UKSaabs

My rescue Aero is going to Albert 666 for an exhaust system next month. I have to decide on the spec.
My other Stg 5 Aero has a full 3" "Aerodyte" system with a fabricated manifold but that will be unnecessary. The traditional way in the past has been to install a JT. Although this is billed as a 3" d/p it is infact 2.5" round the first bend then crudely sleeved to 3", not even a cone transmission. A full 3" on the bend is very tight to the water pump so I dont want to go there unless absolutely necessary. My thinking is to have a nice 2.5" bend before opening out to 3" with a nice transition piece. I would propose 2.5" from the cat except for the tailpipe from the back box which would be 3" in order to better fill the hole in the rear spoiler. I will never take this car beyond stg 3. Another option is to go to 2.75 on the first bend but if JT use 2.5" I really dont see any point. What do folks think?

Hi Roger,

A 2.5" downpipe is fine for stage3 levels on a 9000. Or any T5 car for that matter.
Mine is running 324bhp now and im not seeing any EGT temp issues at that level with my Abbott 2.5" downpipe. At least not on Dyno runs, but sustained track driving would probably drive it over the edge.

But anymore than this then indeed you must have a 3" DP.
I had a car in 2 weeks ago that had a 3" DP on it from an unknown supplier. It was actually touching the oil filter, with some of the paint on the oil filter looking burned. So clearance is a real issue with the bigger pipe.

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The SAAB Clinic. T5 Tuning. www.thesaabclinic.co.uk
97 9000 Aero 2.3T
Astra 1.8i SRi XP

That's interesting Paul. The oem d/p has a right angle bend so is clearly restrictive. Perceived wisdom in the past has been to fit a 3" JT but we know that is only 2.5" on the first bend. So, in your view 2.5" throughout will be fine, presumably as long as the first bend is a nice swept one. In that case I will probably go for a "JT style" i.e. a swept 2,5" on the first bend going to 3" for the rest of the d/p. A reducer to 2.5" after the cat and finish off with a 3" tailpipe with a nice rolled end.
324hp seems a hell of a flow for a TD04. Is it clipped and is that a dyno figure?

Abbott downpipes for 9000's were always 2.5". Mine and my sons are.
I believe they changed this about 5yrs ago to 3" pipe.

Yes 324 is a stretch, ive actually dialled it back a little bit now. Its all part of my testing to see how far things can be pushed.
I was aiming for 340bhp with my sons car which has the 1993 configuration. 15G turbo and the Lucas blue band injectors. But we have since found someone in Sweden that has reached 350bhp on factory 1993 setup.
Mine was dyno'd but not my sons yet, will be doing that one soon. We are using BDS motorsports dyno. (The garage that is often seen on the Car Throttle youtube channel.

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The SAAB Clinic. T5 Tuning. www.thesaabclinic.co.uk
97 9000 Aero 2.3T
Astra 1.8i SRi XP

Left the car with Alan in Banbury. We have agreed 2.75" first bend then 3" down to the cat. 2.5" catback with a final polished 3" section at the tailpipe- rolled end, slightly oval. He had already mocked up the first section on his 9000 jig so was sure it would work but I have told him ok to go to 2.5" if any difficulties. We have agreed flanged connectors throughout rather than V-band which are now hideously expensive. Since we had already agreed a flange at the turbo instead of a V-band adaptor piece I didn't see much point.

My i ask what he is charging for this exhaust ?.
Ive had a lot of 9000 owners asking recently about exhausts as Abbott are telling customers they are not making 9000 exhausts anymore. Maybe they should take it off their website.
Ive been recommending folks to just use Longlife. Since they make it to what ever specs you want, and generally they make a fairly decent job of it.

