16ga exhaust vs. 18ga?

[Nate Stuart]

I went with the 18ga, and it seems to be holding up just fine for nearly
a year now since I built it. I would prolly go a little thicker if this
is for the DP though, a little more heat right there at the turbo. One
thing you will really want to look at is the rear section. Fitting a 3"
muffler and mandrels at the back can be quite tricky. I just recently
rebuilt my single 3" muffler with 2 2-1/4" units. I previously had to
make a horrible angle at the entrance to the 3" muffler to get things to
fit, and with the new smooth bends the midthrottle spool up is noticably
peppier.

I have a bunch of pics of the new unit up at:
http://www.newtsplace.com/90tq/index.php?content=exhaustpics.html&pagetitle=Exhaust-%3EImages

Check it out. I really prefer the sound of the two smaller tips too at
WOT :)

The dual design did turn out to be louder however (a little too loud for
the streets) so I mde up some inserts for the rear tips that slide in
and lock down via set screws. In these inserts they are packed with
steel )(soon to be copper) wool, and bring the sound down to just above
stock levels. Of course the turbo takes a hit with the added back
pressure, but my wallet's not getting nailed for a loud exhaust (BTW
Maine state inspection laws now require the car to be no louder than
stock to be legal :( ). SO now I have a set of LOUD tips <insert big
grin> and then the set of quite ones.

Oh, and as far as materials used, I think It is around 2x180deg bends of
the 3" size from the cat back up over the rear axle, and I used ~4.5x180
degree 2.25" bends for the rear section alone.

Take care,
-Nate
'89 90tq
www.newtsplace.com/90tq

Ken wrote:

>Hello list!
>
>I'm gonna buy some 3" mandrel bends from Summit, and they have a 16 gauge and a 18 gauge available.  The thicker stuff is more expensive $30.69 vs. $21.95.
>
>Is it worth it to get the thicker stuff?  Especially in light of the straight sections being 16 gauge.
>
>I'm starting off with three bends, and may need more later.  I'm trying to keep the cost down, but don't want to get crappy stuff.
>
>The idea is to make a catback for one and eventually both of the turbo quattros, 5kcstq and 4kstq.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ken
>