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I know this was and has been covered, but it's NOT THE SAME QUESTION..... The stock exhaust is large, bulky, heavy and has heat shields. Aftermarket exhausts are smaller, lighter and only 1 heat shield to protect the rear panel/bumper (if supplied).
Question: I would assume by swapping out the stock exhaust to an aftermarket set up, that that alone would lower the trunk temp because its smaller, more efficient and allows more air to circulate around it. Would I be correct?
^^^
My guess is the opposite! Without insulation the conduction and radiation generated heat makes trunk heating worse!!
First, Tenneco (a customer for my aftermarket welding shielding gas saver) had a great article about the issues designing the C8 Exhaust compared to the C7, which they did as well. BTW they make and send the finished welded system to GM for install.
Because the C8 muffler is close to the exhaust headers and not after long pipes in the C7 they mentioned they even had their German Group (they are a US Tier 1 automotive supplier and sell exhaust systems under various trade names themselves) design the V4 valve actuators that are very close to the CATS.
This is an excellent video by Borla on what they did and why they are the only one GM sells and dealers can install. Note it is the quietest of the 3 they off. I would buy the loudest the ATAK. Listen on their website.
Tenneco added the insulation and heat shields for a reason. No way a bare exhaust would give less heat! I think what David Borla discusses is very good info unless you want to take a few courses in Heat Transfer. Even their loudest ATAK has some insulation BUT not GM approved.
^^^
My guess is the opposite! Without insulation the conduction and radiation generated heat makes trunk heating worse!!
First, Tenneco (a customer for my aftermarket welding shielding gas saver) had a great article about the issues designing the C8 Exhaust compared to the C7, which they did as well. BTW they make and send the finished welded system to GM for install.
Because the C8 muffler is close to the exhaust headers and not after long pipes in the C7 they mentioned they even had their German Group (they are a US Tier 1 automotive supplier and sell exhaust systems under various trade names themselves) design the V4 valve actuators that are very close to the CATS.
This is an excellent video by Borla on what they did and why they are the only one GM sells and dealers can install. Note it is the quietest of the 3 they off. I would buy the loudest the ATAK. Listen on their website.
Tenneco added the insulation and heat shields for a reason. No way a bare exhaust would give less heat! I think what David Borla discusses is very good info unless you want to take a few courses in Heat Transfer. Even their loudest ATAK has some insulation BUT not GM approved.
JerryU, what about the center 4 pipe exhaust set up?
There's no heat shielding on that center tip setup.
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Fabspeed actually did a study on heat with their catback on a C8 they ran on track and they did not see a significant change in heat going to an aftermarket catback. I need to find that study.
Considering the many aftermarket catbacks on the market, you don't see a tremendous amount of folks melting bumpers or other components. Racing is a different story and even the oem exhaust can have issues. If you drive your car hard, often, for extended periods of time, going with an exhaust with more heat shielding would help.
I'm pretty sure my c6 z06 center console is way way way hotter than the trunk of my C8 with an aftermarket catback on there.
2025 C8 Z06/7/E-Ray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
GM and the Corvette engineers know what they're doing. I know it's boring and plain advice which is easy to ignore but I recommend keeping to factory design and recommendations.
Don't see the Center exhaust is any different (see Pic.) Still close to the headers, CATs. Bare exhaust parts radiate and heat air by conduction. This is NOT like a C7 where the exhaust cooled before getting to the mufflers! Heat flow is like aerodynamics, not always intuitive! Tenneco knows what they are doing. GM supports one version of Borla for reasons.
As I mentioned, you can find the Tenneco tech article on when they went thru in the C8 exhaust design versus the C7 (they designed and build both.) Or since folks like Video's the one from Borla I sited is very good at discussing what they went thru.
My trunk gets warm so I use the Frunk to store cold stuff when I go to the grocery store. Guess if I had an aftermarket exhaust without insulation or heat shields would not mke a lot of difference if it got hotter.
Thats my thought. There is a heat issue with the trunk (lots of tests and posts about it), just was wondering how its affected by aftermarket exhaust setups. I am going to do the insulation/heat shield under the carpet but was wondering if it's a waste of $ once I swap out the exhaust and find its scorching hot or a lot cooler after the swap. The heat can affect the cold air intake set ups by heat transfer if it gets too hot. I've seen a couple people put additional heat protection on their Cold Air Intakes to combat that issue.
All that is right under the Cold Air Intake, I wonder how they are addressing the heat transfer. Ive seen people add additional heat shielding to their Cold Air Boxes for track days. I wonder if additional ducting or vents can be cut in or added to help with heat removal. Would only help the C8 in the long run.there
Trunk Heat
