Best "Quiet" Exhaust for 5.3 Power & MPG 308 Gears???

[Ol' Blue]

I have a 2010 Silverado crew cab 4x4 with 5.3 engine, 6 speed transmission and 308 gears. This truck is my daily driver and I also use it to tow my bass boat. I'm not a fan of 308 gears for towing but purchased the truck with them in the name of more MPG. (I haven't seen the MPG advantage yet...) LOL With that said. I'm currently looking for the best options for increasing horse power and MPG without changing gears or cracking open the engine. I have currently installed a Volant Vortice throttle body spacer and a cold air induction system. I plan to have it computer tuned but want to first install performance exhaust before spending money on tuning. (If the exhaust are really necessary) What are the best performance exhaust to help it breath better without being too loud?? I'm no longer a teenager and don't want a LOUD truck. Now I'm not opposed to one that growls when you kick it.. I just don't want to have to live with cab drone and a noisy truck. Thanks..

[kstruckcountry]

The factory exhaust. You aren't going to notice a difference unless you tune it or change gears.

[hollis092]

Yeah with the 3.08s the disadvantage is the lower MPGs when towing and in town driving. Mileage is only improved on flat highway surfaces. The 3.08s IMO are horrible and should not have been placed in these trucks.

 

You aren't going to get loads of HP or TQ out of the exhaust, but you will see a little improvement. I am looking at getting the Corsa DB series as many here have suggested that it is a great setup. Check youtube for videos - sounds really aggressive when you stomp the pedal, but no interior drone. - Seems like the Corsa DB would be the best setup for you as well.

 

As for a tune - you only need to contact one company - Black Bear Performance (site sponsor here) - PM Jennabear for more info if you'd like.

 

Changing the gears to 3.73 would be perfect for your truck.

 

So to sum it up:

 

Corsa DB - Exhaust

BlackBear Autocal - Tune

 

 

That should wake her up a bit. I am looking to do both of these at some point, just saving the $$.

 

Also you could swap gears but that's a bit more intensive and I see you mentioned that you don't want to go that route.

 

G2 OEM 3.73 Ring and Pinion - Gear Change

[nickvrebel]

An exhaust just won't do what you are asking for. There is a negligible increase in MPG or power.

 

The easiest way to get moving in the right direction is a tune, but I think you should seriously consider a tune and gears (you will need it at the same time to keep you transmission shifting right and speedometer correct). In my old truck I actually gained MPG going from 3.42 to 3.73 (4 speed), I think a change with your 6 speed to a 3.42 gear (what my current truck has) would give a good balance for towing and in town fuel economy. A 3.08 has no business being in these trucks. As far as tuning, I hear Blackbear comes highly recommended. Personally I tune my own trucks with HP Tuners, but that is going to be way more involved than you will be wanting to get.

 

oh, if you are dead set on an exhaust I can say that I had the Corsa Touring on my '03 truck and it was quite impressive. At idle it was no different from stock, cruising it has a nice light purr, if you romped it you had a nice strong growl with zero rasp.

[hollis092]

You could do the Autocal prior to the gear change.

 

You could have them do the tunes on your current drivetrain setup, then when you regear they can take care of you.

 

I had asked this question to Jenna a while back and she let me know that it would not be a problem to do the autocal, regear, and then get the ECM reset for the new gears.

[Bad Bowtie2]

I agree with everything the above guys have said.

 

I would say if your dead set on changing your exhaust some for "a bit more noise"..... Look for the thread on here about the Borla discounted "GMPP muffler". I would recommend the touring level, in your case, the sport system would be too loud. Just have a muffler shop hook you up. Shouldn't be more than $40 for the labor....

 

This is a great buy on a quality street performance muffler.

[Ol' Blue]

I'm definitely going to have it tuned. And I'm Ok with staying with the stock exhaust unless I'm "REALLY" missing out on enhanced performance. What would it cost to swap gears?? (Front & Rear) What kind of MPG could I expect with say 3.42 gears and the 6 speed transmission?

[Prokopchuk_9]

its a truck. no less than 3:73's. nuff said

[Carder09]

Too bad you dont like loud. You could go my route lol.

[desrtrat]

its a truck. no less than 3:73's. nuff said

X10

double over drive trans, 3.08 gears.

[LongrangeLauber]

with 3.08's the truck struggles towing anything. Trust me, you wont notice it till you swap the gears. It feels like lm towing with 3.08s right now just because of the tire size and stock 3.73's. Youll be amazed what gear swaps will do. My 4.88 swap is being done in about 3 weeks!!

[Badass69]

373... with the stock 32" tall tire it will have more power everywhere.... and still cruise at less than 2 grand at 70 mph in 6th's .66:1 gear.. Don't even bother doing anuthing unless you want to regear it.

[Ol' Blue]

Thanks for the input everyone!! The verdict is still out on getting new exhaust or staying stock, but I'm definitely going to get the Ol' gal tuned!!

[nickvrebel]

My 09 gets mid 16's in town, if I drive slower on the highway I can get upper teens, but going normal speeds on the highway its around 17ish. This is on 20" wheels.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[T1Kaiju]

When i got my boat, i added a truetrac and 3.42 gears to my 3.08 base LS. You got to remember, the 1st gear is super low on the 6 speed where a 3.42 is actually lower than 4.11 on the 4 speed. 3.73 is like 4.56 which for stock tires is kind of rev overkill if you ride a lot of highway. It revs a few hundred more at 70, no doubt. But, its only like lot 20-30 less miles a tank after the switch on my avy with 5.3 with a 31 gallon tank. It was $1300 a couple years ago to do a trutrac and rear g2 gears at 4wp. I think gears were only 2-300 more after the tt since they had it open anyway. Id shoot for 650. Towed my 3500lb fish ski real nice and i would suggest the airaid mit for a little more response. Leave the exhaust alone for towin- its pretty set...