Need muffler or no?

Hi, I was gunna do a straight pipe on my 1998 jetta tdi. I do have a few questions. 1, should I do a turboback or a catback straight pipe? I've been leaning towards turboback but the exhaust shop said my car won't run well. 2, should i do a 2.5" or a 3"? 3, if I do a straight pipe, some people add a muffler to remove the fartcan (high frequency) noise to it and make their tdi have a nice rumble, and to remove drone on the highway. Is that fartcan noise really noticeable, and is the drone really there too? i think that's all the questions for now ahah. Thanks in advance

Leave the catalyst there. You can do a straight pipe of stock size all the way back if you like, it won't be too noisy but it may drone a little on the highway. I never noticed it being that bad though on my '98 Jetta. I put a cat-back TT system on mine.

I have a turbo back straight pipe. 2.5" SS pipe made by HPA in Langley. Really nice work!

I would consider a resonator to cut the highway drone down or maybe leaving the cat will help do that. We really only have the drone on grades where we have to push a bit to get the trailer moving along. Otherwise it isn't that bad.

There really isn't any fart can sound. It sounds more like a little cummins at idle and noticeable turbo whine. The turbo cuts a lot of that fart can noise.

hmmm. Wow you live in Vancouver too! can i hear what it sounds like in person haha. Anyways, I've seen HPA for exhaust, but a lot of people are recommending me to Muffler Man in burnaby, kingsway and 14th i think it is. And i probably am gunna upgrade to a 2.5" turbo back straight pipe, so i don't want the cat in there, but would the drone be that bad to add a resonator?

Sure we can meet up but we are very busy with work so it will be hard to find a moment however, if you are able to come out our way (tri-cites) that could work well.

Can't speak about Muffler Man for quality but I expect that they would be less money than HPA.

how much did your straight pipe cost at HPA? cuz i asked for a quote from muffler man

I would have to dig into the invoices to see what it was but I think it might have been over a $1,000 with the down pipe as well. I bit pricy but when we were getting the big brakes all around and engine upgrades, this was just a drop in the very large bucket.

ohh i see. I remember i asked him for a quote last year, he said between 300-400 for a turboback straight pipe, with labour and everything. I'm not really upgrading everything else just yet, and im probably gunna add the evry mod after the new exhaust.

This isn't a Honda, you won't get any high pitched or raspy sounding exhaust. Go 2.5 inch. Try it without a muffler, if you don't like the drone, add one.