I just got done a few days ago putting my Pacesetter LT's on and my TSP ORY, hooked it up to my hooker catback and and took it for a drive. Now I have a question about the sound coming out, cause it isn't anything like thought it was going to be. Its fine under like 2000rpm, still sounds deep and everything like it did with the stock manifolds/Y, the only difference is there is a little noise something like "psst, psst, psst" with it, and its coming from the engine cause the speed of the noise increases with the rpms, so I'm assuming its just what the headers do to it. Anyway, when you get above 2000, like say 2200 or 2300 things change a lot. Before when it was the hooker on stock manifolds and Y it would just get louder at this point, but still sound very good and deep. Now when it gets to that point it starts making a very loud noise, like a popping noise that comes from the back(its not doing it by the engine or under the car at all I mean, I can only hear it coming out the back). It sounds almost like some of those fart cans on imports, how they make that sound almost like popping when they are accelerating. It takes the car actually moving the car to do it too, when i go through those rpms when im in neutral it sounds pretty much fine, just that "psst, psst" noise, lol. Its actually really annoying cause it pops soo loud and doesnt sound right to me. Especially since I thought Hooker was supposed to be one of the quietest catbacks you could get, and this can be very loud. Also, it takes a medium amount of gas to do it. If I accelerate slowly and hold it in 1st through that rpm range it does make a little bit of the noise, but not as much(if I'm accelerating a little harder though it does do it normally). If I accelerate really hard its still there too, but also not as loud, and in the higher rpms(like above 3000-3500 or something) the popping gets quieter also.

Anyway, what do you think? Does this sound normal? If not, what could it be and what do I do about it?

 

i didnt read the whole thread, but from the first few sentences it sounds like an exhaust leak..did you use the paper gaskets that came with the headers?...i havent had my ss for long but from what ive read on these forums the paper gaskets are crap and will leak u need sum oem ones...

 

Nope, I used the GM ones. The sound problem is much much more the popping noise than the little psst noise too. I'm just assuming thats what you're talking about.

 

Welcome to the world of rasp. This is the very reason I got rid of my Hooker catback, and my Random Technologies catback. (I have a SLP DD now with LT's and an ORY and I LOVE it) You can add a bullet style muffler in the I-Pipe, which I didn't consider an option, you can try different catbacks, (expensive) or you can put some cats back on it. When you get your torque converter, a lot of the rasp will subside. The converter won't "load" the engine as much. It won't go away completely, but it will diminish considerably. (about 80%) I say, live with it until you get your converter, and then decide if it still sounds bad enough to warrant changing.

 

I thought Hooker catbacks were supposed to have absolutely zero rasp o_O. That's what everyone told me before, and why I picked Hooker over Magnaflow. Everyone was saying that the Magnaflow had just a little bit of rasp with LT's, but the Hooker didn't. So I got it. Now I'm confused...

 

"welcome to the world of rasp" was the EXACT phrase i was thinking also. you bought an ORY. f-bodies NEED CATS to sound good. ORY's sound like ****, we have aluminum blocks. the LS1 is a rasp-producing machine. aluminum produces high frequencies. put cats on. it will sound much better. i promise you.

ORY's are such a bad decision on an aluminum motor...

 

in response to this, people just have different tolerances for rasp. many people don't know what rasp is. all ORY's rasp at certain rpm's. ALL OF THEM. no catback with an ORY on an LS1 will ever be rasp free. i have zero tolerance for rasp. that's why my car will always run cats.

IMO, magnaflow rasps terribly in sound clips with a ORY. some people just aren't picky like i am.

 

I've seen the inside of one TSP ORY and one Jet-Hot
ORY, and there are enough sharp edges sticking in to
make a mighty fine 300HP dog whistle. I "ported" mine
and it sounds pretty good with ORY and the CME
exhaust. Cats will filter out the high harmonics a
fair bit but not generating them to begin with, is a
lot better (costing you a few hours with the die grinder).

 

I hear you on that one Choco Toco, I hate rasp with a passion. I am very picky on how my car sounds. I am going to keep my cats on, but have one question. If I get the high flow cats will they produce rasp???

 

Well I guess I'm learning that I hate rasp too. What does it take to put cats in after you've put in your ORY? I'd like to know the answer to the high-flow cats question too. It's really amazing to me that a lot of people can say that it has basically none, even with an ORY, but when I put it on there it's horrible. I mean LOUD rasp if thats what it really is. Its just aweful. If its like this for other people I don't see how they can possibly talk about hookers "good deep tone" and how it has little rasp. The rasp is so loud on mine, I literally can't hear that deep note when I'm accelerating through those rpms. Not what I expected at all

 

Rasp, to me, sounds like a mid 70's Chevy PU with duals and glasspacks on heavy acceleration. ChocoTaco369 and I have the same (good) tastes in exhaust sound. Seriously, once you get a stall in it, the vast majority of the rasp dissapears, especially if you have some gears to go along with it.

 

I beg to differ. You won't find any rasp in my exhaust....and there's no kitties on there.
No doubt on a y-pipe setup it will rasp like hell without cats.....but that's because of the y-pipe, not the motor itself. Yes, the aluminum motor makes for a less-deep sound compared to an iron block......but stick some true duals on there with a well designed H or X merge and prepare for pure music to the ears. I've heard half a dozen different dual setups on an LS1 in person, both H and X.....not one had any rasp at all.

To get back on track, pretty much the only things you can do on a y-pipe setup to eliminate rasp is to stick another muffler in the I-pipe (bullet...borla xr1, etc.) or add high flow cats to it. The more you muffle the exhaust, be it with cats or more mufflers, the less rasp you'll notice. Hence why the magnaflow, hooker and SLP DD (some of the quieter catbacks available) generally have less rasp than say the loudmouth, corsa or GMMG.

 

Wouldn't a revised merge (Y) collector have an effect on the way it sounds?? I've heard of people using a Flowmaster merge collector (reversed, of course) to help lessen the effects of rasp. I've never heard one to judge for myself, though.

 

The merge is where you see all the sharps sticking in
on sloppily-made ones and where I did all the hogging.