Billy Boat Exhausts for the Corvette C6
Billy Boat Exhaust has established quite a name for themselves over the past two decades as an industry leader when it comes to exhausts. They began in 1989 with the Porsche 911 community and did exceedingly well on the track and established a reputation as a quality company providing parts-namely oil coolers, intercoolers and of course exhausts. They've managed to expand their lineup over the past twenty-two years however to include a number of foreign and domestic vehicles, among them the beloved Corvette- each being designed with the enthusiast in mind
They currently offer four different exhausts for the Corvette C6: the Route 66, the PRT, the most popular (and most aggressive) the Bullet and the Fusion- which is their creation of the NPP Bi-Modal exhaust. The Route 66 is the most mild of these systems in both sound and power gains. The Route 66 system is designed for those who might want a slightly more aggressive tone to their Corvette and a slight power jump. This system is capable of producing 11 horsepower over stock, and produces a muscular tone from the engine but certainly not overbearing, or really all too noticeable from the stock set up. In my honest opinion, if I'm going to spend the money on an exhaust I want to feel it and hear a noticeable difference over stock. But, if you're in the kind of neighborhood where the neighbors complain about excessive noise- this might be the best route to go for a little jump in power and not a lot of difference in db output.
The next option from the masterminds in the workshop is the PRT exhaust. This setup provides increased tone from the engine than the above, but the main difference in the PRT is its ability to maintain a relatively quiet tone during regular cruising (no drone at all), while at wide open throttle it produces a much sportier, raspier tone. This setup is good for 18 hp and 17 foot pounds of torque over stock which is definitely a noticeable jump for a bolt on exhaust. Billy Boat recommends this system for automatics, paddle shift equipped cars and cars already equipped with headers. The sound produced by the Corvette with this exhaust has a great tone, and honestly at wide open throttle is quite pleasing to the ear. The PRT is a kind of stepping stone up to the Bullet however, and if sound is what you're after- you need look no further than the Bullet.
The Bullet is the most aggressive sounding and straight through design that B&B offers. This system is good for just about the same amount of power as the PRT, but has so much more sound. The Bullet is known for a really aggressive muscle-car sound. The major complaint about the Bullet is that there is some cabin drone, but any time you open up a V8 on the back end… it gets louder. So, if cabin drone is a major concern for you, B&B has even come up with a solution for that (see the Fusion). The Bullet however, sounds great at idle and beyond and was designed to give that classic V8 sound. All of the pops and gurgles you would expect from a mostly uncorked V8 are present with this system while maintaining a great round tone. The Bullet has become the industry standard for an aggressive sounding exhaust at a great price.
B&B received a couple of notes from customers regarding cabin drone with the Bullet system. That's when they developed the Fusion exhaust system. What they've done with the issue of drone is develop their own bi-modal exhaust. Everything they've developed in house, and come out with a pretty impressive solution. Basically everything operates the same way that the factory NPP option exhaust would with the mild to wild switch or by using the factory RPM controlled method. This system can be operated with either two ports closed on the exhaust reducing overall output sound (and eliminating, or greatly reducing drone on the highway) or with all ports open for the great Bullet sound. Kind of a best of both worlds and all controlled by the vacuum OEM NPP plumbing already installed (assuming you already have the factory NPP option. If not, you can also get Billy Boats complete Fusion Exhaust Kit that gives you the Fusion exhaust along with a retrofit kit to add the NPP option to your Corvette so you can enjoy the multimode exhaust completely.
All in all if you own a C6 (if you're reading this blog, I assume you do or will be soon) give B&B Exhaust a look and see what they've got to offer for our cars. The C6 needs to breathe better and sounds better than the factory exhaust allows, and Billy Boat does a great job of providing a system for every type of owner taste.