Exhaust

I'm sure this has been covered, but nothing happens when I click search...
I bought the 165whp kit from Kerma. S7 turbo. Should be picking up the car at the end of the week.
I'm new to diesels, but not turbo. Seams as if exhaust doesn't free up as much power in diesels?
What I really want to know is what I can expect if I do a 2.5 or 3in turbo back exhaust, or just the dp...
I may even mufflerectomy, but what is the difference if I put a resonator in instead of just a piece of pipe?
Any and all comments welcome!

Deleting the cat and muffler would help a little; they're a little restrictive on these cars, but don't expect any miracles. You can go with an aftermarket downpipe if you like a lighter wallet. Anything over 2.5" is overkill and only helps the placebo effect, if that's what you're into.

I wouldn't mind getting rid of the cat, just find a test pipe?

carsaremytoys said:

I wouldn't mind getting rid of the cat, just find a test pipe?

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You could do that or just hollow out the existing cat from the topside and weld it back shut....

That way if you ever get inspected it looks stock.

Andrew

Ps.... for off road use only right? ;-)

I don't have emissions or quality tests where I live.

carsaremytoys said:

I don't have emissions or quality tests where I live.

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We don't have emission tests in VA either but if emission parts are missing we would fail to get our annual state inspection sticker (of course one can still go around and find an "easier" inspector but that is often a hassle and sometimes you cannot easily find one.

If you gut the cat it would save potentially still save a few $$ (no need to buy a test pipe) and if you ever sell the car to a person in a more "strict" state (at least from the visual inspection part not necessarily the testing part) it may make the car easier to sell since the buyer would not be able to negotiate the price down because now they have to buy a cat in order to get their car to pass inspection.

FWIW - If I had more free time, I would gut and weld my cat back....I know many people say the difference in power or economy of a catless exhaust is not worth the extra pollution of running catless BUT I'm pretty sure my cat is dead after 267K.

carsaremytoys, is there a reason you went with the S7 turbo instead of the VNT-17?
The 17 is less money and it doesn't have a pain-in-the-butt to replace actuator. I hope your salesperson mentioned that fact to you.

use a Kerma 2.5 turbo back exhaust. I've used their 3" and the ID parts 2.5 DP on my first car, they're great. straight pipe all the way back sometimes has a drone at high way cursing speed so a muffler/resonator may be necessary. although I have used a turn down tip at a 45* to the outside which helped a lot.

Nevada_TDI said:

carsaremytoys, is there a reason you went with the S7 turbo instead of the VNT-17?
The 17 is less money and it doesn't have a pain-in-the-butt to replace actuator. I hope your salesperson mentioned that fact to you.

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is there something wrong with the S7 turbo?

The "S7" really isn't a custom turbo made for Kerma, it is a Borg Warner BV39. There is nothing "wrong" with the turbo per se, there is just a lot of hype, and a non plug-and-play replacement actuator available. If you live in the land of harsh winters, (and harsh winter roads) where actuators have a short life from the salt and the heat, the BV39 will force you to jury-rig a Garrett VNT actuator so you can continue to use your turbo on the intended engine. There are many threads about this issue here at TDIClub.

I chose the S7 for quicker spool. My sales person did not mention anything of the actuator. Is it going to fail in 10k miles or something ridiculous?

As for exhaust, I have stumbled across Darkside. I like their idea of the one piece dp that runs all the way back to the cat-back.
Anyone else make a dp like this?

No, the S7 actuator won't fail prematurely, but it will be a hassle when having to modify a Garrett actuator to use on the S7 turbo when it does fail. Well, that and the fact you live where the winters are harsh and the roads are coated with stuff that eats up actuators.

The Darkside down pipe with shipping and the currency exchange will be $299.00 US, which is just about the same cost as buying the pipe from a US vendor.

Andyinchville1 said:

You could do that or just hollow out the existing cat from the topside and weld it back shut....

Click to expand...

Or you could use a suitable length of rebar or the like and knock it out from the end of the pipe. No cutting or welding required.

Aside from the usuals (darkside, kerma, buzzken etc) Techtonics tuning also makes exhausts, and has been doing it longer than anyone else selling parts for this platform. Ask for stainless hangers/clamps with aluminized pipe (if an option, think downpipes are stainless only), that'll be your best option dollar wise. They also make single piece downpipes.