We can all agree that the Corvette C8 already has a pretty nice sounding exhaust system. However, there are ways to make it sound even better, while potentially adding anywhere from 5 to 20 wheel HP, all while enhancing the bark and growl from both the LT2 and LT6 V8’s.
Find Your Next Full Exhaust
We vetted the market so you don’t have to!
Our Exhaust recommendations are weighted based on a combination of performance, build quality, and value for money.
About Our Exhaust Recommendations
Founded in 2014, the CorvSport team has been ‘Vette obsessed for as long as we can remember. While we’ve spent nearly a decade writing about all things Corvette, we’ve been driving them for much longer than that!
When creating our Corvette mod lists, we focused on three areas:
- Performance – Any exhaust worth having should be free of any unnecessary restrictions, thereby overall exhaust pressure, and basically improving the output from the C8’s V8
- Build quality – A good exhaust kit needs to have superior craftsmanship, be free of lackluster welds, and have no obvious defects or impedances in the engine bay
- Value for money – While we wouldn’t say we are “cheap” by any means, we do value stretching the dollar to make sure every one of them spent on an exhaust is worth it
CorvSport is funded by our audience. Our recommendations and reviews may contain affiliate links that earn us a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking them. This is the primary way we fund our website and pay our review team (and comes at no additional cost to you). Where appropriate, we disclose our relationship with brands or manufacturers for transparency.
A Wide Open Market
Truth be told, ever since the C8 rolled off the production line in 2020, there has been a veritable explosion of aftermarket offerings for the car. Intakes, body kits, wheels, turbocharger and supercharger kits, and of course, exhausts. There are the expected participants such as Borla, Fabspeed, Magnaflow, and the like, but there are also some newcomers that, due to the engine position of the C8, have brought over their experience from doing exhausts for mid-engine supercars for years.
It should be noted that because of the unique positioning of the C8’s engine, almost all of the exhaust kits are cat-back. There are very few full kits, and there are also very few axle-back kits. It seems that replacing everything from the end of the headers to the exhaust tips is the way to go, so that is why you will see most of the picks being cat-back.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get into the recommendations!
Current Best Cat-Back Exhaust Kits (C8 Stingray)
Borla Exhaust Stingray ATAK Cat-Back System
Price: $4,059.99
Where to Buy: Borla Exhaust
Why?
The stock C8 exhaust does have a nice rumble to it, especially if you have the NPP valve system as one of your options. Yet, for some, it doesn’t quite tickle that itch of a burbling idle and a sonorous howl when standing on the loud pedal. Enter Borla.
The Stingray ATAK system includes both AFM (‘20 and ‘21) / DFM (‘22+) valves and NPP valves, so you can drive it through your neighborhood without waking up everyone, then flip it to “annihilate everyone’s eardrums” when you’re on the freeway. The ATAK system is, in a word, loud. It eliminates the X-pipe from the stock system, and replaces it with Borla’s own SwitchFire system which uses the combustion pulses from both banks to amplify the total exhaust sound.
It also uses multiple-diameter pipes to shape those same pulses before it enters the SwitchFire “mufflers” (really, does an amplification chamber count as a muffler?). Those pipes are T-304 stainless steel which Borla backs with a full million-mile warranty. There are a selection of tips from chrome, T-304 stainless steel, or carbon fiber.
In short: It’s loud, it’s gnarly, and it will make sure people can hear you coming and going.
Paragon Performance C8 Titanium Cat-Back Exhaust
Price: $3,999.00
Where to Buy: Paragon Performance
Why?
Paragon Performance are not very humble about their Titanium exhaust system, claiming a dyno-test backed increase in performance of +14 wheel HP and +16 lbs-ft wheel torque. Minimum.
It also has what we consider to be the by-far smallest mufflers of any exhaust system we’ve seen for the C8 that isn’t a straight pipe. Constructed of 3-inch titanium tubing, the entire thing, tips included, weighs a scant 20 lbs compared to the OEM’s weight of 77 lbs. That’s 57 lbs of sprung weight taken off the car!
What impressed us the most about the Paragon Titanium exhaust, however, was not the weight or the power increase. No, these people mean business, and you can tell by the sheer quality of their welds, which are all done by hand by master welders. As well, this is not a system for the shy, as it tickles at the limits of noise laws by putting out around 90 decibels when you’re stomping the loud pedal through the floor.
You also have 9 different tip finishes to choose from, from bare titanium to carbon fiber and everything in between.
