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Finally got the Borla X-pipe installed. Dealer charged me 2.5 hours which I felt was a little high however they only charged 0.5 hours on the steering wheel swap so no complaints.
First off I decided to go with unpopular choice, the Borla, for a number of reasons.
1. Many people say the Corsa makes the car sound more exotic while the Borla simply makes the stock sound more aggressive. For me, this is exactly what I wanted. I'm not looking to pretend I have a foreign sports car. This car is American and I wanted it to roar like one. Why change it at all? I love the stock sound but wanted it to be a little louder and bite a little harder.
2. Other reasons are the many things that are addressed in the thread below. I drive my car a lot and in all weather types so the fact the Borla is a direct factory fit was important to me. This also means the pipe size is the same as stock. Bigger isn't always better. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-vs-corsa.html
3. The pipe is lighter than both the Corsa and stock pipe. Of course this isn't a huge amount but every bit counts.
So you know where I'm coming from my C5Z had LG catless LT headers with Borla Stingers (my god) and my C6Z had catless LT headers with the stock NPP catback.
Results:
Sound: I expected good results of course but I didn't expect this. The car sounds absolutely outrageous now. If catless headers is 100 and stock is 0 I'd say it's a 69. I was expecting a 30. The car is much louder, deeper, and aggressive sounding. At idle it's deeper and you know the car is modified, however it's not much louder. From reading the reviews I thought you really had to get on it to hear the difference, not so. Unless you drive like a complete, dare I say "waxer", you'll always hear the improvement. When you drive it hard it's unbelievable. It's the stock sound on crack, it's NBA Jam On Fire, it's Pacman after a big dot, oh it's so good and it's just what the car needed. I'm no longer driving in the lower gear searching for the good sound I only hear on acceleration. Now it sings along at a cruise just as it should have. Personally, I can't understand why purchase a different catback exhaust for sometimes several thousand dollars when simply changing the pipe is such an epic difference. FWIW it's still whisper quiet in stealth mode and zero drone.
Power: Please don't buy this pipe, or any X pipe, for power. Maybe it makes 10 at most....maybe it loses 10 at most. It probably gains a very small amount but nothing that is remotely noticeable.
Other: I'm not sure why but the car felt like it revved up a bit quicker. I know this doesn't make sense but it's an impression I had so I'm posting it here. FWIW The Vitesse was disabled during all Xpipe drives thus far.
Warranty: I spoke with the head mechanic who worked on the car and to the service advisors and they couldn't possibly care less about the Xpipe other than the fact they loved how it sounds.
Video: Not here yet but please read on. Since I was dropping the car off Monday I intended to do a before video this past weekend. Unfortunately I was extremely sick for 24 hours and wasn't able to get it done. Having professionally done video work in the past I have professional microphones, excellent cameras, and a decibel meter. I intend to do an after video but help me help you. If anyone is in the area with a stock Z06 let's get together and make a video. We can record both revving side by side and also measure decibels back to back with a second view on the RPMS....and obviously some drive byes. If anyone's interested I'll buy you lunch and take some sick photos of your car. To up the ante if anyone has a Corsa X pipe but is stock otherwise a three way could make it even more interesting. My zip is 10509.
Why not just do the work yourself!! I have changed many exhaust systems in the garage on jack stands.
PS: you made me want to get one. My Audi had a Borla, and I loved it.
I had planned on doing it myself, got the pucks and everything. However with my losing a day to sickness and then my friend who was to help got sick, fainted, and bruised ribs I figured I'd do it myself. I already had to bring it in for other reasons and personally I'd rather spend the day with my 1 year old boy than under the car. As soon as he can wrench there will be no more going to the dealer.
Go for it my friend. The baby will love it!
Originally Posted by KustombyKev
I would have to agree with your review. It seems most people on here went with Corsa, but I love my Borla!!
Is this site only selling this single Z06 part? It doesn't even list corvette as a vehicle option when going to find other parts.
I'm not familiar. It was a link that someone else used on the forum so I figured it was "only post a vendor link" friendly. I ordered it elsewhere on Prime.
Does the car need a tune to forego a MIL from ditching two of the cats?
No need to tune as the two rear cats are not monitored. The main monitored cats are still there. If you were to get headers without cats, and probably with, you would need to tune.
How many miles on your car? You seem to dive it a bunch. You bother with a catch can? Ever pull the blower cover? Looking to buy a '15 used and want to keep warranty intact on this one and leave it alone for the most part.
How many miles on your car? You seem to dive it a bunch. You bother with a catch can? Ever pull the blower cover? Looking to buy a '15 used and want to keep warranty intact on this one and leave it alone for the most part.
I've got over 22k miles on it now. I've never pulled the blower cover but I'm not terribly concerned. The car runs strong as hell and still has a ridiculous 100k mile warranty. The warranty is the reason this is the first Z06 I haven't put a full catless long tube header setup on.
I enjoyed your post. I was leaning towards the Corsa, but I had reservations that it would not sound as aggressive as my C6 Z did. You were able to put into words exactly what I'm looking for. Now I have a direction to go in, thanks!
03-01-2016, 09:59 PM
Borla X-pipe review. Damnnnn!!!
Please don't buy this pipe, or any X pipe, for power. Maybe it makes 10 at most....maybe it loses 10 at most. It probably gains a very small amount but nothing that is remotely noticeable.
