Exhausting question

[Greg Johnson]

200 Crew,

At around 94K miles, and with my car on his rack, my mechanic told me my
exhaust system would need replacing in the not too distant future.  You
could see small pin hole perforations all over the place.  I put it off
for well over a  year and in the meantime did a bunch of research.  The
dealer wanted about a grand for an installed stock system.  Stromung
(sp?) was also around a grand (before install).  The local muffler shop
quoted about $600 and change for whatever he had, installed.

I ended up getting a custom mandrel bent system for about $800.  I
wanted a 3 in system from the down pipe back.  The shop told me that if
a car comes in with two cats, it must leave with two cats.  So, we did
dual 2.5 inches from the down pipe to two new highflow cats and then
immediately  into one 3 in. pipe, back to a magnaflow muffler and then
out the back with a understated stainless steel tip.  It was a bit
louder in the low range than I'd hoped, but it's very mellow from 65 to
??? and over time I got used to the low end growl   There was a clear
response change all the way across the board - the turbo spools up more
quickly, so the car moves out more quickly.

I watch my dimes, so I would not tear a perfectly good exh sys off a 200
just to replace it, but when the holes start to appear (an eventually
they will)  I would upgrade from the stock system to something that
flows more freely.

Greg J
BIRA.ORG