Man Surprises Girlfriend By ‘Straight Piping’ Her C7 Corvette
Is the way to a woman’s heart a tearing, naturally-aspirated, V8-fueled Corvette track to her eardrums?
When Derek Baran wanted to do something special for his girlfriend, he went in a different direction. He decided to secretly get a hold of her 2015 C7 Corvette and have an AWE Performance Exhaust Suite installed. Did he choose correctly in opting to crank up the Corvette; or should have just said it with flowers?
Baran’s girlfriend Romina owns a very sweet red 2015 Corvette Stingray. And it is just about perfect.
“It’s got the body lines, it’s red, has all the black accents and the Z06 (body kit),” Baran says. “The last thing it needs is just that little extra bite.” As he says, her 6.2- LT1-powered Stingray gets a “nice little rumble” from the V8. But a race catback exhaust will really open up that rumble and boost performance.
As he goes through the AWE exhaust suite components, he is sure to stress that they are straight piping using a catback exhaust. He is not eliminating the catalytic converter, he is a law-abiding citizen. Ahem, that would be wrong, and bad, and not completely kickass at all.
Another sweet cherry on top is the sleek black exhaust tips. Very sharp.
He takes the Corvette to Alan Grant at Grant Performance to do the install. Always better to rely on a pro when it comes to removing any rear components.
With a seamless fitment and the quad tips, it looks gorgeous. But when they fire up the Corvette, it sounds unbelievably good.
Now the LT1 has a deeper, richer, growl that resonates with a bass you can feel in your stomach. As Baran drives it home, he can’t hold back.
“It freakin’ backfires!” he exclaims. “She’s going to love it!”
Finally, Romina shows up. After some shenanigans, Baran tells her they need to go somewhere, and her ‘Vette is in the garage. She gets in, fires it up, and … wow.
Stunned and thrilled, she can barely contain her enthusiasm. “You little ****! OH! It sounds so GOOD!” she enthuses. They hit the road.
She couldn’t be any happier. Romina wants a taste of what the racing exhaust in action; she shifts gears, accelerates, and really opens it up and puts the hammer down.
Her reaction is everything. It is euphoric. The increased performance and enriched note are immediately apparent; invigorating the already potent C7 Corvette drive experience. It really shows how an exhaust upgrade can add more; both in terms of heating up performance, as well as engaging the driver on a more sensory level.
“It’s not too loud, it’s not too obnoxious,” she says. “It’s perfect!”
Keep your roses, some girls prefer a fast, high-revving V8 instead.
Photos: Derek Baran Productions
Join the LS1Tech forums now!
