Corsa's muffler is beautiful and we were almost hesitant to put it on our truck.

Aftermarket exhausts have come a long way in the last few years. In the past you used to get a jumble of tubes, a generic muffler and spend most of the day in the driveway trying to make it fit. Nowadays almost every company uses mandrel bends, nice tubing and pays attention to fit and finish. With so many similar features on every exhaust it can almost be tough to tell them all apart.

One exhaust system that stood out from the rest to us is from Corsa Performance Exhausts. When the people from Corsa begin to explain their product to us we almost glazed over completely as we heard the typical terms like mandrel bent tube, etc., etc. However our attention was quickly perked when they showed us a cutaway of their patented muffler design.

Referred to as Reflective Sound Cancellation Technology, Corsa’s mufflers use a straight shot design with small slots strategically placed on the center tube. These slots open up into metal labyrinths with the idea being that sounds waves will travel through the opening and into the labyrinth to be absorbed.

Engineers can precisely position the openings to capture the peak of the sound wave as it travels down the center tube maximizing the effect. In theory the straight-through design allows maximum flow and low backpressure while the labyrinth absorbs sound and eliminates drone.

A look down the inside of Corsa's muffler reveals the holes that let the sound waves travel into the internal labyrinth of metal channels.	Smooth mandrel bends are used throughout the system to help provide a 53% increase in flow over the stock exhaust.

Theories are great but often what a bunch of engineers develop in a lab often doesn’t work in the field so we were eager to test out a Corsa Performance Exhaust system. We got our hands on their new exhaust for the 2003-2006 Dodge Ram 2500/3500 with the 5.9L Cummins diesel for our Project Heavy Metal 2005 Dodge Ram. Drone is a common problem with exhausts for the inline-six Cummins. We had lived with a system that droned for long enough and were interested to see if the Corsa’s technology really did work or if it was marketing hype.

Upon arrival we quickly got our system out of the box and gave it a close look. We were impressed with the overall quality of the system with its beautiful 4-inch diameter, mandrel-bent stainless steel tubing. The muffler is definitely a high-quality unit with heavy-duty construction and beautiful welds. It also has a nice weight to it telling us this is not a cheaply constructed unit. Even the exhaust hangers are nice. It is easy to tell that Corsa takes pride in building their exhaust here in the USA.

Included in the Corsa exhaust is this nice hydroformed tip that finishes off the system nicely.	Even the exhaust clamps are nice on the Corsa exhaust. Overall the construction is top notch.

The Corsa exhaust comes as a cat-back or a turbo-back and we got the latter which is said to improve flow by 53% compared to the stock system. Corsa’s cat-back only system is said to improve flow by 36% over the stock unit. It can also be configured with a cat-delete pipe for racing applications as well.

Installation is a bolt-on affair and there is no welding, cutting, grinding or cursing involved. Access to the band clamp on the top of the downpipe can be somewhat tricky but we were able to get an air ratchet on it. Once unbolted, the band clamp needed a very gentle pry from a large screwdriver to get it off. If you are only doing a cat-back, installation is a much quicker process.

We had problems with the fitment of the downpipe as it comes way to close to our crossmember. Nothing we did would move it more towards the center of the vehicle and off the crossmember.	The band clamp on the downpipe can be tough to get to but were able to access it from the bottom with an air ratchet and then gently pop it off.

While putting the Corsa exhaust on is a pretty straightforward deal, we did encounter some problems. For whatever reason our downpipe would not fit that well as it would come very close to the crossmember. Corsa promptly sent us another one but again the result was the same. We scratched our heads as there is really no adjustment to installing a downpipe as you are mounting a flange to a flange. Corsa also was scratching their heads as they had not heard of this problem before so hopefully our experience was an unique one.

Once the install was complete, we fired up the truck and were immediately impressed with the sound. It is a very aggressive and throaty sound even compared to the other aftermarket exhaust we already had on. The Corsa exhaust sounds absolutely bad ass. We thought we might be in trouble as there would be no way a system with an aggressive sound like this would be quiet or drone free. However we were pleasantly surprised as there is absolutely zero drone with this system. It also quiets down at cruising speeds so you are not constantly listening to it.

The stock downpipe is a pretty good piece on the Dodge Ram. Corsa claims its downpipe offers a 17% improvement over the factory unit.	This diagram shows how Corsa's Reflective Sound Cancellation works by forcing sound waves into the metal labyrinth.

Overall we are very pleased with the Corsa system. It is very nicely constructed, sounds awesome, has zero drone and is not loud at cruising speeds. While we did encounter problems with the downpipe according to Corsa it is not a widespread problem. We did not get the system on a dyno as we already had another aftermarket system on so we can’t make any statement on power gains. With any exhaust system though you should see some modest gains. The Corsa exhaust is 50-state smog legal and carries a limited lifetime warranty for as long as you own your truck.

The system also can be configured with a cat delete pipe for racing applications.	We like how the Corsa exhaust tucks up nicely under the truck so we don't have to worry about bashing the beautiful muffler.

SOURCE:
Corsa Performance
140 Blaze Industrial Parkway
Berea, OH 44017
800-486-0999
www.corsaperformance.com