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The SAAB Clinic. T5 Tuning. www.thesaabclinic.co.uk
97 9000 Aero 2.3T
Astra 1.8i SRi XP

I can supply very sensibly priced v band fittings Roger

Thanks for the thought Mark but I have really gone off v-bands. In terms of dismantling ease it really is no advantage over a 2- bolt flange, particularly if the flanges and fastenings are stainless. A flange will also give you a few mm extra ground clearance over sleeping policemen !!!!
There could be a case for having one at the turbo but you then need an adaptor piece which is likely to compromise the sweep of the first bend. It's all very marginal ( I have them on my black Aero ) and since I can save a bit of money anyway I have decided against them.

I had a 3 inch system made at Redhill Classics with 1 silencer and 4inch outward rolled tip, they also renewed the flexi on the downpipe that cost me £550, took them 3 hours to do and a very good job done too

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1995 Scarab 9000 Aero SC Map
1999 Mercedes SLK230
2001 Goodwood Green Audi B5 RS4
1999 Volvo V70 T5

The est. price was £1300 for a fully V-banded 2 box system with 200 cel cat. Price includes vat and fitting. I have opted for flange connectors so expect the final price to be nearer £1100. Not cheap but superb work.
I have a full 3" v-banded downpipe and tubular manifold by Alan on my other Aero with a catback system by Haywood & Scott, Basildon. Essex.

Price is in on my exhaust- and a nice surprise- £912!! ( incl. vat ) Some changes to the spec. Knowing I wanted a quiet system, Alan has fitted a 3rd small diam. silencer in the long straight after the cat. He found it easier to use a V-band at the bottom of the d/p so it has one V-band in the system. The tailpipe is a squashed inward rolled 4" one rather than 3" and beautifully fits the hole in the valance. I'll post some photos later.

Some photos of the system. The d/p is 2.75" going to 3" after the bend and continuing 3" to the cat. Note the strap holding the d/p to the block. It is then 2.5" catback except for the short tailpipe section which is a nice polished oval that sits very nicely in the rear valance. Note the 3 silencers, 2 at the rear in the oem position and a third narrow one just to the rear of the cat.
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Very nice shiny bits! LLooks and I bet sounds great.

That's a real result, both in terms of the quality of the work (which we already knew would be high) but also the price.
You must be delighted, on both counts.

I'm interested to see how you find the noise levels in the car with that extra narrow silencer.
I have a 3" downpipe mated to a 2.5" cat-back exhaust, all supplied by Abbott Racing, on my car.
There is quite a bit of boom within the cabin, especially between 70 to 80 mph and when the engine is under load.
Since my car is a daily driver I could really do with less noise without losing the performance gains that the exhaust provides.
A very recent holiday trip to the south of France really focused my attention on this issue.

Are the flanged connectors also made of stainless steel?
The ones on my Abbott system are not and are showing signs of corrosion and wearing away. It was quite difficult to seal the join between the last two sections when we had the exhaust off recently and we had to use quite a bit of exhaust sealant to ensure a good seal between the two.

Thankyou for letting us know about this.

S

Yes, so are the fasteners. My wife says the car is quieter ( easier for her to talk!! ) and a more comfortable ride than my black Aero. It will be some months before I post my conclusions but cruising at 70-80mph today the exhaust was pretty inaudible. Any noise was wind and tyre. The former is built into the car design, the latter depends on tyres. I am running Rainsport. At W.O.T got a restrained "bellow" but didn't seem as harsh and raucous as my other one. Can't comment yet on sustained under load cruising. I hope to take it to France in 6wks so that will be a good test.

Having a couple of downpipes off Albert 666 and looking at the number of welds in your system that seems a very good price indeed. It's a fine looking system and it's just a shame you only get to to see the last inch or two of the tailpipe.

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Underskatta aldrig en gammal man med en gammal SAAB

Perhaps a trip to a custom exhaust place - have the joints replaced with stainless...... Possibly V-bands?
For the drone I would consider a cylindrical straight through silencer, fairly easy to add in to the straight section on the 9000.

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Rich
Prefers driving over polishing or reading.