Duff exhaust. The moral of the story..?

[Jim 1]

My red car has always been a bit of a pain with the exhaust. Over the 5 years or so I've had it (scary) the exhaust has on a number of occasions come slightly loose, or developed a blow, or something similar. A year or two back I picked up a magnex backbox, and coincidentally the powerflow one on there decided to rust apart and fall off - so the Magnex one got fitted.

 

After several trips to garages the backbox moved around, started to knock, started to blow and yesterday after the first long drive of the car in probably 2 years, I think it's completely detatched from the centre sections as the noise for the last mile or so home was deafening and embarrassing.

 

I''ve spent probably in excess of £300 buying the backbox and at *least* 5 trips to DG and Stealth over the few years getting this piece of ****, bodged exhaust system patched up.

 

The moral of the story should have been to just put a decent system on in the first place as it's ended up costing me more to keep patching it up :( It's also made me more determined to get shot of whatever aftermarket claptrap is underneath the car and just stick on an original VAG system!

[davidwort 0]

Dread to think what a longlife VAG box is now, but they certainly last, worth it if you plan to keep a car for several years.

I've had similar experiences with a number of stainless systems, just because the casing doesn't rot through and blow doesn't mean the structure inside holds together or the external welds and brackets for that matter. TBH I've had better luck with mild steel cheap pattern boxes really.

[sexybourbon 0]

I thaught this !! Had an old standard system wich was knackerd so got dg auto tech to fit a stainless jetex exhaust

nd im still having problems with it . Iv replaced every metal and rubber hanger and its still not right even had the whole system off again and refitted it

On the way back from elescar yesterday its started knocking on tue rear beam again pr on a heat shield

My point is its a good system but still a pain in the arse and it still needs messing with so weather a good or bad system i think its hard to get it right with the corrado

[boost monkey 0]

Jim, are you sure your engine mounts are good? I found on a mk2 I had that the mounts were going which was putting extra stress on the exhaust system because the engine was moving about so much. Scared to hear your powerflow rotted though, that's what came with the Plum!

 

Sorry to hear the red is still causing you grief, iirc it's the one which had major cooling issues a couple of years back?

[onestep 0]

Get your self to pipe werx and get a custom made one i paid £400 for a full stainless steel one. Had a jetex one before nothing but problems with it. that was a 2.5inch my pipe werx one is 3 inch and has never rattled and has a life time warranty.

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

Get your self to pipe werx and get a custom made one i paid £400 for a full stainless steel one. Had a jetex one before nothing but problems with it. that was a 2.5inch my pipe werx one is 3 inch and has never rattled and has a life time warranty.

I'd second this, the custom made ones are welded around the car instead of being made to patterned parts... my polo had a stainless steel one custom made and it wasn't any more expensive than a jetex or similar and it looked and sounded brand new after 3 years of use.

I suppose this way though you have to be lucky with the workmanship, an exhaust made by a wolly wont last very long...

[leeeeshad 0]

Has anybody got a picture of the standard exhaust? I've always wondered if mine is a vw exhaust or not.

[davidwort 0]

usually got big VW/Audi logos embossed in the metal of the silencer boxes

[Jim 1]

I am seriously debating going to Powerflow or similar.. mostly because of the long (lifetime?) warranty which means I can keep going back if it rusts or drops off. As long as I can get them to tune the noise RIGHT down to the lowest levels.. think I've had enough of loud exhausts now, especially as a 4 cylinder motor isn't exactly a pleasure on the ears! :)

 

Ideally want a new VAG one but as you say David, heaven knows what the price is likely to be for the bits from the cat back..

 

Mounts should be OK. Front one is a few year old Vibratechnics and the other two were checked a few years back and despite being ancient, seemed to be in good shape.

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

I am seriously debating going to Powerflow or similar.. mostly because of the long (lifetime?) warranty which means I can keep going back if it rusts or drops off

 

A MIJ exhaust is hand made and comes with a life time garantee for the first owner. £270 to the manifold and they can tune the sound for you while they're fitting it...

[joby 0]

jim have you not thought about a milteck, had mine for about 6 years with no trouble at all and never knocks and if anything its too quiet.

[CazzaVR 0]

I'd go for a custom one- just try to find somewhere that has had good reviews/word of mouth, as the workmanship can vary greatly! The Longlife centre in Berkeley (near Glos) is very good, although the manager is a bit of a tit! :lol:

[Walesy 0]

From memory I think a new system from VW is around £800 - i've had a few custom made exhausts on various rados and have never had a problem, they usually cost around £350 depending on where you have them done, worth doing your research though as I think it's a case of it's only gonna be as good as the person that fits it.

[Jim 1]

There is a Powerflow dealer in Coventry that Eric has been going to for years. They fitted the VERY loud exhaust to his MK2 Scirocco, but I'm sure I could get something quieter.. i.e. nearly stock / standard.

 

Just moved the car and the noise is hilarious. Found that the pipe from the cat to the suitcase has rusted apart and is basically hanging off / dragging under the car. Brilliant. Gonna have to jack it up and rip that off before I drive to an exhaust centre!

 

Going to be an embarrassing & noisy few miles!

[CazzaVR 0]

Sounds promising- they'll be able to make it as quiet as you want :)

[coullstar 0]

Over the years Ive had quite a few, the best fitting one was the Techtonics but that did have scope for quite a bit of adjustment. The Jetex ones Ive used have also been very good. Magnex on my old green one was also very good. Problem is with the stainless they grow when hot so they can start hitting when hot.

[boost monkey 0]

Yeah the stainless ones are made from much thinner metal so do tend to expand a shrink which can lead to mechanical failure.

[Supercharged 2]

Hi mate, just saw your email... I like the way it decided to only break when you got back - typical Corrado!

 

Just a thought, keep the magnex back box as they are great and maybe try a straight pipe from the cat to it - that Powerflow place should be able to do this cheaply I would expect.

[Jim 1]

I don't want the noise mate.. I'd like to get the exhaust silenced and de-chav the 16v a bit. I've really grown to like how quiet the VR is at motorway speeds and want some of that action on the valver. A straight pipe to a magnex back box would be LOUD! :)

 

And yeah mate.. couldn't believe it! Though was pretty thankful it got me home before playing up. I did the drive home then the next morning fired it up and thought "jesus - this exhaust is blowing a bit" - drove to a friends a few miles away and by then it was already booming a bit. Drove the car home later that day and the noise was ridiculous... and by the time I was coming home the noise was deafening. I just reversed it off the drive to get the VR back out (which I'd polished and covered ready for Stanford - was hoping to use the valver for a few days!!) and heard the exhaust dragging on the floor.

 

You've got to laugh.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Jim

[boost monkey 0]

...or you'll cry?