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Got a quote for a custom exhaust

theprototype

Seasoned Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
Messages
219
Location
Houston
V-Series Cadillac(s)?
2022 CT5V Blackwing
A fairly reputable shop quoted me $4-6k for a high quality custom exhaust. They fabricate a lot of these it looks like. Is this a good deal? With the lack of anything coming out from the brand names I’m thinking about going this route.
 
That's a lot of coin just to change the sound. Needs HP gains to be worth it IMO.
 
Agreed. If they quoted me $2-3k it would be on the car already. If this ended up being the only option out there though I’m doing it either way. 50% of the emotion for me in driving is the sound. Why I got this V8 over some whiny Porsche flat 6. It’s a travesty, some of my neighbors don’t even know I have a blackwing yet!
 
4-6k if it includes headers all the way back. Otherwise, I'd just give it more throttle. It's quieter on the inside than the outside at full throttle.
 
But, will headers require a tune? I agree headers to stock exhaust will likely be perfect, but I don't like tuning new cars personally.
 
Have you guys seen how big and heavy the exhausts are on this car. I think cat back exhaust while still keeping the valves near the tips is more ideal as a first step. Helps with weight saving and no tune needed either.
 
Next Friday I'm getting my local shop to fab a custom setup and they quoted me $750, which is a little higher than I expected, but I'm thrilled they're doing it.

In my other posts I've documented my lament at how many shops had simply turned me down. Thankfully the very last shop in town gave me the green light.

They're putting something like this:


Its a small muffler with the quiet/straight pipe paths built in.

It will definitely be loud, but not sure how effective the valves will be against the rage of that straight pipe. But I don't care - the V8 sound is why I bought the car in the first place.

So exactly what are they supposed to be doing for that exorbitant price the quoted you ?
 
Are those of you changing your exhaust doing before and after dyno runs, or do you just want it loud all the time (in which case you should just install glass packs - if you can get them to fit in the space available). Agree the sound of the V8 is most of the value of the 5 over the 4, but the factory exhaust is fantastic as-is from stealth mode to loud mode, which makes small animals jump and the cops turn on their spotlight when you drive by.

This isn't a 67 Camaro where your local exhaust shop can fab something up under an empty chassis and outperform stock. The engineers didn't leave even an extra 5 ft-bs in the table.


“The intakes, for example: We had to design them to drive in a rainstorm and keep the water out without choking engine performance. We fought for numbers that colleagues thought were comical.”

Roma: (chuckling) “One engineer came in and said airflow results showed that particular setup cost three horsepower.”

Grebovic: “We all went nuts. Three horsepower! No way, we’re not giving that away.”

Vivian: “I almost jumped out of my chair.”

Roma: “The engineer is looking at us sideways. ‘It’s only three horsepower, guys,’ he said. ‘You already make over six hundred!’”

Vivian: “We gave him a polite, ‘Wrong answer. Go back and find those three horsepower.’”

And the exhaust:
Heavener: “As an OEM, we have to respect legal limits for sound. I remember us down there, discussing Scarface’s traits, and whether the noise during the fuel-cut upshifts was acceptable. They sounded like a .22 going off on the one-two upshift, but we decided, ‘it’s staying.'”

Gill: “There was a pretty delicate balance between the hardware and the calibration that we had to manage to make ’em legal. At the start, Mirza [Grebovic] got involved as we were trying to determine the vision. Mirza’s exact words were, ‘I want it to scare small children.’”

Grebovic: (laughing) “Yeah!”

Gill: “I swear the best phone call I ever got was one night that Mirza took a Scarface vehicle home. He said, ‘my kids cried when I started it in the garage.’”

Vivian: “I think you messaged the group chat: ‘Mission accomplished.’”
 
Gill: “I swear the best phone call I ever got was one night that Mirza took a Scarface vehicle home. He said, ‘my kids cried when I started it in the garage.’”

Vivian: “I think you messaged the group chat: ‘Mission accomplished.’”
Wrong answer. Apparently, that’s not good enough for some people who want the kids to also pee their pants.
 
Purely aesthetics - I just want to hear it all the time.

I'll record it on my phone after the swap, but I doubt it'll convey any meaningful sound. We'll see........

A kid in an OJ-era Bronco fired up at a gas station Saturday. It was louder than many race cars I've heard. I just heard him drive away, so no idea what was in it.
 
Purely aesthetics - I just want to hear it all the time.

I'll record it on my phone after the swap, but I doubt it'll convey any meaningful sound. We'll see........

A kid in an OJ-era Bronco fired up at a gas station Saturday. It was louder than many race cars I've heard. I just heard him drive away, so no idea what was in it.

You want your Blackwing to sound like an OJ Ford Bronco with straight pipes? :D
 

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