New Corsa 3" exhaust

SEASNAKE

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 2, 2000
Posts
358
Reaction score
0
Location
Wilmington, NC USA
New Corsa 3\" exhaust

I installed my new Corsa exhaust Saturday. I noticed a big change in exhaust noise. The idle really sounds like a delivery truck. Riding in the car below 2000 rpms is extremely quiet (even more than the stock exhaust) and above 3000 is sweet and loud. Throttle response appears to be much better.

Make sure you follow instructions and start the car outside. Mine burned out oil for almost 30 minutes.
 

JonB

Legacy\Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Dec 8, 1997
Posts
10,325
Reaction score
43
Location
Columbia River Gorge
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SEASNAKE:
I installed my new Corsa exhaust Saturday..... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In your own garage? Have a lift/ jackstands? Weekend job?
 
OP
OP
S

SEASNAKE

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 2, 2000
Posts
358
Reaction score
0
Location
Wilmington, NC USA
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

Saturday was beautiful here. I had the car outside on my driveway and up on jack stands. It took me about 5 hours by myself. I had one cat that was stuck to the old exhaust pretty good and took me a while to get off.
 

SamC

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 2, 2001
Posts
45
Reaction score
0
Location
Glendale, CA, USA
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

I did my Belanger headers, Random Tech catback, and Corsa 3" in the garage on jack stands. Not very hard to do. I found separating the resonators from the cat probably the hardest job. I was really tempted to take a Sawsall to it. The key is to use plenty of penetrating oil on the clamp and the joint. Completely remove the clamp and then take a rubber mallet hitting the resonator on its end driving it towards the rear tire. This works great and didn't even dent the resonator. As if anyone would actually care to spare the OE resonator. I did the whole installation over a weekend taking approximately 12 hours.
 

KenH

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 7, 2001
Posts
1,462
Reaction score
0
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

How high up did you have to get the Viper to do the work? Were the instructions good enough for the mechanically misfortunate?

--- Ken
'01 GTS
 

Qualitywires.com

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Oct 18, 2000
Posts
7,050
Reaction score
0
Location
Louisville, KY
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

if you use a blow torch on the pipes..it will make it easier to pull off the resonators. This is what I did and it worked fine...plus I was able not to cut the resonators if I needed them for future use.
 

SamC

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 2, 2001
Posts
45
Reaction score
0
Location
Glendale, CA, USA
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

The instructions from Corsa was straight forward and accurate. The fit was so good that anyone can do this bolt-on installation. The Random Tech highflow cats came with a sheet of paper called instructions but it might as well been blank. I had only a few questions regarding installation which JonB was able to handle. I had the cats mig welded on. To do so, I had prefit the entire system before tightening any clamps. I then cut the cats to the appropriate length and marked their position and orientation. I took the parts to a muffler shop which welded the cats on for a small fee. Although I believe it would be safe to mig weld the parts on while in their installation position, it would be hard to do a good job and would risk melting parts of the door. The side sill component of the exhaust system then installs as one unit. After this installation, the Corsa parts can be moved into their final position and the clamps tightened.

The Belanger headers are easy to install. The instructions were designed for pre-2000 Vipers and had some big problems. Luckily, Damen at Belanger was really helpful with some questions. For pre-2000 Vipers, the 02 sensor **** is located in the collector and the wiring harnass needs to be moved around the A/C compressor to get extra length. For 2000+ Vipers, the wiring harnass does not need to be moved, but the right sided 02 sensor must be installed prior to tightening the header bolts. The instructions do not point this out and cost me an extra hour on the installation.

I had the car lifted on standard jacks approximately 1.5 feet off the ground. At that height, there was plenty of room under the car to do the work while not too high to install the headers.

I would not recommend using a torch to loosen the joint between the cat and the resonator muffler. Doing so risks burning your door. I believe there was a recent post of that very event.

BTW, its is best to disassemble the OE catback before removing the OE exhaust manifold. Reverse this order for installation. Install the headers first followed by the catback.
 

Venom Lover

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 2, 2000
Posts
627
Reaction score
0
Location
Santa Barbara, CA USA
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

I will say that the Corsa 3" tips look the best of any that I have seen. But omigosh -- that UPS truck sound when you first fire it up....

Anyway, I guess I have learned that you can't have an exhaust that is on the one hand mean and nasty sounding, and on the other hand quiet and restrained in the interior.

My question is how much louder and more aggressive sounding it will get if I put on hi-flow cats. I know my '97 sure did, but I had Borla headers and exhaust. Just curious if it's worth the $700 (or whatever) for some good hi-flow cats.
 

Vic

VCA Venom Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2000
Posts
6,763
Reaction score
0
Re: New Corsa 3\" exhaust

Dave Jenkins put my Corsas on. Normally, I am a do-it-your-self type, but no longer have the time.

They sound really loud, when the car is cold, and you start it for the first time in the morning. They really "blatt" at 6am!

Then after the car warms up, the tone changes to a more subdued tone, (if you could call it subdued!)

It really roars when you tromp on it. The car seems a bit faster. And yes, the interior does not have that funny resonance anymore. I really love the beefy looking tips, they are really phat. Doesn't look like just plain old thin wall pipes, bent into an exhaust shape. Rather, has a quality, finished look to the tips.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
153,218
Posts
1,682,077
Members
17,714
Latest member
potterb4
Top