Quick and Dirty Exhaust Review

[BoeingMan]

Finished full exhaust install on my 2001 GTS.

My instal consisted of the Belengar headers, the Random Tech hi flow cats, and the Random Tech exhaust system as well.

The belengars are beutifully made and the fit was as close to perfect as possible. No rubbing on the frame and did not have to adjust the engine mounts niether to achieve it. No leaks on start up using their hardware and gaskets so far. Oh and the engine bay runs cooler even without the heat shileds installed. Seriously considering putting the shilds back on though.

The Metal Matrix Random Tech Cats work just as advertised. My side sills are running cool to the touch. Oh, and of course, the workinmanship on the cats is also great.

The Random Tech Exhaust along with their muflers (mufflers are undernieth the sidesills) look great installed. The tips are beutiful. They look like the Corsa tips. The workmanship on the mufflers are great and on the down tubes is very good. The cross pipe that comes out of the passenger's side muffler underneath the side sill is perfect but the one that comes out of drivers side was off about 1/4 inch along one of it's bends. I had to persuade it a bit so that it would not make contact with the frame (took all the strenght I had) but I was succesful. Therefore I can not say this exhaust was a perfect system. Final fit though, was fine and that's what really matters anyway right.

The sound from the whole setup is great. It has a deep rumble with no 'tinny' sound like some other systems. The sound is more muscle car than that of say a high reving indi car.

Haven't of course Dynoed it yet and don't plan too 'till the on board computer learns this new setup, so, I say in a couple hundred miles or so(should have that in about six months). However, converting my seat of the pants to a best guess on gain I am going to say about 25-30 hp. Again I believe I'll probably get another 5 therabouts when the on board learns it's new thing.

Smooth tubes and filters next followed by a shifter. A Hurst most likely.

Well there it is quick and dirty. Thanks again.
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[ViperJoe]

Sounds good!

Unusual though that you didn't go T&F first

 

[BoeingMan]

Sounds good!

Unusual though that you didn't go T&F first

Didn't have my color tubes in stock. Easy install so not concerned too much.

 

[Racer Robbie]

Nice review.

Robbie

 

[BoeingMan]

Follow up:

Ran the car a good hour in traffic today both on the highway and through the streets. The side sills are still cool to the touch and the engine bay still runs cooler than stock... boy if only the car came this way from the factory. Upon shuting the car off the engine bay cools down much more rapidly as well.

I 'was' considering reinstalling the factory shieds but after today's run and the much cooler temps the car is exhibiting I am now going to leave them off. Yes, there are some lines that are close to the headers that get hot (as expected given they are about one inch from the header's proximity.) I am rapping these lines, however, with some aluminized sleeves. That will keep about 90% of the heat off of them. I stopped by my local speed shop and they hooked me up with just the right stuff. Simple problem solved simply.

Can't report on any drone yet due to the fact that I ran with my windows open the whole time. I enjoyed the sound of my set up too much that I plum forgot to test for any.

If I run into any issues I'll be sure to post. Hope this info helps someone somehow.

Matt

 

[Casey]

Your Viper has come alive hasn't it!

Congrats!

 

[Z06reformed]

What about the sound?You say more musclecar,but not redneck..UH,er ,too redneck?I want a exhaust an dI have been holding off just for the right sound.I kind of like the stock exhaust at speed.It sounds like a sportbike in a way,thats kind of cool.I just dont want it to sound like an old truck,know what I am saying?I had the Z06 before and the stock exhaust sound was awesome when you hammered it,just the right rumble and scream.It definitely needs some help to sound "right" but I dont want to ruin it either?I thought about bypassing the whole truck scenario and go all out like a stock car,but I dont know about that either.I thought the Corsa might be the one but more I read the more I dont like it. How long did it take you to install?lift or jacks?

 

[KenH]

Glad your install went well. Since you used the Belanger supplied fiber header gaskets, make sure that you retorque the header bolts a couple of times in the first week or two of driving otherwise you are likely to develop an exhaust leak.

 

[BoeingMan]

Glad your install went well. Since you used the Belanger supplied fiber header gaskets, make sure that you retorque the header bolts a couple of times in the first week or two of driving otherwise you are likely to develop an exhaust leak.