Corsa Performance C8 Pro-Series Cat-Back Exhaust (NPP version)
Price: $4,046.99
Where to Buy: Corsa Performance
Why?
While some may like their exhaust to be sonorous and smooth, or bassy and thumping, the Corsa Performance Pro-Series exhaust is neither of those. At idle, it makes the engine sound as if you’ve installed drag cams, chugging and burbling so much you can hear each cylinder firing. With the NPP valves closed, it is also a pleasant touring exhaust.
But we’re not here for pleasant, are we? With the NPP valves open, aka track mode, the Corsa Pro-Series absolutely snarls, and if you shift anywhere above 5,000 RPM, it will even emit a loud snap on each shift. Made from 3-inch stainless steel, with 4.5 inch tips, this exhaust is both louder by 10 decibels than the stock with NPP valves open, and 1 decibel quieter when they are closed. It also comes in at between 13 to 21 lbs lighter than the OEM exhaust, depending on what tip material you select.
We like this exhaust because it brings a sense of raw aggression to the C8 that matches its angular, angry looks. It snaps, barks, bites, roars when you’re attacking a corner, but it also burbles and snarls even when you’re idling. It just fits the aesthetic of the C8. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that it has an unlimited lifetime warranty on the exhaust, and five years on the valves.
Current Best Cat-Back Exhaust Kits (C8 Z06)
AWE Tuning C8 Z06 SwitchPath Cat-Back Exhaust
Price: $3,889.47
Where to Buy: AWE Tuning
Why?
If you’re a fan of Formula One in any way, shape, or form, the AWE Tuning SwitchPath exhaust is the one for you. We all know that the Z06 sounds glorious when it gets up to near 9,000 RPM, but something about the stock exhaust seems to dull the sound just a little, taking the higher pitched edge off of it. Not so with this beast installed!
Made from CNC mandrel-bent T304L stainless steel and hand-welded to ensure consistent quality, the SwitchPath’s special feature is in its name. Instead of running all four pipes through mufflers, only the outer two get the muffler treatment. The inner two pipes, however, as you can see from the image above this entry, are almost literally straight pipes.
The result is that the high pitched edge that is what makes older F1 cars revving to the stratosphere sound so good comes through from the engine. It makes the Z06 sound about as angry as a mosquito in a mannequin store, and that aggressive edge makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up. When you get the chills listening to an exhaust, well, you know it’s good!
Fabspeed C8 Z06 Supersport X-Pipe Cat-Back Exhaust
Price: $4,195
Where to Buy: Fabspeed
Why?
Well, this one is a bit of an interesting recommendation, because this exhaust would very likely be illegal to install in California! The reason for that is not because of emissions, but because it technically doesn’t have any mufflers. At all. Which makes this beast l-o-u-d, to the point that it would likely break California’s noise laws.
Fabspeed aren’t shy about it either, stating that the exhaust system is “race focused.” It does have a quiet mode for long distance highway drives so the drone doesn’t give you a headache, but when you put the Z06 into Sport, Track, or Race mode, the exhaust wakes up and simply screams (in a very nice way!).
Made from T304 stainless steel, with the deletion of the mufflers it saves a whopping 35 lbs over the stock system, and gets +16 wheel HP and +19 lbs-ft of wheel torque. It is also a direct bolt on, using the stock exhaust hanger positions and designed to mate to the OEM headers 1-to-1.
It also doesn’t hurt that Fabspeed’s internal dyno test raised the wheel HP to 666. Nothing ominous about that at all…
Valvetronic Designs C8 Z06 Valved Sport Titanium Cat-Back Exhaust
Price: $6,874.00
Where to Buy: Valvetronic Designs
Why?
For the previous two exhausts, we’ve picked one for the tone of sound, and picked the other for the decibel levels it brings (as well as sounding awesome). Now, what would happen if you brought both ideas together, but made it out of Grade 5 (motorsports-level) titanium? This exhaust is the result.
Valvetronic has made this exhaust to be as free flowing as possible, with mandrel bent 3-inch minimum diameter titanium, which is then hand welded. It does have “mufflers” per se, but they can be bypassed when the valves in the exhaust are opened. There is also a T304 stainless steel version, but it doesn’t give the resonance and scream that the titanium does.
Valvetronic themselves claim that the sound that the Sport Titanium exhaust emits makes it sound better than a Ferrari 458, which is a pretty bold claim. However, when watching one of the videos they link on their sales page, the way it screams, pops, burbles, and sings, let’s just say our pulses all quickened.
