Breathing Chambers

New car manufacturers are restricted in many ways when designing a car. Going to the drawing board with a new idea, they have to consider factors most of us wouldn’t even think about. Most of the car is usually built first, and then an exhaust system is designed to fit within the chassis. This often results in a restrictive exhaust system. High-performance cars are not much better. The exhaust, although much improved over the systems of standard vehicles, still lacks the performance of a true high-flow system. The limiting factor is usually production cost, not fit, in today’s systems.

Fortunately, there are several aftermarket manufacturers who have taken the initiative to design an exhaust system that not only sounds meaner than stock, but improves performance in the new Camaro.

Rick’s First Generation is one of those companies offering complete after-cat exhaust systems in both T304 stainless and aluminized steel for ’93-’98 Camaros. Rick’s says that this product is the only one it stocks that’s not for the ’67-’69 Camaro, and it makes the fourth-generation F-cars much more fun to drive. Since the new factory Z28s, and even the SS models, have very quiet and somewhat restrictive exhaust systems, Rick’s offers this true-chambered system similar to the legendary ’69 Camaro’s chambered systems. The tubes are mandrel bent and the kits come complete with a front intermediate chambered pipe, a rear dual-chambered section, LH and RH 2-½-inch tailpipes with angle-cut outlets, hangers, clamps, bolts, and gaskets. The ’95-’96 kits also come with a required front “S” pipe.

Rick’s claims the systems mount easily in the stock location, so we decided to try one out. We hung out under a fresh ’97 Camaro while Scott Gillman of Hotchkis Performance in Santa Fe Springs, California, installed the system in an afternoon. The complete kit (from Rick’s) in T304 stainless sells for $599 and the aluminized kit for $429.

You will need a few basic handtools and a torch or hacksaw to remove the old system. When the installation is complete, you’ll have that distinctive throaty rumble of a musclecar and the performance improvement to back it up.