Pacemaker twin 3 inch cat-back on a VE Commodore V8: a serious system for a car worth keeping
Pacemaker's twin 3 inch cat-back for the VE V8 is CNC mandrel-bent 409 stainless with double-skinned mufflers, built in Australia. Here is what it sounds like, who should pick the 2.5 instead, and the price straight.
Topics
Nobody buys a VE Commodore V8 by accident anymore. The cars coming through our doors now are kept ones, owned by people who know exactly what they have and want the work done properly. When one of those owners asks for an exhaust, Pacemaker is a name we can say without crossing our fingers, because the brand has been on Australian header flanges longer than most of our customers have held a licence.
What you are looking at
The PP5381-51 is a twin 3 inch cat-back for the VE sedan and wagon, July 2006 to March 2013, Gen IV 6.0 litre V8. It is CNC mandrel-bent exhaust grade 409 stainless steel throughout, running Pacemaker's V-Tex technology and their signature double-skinned 409 mufflers in a straight-through design. It bolts directly to the factory catalytic converters, no cutting, and it is designed and manufactured in Australia. Pacemaker backs it with a 5 year manufacturer warranty, excluding cats.
How it behaves on the road
A twin 3 on a 6 litre is the full statement. Hard-edged LS bark on the throttle, proper volume at idle, and the double-skinned mufflers keep the note clean rather than tinny. Now the honest part, and the owners on the Commodore forums back us up on this: the twin 3 is loud, and on a light highway throttle it will drone. Owners of the twin 2.5 inch version of this same system consistently describe it as the better-mannered car. If the VE is your daily and you spend an hour on the motorway each way, we will tell you to your face to buy the 2.5. If it is a weekend car, a cruise car, or it wears headers and a cam, the 3 inch is the right pipe.
Fitment and price reality
List price is $2,768, and no, that is not impulse money. What it buys is stainless that fits the first time, hangers landing on the factory rubbers, and a straight bolt-up to the original cats. Note it suits the standard Gen IV V8 cars, not the supercharged LSA models. Fitting is a clean half day for us, including new gaskets.
The workshop call
For a VE V8 that is staying in the family, this is the system we would put on our own. The only decision that matters is 3 inch or 2.5, and that comes down to how you actually drive the car, not how you imagine driving it. Ring the workshop, tell us sedan or wagon and how the car gets used, and we will confirm the right part number before you order and give you a fitted price on the spot.
See full specs, supplier details and the workshop note on the part page: PP5381-51.
Book the right exhaust job without guessing.
Send the vehicle make, model, year, engine, current issue and the result you want so the workshop can scope the right repair, system or fabrication slot.