omniphil

I want to replace the factory exhaust with a full 3 inch system (no cat). My question is can I get a non-polished less expensive system? $1300 will be pretty steep for me, I dont really need stainless and or polished. I really dont even need a muffler as I already have a brand new borla 3" xr-1 race muffler. Just looking for some other options to the canned $1300 approach, if any are out there? Maybe looking to spend around $500? I have a place that bend custom exhaust for all my other cars, the problem is that its not mandrel and it sometimes will kink when trying to get a 3" pipe to bend around sharp corners...

Thanks in advance guys...

951Racer

If that is what you want, just go down to your local muffler shop and have them make one for you. I believe Mufflex down in Trenton, NJ has a template for a 951 and is cheaper than the $1300 for 304SS. Remember it is not just the polishing that make 304 nice, its the weight savings also.

Alan C.

As far as weight savings go I doubt there is much to gain. The mass density of low carbon versus a 409 stainless is minimal, maybe 1%. Going to a 304 is not going to save that much more. If it's a track car 409SS is ok. The headers and turbo down pipe will benefit from 304's strength a temperature.

But keep in mind that in today's market 304 is going at a very cheap price. In coil form it can be had for less than $0.75 per lb. Say 2.5 lb/ft. for 3" tube and you get the idea of the cost of the raw materials in an exhaust. The fixed cost of turning it into a tube hasn't changed but there should be some savings for the consumer. I haven't seen them yet.

Alan

Alan

B Hayes

I was in a similar situation several months ago. My car wouldnt pass smog and I had done everything else but the converter. I had to pass smog in California so I opted for the converter option. I bought the 3" down tube cat-bypass system from FabSpeed with a high-flow converter for nearly $900.00, but the converter was around $300.00 of it. I didnt purchase the full length as I had a local muffler shop fabricate a custom 2.5 section after the cat to the muffler. There is a section that is squashed(OEM)to make clearance, but it is not necessary.... plenty of room. This addition sounds B U R L Y and I really enjoy it. Hope it is of some help.
<a href="http://www.fabspeed.com/" target="_blank">http://www.fabspeed.com/</a>

Danno

Yeah, the cost difference between stainless and non-stainless is minimal. Although 321-stainless would be best for high-temp work. A couple of months ago, I built my own 3" non-stainless straight-through exhaust w/quick-release muffler from the down-pipe back for about $140 in parts (at full retail pricing too!). Get a 10' stick of 3" tubing and two 3" U-bends. Cut and weld as necessary, voila!!!

You can get a sense of the sound from DanD's excellent video here:

<a href="http://members.rennlist.org/dan10101/OpenTrackChallenge.htm" target="_blank">http://members.rennlist.org/dan10101/OpenTrackChallenge.htm</a>
<a href="http://members.rennlist.org/dan10101/Videos/Buttonwillow1_dvix.avi" target="_blank">http://members.rennlist.org/dan10101/Videos/Buttonwillow1_dvix.avi</a>

Video may require Divx decoder:
<a href="http://www.virgeweb.com/danno/Divx412bundle.exe" target="_blank">http://www.virgeweb.com/danno/Divx412bundle.exe</a>