Best Full Exhaust

[Sniper]

What is the best exhaust sold for sound, fitment, and HP?

[Bryan Savage]

If you're going for power gains solely from an exhaust, you're wasting your money. Here's a thread about it if you've not read it. Lots of good info inside from everyone. https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...-Arrow-Stage-1

I've got a full Belanger 3-inch system with no cats. Honestly, I think it's too loud. There's too much drone when I lug it at low speeds and a lot of ugly rasp in the midrange. It will make you deaf wide open.

Whatever you decide to do, I recommend you stick with a catted system. It helps with the drone.

[outnumbered]

I have had both Belanger and ARH, as well as cats and no cats. At the end of the day, I don't know if there is a significant differenece in sound between the two. However, to riterate and expand on what Bryan said above, catless is loud, but the worst part is the smell. It is bad, and in my opinion unbearable.

[Jack B]

I have had both Belanger and ARH, as well as cats and no cats. At the end of the day, I don't know if there is a significant differenece in sound between the two. However, to riterate and expand on what Bryan said above, catless is loud, but the worst part is the smell. It is bad, and in my opinion unbearable.

Similar to your car, I now have a carless 3" ARH (Corsa muffler) and as you indicate I do not find the sound level much louder than it was with cats. The diff is I do not notice a big diff in the smell. Could it be possible you have an exhaust leak. The ARH header install is tricky when it comes to the header/collector coupling.

[sadil]

Similar to your car, I now have a carless 3" ARH (Corsa muffler) and as you indicate I do not find the sound level much louder than it was with cats. The diff is I do not notice a big diff in the smell. Could it be possible you have an exhaust leak. The ARH header install is tricky when it comes to the header/collector coupling.

How much louder is the ARH exhaust vs the standard OEM header? I was going to try straight pipe with no cats/muffler first before trying headers.

[Oh Three Z]

I have had both Belanger and ARH, as well as cats and no cats. At the end of the day, I don't know if there is a significant differenece in sound between the two. However, to riterate and expand on what Bryan said above, catless is loud, but the worst part is the smell. It is bad, and in my opinion unbearable.

I second the smell being unbearable. I still have the stock exhaust on my 14 but im wide open on my C7Z. It usually has E85 in the tank but there has been a few times when ive had to put 93 in it... made my eyes water and thats with a rear exit exhaust. I cant imagine it with a side exit.

[Bryan Savage]

...but the worst part is the smell. It is bad, and in my opinion unbearable.

The diff is I do not notice a big diff in the smell.

I second the smell being unbearable. I still have the stock exhaust on my 14 but im wide open on my C7Z. It usually has E85 in the tank but there has been a few times when ive had to put 93 in it... made my eyes water and thats with a rear exit exhaust. I cant imagine it with a side exit.

For the record, I don't notice any kind of smell at all. It did once on first startup and maybe if you fire it up cold inside the garage with the windows down and wait a minute, but I never smell anything any other time.

[Bill Pemberton]

Over the years , using many different systems, I would recommend what we used the most often for increase, quality and especially fitment --- Belanger. I would not recommend going catless for two reasons;

1. Agree about the smell !
2 Resale can be difficult as Dealers will often drop the value a bunch since they will ( in most States ) have to redo the system to make sure it has catalytic converters. Most Auctions require it to be disclosed, so it even affects the wholesale market.

[SLP]

If I could do it all over again, I would fab my own inconel equal length headers. If I had a lot of money to spend, I would go with BBG headers. I currently run belanger headers with the pickle removed, no cats, and custom cat back. 3" straight through is what you want.
One 17"length 4"body resonator was not enough for me as I was setting off car alarms on my heads/cam build. So I went with two:
Exhaust.jpg
Exhaust 2.jpg

[sadil]

If I could do it all over again, I would fab my own inconel equal length headers. If I had a lot of money to spend, I would go with BBG headers. I currently run belanger headers with the pickle removed, no cats, and custom cat back. 3" straight through is what you want.
One 17"length 4"body resonator was not enough for me as I was setting off car alarms on my heads/cam build. So I went with two:
Exhaust.jpg
Exhaust 2.jpg

Cant show that off with no exhaust clip! I am curious on what the resonators do to the sound.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

What is the best exhaust sold for sound, fitment, and HP?

Best Sound?: What is music to YOUR EARS? Pop, vs Classical, Rap, Soul, Doo-Wop, etc, Euro, vs Musclecar ? Decibels vs mellowness? Burble vs popping/backfire? YOUR MUSIC IS BEST FOR YOU, and Metallurgy matters. Note / Tone / Decibels ??


Best fit?: Would that be the system that takes the least total labor hours / easiest to install?


