Just got to ask? As some of us are still waiting for our C8s... What do you think of all the YouTube internet cowboys and all their rush to be first... Could name them, but you probably know who they are. First with Nitrous, decats, modified exhausts, wraps, etc? Over the top or not? do they represent the demographic? Just have to think there may be a lack of maturity out there... Or are they just trying to boost their channel views and make some money? Flame suite is on...

 

A lot of it is stupid, but some information is definitely useful. Having the ***** to cut open the factory exhaust to see what is inside, essentially proved that the factory exhaust is great and there's very little improvement to be made in the aftermarket. Even the one mod I "am" interested in "Sport Cats" from Soul Performance, may not produce an improvement in performance. I'd have to see dyno numbers to even consider it and it would have to be significant (greater than 10hp) to be even considered.

The guys that are slapping turbos on (yes, you Hennessy and others) are jumping the gun. It's obvious that the car has room for twin turbochargers. Without the ability to tune the engine and the trans means that there's really no point. And one of the nitrous cars snapped an axel. There aren't performance upgraded axles yet so I'm not surprised there. When the Z06, ZR1 come out I'm sure there will be axles and other GM parts that can swap and also help from the aftermarket. In the meantime though these guys are just fishing for clicks. I have watched a lot of the videos, but in the same way that I watch videos of people doing other stupid stuff. In some ways it's just a train wreck.

Every C8 these guys butcher just makes mine all the more valuable.

 

They are absolutely trying to boost their views and make money. This is what they do for a living and a lot of them do extremely well. They have made themselves a career. You can't question their maturity for running their own business. Just like any other business you want to be first to market if you can. The most popular of these YouTubers will pay for their car ten times over in a few months of videos on it.

Of course it's your own personal opinion or taste if you like their style of video or not. They mostly target a much younger demographic than what makes up most of this board so you won't find many fans of them here. But they are not "Internet Cowboys" or doing anything wrong and they have a ton of fun in their cars. GM recognizes their market and that's why you saw GM host that driving even for a bunch of YouTubers a month or two ago. I'm glad that by the time my car gets here I've seen videos and heard aftermarket exhausts, and wheels, and Nitrous, and twin turbo builds. I don't plan on doing 98% of those things to mine, but it's cool to see what it's capable of.

 

It's all for the views and YT monetization. I do wish I could have black circular tips on my exhaust like that Magnaflow setup. I'd like to swap the tips out.

 

cut and weld,, easy!

 

Honestly I don’t care about their motivation - I can ignore that. You have to have a high signal to noise filter these days anyway. The people that tear their cars apart looking to mod things are just giving the rest of us data points to see if we want to modify anything.

 

I like the Soul Performance tips better. They are a little more subtle but still look good. I am also interested in the Soul Performance sport cat mod. However, I think that if the sport cats made much of a difference, the ecu would throw a code which apparently it does not. Perhaps the sensor system and ecu is loose enough to automatically make any necessary adjustments to the air/fuel ratio. Maybe the sport cats just make the exhaust a little louder, but Soul Performance did say that the sport cat does flow more than stock.

It seems that Soul Performance is tacitly admitting the quality of the stock C8 exhaust since their primary modification seems like it will just be the replacement of the cats. I would guess that the sport cat that Soul Performance uses would be out of the potential price range of a production component.

I am waiting for someone to do some suspension work on the Z51. Specifically, I would like to see an adjustable front and rear anti roll bar setup for those of us that would like to dial in a more neutral setup, perhaps in conjunction with wheel and tire changes.

 

Hmmmn...their Vettes so who cares if you are interested watch...if not don't ...jmho

 

You have to appreciate their model of doing thing most people would never do, just so that viewers can live vicariously through them.
New, original, timely content is profitable.
Hi YouTube, I'm Jim and this is my new car, watch me drive to the dealership videos aren't going to popular.

 

I think TJ is a car guy who picked (created!) the right career choice. Although some of his builds are not my style, I love what Rich and the team at Magnaflow did on the C8. Rich / Magnaflow has been doing this locally for 20+ years. I love that TJ redeye'd to the east coast and drove the car back in a few days, jumped on R&D, etc.

Not a fan of the other guy who just made the C8 loud / sound like **** for pure views and to say "OMG the loudest C8 eVAR!"

 

They released the modified exhaust without any heat shielding! Not really too smart. I certainly would think twice before having them modify my system.

 

There is a video of one getting a nitrous shot on a dyno. Emelia Hartford's car. The guy tuning it appears to be pretty reputable, and indicates that there is a feedback loop and the car not only liked it, but adjusted air/fuel to accommodate. Take that with a grain of slat until verified, but it seemed legit.

My take is its twofold. I firmly believe they are using it to enhance viewership/monetize, but based upon how its happening, it seems planned. Oh, your car is here, let us stop everything we are doing to cut it apart. Are performance shops that slow? IMHO, no, but they are prepared to do it to get the mods out there when demand hits. In other words, I believe there is a wink and nod from the mother ship, and perhaps even some behind the scenes assistance. This would help them with advertising to the desired new audience.

 

They are doing R&D. Big difference. You can not buy the c8 exhaust yet.

 

I hope some of these guys beat the living hell out the C8 in stock configuration, and I hope some of them mod them and beat the hell out of them. Great way to daylight the weak points and potential problem areas.

 

In the case of after market muffler and exhaust manufactures, I know of only one that has the know who to design and manufacture at this level. If you are not at this level, you have no business designing and manufacturing a muffler or exhaust system. My systems are designed by this company.

https://br.comsol.com/paper/download...asad_paper.pdf

 

They are doing things right away that normally take months or longer to find out. I see nothing wrong with that. TJ's videos are the best so far, and him being a real, mechanically inclined car guy obviously helps with that. I don't get why so many people have issues with YouTubers. The whole purpose is to be early in the game so what do you expect? The earlier in the game you are, the more views and money you get. And that's the whole point if this is your career. I applaud their efforts, especially how Mike and TJ snubbed everyone by picking their VINs, which in turn seemed to get them their cars first.

 

There are aftermarket axles. LG already has the new axles from DSS on the car.


You guys have to remember that these youtubers and shops that are diving into the car are this platforms R&D for the aftermarket. Thanks to these youtubers, we now have exhausts coming from Soul Performance, Magnaflow, we know what the factory system looks like, we know how the car handles NO2, we know how the ECU adapts the AFR automatically, etc. Who cares that they are doing it for clicks? That's literally their job. Without them, we wouldn't know any of this stuff yet and they are proving to be a valuable resource for many. I sincerely hope they keep pushing the platform as much as possible and clickbait or not, they are doing a great service for the C8 community by tearing apart their cars.

 

Click bait. 🙄

 

While I'm not a fan of all of Street Speed 717's antics, I actually thought his new Soul Performance cat/exhaust system sounded awesome. Loud, but awesome.

 

I don't "follow" or "subscribe" to any YouTube personalities because I am not a sheep.