Just picked up 03 convertible with the factory side exhaust . Would like to make the car louder. Was at mechanic today and he suggested removing the stock mufflers. Car would still have 2 cats per side for back pressure. Anyone gone this route to “louden” it up? I did search the forum and I have not found any results going this route. I’ve owned several midyear Corvettes with factory chambered side pipe exhaust .they sound great im trying to get closer to that old muscle car sound....appreciate any responses.
GEN 3 NO MUFFLER ?
- Thread starter Jlewis468
- Start date
First of all, back pressure is pretty much a myth. The less back pressure you have, typically the better. What you actually get from "more restrictive" exhaust is typically just higher flow, which can cause better scavenging, but you have to get it in the right way. If you are trying to flow X amount of CFM through a pipe and you make the pipe smaller, the flow velocity will have to increase to maintain the same amount of total volume of air moved. Make the pipe bigger and the flow speed drops, which could mean you are getting less "suction" effect to pull gas out of the cylinder.
Back pressure kind of measures this, but not really in a 1:1 way that makes sense. For instance, you could have a 6" exhaust and crimp the very end of the tailpipe down to 2" and you'd get back pressure, but it would be terrible for the system compared to just having smaller diameter pipe for the whole length.
That aside (sorry, pet peeve of mine when it comes to some old car myths), I don't think a Viper sounds very good straight piped and I don't think you'd be getting the muscle car sound from it. It would be louder for sure, but the Viper engine has a very unique sound and at least to my ears sounds better with exhaust on it. Maybe the cats would be enough to tame it down, but I remember firing my car up on straight open headers after I put them on just because I was curious and it sounded like trash. In my experience at least, the Borla cat back system or the full Mopar 3" race exhaust (basically just a 3" version of the Borla system, but you lose the cats) have the deepest tone and give more of that muscle car sound. The Corsa system seems more high pitched and **** to me and I think the Belanger is maybe somewhere in between the two. I think there are a few others out there as well, but I don't hear about them as much or see them as often. I think Magnaflow has a two chamber system that is maybe on the deeper side of tone, but it's not one I see very often. You can find some clips on YouTube and such if you do some searches for Viper exhaust, though mic quality various all over the place as well as other engine mods, so not always the best 1:1 comparisons.
Back pressure kind of measures this, but not really in a 1:1 way that makes sense. For instance, you could have a 6" exhaust and crimp the very end of the tailpipe down to 2" and you'd get back pressure, but it would be terrible for the system compared to just having smaller diameter pipe for the whole length.
That aside (sorry, pet peeve of mine when it comes to some old car myths), I don't think a Viper sounds very good straight piped and I don't think you'd be getting the muscle car sound from it. It would be louder for sure, but the Viper engine has a very unique sound and at least to my ears sounds better with exhaust on it. Maybe the cats would be enough to tame it down, but I remember firing my car up on straight open headers after I put them on just because I was curious and it sounded like trash. In my experience at least, the Borla cat back system or the full Mopar 3" race exhaust (basically just a 3" version of the Borla system, but you lose the cats) have the deepest tone and give more of that muscle car sound. The Corsa system seems more high pitched and **** to me and I think the Belanger is maybe somewhere in between the two. I think there are a few others out there as well, but I don't hear about them as much or see them as often. I think Magnaflow has a two chamber system that is maybe on the deeper side of tone, but it's not one I see very often. You can find some clips on YouTube and such if you do some searches for Viper exhaust, though mic quality various all over the place as well as other engine mods, so not always the best 1:1 comparisons.
terrybrown95919
Enthusiast
I'm not sure what the stock cats look like. Are those 2 cats or another tybe cat back system? Seems relatively more aggressive than what I'm hearing about a "stock" Viper exhaust. Still much quieter than the Cobra ;-)
Attachments
That is the two chamber exhaust system I had in mind that I mentioned, lol. I thought it was Magnaflow that made it, but I'm not sure. Pretty sure neither is a cat and doesn't look like factory cars are in there either. They would be at the very front, one before the turnout inside the frame and the other just after the turnout on the outside.
terrybrown95919
Enthusiast
MoparMap thanks for the info. Couldn't find a mfg name or part number. Appreciate the identifying information. Early 2003 model. Did find the front cat. Sorry to hijack the thread but since I have, would you recommend any modifications for overall improvement? Thanks and again, sorry .......
The sound from this setup is presentable and not obnoxious requiring earplugs. ;-)
The sound from this setup is presentable and not obnoxious requiring earplugs. ;-)
Last edited:
Money_pitviper
Enthusiast
Go to " viper store " website select your Gen , scroll right and down to the exhaust tab , and open that up . You will find links to several brands and performance options of you tube video with actual audio clips .
