Re: Chip & Exhaust for '87 Coupe

[u3109@calv1.cray.com (Mike W. Young)]

On  Fri, 29 Jul 1994 10:34:05 -0600
esw5@postoffice2.mail.cornell.edu (Ernest Wong) responed to:


>from Chris:
>>Last winter's road salt finally turned my '87 Coupe's exhaust system into swiss
>>cheese.  I am thinking of springing for a sport exhaust and would like comments
>>on what I should get and where I should get it from.  I need to replace the
>>center section and figured I'd get a throaty muffler too.  I've heard good 
>>things about Leistricht (sp?) and Ansa setups but want to get more info...
>>
>>While I'm at it, I'd like to get a chip to take advantage of my new, less-
>>restrictive exhaust.  My car is an '87 "Special Build" with the 2.3L 5-cyl
>>(10v)
>[stuff deleted]
>>                                        Chris <cidleman@pica.army.mil>

>I ordered and put in an Ansa rear muffler about 3 months ago(this is summer
>mind you). The mail order place (PAP) did not have the mid pipe in stock so
>I splurged foolishly and bought the mid pipe from the dealer. The factory
>mid-pipe looks practically brand new now. But the Ansa (cost me $109) has
>already got some surface rust on the outlet and around the welds. This is
>only 1 sample of Ansa but other netters have complained about their
>longevity (lack of). i'm hoping the rear muffler will last the year.
>Guess the savings in getting the Ansa just evaporated. I'll be calling
>Linda at Carlsen sooon . . .
>Give Borla exhausts a try too. Seems to have good write-ups in Euro Car.
>Uses a high quality (non-magnetic stainless) stock and makes performance
>mufflers. Seems like Ansa doesn't make performance exhausts for my 87
>5000S. It has the 2.2 inline 5.
>Ernest Wong
>esw5@cornell.edu

I owned some modified VWs and on my '83 GTI I had a Leistritz rear exhaust and
it went for 50K+ California miles with little surface degradation before I sold
the GTI and bought an '86 Jetta GLI which from 360 miles new had a full Borla 
Stainless exhaust This was a 4-1 stainless header, and complete Euro exhaust 
which replaced the cat with a resonator. This car was sold to a friend in
Minnesota at 56K miles in 1989 and is still on the car with nearly 200K miles. 
He has told me it is louder, but no sign of rust-through.

Borla makes a very good product as does Leistritz, but for my $$$$ I would
prefer to purchase a Borla product. They could both be offensive compared
to stock sound levels, but should be no louder than the Ansa product.
I think Ansa is the OEM supplier to Fiat and their exhaust products are designed
to not last any longer than the automobiles (Cheap shot) :^P

As a follow-up, I have a German 1994 catalog from the company D&W and will
check for other possible exhaust vendors with Audi performance applications.
Remus is one possibility, and I think they are available through Total Audi Perf.
if nowhere else. I will check the D&W catalog this weekend and follow up Monday.

Is anybody else familiar with D&W?
The auto parts catalog is ~400 pages full color, complete with semi-nude
frauleins holding mufflers, shock absorbers, etc in interesting poses.
The assortment of parts and pieces are remarkable. It's sort of J.C.
Whitney meets Nordstroms, Nah... J.C. Whitney meets Madonna at Fredricks
of Hollywood. They are not a discounter, but then nobody in the fatherland is.

Most of thier stuff is window dressing, but they do have performance parts
from Abt, and Hartge for example. They have things *I am certain* nobody is
aware exists. 
Any of you "Fair weather pilots" need Zebrano wood wiper arms for your MB 600SL?

As for Chris's interest in Chips, Total Audi Performance last I heard was selling
"Star*Chips" which are sold in England by Brodie Britan Racing, and GTI Engineering
which is now a division of BBR.  Not certain if Ivor at TAP has provided feedback
about US market cars, or if there is a difference. The flyer I have from TAP says 
European Spec. Chips and I am not certain if this is a great thing or not. In England
Weber also markets a chip, and I believe it comes from the same people as the "Star*Chip"
I Could be wrong.
Here in the USA there are several people developing chips. I think Ned at Intended 
Acceleration is the only "Audi Specialist" but other chip manufacturers also offer 
Audi chips. The company Autothority (sic) which produces performance chips is regarded
in many circles one of the better suppliers. The TAP flyer suggests a +16hp gain for
a 10v engine with a "Star*Chip" chip. This is about the gain for a complete front to
rear performance exhaust (~12hp), and mild cam (~8-10hp).

I believe the gain is much less, perhaps 9hp as a max., and have not heard of anybody
installing a chip in a non-turbo Audi, so just beware of Snake oil. 
If it sounds to good to be true...

I, and others have installed K&N air filters with success and this will net 2hp max. 
for ~$50 and help you/us and the local landfill.

As a reference, I know I *only* [ :-) ] changed the timing, installed a recurved  
distributer, euro exhaust manifold/down pipe, leistritz rear muffler, Neuspeed throttle
body, mild Neuspeed cam, and K&N air filter and gave my '83 1.8 ltr. GTI +26hp as
measured by Aaron on the rolling road dyno at Automotive Performance Systems, the
retail arm of Neuspeed products in Anaheim, CA.

YhpMV, Regards,


Mike



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        Michael W. Young                 Americas East Technical Support Group
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                Note: My opinions are my own unless stated otherwise.
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