3.3TT Borla Carbon tips can work with the stock(ish) exhaust.

[cannonmaneh]

Contrary to advertising, with minor mods, the stock exhaust will work with the Borla Carbon tips.
I bought my GT2 2018 used last year and it had the full Borla S Cat back with Carbon tips. Babied, low km, mostly badged and original tires with life still in them!!! Yes, babied. Dealer that sold it to me did not know what they had, in my view I stole it. Got the Borla gear and more for free!
Absolutely fantastic sound from 0 to warp 10 in town and sprints. The idle/down shift burble is the best! Started long drives (up to 5 hours) and the drone is bearable but not enjoyable. Had to make a 4 hour ride with the back open 8 inches to transport a 20 ft extension ladder, not a scratch and the damn thing fit, almost. The noise though! Even with Bose noise cancelling earbuds it was unpleasant. I bought a stock 2021 exhaust from a god of a packing guy in Florida. Bought fresh gaskets (fronts could be reused) and made a rear spreader bracket as it did not come with the exhausts. The only mods I had to do were to cut and grind off all the "baffles" on the 4 muffler exit pipes. The stock muffler ends fit will into the Borla Carbon tips and so far it is beautifully silent. Long drive this week, I will have confirmation there. Keeping the cat back and will swap back when I don't have so much distance driving to do. Now I have the modded pipes and custom 4 wheel ramps I can probably swap the exhaust in an hour with air tools and the fact that all the bolts are now anti seized. That stuff is good to 2000 F! Other interesting notes, the Borla Cat back exhaust is probably 20 pounds lighter than stock by my uncalibrated lift. Aligning the Borla exhaust concentrically and to the rear as much as possible in the carbon tips "funnel" reduces the drone a bit. I put a piece of 1/2" polyethylene airline IN the rear rubber muffler hangers to slightly lower and stiffen them so the floating exhaust pipes would not knock against the fixed tips Having the rear seats up and putting some sound deadening material, like blankets under the rear cargo floor reduces the drone a bit too. Not much though.

 

[StingertimeNC]

get aftermarket tips that bolt on to the Borla pipes, and sell the Borla tips. Best of both worlds, totally drivable every day, and the tips push the bulk of the noise out the back of the car. Still sounds amazing outside the car, and you can live with it inside the car. for $150 bucks you can make it happen. Check out the exhaust tip thread for more info.

 

[cannonmaneh]

Cool idea but the last ~1600 km of driving since the swap have been blissfully quiet. Even transporting a king sized sleigh bed headboard over 400 km no longer required Bose noise cancelling. Not a noise from the stock exhaust or interface with the Borla tips. I did this swap solely for the unpleasant (to me) Borla noise long distance driving with the back closed and the unbearable noise with the back open. Needed virtually zero noise outside and only the stock exhaust delivers. Love the Borla blast on short hops and can swap it out at my place as needed because of the excellent fit and finish of the Borla and stock exhausts. Extravagance of two full exhaust systems, but meet my needs perfectly. Interested to see what people have transported in their Stingers. So far I have hauled a 12' x 24' x 8' plastic garage with frame in box, a 20 foot extension ladder and a complete King sized sleigh bed with night tables (three trips though). I am still amazed at how much crap fits in it, even 8 foot lumber. Almost as good as my Explorer was but better warranty and way more smiles per gallon (or liter).

 

[Sybaritic]

I have these Borla tips as well, and am extremely disappointed that after just under 2 years (30K miles of driving), the finish at the edges is pitting. I live in Canada so we have all 4 seasons and use road salt in the winter.

Given the exorbitant, highway robbery pricing, I expected the finish to be better quality. I emailed Borla some feedback, but no response nor a thanks for the report, which tells me they don’t care, so I would not recommend these to people who DD their cars. Buy them if you like them and your car is a museum piece or a summer car.

 

[cannonman]

Up in Canada here too. Ottawa area but I got the car from Belleville. Driven year round since 2020. One and a half winters, car has 58k and I am putting on 5k every 6 weeks or so to sunny Mississauga by the business park? 99% highway. Before I owned it was a garage queen with little or no winters. Road warrior now. Tips are ok but I am going to keep and eye on them now and will talk to a family member in the composite industry re why yours are pitting/peeling. Carbon Fibre is impervious to most hostile environments. From your pics it looks undamaged. The resin Borla used seems to be ok as well, no obvious delamination, it is under zero load so I would not expect any. The clear coat however is my bet on the weak link. Poor bond to the carbon fibre tip, bond failure and then weeping in the open exposed end and chipping of the clear coat. In epoxy, this is a symptom of improper cleaning of amine blush from the epoxy after it cures and then finish to component bond failure. Not sure if Borla uses epoxy or vinyl-ester or ? resins to make the tips and getting crickets from them is most helpful. To me this looks like a manufacturers defect. If we knew what product was used originally to coat them we may be able to properly clean, surface prep and repair the finish. If mine go this way I will be pulling the four screws out to hopefully remove the carbon fibre ring, soak clean in various liquids and then using the underside to test what repairs look like. I am thinking a very low viscosity outdoor UV stable marine type finish so it wicks in and has a reasonable chance of lasting. As to Borlas' million mile warranty. Check the weasel out from their site:

"BORLA® PERFORMANCE INDUSTRIES, INC. warrants its products to the original purchaser of record and for the original vehicle on which the product was installed against defects in materials and workmanship for one million miles with the following exceptions. BORLA® will warranty black coatings, tip finishes, carbon fiber and moving parts including but not limited to valves and actuators for one year. This does not include blemishes or marring of appearance due to weather, road hazards, lack of maintenance or extremes of heat or cold."

I am the second owner, I live north of the mason dixon line so it is cold, bets are if you are south of it, too hot. To top it off, even if it is a Borla mfg defect they will tell you to pound sand after a year. Triple blow off, but Borla is an exhaust company so that is to be expected in their skill set yes?

Don't get me wrong, love the look, love the sound. As a mechanical engineer, the build of the Borla pipes is on par or better than OEM. Having adjusted and uninstalled them the fit and finish is fantastic. I just wish manufacturers would stand behind their product instead of behind their bloodsucking lawyers. If you screw up, make it right. It is the primary reason I own KIAs (3) now.

Yes. I realize if the paint was damaged KIA would not warranty it but if it all started peeling off because it was painted improperly, they would repaint under warranty. Hell Hyundai even replaces engines on recall AFTER all warranties have expired. Friend of the family had this happen and had the car back in under 24 hours with an new engine, no cost and an apology for the inconvenience. When my caddy did that, those scum told me to pound sand. Last GM product I will ever own. That and the Stinger, in my view, is far superior to anything they make! A nicely upholstered step onto chaise lounge of sybaritic living, lol.

 

[Sybaritic]

Thanks for the detailed reply. You are very knowledgeable.