Thanks I'll be sure to do that.

 

[BoeingMan]

What about the sound?You say more musclecar,but not redneck..UH,er ,too redneck?I want a exhaust and I have been holding off just for the right sound.I kind of like the stock exhaust at speed.It sounds like a sportbike in a way,thats kind of cool.I just dont want it to sound like an old truck,know what I am saying?I had the Z06 before and the stock exhaust sound was awesome when you hammered it,just the right rumble and scream.It definitely needs some help to sound "right" but I dont want to ruin it either?I thought about bypassing the whole truck scenario and go all out like a stock car,but I dont know about that either.I thought the Corsa might be the one but more I read the more I dont like it. How long did it take you to install?lift or jacks?

I'm sure you already know this, but the best I can suggest is to find another viper that's running the same setup your interested in and have the owner give you a demo. For me to discribe exactly what it sounds like is tough to do on paper. I don't think this setup sounds redneckish and don't think it sounds like an old truck. I do though, know what you mean 'bout fearing your viper might sound like that.

Anyway, by 'muscle car' I meant to convey a deeper, low tone rumble. It doesn't backfire and even though it has the stock milder cam, I can almost hear a slight intermitent lope. It just might be the on board computer playing wih the timing while learning this set up but in any event I like it. It also sounds pretty cool and rumbly on decel while in gear.

The entire project took aprox 8hrs, but I worked very slow so as not to bend, stretch, mutilate or scratch anything. Add another two hrs for research, lifting, phonecalls and other miscellaneous prep work.

I used a lift to do this install, and, as with most projects, it helped great deal. I wouldn't say a lift is nessecarry though. It could be done on jacks but brush up on your curse words.


Hope this sheds some light for you.


Matt

 

[Racer Robbie]

What about the sound?You say more musclecar,but not redneck..UH,er ,too redneck?I want a exhaust an dI have been holding off just for the right sound.I kind of like the stock exhaust at speed.It sounds like a sportbike in a way,thats kind of cool.I just dont want it to sound like an old truck,know what I am saying?I had the Z06 before and the stock exhaust sound was awesome when you hammered it,just the right rumble and scream.It definitely needs some help to sound "right" but I dont want to ruin it either?I thought about bypassing the whole truck scenario and go all out like a stock car,but I dont know about that either.I thought the Corsa might be the one but more I read the more I dont like it.

You might want to take the time to look at our exhaust systems that we custom assemble to your needs. We can give you watever sound you are looking for. below is a link to our web site along with a few emails from customers who have installed our exhaust systems.
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http://www.members.aol.com/AtroRacingTeam/PRODUCTS/AtRoRacingsProductCatalog

Below are some links from our customers who have posted on the forums and have installed these exhausts on their vipers.

http://www4.forum.viperclub.org/showflat...&PHPSESSID=

http://www4.forum.viperclub.org/showflat...true#Post682797

Below is the email that I received from Yellow, Rick today after he raced at Pocono with our products on his Viper.

"Hi Rob
I think there was about 35 vipers,5 corvettes 1 racing Ferrari,and 4 GT's by Ford.I had a better time than last year and that was hard to believe.This year I moved up to intermediate.I felt like I was the best in the group,I was passing everyone each time we went out.My racing line through the autocross were right on.I also had about 4 people come up to me and ask about my exhaust .All different people ask the same question , your car was the best sounding car on the track. I told them Atro Racing installed it"

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"Hi Robbie
I installed the Bellanger headers for the sound not for the extra power and eliminated the cross over pipes and add the high flow cats and Atro racing exhaust.I've never had the powder coating chip peel or come off,it looks like the day I put them on.As for the heat Atro Racing heat wrapped my side pipes which kept my sill cooler .I also did a computer chip upgrade by DC performance which came with a 180 degree thermostat which also keep engine cooler.I did these mods so I didn't have to put the heat shields back on.I haven't had any heat related problems. Personally I like the modification it made to my car.It will make your car sound louder,which I wanted ( It got rid of the UPS truck sound out of my car ).Just for the record, everytime I go to the Viper days at the race track People come up to me and say I have the best sounding car out on the track.And that is what I wanted .

