[pyroguy]

So just like everyone said would happen, I got bitten by the mod bug. First was the Roto-fab, now I'm looking at exhaust. I've been haunting the forums trying to determine the best exhaust to be able to know I have a V8 under the hood while still maintaining a stock like sound when cruising. I HATE drone and if there was one person that dislikes it worse than me it would be my wife, and this is her daily driver. (She said that if it droned I would have to put it back stock.) So far I have narrowed down my selection between three systems.

1) Corsa cat back

2) Solo mach balanced cat back

3) Solo mach unbalanced cat back

These three seem to be the quietest when driving normal yet they let you and others around you know you have a V8 when you get on it. My questions are:

1) How much louder over stock are they in the cab when driving (around town and highway speeds)?

2) How does the Corsa compare to the Solo volume wise? (Solo advertises on a scale of 1-10, but how does it relate to Corsa?)

3) Corsa is approximately 33% more expensive than Solo, is it really worth the extra cost?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Zodiac]

Some people had issues with rain and corsa, not sure if that was fixed, but my recommendation is always the mach shorty it's loudest under throttle and quiet for cruising. Deep muscle car sound without drone.

 

[V8XLR8]

Like he said ^ I have the mach balanced and drone is hardly noticeable but sounds amazing under WOT.

 

[Rican219]

Solo all the way!!!

No Cam Video http://youtu.be/k6asOcNnOkQ

No Cam Video http://youtu.be/P1hI5DfzvDU

 

[Rican219]

With Cam http://youtu.be/NZb4BHFJe8k

With Cam http://youtu.be/xk7xcDAGDqI

 

[Neverending]

A good question for the Solo owners is, how are the pipes holding up? I've seen a number of them look like they're rusting already.

 

[Agose25]

Use the extra 33% for gas so you can mash the peddle hard for a little while...Solo FTW!!

 

[gtomark71]

Some people had issues with rain and corsa, not sure if that was fixed, but my recommendation is always the mach shorty it's loudest under throttle and quiet for cruising. Deep muscle car sound without drone.

Can you explain what the issues were with the Corsa and the rain?

 

[soup070]

Corsa Corsa Corsa, All the way.
No issues, everyone who has ever heard my car loves the sound. Solo to me sounds raspy. Love Borla but still has some drone. Every used Borla or Solo CB system I've seen for sale on this forum have been rust covered some with only 15k on them. Mine has 35k and not a bit of rust even as a DD in the winter. The price is worth it.

The rain issue was found out that guys who didn't read the instructions and installed the first pipe from cats back was installed upsidedown. Some say it happens when it rains (youtube) however, after my accident GM dealer installed the first pipes on the wrong side upsidedown causing condensation to form and gurgle. Hence when humidity is above 80% and you stop it turns to water getting trapped in these pipes that don't drain properly and when you start it back up once cold the steam turned back to liquid making "that" water sound for atleast 15-20min.

 

[WiscoG8]

My solos look fresh still with almost 50k miles of dd through upper Midwest weather. Live em. I love the corsa sound too, but at the time the price wasn't right.

Your call op. You won't be sad either direction you go I promise.

Fwiw I have the mach exhaust mated to hfcs and kooks lts. You wouldn't think i had an exhaust till I stomp it, you'll have everyone going wtff.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[Zodiac]

It's only surface rust. Not a big deal, it's not rusting through. Hell if they made an exhaust for the 5.0 I would have it on my car. Unfortunately haven't gotten anywhere with it.

Also I love the Corsa and the tips are awesome. Just can't just can't justify the cost over Solo.

 

[1fastmf]

Corsa sound is weak with out headers imo. It also cost more then any exhaust ever should. Go solo

 

[mlittleton]

Why waste money on the wife's car when she's probably gonna complain about how loud it is?

 

[soup070]

Why waste money on the wife's car when she's probably gonna complain about how loud it is?

My wife doesn't, and she drives it more than me.

 

[J2_GXP8]

Corsa all the way! Its expensive but worth it!

 

[TyG8GXP]

Corsa all the way! Its expensive but worth it!

This...

 

[ChrisG]

I just hour my corsa. Amazing sounding exhaust. Before with my flowmaster set up people in the back couldn't hear me because of the drone. Today my girls sister noticed she could actually hear me. She is not into Cara at all, so that's impressive .

 

[Blade Runner]

Corsa. Unless you feel your car is not worthy.

 

[camoeto]

I've had a Corsa on my GT for > 1 year and ~ 15,000 miles. Great system and no issues with water or anything like that. If someone had these kind of issues, they must have FUBARd the install. It was mated to Kooks long tubes with cats. Looked like new when I sold the car.

I don't want to make any blanket statements comparing the two but will make some notes about the Corsa. I do want to qualify that Kooks headers made it louder but I've driven in a GXP which had only the Corsa and it was a bit quiter, but my impressions were the same. Some of the observations I can offer:

1. This system will NOT produce a "stock-like cruise", especially at freeway speeds. Yes, the sound level is reasonable at cruise, but definitely louder than stock.

2. What makes this system nice is that the sound level increase is more or less proportional to the RPM increase. I have NOT noticed abnormal frequencies or volume in the 1700-2200 RPM range.

3. AFM becomes really noticeable and annoying when it kicks on. This is the case with any aftermarket system. Unless you are death or completely insensitive to sound it really needs to be tuned out, or the radio needs to be turned up.

4. The tone is much different from a typical system such as Solo or Magnaflow. Much more exotic, a little higher pitched with metallic overtones. The videos are pretty accurate.

5. Quality, fit, and finish is second to none. Install went as smoothly as can be and everything fit right the first time around. Clean welds. The tips look high-end and fit great. They are as nice as my GXP tips.

One other thought, is $1200 which is what the Corsa currently costs really that much for a quality cat-back system? I know people were paying $1700 for these no problem when they first came out 4 years ago. I paid $1200 back then as part of a package deal and thought that price was a steal.

 

[pyroguy]

Why waste money on the wife's car when she's probably gonna complain about how loud it is?

Because I've been bugging her for a project vehicle for 5 years and now I finally have one that is worth modifying. 98 Grand Am and 00 Blazer not so much. Both long gone and not all that much missed.

Corsa. Unless you feel your car is not worthy.

I was dead set on Corsa until about a month ago when I seriously started looking into Solo and I don't want to go cheap with a system, but the cheapest I can find a Corsa system is about $1,300 and I can get the more expensive of the two Solo's that I'm looking at for about $850. I'm just wondering if Corsa is worthy of my car at that much of a price difference. For a difference of $450 I could go buy more mods to start filling up my signature!


Thanks everyone for all of the feedback. Please keep it coming. One main question is how are they sound for sound as far as interior noise goes? Can anyone comment from personal experiences for Corsa in cab vs. listed Solos in cab? Solo has their 1-10 rating but I have no idea how that compares to Corsa.

Soup070, thanks for the clarification about the supposed rain issue with Corsa. I've heard that a lot but nobody ever clarified what the problem was until now.

As far as rust, do the tips stay good looking or do they get surface rust as well? I know they're only tips and can be replaced a lot cheaper than a full system, but I don't want to have to replace any part of the system once it is installed. (PA winters (for now) where they spray that brine solution on the roads in addition to the salting.)