Hey
quick question for those of you who have done a custom piping exhaust from the dp back- where did you guys have the cut made?
I went over to lou's custom exhaust (in MA) today and we put the car up on the lift and took a look- doesnt look like there is any o2 sensors after the 2nd cat, so i should be able to delete that without a problem. but, should I keep the flex pipe? If I cut it after the flexpipe, then the 2.5 piping will sleeve right over the stock piping- or should i have it cut right after the dp? I think that leaving the flex pipe makes sense, but i don't remember hearing much about this in the other magnaflow posts

also- i'm still on the hunt for a shop to do the install... as today he originally quoted me 300 JUST for the install!! (that includes ALUMINZED piping, 2 simple bends to get around the black brace, attaching the magnaflow muffler, and then the two tips) that is the 32268 2.5 inlet 2.5 dual outlet and the 35121 20*degree slash double walled polished stainless steel tips
I told him thats ridiculous pricing especially for aluminized. He said add 200$ for SS. I wanted to walk out of there- but since he was a nice guy, i talked with him a bit. Basically talked him down to 200$ for install with aluminized piping. (which is still a lot, but much more reasonable, almost). This would be with the 84$ muffler from performancepeddler and 2x 51$ tips, which puts me at just under 400$ ... for the complete set up ...

my brother had his 1.8T 05 a4 exhaust done by them... and they charged 125$/side (dual exhaust), which included piping, resonator, muffler, AND tip!
Thats a VERY good price imo for that much welding and labor... If i could pull that from another lou's (the thing is there are multiple locations in MA and they all just eyeball and quote a price for you) that'd be 125$ + the 180 in parts, gettin me out at $305. I'd even go to $325-350, but 385(plus tax) is too much imo for such a simple straight back job

....opinions?

you guys are getting 350 out the door with SS! iuno how its done lol

 

Hello there, for my setup, we cut the backside of the flex pipe so that we can weld our 3" pipe. We used stainless steel and mandrel bent curves to a 3" in and 3" out Magnaflow muffler with a Y tips. Came out to be $590 total, with tax, labor, and etc. I couldn't be happier with the sound, no drone during cruising but if you let off on the gas on the revs u'll obviously hear somewhat of a "drone", but that's with about ever car including my classic mini with factory exhaust.

 

i dont think mandrel bends are nessesary if you are going 2.5 alum/ss. i went 2.5 ss and paid 110 for my labor (garage owner is a friend of mine). he said to do mandrel bending you need a ridiculous machine that some people charge 15+ bucks per bend

the price you mentioned with alum is pretty high imo. perhaps you can do you own measuring and bring in your own pipes, seeing that youll be bringing your own tips/mufflers.

i had mine cut after the second resonator (between the car and brace) for a modest sound and it drones! id keep the flex pipe (im sure theyll charge your for a 2.5 flex pipe) and go back from there. i dont think the 2.5 piping is gonna slide right over the stock one without leaving some kind of gap. my friend made me a transition pipe which slid over both the stock and the aftermarket one.

good luck!

btw...the sound you hear when you first get it done is not the sound youll be hearing after a hundred miles or so...

 

I think where to cut would really all depend onto how loud you want the exhaust system to be. Removing 2nd cat + resonator would be loudest, then cat back no resonator then would be either starting after the resonator or placing an aftermarket resonator but that will $'s to your final price.

I've done 2 cars at the same place with SS piping and the muffler shop matching the prices found online for the parts. The first advised me they could do all of it for $400. I told him $350 cash and we wodl be good so they took that. 2nd car I took they did the same thing for $325.

You can delete the 2nd cat with no problems as far as cels or anything with the car but depends where you live it might not be that good of an idea. Keep in mind that most of the sound is released with the deletion of the cat from the DP but even a DP back system without a resonator will drone.

BTW if you can get mandrel bends I certainly would recommend that. It will increase flow and maintain a constant inside diameter in the pipe.

Shoot me a PM if you have any additional ?'s and I'll help with what I can.

 

Pillar- Thanks, yeah, I meant for a sleeve to go from the stock to the 2.5, sorry haha it was assumed in my head but my wording was bad.
On the note of droning, a lot of people complain about 'droning on one system, while others say it doesnt drone at all' -so imo it all depends on the person and what their tolerance is. I honestly don't mind a little droning- maybe because im still only 20 =p haha. but, my brother's 1.8T a4 has dual 2.5 magnaflow customs with race series mufflers and magnaflow resonators- it does drone in 5th when you let off the gas, but i can bare it, so i'll see how it goes- worse case scenario i'll throw a resonator back on, or maybe a turbo tube [which the guy was explaining to me] basically tones it down while being straight through piping essentially. thanks for the input.
And, btw, i had a magnaflow setup on my 2.8L audi, and i know the change in sound from initial to when it breaks in, gets deeper/sounds better imo haha.

jose, thanks for the comments- im assuming it was your car and your fiance's right? with exhaust depot was right by me too =p
with the 2nd cat, it should be okay imo, as the first cat part of the DP takes care of most of work- tho i'll obviously keep my 2nd cat and such, so worst case scenario i'll throw it back on.
your DPback with a dp cat delete sounds BADASS haha, you can def tell a difference from it and your fiances car- tho i dunno how much the manual/auto plays into it too, regardless, they both sound really nice.
i'm seriously on the tip of my toes about to just go and order it- but i know i should be saving my money =p

thanks again guys

 

So you guys are saying this is the muffler to go with, or use the 3 inch in and out?
http://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-1221...6973690&sr=1-1

 

I used 2.5" inlet, dual outlet 2.25"







yummmm.

 

Notice any loss or gain in power? Still satisfied with the setup? Why didn't you go from a single in single out to a Y? Is the dual out better? Reason I ask is that I read on a forum that the mini should have a muffler with a chamber for each outlet. Not sure if it matters if you use a single in to a single out then split as there will have to be a Y somewhere. I removed my resonator. A bit of cabin drone. Thinking of pitting it back on then slapping on some 2.5 or 3" pipes with the magnaflow. Undecided on then pipe diameter as well.