When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1st impressions of the headers were that they were bad ***! The quality of the welds and the merge inside of the collector looked awesome. The robust flanges and clamps were very impressive. Hooker even included a new set of header bolts with the headers. The fitment of the headers was better than expected with these being the 5th set of headers I have installed. I had pre conceived notions about fitment but they literally like fell into place! By far the easiest set of headers I have ever installed on one of these cars.
The exhaust system followed suit with the headers, the quality on the bends and welds is awesome. My first impression of the mufflers was “HOLY MUFFLERS, THEY’RE HUGE!” I wasn't sure they were going to fit under the car, but they did with a little (very little) room to spare. The install was pretty straight forward. Hooker also supplied all very nice beefy band clamps for all the slip fit connections and then some really bad *** band clamps for the butt connected portion where the x pipe meets the over the axle portion.
The install was off to a very quick start I had the entire old system off in about an hour (not counting the time to put the car up in the air) I was actually very surprised with how easy it came off.
Like I said earlier the headers went right on. I had to test fit the down tubes so that I could mock up where my 02 bung was going to go for my wide band. Once the bung was welded in we were back to the races putting the rest of the system on everything was going together really well until I realized the location of my aftermarket fuel lines would not work with the new headers These headers kick out and run tighter to the frame rail where my old long tubes ran closer to the oil filter and trans. That was a pita to do, but aside from that the install went very smooth. In total I think we worked on the car for 9 hours but only about 4-5 hours was working on the actual exhaust. Between running to get the o2 bung welded in, fuel line re-routing, and diner we chewed up about 4 of the 9 hours.
My first thought on startup was its pretty quiet. Compared to the old system it is like I threw manifolds and an ORY with stock cat back on it. It has a nice tone to it but it’s quiet. Keep in mind I went from Long Tubes, no cats and resonators to an exhaust system where now I actually have mufflers…
I took it out Sunday and drove it a bit more and it seems like a totally different car, the power delivery is so smooth compared to the old set up. The more I drove it the more the mufflers broke in and the more I liked the exhaust tone.
The best way I can describe the sound is refined. There are no harsh tones or interior drone or resonances at certain rpm’s like you will find with a lot of exhaust systems on the market. The hooker True Dual system is unlike any other system I have heard. I love it, I listened to the radio for the first time in 4 years on my drive down to throw the car up on the dyno. This exhaust has made the car more enjoyable to drive. I didn't realize how loud the car was before and how that actually made me only want to drive it on short trips to rip around on the weekend. This exhaust is one of the best mods I have done to the car in a while; it has made the car feel more like a new modern muscle car instead of a 14 year old rattle box.
I know all of you are thinking to yourself ok great but how does it perform… Well early on when this system was introduced there was a lot of negativity cast on this product due to the exhaust being dual 2.5” instead of dual 3” like the Kooks system. A lot of people commented that this system wouldn't support anything more than a head cam car at best.
I am happy to share that this system allowed my car to make 614/540
I am very pleased with these results compared to my old Pacesetter long tube and 3” x-pipe set up. That old set up made 630/534 so I lost a 16hp but picked up more torque. Honestly the numbers would probably be closer but I was having fueling issues above 5800rpm’s on these run so we stopped the pull’s there where the old numbers are based on pulling to 6300rpm.
For the amount of ground clearance and drivability I gain over the old set up I would sacrifice 16hp every day of the week!
Below are some photos from the install, I will have videos up soon so everyone can hear what this system sounds like.
A big thank you goes out to my buddies Nate, Nick, and Steve that helped me with the install.
Thank you to Fran and Bill at Race Proven Motorsports for another job well done, I have had the car there multiple times for tuning and would recommend anybody to check them out with whatever your needs are, they do it all from oil changes to 8 second race car builds. If you’re in Delaware stop in and check them out!
And last but certainly not least to the folks at Holley for continuing to bring new products to the market for our car and continuing to push the industry further.
I think the only thing I would change is to have a premium tip option for a little larger tip. The only reason I say that is I loved my 4" corsa clones but I know the tip has to appeal to the majority. The tips that came with this system are growing on my, they match the refined theme of this exhaust. But all in all I am more than pleased with everything about this system, the ground clearance, the fitment through out, the quality and the sound are all just awesome!
I only uploaded ruffly 44 photos of over 100 taken so if there is something you want to see or have a question on please let me know.
Below are a couple of sound clips. I have more that I need to upload of in car and out of car while driving and wot so look forward to more to come on the videos.
looks and sounds awesome! Thanks for the write up and vids. Im going to wait for some good pictures of this system on a Camaro. I only saw 2 so far. I don't know how id feel about the look of the muffler setup and tips when theres no bumper cutouts to hide anything.
and a few more videos, these are from the other day just messing around with the camera. Im going to try and go out this weekend to get some better stuff.
What do you guys want to see/ hear?
Wow, thank you so much for all of these details - really appreciate it! I want it more than ever.
As luck would have it, I ended up scraping my bumper when tucking the car away for the winter....maybe it's time to consider a 6LE dual/dual valence and have it molded in when I get the bumper painted. That would hide the mufflers and just show the tips on my SS.
Part of me wonders if I picked up the 6LE Dual/Single valence, if there'd be enough room for a short single rolled or double walled tip with an "S" bend to be fabbed up to fit the Hooker system. If that could be pulled off, that'd be the perfect exhaust for me!
Or if some double wall or rolled tips could be fabbed onto the provided tips, if there were trimmed back some:
12-12-2015, 11:47 AM