FasrRice
Enthusiast
I just installed my Corsa mufflers on what a PIA it is to remove the old and install but worth it. Sounds much better especially when you get on it and at idle. Stays relatively quiet. You’ll get all kinds of answers but seems Belanger and Corsa are the two for better sound without being obnoxious. I went Corsa as I used them on all my vettes through the years and the high quality sounds and no drone they provide.
Generally speaking the Viper is pretty stout out of the box and unless you really dig into things I doubt you'd see much for performance improvements. It kind of reminds me of what my dad used to say about Mopars in the 60s. Other brands had long lists of aftermarket parts, but Mopar stuff was usually good enough out of the factory that not a lot of people made improvements on it. I think the Viper was really built to be about the best it could be given the restraints they had for a street car.
That being said, there is plenty of potential in the engine, but you have to think of it as a full system. To pick random numbers to try to explain better, say the engine needs 1000 cfm of airflow at maximum rpm. The stock air cleaner might flow just a little more than that at some given amount of restriction. Adding a new intake that flows 1500 cfm won't necessarily make any real difference to the car since it's still only trying to pull 1000 cfm through it. However, start changing the rest of the system with stuff like ported intakes, heads, new exhaust, cams, etc. and now you might start finding that stock parts are more of a bottleneck. Even then I think the stock parts are pretty dang good pieces all things said, but it all comes down to what you're really looking to get out of the car. The typical intake, exhaust, and a tune will probably get you a noticeable amount of power. Every car is going to be different, but when I bought it my 04 with a K&N intake, Borla catback, and a tune put down 480 hp and 530 ft-lbs to the tires. I've heard **** stock numbers range from 430-460 or something like that, so it was certainly an improvement over that, but for a car that already makes 500 at the flywheel stock it's not like you're going to bolt on 100+ hp without something like a blower, turbo, or nitrous.
That being said, there are other places to get performance as well. Tires are probably the number one place to look as ultimately they are what determines the performance limit of the car. More power, better brakes, and better suspension mean nothing if you can't put that to the ground. The brakes on these cars are pretty phenomenal right out of the box, though you can play with pads to get some characteristics depending on what you're looking for. The stock Brembo pads are actually pretty great aside from the high dusting. The suspension would maybe be the "weakest" link if I had to pick one. The stock shock and spring combo isn't super great from what I've heard. Mine seemed fairly bouncy, though I also think I might have had a leaking shock or two. There are plenty of aftermarket options there from relatively cheap to full on race suspension, so you have a range to choose from. I have an MCS single adjustable setup on my car that I like fairly well, though it can feel a bit harsh on the street at times (I think some of that might just be my tires as well, they are a little older). I've looked at going double adjustable as I think it would be better to be able to independently set the jounce and rebound for street driving. Keep the jounce a little softer to take the initial hit of a bump, but a stiffer rebound so the tires don't shove back down quite as hard kind of thing.
Last edited:
terrybrown95919
Enthusiast
I have to echo FasrRice! After MoparMaps info and some research on my part, I believe my system is also a Corsa. The sound is good and much better than stock according to another Viper owner. Not the straight-thru sound of the Cobra but what is?
Whoever did my system did keep the front cat, although hard to see in the photos. I’d give the Corsa system a thumbs up. See attached pictures leading to my id. Best with your search.
Whoever did my system did keep the front cat, although hard to see in the photos. I’d give the Corsa system a thumbs up. See attached pictures leading to my id. Best with your search.
Attachments
Thanks fellas I appreciate the input. Not really looking at making the car faster I just want to make it louder. I think I’m gonna straight pipe after the cats and see how that sounds if I’m not happy I’ll throw a resonator or something like that in its place.
Yeah, I think you'd have a hard time matching the Cobra no matter what you do. The Viper is just a very unique engine sound and exhaust can only alter it so much. Old V8s and chambered exhaust were a wonderful combination for sound, and Ford V8s seemed to have a special sound all their own. Even modern V8s just don't quite sound the same. They are definitely similar, but an LS to me is pretty noticeably different than a Chevy small block. I have a 5.7 Hemi in my 67 Dart that still gives off some muscle car vibes for noise with the exhaust I have, but at the same time still sounds just the slightest bit "softer" to my ears.
Greg114
Enthusiast
Umm, used em on your #[email protected] on you this a Viper forum, quit cursing and show some class pal.
Similar threads