 

[Z06reformed]

Thanks Boeing man and Robbie.I always like to read the install stuff.Glad it worked out for you.I cannot find many Vipers in my area and certainly not enough that have done mods I am sure.I hate to waste the winter and not get it done for spring.But unfortunately that may well be the case to go to another outing to compare sounds of other cars.Or trial and error,but that could get expensive!I was in the market hot and heavy this summer and just got busy.I was lucky to drive it muchless work on it but it will happen.Thanks again guys.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

I 'was' considering reinstalling the factory shieds but after today's run and the much cooler temps the car is exhibiting I am now going to leave them off. Yes, there are some lines that are close to the headers that get hot (as expected given they are about one inch from the header's proximity.) I am rapping these lines, however, with some aluminized sleeves. That will keep about 90% of the heat off of them. I stopped by my local speed shop and they hooked me up with just the right stuff. Simple problem solved simply.

I have run Belanger headers with no heat shields for almost 60,000 miles. Ran the OEM plug wires for 30,000 miles with no problem. Make sure you either have the HIPO engineering PS reservoir cap upgrade or fabricate something similar.

What about the sound?You say more musclecar,but not redneck..UH,er ,too redneck?I want a exhaust an dI have been holding off just for the right sound.I kind of like the stock exhaust at speed.It sounds like a sportbike in a way,thats kind of cool.I just dont want it to sound like an old truck,know what I am saying?I had the Z06 before and the stock exhaust sound was awesome when you hammered it,just the right rumble and scream.It definitely needs some help to sound "right" but I dont want to ruin it either?I thought about bypassing the whole truck scenario and go all out like a stock car,but I dont know about that either.I thought the Corsa might be the one but more I read the more I dont like it. How long did it take you to install?lift or jacks?

Here's the Belanger rumble sans cats. I'm a 1/4 mile away at the end of the clip. This a Belanger 3" exhaust. We also have a car with Belanger headers, hi flow cats, and Corsa 3" cat back. There is no comparison in sound between the two. The Belanger car is much more rumble and deeper. The Corsa is quite raspy at idle, but has a nice sound to it at WOT. Some like raspy, some like deep rumble. I prefer the rumble, but have no intention of changing anything on the Corsa set up car. Idle file clips are not a good way to make a decision on what you want to do. As others have said, the best way is too hear them in person. I've probably heard most combinations out there and have yet to hear anything which I would say is 'better' than the full Belanger set up. For us, the sound had much more to do with the choice than the power. Whether a system makes 30 HP......or maybe 40 with a different one doesn't mean much me

Belangers

Steve

 

[BoeingMan]

Follow up to my follow up.

After taking the car out a few more times this week, I have kept a close eye out for any kind of issues relating to this install.

When I originally posted I said the side sill were cool. However, I must now say that the 'majority' of the side sills areas are cool not the entire sill. The only spot that is hot is the area right above and to the side where the new high flow cat sits. It's not sizziling hot, but it is hot, and I do have to pull my hand away after about 4 or 5 seconds (from the top area) or it will hurt. However, this is still significantly cooler than with the stock cats so I am still pleased. Again, it is a small area the size of your hand, as opposed to the entire length of the sill when the OEM compopnents were installed.

Also, the little 'lope type' sound I alluded to before is gone. It was, most likely, the computer just seeking it's new level as it adjusted for the new set
up. The car still sounds very nice though and pulls a little stronger.

About drone. I am having a hard time telling wether the sound I hear inside the drivers compartment with the windows closed is drone or wether it's just exhaust music. I like it. It doesn't vibrate throughout the vehicles frame. I don't find it anoying and it doesn't interfere with my radio. At least it doesn't drown it out and I can enjoy the song that's playing. So I really don't know if I have any.

I have had time to heat rap some of the lines along the drivers side engine compartment area alongside the header. They now run cooler as well.

I know most of you think this is all pretty simple stuff, and it is, but for those that are considering a project like this I just don't want to misliead anyone and only wish to help.

Hope htis helps someone

 

[Z06reformed]

Thanks Bman.I am having paint work done as we speak and am going to build a new detached garage soon,so this may well be the inaugural knuckle buster for it before summer.