$850 seems like the average for a cat-back exhaust for our cars. (dual) I would think that a local shop would do a very good job and for a heck of a lot less. Correct me if i'm wrong. What I really want to know is what am I really getting buying a aftermarket over custom besides perfect fit and finish. (which I could care less about if i'm having a shop fit the exhaust for me)

 

custom exhaust is mandrel bent. This means the pipe is made without bending and restricting the pipe like an exhaust shop will almost certainly do. IF the exhaust shop has a mandrel machine, you will pay a pretty penny for the time spent to make a perfect fit that way.

 

So without a mandrel bend the pipe will be crimped. Is there going to be a big difference in restriction?

 

Hey man,
I have a custom setup. If you want I can send you the link to the vid I posted and you can see how it looks, sounds etc. Its much more cost efficient and I think it sounds way better than most pre-made exhaust systems. PM me for details.

 

You can always buy pre-bent 180s (mandrel) that the exahust shop can use to create the bends. Thats what I did on my GTI's custom exhaust.

 

I'll give you guys a view on this subject as I've seen it and experienced it throughout the last ten+ years.

Way back in the day, I had a turbo Mirage and no one made a pre-built exhaust for it. A local muffler shop charged something like $250 dollars to press bend and mig weld an aluminized exhaust and I supplied the muffler. It worked and sounded fine, but after a few winters and normal weather, it really started to fall apart fast.

Then I started building custom exhausts for people using pre-fabbed 45s, 90s, straight sections, and hangers. The result is much nicer but it is very time consuming to build. Properly fitting, removing, prepping, tig welding, and refitting to check pulling and alignment takes far far more time than mig welding on the car. I would often have 6-10 hours or more into building a nice system that I felt comfortable that the customer would be happy with. $75-115 an hour plus the ever increasing cost of stainless materials adds up very quickly.

Now I work for a company that prototypes, jigs, test fits, modifies, rejigs, re-test fits, produces, and has to keep up on quality control during production. The initial investment of some of our products is pretty staggering. We often anticipate the fact that we won't see a return on a product quite a ways into its production and have to rely on the hopes that we sell enough to make the initial investment worthwhile and profitable.

So in the end, its all about what you want and can afford. You could say it a million different ways, but the investment can be equal to the reward, and often is.

 

if you didnt prebuy the mandrel pieces, which by the sounds of it you didnt, you are lacking flow via the crimped and crushed pipe. Its not actually 3 inches in a corner that is bent, its an oval shape youd be lucky to get 2 inches out of alot of the time.

Cost efficient yes, but a great setup no.

 

actually no. The whole system was welded in place using pre-bent elbows and a welder. It was not a half a$$ job, just so happened that I happened to be good friends with a shop owner. That being said, either way, it would be a lot cheaper to have it done custom. Heres a clip. If you use quality piping, and a good exhaust shop, there is no reason why a custom exhaust would fall short of anything else on the market. For knowing absolutely nothing about my exhaust other than the very vague details I gave you seemed to have gathered quite a bit. haha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsip-XqX9bA

 

i've seen some shops do great jobs and some do really **** poor jobs here. pre-bent mandrel stainless pieces are a must. finding a shop that charges a reasonable price and does a good job is tantamount; you'll end up paying too much or end up with crap otherwise.

we're lucky our exhaust from the downpipe back is pretty straight. the downpipe would prove to be a bit tricky and time consuming as opposed to a $150-200 one bought online.

from my personal experience, i had bought a header and muffler for my first car and had a shop install them and build my exhaust. i think it cost around $500 plus parts. it turned out excellent and sounded great!

second time i bought some ebay exhaust for my silvia and took it to a different shop that everyone was raving about at the time. the guy working on it was a total tool and ended up hacking up my downpipe in two places and welding in 2.75" pieces on a 3" piece. just absolutely unacceptable! they charged me like $400 for a job that should have taken only two hours but instead took 8.

so from now on i'll buy prebuilt pieces from reputable companies and do the installs myself. it just doesn't pay for the added stress of having to oversee someone else's work.