Can anyone on here tell me if an adjustable exhaust cut-out would work for a 2.2? I know I would need to make it breath in better and I was told by a really good mechanic that he felt a K&N filter in the stock box would be darn near as affective as a cold air intake because the stock duct work was so well placed. So the main issue that I don't feel knowledgeable enough about is whether or not it could be tuned so it would run well in both modes... Suppressed exhaust and wide open. I want to put dual outlets on the back of mine & have one side be the stock exhaust outlet and the other side be the dump. I have seen the adjustable dumps that allow you to open the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, & wide open. Can someone please tell me if this would work? Or would it throw off the tune evertime you change the back pressure?

 

Here's an old thread on the merits/drawbacks of using an exhaust cut out on the 2.0, a small handful of extra horsepower can be found....but not much. A good quality performance exhaust set up would probably be better, either the Borla/GMPP, or Magnaflow system.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/2-0l-performance-tech-46/better-performance-cut-out-aftermarket-exhaust-23414/

Will the varying back pressure trigger a code, maybe, maybe not.

The stock airbox does breathe pretty well as is (and thanks to the "Whoolly Worm" tube it's already a cold air intake sucking from the right front fender), the K&N filter will give you more of an aggressive sounding intake, but I'm a fan of the GMPP intake.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/2-2l-performance-tech-5/gmpp-intake-installed-27404/

You'll find them for sale here from time to time, they sound fantastic, and they feel stronger on the "Butt Dyno".

 

Thanks Mike. And I forgot to mention the main motive for wanting to go with a cut-out rather than a full time performance exhaust...NOISE! We had a Borla cat back system on my wife's PiTa Cruiser Turbo GT and the constant drone drove us crazy! The idea of being able to adjust the exhaust to suit the situation seemed very appealing to me. The progressive cut-out also seemed like a wiser option than the wide open or closed tight choice. Having different degrees of opening (in my mind) would more readily allow one to find which setting optimized performance. Then when you needed to drive in a funeral procession or any other time you wanted your ride to be quite, it would be factory quiet.

 

You'll sure get some noise Ben, these critters are obnoxious running un-muffled, took a spin around the block just running with only the down pipe....Cripes!

You won't see any appreciable performance gains, but for cruising in Project X, the ability to dial the exhaust note from Hooligan Mode down to Stealth Mode will be worth it in grins alone.

 

I was hoping that I would see some performance gains & I could enjoy the grin factor...but on demand :)