I'm an owner of an '01 SS with Borla Cat-Back and stock motor. I was thinking of upgrading to the Pacesetter LTs with Cat Y Pipe from Texas Speed. I saw the video from another member on here (sorry can't remember the tag) with a similar setup and it sounded great. My question is, how much of a sound difference will I hear from this setup versus my Borla system? It's kinda of hard to judge based on a video so here I am asking all you. Will I get that chest vibration when I stand near it or am I shooting too high? Thanks...

 

if it was recent it may have been my video. However, I kept my borla catback. im a little confused what it is exactly that you are saying. Do you mean "vs your borla-only system"? The sound was completely different. an added plus is the car has an aggressive idle, but is still pretty quiet, but a little throttle wakes it up big time. I, however, do not have cats anymore, and that makes a differense too

 

Yeah it was your video... And yes, that is what I'm asking. How much of a sound difference did you notice from your Borla-only setup versus the LTs and Y pipe? Did you ever have have both the Borla system installed with your LTs and if so, how'd that sound? I'm now considering the ORY since I live in Kansas and emissions isn't a big deal here. What sort of computer-side changes need to be made? What exactly do I need for install in terms of O2 sensors?

 

im still a little confused..... but maybe I can clear this up some.

The old setup was a borla catback (the 4-tip style, with the blockoff plates) and a borla y-pipe. you CANNOT use the borla y-pipe with LT's because the borla ypipe goes all the way up to where the stock manifolds were. However, the catback can be used with any y-pipe (usually). So with stock manifolds Im assuming our cars sounded alike. My new setup has the LT's the TSP O/R ypipe AND the same borla catback. So that is what u were hearing in that video. If you get the tsp ypipe or even pacesetter or any ypipe, they are designed to work with stock catbacks. so you can keep the borla catback (good thing too, cuz its damn near $1k).

If you get LT's you will HAVE to replace the ypipe (or possibly have a muffler shop cut and weld the existing, but seriously, what is the point of going from a 3" collecter to a 2" ypipe? get the 3" ypipe otherwise u arent doing urself any favors). So if you do LT's and no cats your car will sound pretty much like mine since we have the same catback.

 

Yes I imagine our cars sounded similar. I did not have a Borla Y Pipe, just catback. Did you notice a considerable difference in tone and loudness after installing the headers? That's all I'm after. I want to go fast but I just love that V8 grumble sound, hence the reason I want to replace the entire exhaust system. I just want to know if I will notice a considerable change from my current setup (Borla catback only) to your current setup.

 

lol, just compare to your car. It was way louder. I took off from my buddy's place and openned it up about a quarter mile from his house. he said it sounded like a jet plane taking off . The exhaust is much sharper, and barks alot more, but has a very low gruble at idle and at cruising throttle. but blip it a little and it barks like in the vid.

 

one of the ways to c a diff in sound is yell into a pillow then just yell with out it , that is about the sound diff u will get between the stock man and lt headers. if u go with lt u may have ground clearince issues and if u want full power and sound u will need a 3in y-pipe and at least get a 3in back to the cat back, and as for chest movement not at ideal but when u rev it i am sure u will. or u can really **** every one off and run lt headers to about 6in of 3in striaght pipe then to glass packs with turn downsi have been told that when i set on it people can hear me almost 2miles away,

 

1) exactly. same v8 sound just not muffled. much more "pro stock". sounds like a race car. people take notice.. i cant even begin to tell u how many people look at my car as i drive by now. its awesome

2) biggest issue is the clamp. have the driver side welded and you wont have any troubles.

3)my buddy has LT's with turndowns before the axles. the car rumbles alot more. makes for an unpleasant ride. he is thinking about going with a ypipe and catback like i have. its sweet as hell, but too much for a DD

 

As far as clearance with LT headers goes I've never had any issues with my Kooks setup(although they are known for really good fit). The biggest difference between headers and manifolds is the exhaust note is much more sharp and aggressive when you get on it. At idle they sound almost the same, but once you give it some throttle it starts to sound mean.