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Chevrolet puts their LS motors in everything these days, from Camaros to light duty pickups to formerly-rotary-powered Mazdas. The Chevrolet Corvette C6 has been the guinea pig for new LS designs. Since 2005, the sixth-generation Vette has been powered by four different iterations of the pushrod V8, from the basic LS3 6.2-liter V8 to the supercharged LS9. Every one of them sounds incredible, thanks in part to the half-century strong tradition of “V8s only” as well as some careful auditory tuning by the smarties at Chevy R&D. If you’re lusting for even more raw sound, the aftermarket does wonders for the C6’s exhaust note. Mufflers, cat-backs, and headers can all change the reserved sound of the stock exhaust to crazy muscle car noises. Everyone ahead should know that the LS King is coming.
Axle Back
Corvette C6s often came from the factory with dual-mode exhaust systems. The quick “upgrade” to de-muffle your car is to pull the fuse for the NPP exhaust (furthest bottom-est right 10A fuse in your in-cabin cluster). This makes your car sound loud all the time, rather than just at high RPM. If you’d prefer a muffler replacement over a band-aid solution, we have a few recommendations.
Firstly, the Borla Touring Axle-Back system. This muffler makes your Corvette sound throatier under load, but isn’t significantly louder than stock at idle. That way, when you’re out on the road with the pedal to the metal you get all the fun V8 roar without having to suffer through drone when you’re sitting at a stoplight.
If you’d like to hear a little more of that V8 burble, Corsa Performance’s Xtreme axle-back kit is the way to go. Flooring it onto the highway, this exhaust gives you fantastic cracks and pops as you crest the top of the torque curve. As you’re cruising downtown, it blubs its way along with muscle car machismo.
Cat Back
This is as much fun as you’re going to get away with in CARB enforced states, but it’s still a great way to improve flow and get a little more power out of your ‘Vette. Cat-back systems replace (yep, you guessed it) everything from the catalytic converter back. This means you’re getting a new midpipe, mufflers, and exhaust tips. Keep in mind, while LS3-powered Corvettes came from the factory with 2.5” inner diameter exhaust piping, the recommendations are all for 3” inner diameter systems. These will work with the base C6, Grand Sport, Z06, and ZR1 models.
For the best flow, the Magnaflow Competition Series exhaust offers a true dual system with an X pipe right behind the catalytic converters. This kit has few bends and almost no restriction, thus Magnaflow expects up to a 10% gain in power from their free-flowing systems with supporting modifications. If you want a sound with intent rather than straight pipes, the Corsa Sport cat back exhaust uses an X pipe connected to large, unbaffled mufflers. This means you’ll get the characteristic, deep burble of your small block V8, but without the drone you often hear from a straight-piped setup.
Headers
If you’re planning on going racing or doing significant modification to your C6 Corvette, headers are an inevitability. The stock headers flow alright, but long-tube options significantly improve upon them. The biggest change over the stock headers is sound. Aftermarket headers will not only be louder, but will make your car shriek at high RPM like a real race car. Be prepared for louder noise both on the throttle and in basic daily driving.
The classic option for a Corvette upgrade is from Kooks Headers and Exhaust. Kooks offers a wide range of header inlet and outlet diameters so you can choose the one that’s exactly right for your build. With Kooks long tube headers, you should expect around a 15-25hp increase on a stock Corvette, depending on which engine you have (LS2, LS3, LS7, or LS9). If you’re looking for a serious power upgrade, Stainless Works advertises increases of almost 30 horsepower and over 40 lb-ft from their system without a tune on a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with the LS7 V8 engine. That’s from headers and a catback alone– no intake, no camshafts, no nitrous. That being said, if you’re going this hardcore with headers, adding an aftermarket intake manifold, forced induction, or another power adder should be a given.
If you want to make your Chevy Corvette C6 louder, faster, and more fun, a good exhaust system is one of the best ways to get started. For a full listing of exhaust parts and much more, check out the Motoroso Marketplace and get started building your ‘Vette today!
