that are $$$ that might seal for a few years.

remember that you'll need to run wiring or vacuum tubing. some of the fancier ones are bluetooth or radio enabled, so you can control them from your phone or a garage door opener.

 

No, thanks.

 

If you lock the exhaust in "Track" mode, the flaps are open nearly 100% of the time and even the areas the flaps are closed can be addressed via HP Tuners. HP Tuners would be cheaper and easier than installing cutouts assuming you're using quality parts and paying someone to at a minimum weld in the cutouts.

HP Tuners aside....When the flaps are open, the exhaust flow is literally straight through like a straight pipe. At that point, the only thing affecting the sound and in particular the volume is the cats.

 

Illegal in some states

 

I won't comment on the reliability of cutouts. I just don't see how they work properly on a plastic car with composite springs. The last thing you want is more heat under the car or having the exhaust blow onto a spring. The exhaust comes off the engine into the forward cats which then direct their output into the mid pipes that run down the center of the car and are covered by the body stiffening panel that runs from the spot where they Y together until the spot where they Y apart. Once the body stiffening panel ends the exhaust Y's apart and kicks up and over the rear drive shafts and springs and runs next to the transmission. There are also a number of wiring harnesses and other components you may not want to have exposed to hot exhaust gases.

I haven't pulled the rear carpets from my 2015 but I did with the rear carpets in my two C5s and one C6 and found the jute backing on all three sets of carpets were nice and toasty looking (gray shaded to a bright brown) from the hot exhaust passing within a few inches of the cargo compartment floor. Since the design of the cars is fairly similar from C5 through C7 I suspect the 6000 track miles I put on the 2015 may have also toasted the bottom of the rear carpets. Of course, tracking those cars does make for a lot hotter exhaust flow than just driving around town or on the highway.

Bill

 

Sounds like you need at minimum an x-pipe and at the maximum some long tube headers. The car is straight piped with the valves open, so adding some cutouts will sound pretty similar.

 

I’ve had Quick Time cutouts on my C3 since they first came out. They have been 100% reliable. They’ve never leaked. I replaced the switch once. I have turn downs for the exit. I realize that a C7 is not the same thing. I’m just speaking to having cutouts and how well they work. i have an X pipe on my 19.