Best HP?: Is 'best' the same as 'most' ? Would HP at redline be 'best' if it was +5? +10?
Or would low-midrange TORQUE be more important than a dyno number at redline? Best HP/TQ curve for drags vs race track-laps vs standing mile? Simply for Stoplight-Grand-Prix?

"Best" can vary with driving venue/style.

What about appearance? Operating temp? Emissions, Smell ?



Its all personal: 'What is the Best Girlfriend?'

[VOI9]

I went with Belanger headers and catless exhaust on my Gen 3. Sound: loud, over 100 db on acceleration and 85-90db at highway speeds. Loud drones that were unpleasant but we tuned out most of it by adding small resonators. I think it took three attempts to get it right. With the side exhaust the loudness and the noise was tiring. With a rear exhaust it probably would have been better. Fitment: they fit perfectly. No issues. HP: I am sure it added some but at 500 HP a 5% gain can't be that noticeable. I converted back to the factory system. I am much happier and my passengers are much happier, and they come back for a second ride with no smell, no drone, and a quieter cabin.

[Sniper]

Sound - need sound to match looks of car, something that backfires in deceleration and sounds mean.

Fit - I read Something about Belangers not having the same flexible connection as stock which caused issues.

HP - best for roll races 40-140 mph.

Does that help?

[Bryan Savage]

Fit - I read Something about Belangers not having the same flexible connection as stock which caused issues.

Belanger does not have any flex section, and I hate that. They get around this by doing away with the front hanger.

To my knowledge, no aftermarket system has a flex section or bellows of any kind.

[Jack B]

Most of the Belanger issues were due to the the head-to-header gasket that Belanger supplied, stay with the oem gasket and you should not have that problem. The other Belanger problem is getting the machined flanges in the collector area to seal. If you use a thick/soft copper gasket, that solves that specific problem.

The ARH seem to seal better, however, they are a bit more difficult to install, you definitely want to take your time to get them right. One thing that is annoying, the ARH's have a known interference problem with the passenger motor mount that they have not fixed.

Sound - need sound to match looks of car, something that backfires in deceleration and sounds mean.

Fit - I read Something about Belangers not having the same flexible connection as stock which caused issues.

HP - best for roll races 40-140 mph.

Does that help?

[Bryan Savage]

Most of the Belanger issues were due to the the head-to-header gasket that Belanger supplied, stay with the oem gasket and you should not have that problem. The other Belanger problem is getting the machined flanges in the collector area to seal. If you use a thick/soft copper gasket, that solves that specific problem.

The ARH seem to seal better, however, they are a bit more difficult to install, you definitely want to take your time to get them right. One thing that is annoying, the ARH's have a known interference problem with the passenger motor mount that they have not fixed.

For the record, I've installed my two Belanger exhausts only using Permatex Ultra Copper Gasket Maker (with no other gasket at all) and knock on wood, have not had a single leak in 30,000 miles (combined).

2020-05-06 21.02.21.jpg

[Bruce H.]

If you ever track the car the best exhaust will be one that doesn't exceed track noise limits or you'll wish you had chosen differently! Ralph once told me he had AHR headers with Borla mufflers, a combo I don't think I've heard others try.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

For the record, I've installed my two Belanger exhausts only using Permatex Ultra Copper Gasket Maker (with no other gasket at all) and knock on wood, have not had a single leak in 30,000 miles (combined).

2020-05-06 21.02.21.jpg

THIS. 50+ years of header-building, and Vipers from Day 1.

Want a restrictive, hot flex, and a elbow bracket on your custom package? ITS OPTIONAL.

[Sniper]

So, what’s your suggestion Jon?

[Evil v10]

Bad boyz garage makes a really good header ,the owner is Toddy Gomez.

[SLP]

Cant show that off with no exhaust clip! I am curious on what the resonators do to the sound.

0:51 onward the cam catches a nice rhythm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOUy9jg6k8Q

[Vipes]

ARH is my fav by far but like others have said the sound is personal preference. I remember someone posted a headers hp comparison a while back with the same car/dyno and ARH was on top. Will be putting my ARH full system up for sale at some point in the near future if you're not in a rush and want to buy used. It's ARH headers, ARH HFC and ARH catback. I had the headers and J pipes 2k degree coated black before I installed them.

[Evil v10]

SLP music to our ears ,you will never get tired listening to that beast running,what muffler did you use.

[SLP]

SLP music to our ears ,you will never get tired listening to that beast running,what muffler did you use.

This is my first car with an aggressive cam...I have a hard time turning off my car. I absolutely agree hah

I used 2x Vibrant 1795 resonators on each side. Each one is 18" L, straight through 3" with a 4" resonator body.

[Vegaskid]

I have belanger...sounds great
https://youtu.be/F-vbEUjKK3c