79TAKid

iTrader: (1)

Does anyone know or have documentation to:

are the flow numbers the same on a Stock 2001 RamAir T/A catback and a 2001 Formula exhaust?
the only difference I see physically is the tips, cast alum vs. chrome
the pipe size appears to be equal, about 2 1/2 inches
my 2002 Firehawk has the dual dual and appears to be a 2 3/4 inch pipe

I have my Formula exhaust down for a fuel pump and I also have a WS6 catback sitting here from another car, didn't know if there was any advantage performance wise. I have already installed a bigger SLP Y-pipe.

ULTIMATEORANGESS

iTrader: (4)

i wouldnt go through the trouble but thats me.

TransAmWS.6

You might gain a very small amount but I doubt it will be noticeable, may not be much louder either.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Base V8 muffler (Z28/Formula/Trans Am) is a 2.75" inlet/2.25" outlet with 2.25" tail pipes.

WS6/SS muffler is a 2.75" inlet/2.5" outlet with 2.5" tail pipes.

I-pipe is the same diameter for both.

The difference is marginal at best, and would likely fall within a dyno's margin of error. On a stock car the difference might be 1.5hp or so. On a heavily modded car, it might be 3hp.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Do a Magnaflow or Dynomax Ultraflow crossflow muffler swap and use the WS6 tail pipes.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

Contrary to popular belief, ws6 and SS cars are not much better than a base V8. If it's an easy swap, id throw it on just for the better tips. However, I'd imagine the extra weight of the larger pipe on the WS6 will probably outweight the performance gain.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Honestly, unless the SS was optioned with dual/dual or dual/dual plus a blackwing, there is nothing about it (or the WS6) that gives any measurable HP gain. The 0.25" larger tail pipes just aren't enough to give it a noticeable edge.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

Agreed, but the larger front sway bar and lighter fiberglass hod do add a little to performance (as marginal as it may be)

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

You would have to be pushing the car to the absolute extreme ends of it's potential handling performance to notice any difference from the 2mm larger front sway bar of the SS/WS6 cars. The handling improvement of the SS/WS6 (non-1LE/non-Bilstein) that your average driver will notice comes from the 17x9" wheels and 275/40 tires. When I put that wheel/tire combo on my base V8 car, I found that it's street handling was indistinguishable from my WS6.

The original SS/WS6 hood is SMC and is heavier than your typical aftermarket fiberglass unit. Any weight advantage (stock for stock) over the metal hooded base cars is likely negated by the heavier 17x9" wheels and tires.

79TAKid

iTrader: (1)

Well, I decided to use the WS6 exhaust tonight after laying them on top of each other:

WS6 tailpipes - 2 1/2" VS. Formula tailpipes - 2"

WS6 muffler body - 22" long VS. Formula muffler body - 27" long

The WS6 catback has a deeper throatier sound, maybe less restriction (plus I had it here - FREE)

I would be interested in a SLP Dual Dual catback if someone close to St.Louis has one to part with. That's exactly whats on my '02 Firehawk, but I'm not stealing that one.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

I agree with all of this completely.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The Formula/Z28/TA tail pipes are actually 2.25" diameter (roughly 7.25" outer circumference).

Good catch, I had forgotten about the case size difference between these mufflers.

disc0monkey

iTrader: (10)

my .02 the taller airbox is the key to the ws6 being faster than SS and non-ws6 fbodies.

just the slp ram air fixes this tho


the ws6 muffler sounds great imo, and i get compliments all the time. when i tell them its a stock catback they do not believe me, they actually have this look like im a effin retard and im like look for yourself.

i had a dual/dual and the ws6 sounds much better in this config, imo. btw im running a ory and manifolds.

WhiteKnight '01

I know some people that say the SS really does make 15HP more because it has a functional ram air hood.

Also, off subject, but are the handling gains of going to 17 inch wheels over 16 inch wheels really that good? Any negatives to it?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The only problem with this statement is the fact that, on average, the WS6 is NOT any faster than the SS or base V8 F-bodies (year for year, trans for trans). The fastest stock LS1 on record was actually a '99 Z28.

That's just a preference thing. I've also had both the stock WS6 catback and the dual/dual, I thought dual/dual sounded better. Either way, dual/dual definitely flows better.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Functional? Barely. Have these people ever looked at the design of it? None of these cars came with true ram air, because none of their hoods were ever sealed to the airbox in stock form.

Yes, the handling advantage is pretty noticeable IMO. The only negatives are a somewhat harsher ride quality and the greater tendency of the wider tires to follow grooves in the road.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

It's not the rim diameter that makes it handle better, it's the width upgrade. 245 to 275mm wide tires is a pretty substantial upgrade.

Except the 96-97 Ws6's and 93-97 firehawks , that intake/hood setup was much better than a base V8 car's.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The aspect ratio of the tire is definitely part of the equation as well.

The base 245/50/16 tires were 25.65" tall. The SS/WS6 275/40/17 tires were 25.66" tall. So with essentially the same overall tire diameter, you've got 1" less tire sidewall, with that extra space filled by the 1" larger wheels.

275/40 tires have a sidewall that is 4.33" tall.

245/50 tires have a sidewall that is 4.82" tall.

This difference in sidewall is significant, and represents a great deal of the difference in road feel between the two wheel/tire options.

Yeah, the factory air intake setup certainly wasn't the best on the base LT1 cars.

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

I understand that less sidewall=harsher ride, but I would it think it would also result in a lower threshold for side-to-side/corner traction? (not taking into consideration the larger width, of course)

Maybe I'm completely wrong, but say you have two tires, equal rim diameter, and equal tread width, but on has a taller sidewall than the other. Wouldn't the car with more sidewall have a higher threshold for traction in the corners due to the fact it has to "stretch" farther before it reaches the limit of traction aka "brake loose"? Guess I've never thought about that much before.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I suppose there is eventually a point where going excessively small on the sidewall could be a negative thing for handing purposes. But going too large on the sidewall introduces additional flex that would be unwanted in applicaitons where crisp handling is desired.