Re: A4 cat-back exhaust recommendation

[Greg Spark <sparkg@wave.co.nz>]

I have looked into this issue and here's my 0.02c FWIW:

Reasons to modify standard exhaust are:

1-performance gain: on a normally aspirated car these are pretty small,
  almost certainly less than 10hp and this is barely perceptible, unless
  the stock system is *very* restricted.

2-sound change: this gives the *perception* of greater performance. Louder
  is not necessarily better - look for a system that improves the *quality*
  of the sound.

3-looks - this is purely dependent on the tailpipe design and finish and is
  very much in the eye of the beholder.

Do not remove the central resonator as this contributes very little to any
back-pressure and it's removal renders the exhaust system unbearably loud.

I have changed my rear muffler to a Remus unit made specifically for the car.
Sounds fabulous (deep sporty growl but barely louder than standard), looks 
as good (78x92 twin nickle-chromed rectangles), superb quality, and *probably* 
adds about 10hp to my 1.8T. Turbos usually benefit more from reducing 
exhaust back-pressure.

I don't believe the expense of a full cat-back changeover is worth it on a 
normally aspirated vehicle and you can achieve the sound/looks result with 
the far cheaper Remus or similar mod.

------------original message----------------------

On Wed 29 Oct, quattro-digest wrote:
> Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 15:02:04 -0500 (EST)
> From: thai@hjinc.com (Thai Tjen)
> Subject: A4 cat-back exhaust recommendation?
> 
> hi fellow digesters,
> 
> my wife's A4 quattro avant 2.8 will arrive soon (i hope). based on
> the test drives, i found the stock exhaust note to be very quiet.
> after several violent objections from my wife, i've convinced her
> that we should replace the stock exhaust with a freer-flowing
> aftermarket exhaust.
> 
> any recommendations? thanks in advance.
> 
> ps: i don't want something that's too loud (eg: tri-flo). it's
>     a wagon (oops sorry, avant), after all.

-- 
Greg Spark
sparkg@wave.co.nz  
Hamilton, New Zealand
'96 A4 1.8Tq 5sp MTM/Remus ~200hp