My rattly exhaust - uprate system or just get fixed?

[Jim 2]

Hi all,

 

I had my car in at Stealth on Thursday to sort a screwed CV joint.. whilst there I asked Vince to have a butchers at why my exhaust system sounds so rattly and crap.

 

He thinks its two things - firstly something seems to knock / rattle inside the cat bypass or around that area (possibly the gasket joining onto it?) - he demonstrated with me under the car by giving it a knock and you could hear a metallic rattle from inside.

 

Secondly he shone a torch diagonally up and could see that the exhaust was blowing up where the manifold joins to the head, so new gasket and bolts required up there too.

 

So my question is this because quite honestly I don't know what I should do. Should I just get it booked in for new bolts and gaskets all round to seal up the system and hope it cures it.. or should I look at a replacement (sports?) downpipe / manifold combo - i've had prices from both Stealth and JMR for two seperate systems and whilst i'm happy that the prices are fair for whats involved, they are perhaps a little more than I can afford and will have no real benefits on power (at least not from what I gather).

 

Would it be worth (with the exhaust getting removed from the back of the block being such a stubborn job) getting the headgasket done as a preventative measure seeing as my car is on 102,000 miles now.. or is there any such similar preventative work that could be done?

 

Just wouldn't mind some suggestions to be honest!

[dinkus 10]

Well my view is, if you're going to have that much of the exhaust off, you might as well replace it all. If you're still using the standard exhaust then it's living on borrowed time as it is, so you might as well replace it now.

 

However, as to which exhaust you go for, that's a bit more of a personal decision.

 

The Milltek/Magnex are comparable so we'll start there - They make a 'nicer' (i.e. louder) noise than standard and give a little more bling for your tailpipe. They do squat as far as performance goes (in fact if you go for the 2.5" bore option on the Milltek you actually lose torque).

 

Option 2 is a SuperSprint which costs HOW MUCH!?!!? :lol: but will give you a tiny bit more grunt, a heck of a lot more noise and last til about 3yrs after the next apocalypse.

 

Option 3 is to put a new VAG exhaust on there. I don't know about the G60 one, but the VR one is plenty loud enough for me and it's also about half the price of either of the stainless options above.

 

However, to fit it properly, you need to drop the rear axle, which is a big poop load of extra labour. This means it will probably end up costing the same, if not slightly more than the Milltek/Magnex option.

 

And that doesn't even cover how much of the exhaust is what... the SuperSprint and VAG can be the entire exhaust, but the Milltek/Magnex can be either VAG with cat-back stainless or full exhaust.

 

So yeah, not much help, but in short - If it was me, I'd replace the exhaust with a whole new VAG one.

 

The choice, as they say, is yours.

[Jim 2]

Well I have a Magnex system from the cat bypass and back.. so i'm just talking about the manifold & downpipe :)

 

I apologise if I didnt explain that clearly enough, as you've just typed an essay and a half! :)

[dinkus 10]

Well I have a Magnex system from the cat bypass and back.. so i'm just talking about the manifold & downpipe :)

 

I apologise if I didnt explain that clearly enough, as you've just typed an essay and a half! :)

 

Ah no you did, I just didn't know what you had on there already ;)

 

In that case I'd just replace it all with new VAG stuff. Doesn't seem like a lot of point in going silly for a full-on SuperSprint for a poop load more money. But then that's just me :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Exhausts are an area of diminishing returns. VW got it right at the factory imo. I would just address the leaking and no more to be honest.

[Jim 2]

I wonder how much VAG manifold and downpipe would cost, including all the gaskets etc... will have to pop by. Best take a chair with me in case I need to sit down when they tell me the cost! ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well the VR front pipes are £200 + VAT, so bargain on a figure around that for the G60....although the VR pipes are stainless, not sure about the G60 ones. Gaskets are cheap, as are the studs etc..... the biggest cost is the labour as the inlet manny has to come off to get the exhaust manny :?

[dinkus 10]

Well the VR front pipes are £200 + VAT, so bargain on a figure around that for the G60....although the VR pipes are stainless, not sure about the G60 ones. Gaskets are cheap, as are the studs etc..... the biggest cost is the labour as the inlet manny has to come off to get the exhaust manny :?

 

Eep. But then again, if they're stainless anyway, then they probably don't need replacing...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Incorrect. The flex joints can wear. This manifests itself as a non-catalysed exhaust and petroly smelll when cold, which goes when hot as the joints expand and and remove the gaps.

[dinkus 10]

Incorrect. The flex joints can wear. This manifests itself as a non-catalysed exhaust and petroly smelll when cold, which goes when hot as the joints expand and and remove the gaps.

 

Mmm nice. So err forget my last comment and go back to the original replace it theory :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

LOL! Sorry mate, sometimes I can come across as a know-it-all, not intentional....just 14 years VW experience :?

[dinkus 10]

LOL! Sorry mate, sometimes I can come across as a know-it-all, not intentional....just 14 years VW experience :?

 

Nah that's cool. I have no idea what the exhaust actually looks like forward of the cat, so I was just assuming it was just rigid pipe. But as it's not, as with most things Corrado, it probably needs replacing.

[Jim 2]

This is the problem - that whole section is a bit of an unknown for me, hence needing to ask so many questions. I looked at the diagrams on ETKA and they seemed to make sense.. but dont have the facility to get under my car and have a good look around!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The front pipes are rigid from the flex joints down. The joints are at the top just below the manifold joints and look like bellows. They suffer a lot of stress, especially when the engine mounts go south. I would let Vince work his magic on the exhaust and take it from there :wink: