Exhaust/performance question

[Robert Deis]

On Fri, 9 Aug 2002, Ameer Antar wrote:

> Sure you may gain a
> few HP near redline,

Big understatement, I think. On most turbo cars there is not better way to
increase power output through the entire (boosted) band than to improve
exhaust flow.  It makes a *huge* difference-- It seems that most q-list
folks are more interested in chipping for increased boost than exhaust
upgrades, but bang-for-the-buck is much better on the exhaust, and the
benefits magnify the chip's effect later.

I've assumed that its just the noise factor- enlighten me if there's
another reason not to do this on I-5Ts.

All that said, I mainly agree with Ameer on the environmental stewardship
thing- eliminating the cat is surely the cheapest and easiest route, and
I'd do it at the track, but for daily use it's more reasonable to keep it
in place and spend the extra bucks for a whole system that's free-flow and
cleaner. Lots of muffler makers provide high flow cats- get the biggest
diameter you can fit, and have the joint flanged so you can swap a
straight pipe in for track use.

The mail-order systems are kind of pricey, but you should be able to have
custom pipes bent for you at a local muffler shop for a lot less. They'll
prolly be press-bent instead of mandrel bent, but that's fixable.  I
intend to have a 3" system bent for my 5kTQw, and then weld or clamp in
mandrel bends in place of the biggest/worst press bends later.

I'll probably have an extra glasspack/resonator or two put in to control
noise as well-- my only concern is that there's a place where the stock
system is flattened to go under a crossmemeber. Is there a neat solution
for that other than squashing the pipe or just putting up with lower
ground clearance?

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Rob Deis                  "Let the people know beforehand what the law
  MiB3347                      is and what they are to expect."
  rdeis at io.com                              -- 18th Congress, Rec. 75