Brand name test pipe vs. custom muffle shop test pipe

[Huligan]

I went into a muffler shop the other day and asked if they could bend and fab a custom test pipe for me and they said they could for about $60 which I thought was great compared to $180 for a corksport or cpe test pipe..

has anyone had any bad experiences with muffler shop custom stuff?

[dixie789456]

ebay pipe is damn good for 140.00! polished stainless steel and fitment was perfect. nice welds and flanges. even comes with a new gasket, but that wasn't a perfect fit.

[Huligan]

so the gasket wasnt perfect, but the pipe was? i remember seeing a gasket for like 35 bux somehwere :/

[dixie789456]

yeah the pipe is much better than expected and the gasket just needed a little bit shaved off of the inside. it was a little to small for the pipe. its just a lead doughnut gasket so it was pretty easy to fix.

[dixie789456]

or you could just get another oem gasket?

[Underground]

ive always wondered this also... theres a custom muffler shop like 2 blocks away that said they could make the whole tbe for $500 installed... thats about the same price i would pay for just the cpe dp alone. I knew someguy that said he had his A4's tbe built there and he said it was WAY better than stock according to his butt dyno... idk if thats true, my guess is all the extra noise made him think he was going faster?

[reddeerspeed3]

Originally Posted by dixie789456 or you could just get another oem gasket?

you cant use the 2.5" oem gasket on a 3" test pipe. corksport sells 3" gaskets for $10 though, i would think they fit any 3" pipe

[nyghtryder]

As long as the shop can weld you wont have any problems. If your wanting a full ss pipe then go with the brand name one unless your shop deals with ss and can do ss welds.

[cld12pk2go]

A local muffler shop will likely use aluminized mild steel and crush bent piping (not mandrel).

Spend the extra for something SS and mandrel.

[ElBartoRex]

yeah a shop can one-off an exhaust for you no problem, the money you pay for a brand name is the name, R+D, materials and build quality.

[boardjnky4]

Stainless steel isn't necessary unless you live in a high-rust area...Mandrel is a MUST though

with turbo cars, custom exhausts are much easier. Route the pipes so that there are the least number of bends, and you'll have a good exhaust. With NA cars, the car can suffer from a lack of backpressure, so they exhausts need to be well designed.