After hearing Bastets exhaust, i'm wondering if I can do anything with mine to sound a little less like a clattery diesel apart from the obvious of buying a petrol Avant. His is the 2.5TDI, mines the 1.9 (130). Just wondering what I could do and still meet emissions? I'm not even sure how many boxes I have in my exhaust system but assuming theres a couple, could I reduce it to one and increase the pipework diameter? Would it still run ok assuming I'd be reducing the amount of back pressure? I'm not too bothered with performance gains - I don't want to lose any either but a nicer sound is desirable.
TDI exhaust options?
- Thread starter Nostromo
- Start date
Turbo diesels don't need back pressure to run properly, the less pressure the better. Unfortunately you won't get a 4 cylinder diesel to sound anything like a 6. The standard exhaust pipe diameters are good to around 200bhp. Getting rid of the cat and the rear box usually releases a better noise and a bit more power.
Karl.
Karl.
You haven't got a DPF on your car so it won't make any difference, You are likely to get less soot as the turbo will spool quicker and earlier putting more air in.
bastet
Registered User
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2015
- Messages
- 72
- Reaction score
- 36
- Points
- 18
As desertstorm said - mine still soots, but I have the faint idea that it's less than before. Do note that the 3" has been on there for almost a year now and a lot can happen in 20K miles that might change sooting. The turbo spools easier (noticeable), sounds more eager and blowoff sounds are much more audible.
I'm now running a center resonator (a straight through model with perforated sidewall + wadding + exterior wall) and it's changed a LOT of the exhaust note. The vid I recently posted was with that resonator. Without it, it sounds much more screechy, and WAY louder.
That said, I haven't really heard of a good sounding 1.9TDI exhaust.. they are either too turbo-fluttery, or they're simply too boomy. The 1.9 PD will probably always sound very diesel-ish.. As recommended above, I'd start by removing the mufflers one by one, replacing them with simple pipes.. check what you like after a week of driving, and see if it needs redoing. If you build it with flanges, you can easily swap parts and try different combinations (with/without center/rear/cat). I'd recommend getting a thick downpipe, as that will truly help your turbo spool quickly and will give you some more 'belching' and a 'throaty' sound. If you make muffler replacements pipes with flanges, you can combine different setups easily and see what you like best.
How is your MOT for diesels? In NL, only petrol cars have to be measured by a 4-gas system to measure CO, CO2, NOx etc... They all have a mark on their registration that says a cat has to be present.. Up until 2006 that is - after that, it's all OBD controlled/checked. For diesels, there's only one check: soot. Until 2006, you have to pass a soot check (from idle to redline at 60+ deg. oil temp, where the driver needs to floor it within one second (so no calm revving)... soot is measured and that's it). Pass the soot = OK. So for me, no need for MOT cat/downpipe, and no need for swaps..
Thanks guys, your input is appreciated. My issue is that I have no welding/pipe bending skills so its not the sort of thing I could just knock up then adjust as I feel like it. That being said, I've mentioned to one of my mates who has a welder that i'd like to try to build an exhaust and he's interested to help. Just need to find a decent source for getting hold of some stainless pipe, joiners, etc...
Bastet, what is your profile pic? It looks like a really muscly bald cat...
Bastet, what is your profile pic? It looks like a really muscly bald cat...
Had it made up at Demon Tweeks as I used to work there. I've kept the standard pipe diameter for ease of fabrication. It is marginally more boomy, but its barely noticeable in the car.
bastet
Registered User
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2015
- Messages
- 72
- Reaction score
- 36
- Points
- 18
Haha you're the first one ever to question my avatar
. A friend of mine has two utterly small and adorable hairless cats (Sphyx). It's the right one on the first pic, and I think the left one on the second.@Greeny233 - that does sound good for a 1.9TDI. A bit too much flutter-like for my taste, but still, loads better than stock!
