chough262

I have a 99 convertible. I will soon be putting on LT headers and x pipe. Also Considering a mild cam. Am i setting myself up for noise and drone? My C4 had a much throatier sound than the C5....

3boystoys

It's a convertible, they are always noisy.

0vividracing

My 97 is a convertible. Full exhaust minus headers. Driving with the top up or down is like driving 2 completely different cars. I love both of them.

John-

dadaroo

Drones, if any, are normally RPM based. You can usually just drive thru it or change gears if you are at a steady speed to get out of it. I am a performance person so having a drone is not a concern, I can always eliminate it by not driving in that "zone". Like the song says "Don't worry, be happy".

wbrands

My Vert has LTs, x-pipe with high flow cats, and a Corsa cat back (touring I think and no longer available). It's quieter with the top up than my '99 coupe but it may be due to the Michelins (vs. Goodyears on the coupe). With top down, it has a really nice sound, no drone and wind noise almost overcomes the exhaust at cruise. I say go for it and recommend the Corsa.

neutron82

yes you are setting yourself up for more noise which is a good thing in my opinion, these cars are way too quiet to begin with... drone, or lack there of, depends on which exhaust you choose... pretty much any corsa or ghl shouldn't have any drone but some others like borla and b&b will drone like crazy

darkstar.c5

my vert has corsa extreme's catback, no drone...

kgie1217

Got Z06 titanium exhaust and Borla X-pipe on my Vert....no drone whatsoever.

memmer

I have 3" XS Power catback exhaust and I have no drone at all,but I have the desired sound when I want it.
Fred

RedZMonte

It all depends on what mufflers you run. LT-X-Ti's are a great combo esp for a Vert. Corsa are also nice for a Vert in that setup as well.

150kWh

..I guess the OP would mostly be wondering about cruising, 55-70ish low 1500 RPM range. How much of this depends on timing/tune?

chough262

Great input guys. thanks. I agree that the stock set up is too quiet and looking to change that. I spend most time with the top down. I will go look at a corvette gathering to see what sounds good. I dont mind at all if its loud when getting after it, but would still like to have an occasional conversation while driving.

Ron222

'04 Convertible here....LG Streets, High Flow Cats, Black Wing and a Good Tune...right at 340hp, 357 tq to the tires. I kept the stock cat back exhausts...Like you I didn't want it too loud inside, being a rag top and all. No drone, not real loud with the top up or down. Sounds decent IMHO.

I went about it this way because I figured that if it wasn't loud enough it would be relatively easy to install a set of Corsa's after the fact. I'm happy the way it sounds. If you're planning on putting in a cam.....that'll make it louder still. It might just be the sound you're looking for and like I said it's easy to put the Corsa's on later and if you don't put the cat backs on, you save yourself over a grand.

Wendell Allen

Well, if you're concerned about it, this is for sale in the C5 parts section of CF by VerTigo456 for $75. He says it's specifically for the vert's and does a very good job of keeping the noise down. It's for a 50th anniversary car, but it's in the trunk, so who cares. You've got his forum name now so it won't be hard to look up. You can also do a search of the C5 parts forum only using the words "huge garage sale" and you'll see his post towards the top. I may even get one myself after I find out what my car (2000 vert with Borla's) sounds like when I pick it up on the 21st.

In fact, now that I do a search, there are all kinds of companies that sell partitions. Here's one that addresses the noise factor specifically....Southern Car Parts

Tom Keitzer

02 Vert for me. Blackwing intake, Kooks long tube headers, no cats and Borla two tube Stinger catbacks. Sounds GREAT!!! Not really much difference between top up or down. Yes, it will drone right at 1600RPM. Like others have said, just drive through it and pick an appropriate gear depending upon speed. Can't say for an A4 equipped C5 vert. Mine is an M5 tranny. Good luck

rjwz28

You will have more good noise, but the drone will be negligible since you seem to be sticking with the factory mufflers

If you want a bit more sound after that, the Z06 Ti mufflers are great

My C5Z06 has all sorts of things to amp it up (intake, ported 90mm TB, heads, intake manifold, cam, headers, X-pipe) but through the factory Ti mufflers, she sounds great and I notice no drone

When I bought her, she had an even bigger cam and SLP Loudmouth straight pipes (yes, the C5 Loudmouth has no resonators or mufflers of any sort), so I'm WELL aware of how much drone sucks in these cars

This past weekend at Cars and Coffee, one of the guys commented that he wished my Z was there, since he thought it was the best sounding Corvette he had heard

That combo has a pretty exotic sound to it when you get on it

8snaces

The new Borla's do not drone. I have the Atak and 0 drone - top up or down.

Stock exhaust is too wimpy for me

rjwz28

What's the rest of your exhaust setup?

chough262

Great input. I will waiit for all the cars in my area to get out of storage and then see what sounds i like. I ordered the Lt headers and x pipe to start. Will see how it sounds with the stock mufflers. I too think the stock set up is way to quiet.

oldschoolvette

no more than a coupe

just louder