Magnaflow Catback on its way..
Someones an engineer.......
Well I am too, and I can tell you this, mandrel bent is better, hands down. Not even getting into flow characteristics, look at intercooler setups. You dont hear of crimp bent piping there, and that says something. Mandrel bent has better flow characteristics, and can take pressure much better.
My whole point though is the Magnaflow catback (Im assuming, I mean I know the Greddy is) has been flow tested. During fabrication they can play around with pipe location and bend radius to see what offers the most horsepower and torque. I doubt a custom job will offer that.
Sdhotwn, dont take this as me slamming you custom cat-back. Im just stating info. Im sure if I lived in an area where I could trust muffler shops, I might go custom myself.
Well I am too, and I can tell you this, mandrel bent is better, hands down. Not even getting into flow characteristics, look at intercooler setups. You dont hear of crimp bent piping there, and that says something. Mandrel bent has better flow characteristics, and can take pressure much better.
My whole point though is the Magnaflow catback (Im assuming, I mean I know the Greddy is) has been flow tested. During fabrication they can play around with pipe location and bend radius to see what offers the most horsepower and torque. I doubt a custom job will offer that.
Sdhotwn, dont take this as me slamming you custom cat-back. Im just stating info. Im sure if I lived in an area where I could trust muffler shops, I might go custom myself.
damn us engineers :-)
I'll certainly give you all the points you said in your post Tristar no question :-).
For a modestly tight bend to tight bend... Mandrel bent is the only ay to go really... hence those pretty tight 90s on intercoolers are always mandrel bent. But for the relatively lazy bends that are required on our Lancer's I don't feel from looking at it that there is a significant enough impact of the type of bender used to make a large enough difference to worry over especially considering the overall length of the pipe. One interesting phenomenon of the fluids though too is that turbulent flow creates less friction than laminar flow. So having a small interference (crimp ridges) along the perimeter of a pipe can actually reduce the restriction of the pipe ever so slightly. I think the physics involved are complex enough that we'd have to sit down and take measurements and all sort of crap before we'd know how it really effected our cars in the long run.
I agree that magnaflow probably tested... but there is also only so much they can do as far as the bends and placements as they still have to get it to fit the route that the car already has assigned. But you would be safe assuming that they did everything they could to optimize the system, the question is how much of a difference did it make over having just half-assed it.
I don't intend to come across as saying the custom job is the way to go or the only way to go. I think the magnaflow catback is a great idea and I probably would have bought it... I was defending the custom job as a viable solution though as I felt Kontra's post made it out like I had bought some vastly inferior POS to slap on my car which is far from the case I believe.
Lastly, a custom job is cheaper as i was pointing out. If you can save a good 150 bucks does it really matter if you are losing 1 or MAYBE 2 hp if even anywhere near that much between the two exhaust systems?
I'll certainly give you all the points you said in your post Tristar no question :-).
For a modestly tight bend to tight bend... Mandrel bent is the only ay to go really... hence those pretty tight 90s on intercoolers are always mandrel bent. But for the relatively lazy bends that are required on our Lancer's I don't feel from looking at it that there is a significant enough impact of the type of bender used to make a large enough difference to worry over especially considering the overall length of the pipe. One interesting phenomenon of the fluids though too is that turbulent flow creates less friction than laminar flow. So having a small interference (crimp ridges) along the perimeter of a pipe can actually reduce the restriction of the pipe ever so slightly. I think the physics involved are complex enough that we'd have to sit down and take measurements and all sort of crap before we'd know how it really effected our cars in the long run.
I agree that magnaflow probably tested... but there is also only so much they can do as far as the bends and placements as they still have to get it to fit the route that the car already has assigned. But you would be safe assuming that they did everything they could to optimize the system, the question is how much of a difference did it make over having just half-assed it.
I don't intend to come across as saying the custom job is the way to go or the only way to go. I think the magnaflow catback is a great idea and I probably would have bought it... I was defending the custom job as a viable solution though as I felt Kontra's post made it out like I had bought some vastly inferior POS to slap on my car which is far from the case I believe.
Lastly, a custom job is cheaper as i was pointing out. If you can save a good 150 bucks does it really matter if you are losing 1 or MAYBE 2 hp if even anywhere near that much between the two exhaust systems?
Last edited by sdhotwn; May 26, 2003 at 06:41 PM.
All very true....
You still in school, or did you graduate? What school?
Im still stuck here at Purdue, but at least I can still drink myself retarded and people dont look at me like Im a screw up, lol.
You still in school, or did you graduate? What school?
Im still stuck here at Purdue, but at least I can still drink myself retarded and people dont look at me like Im a screw up, lol.
I'm at Madtown (Madison, WI) and will be graduating in December... just a couple design courses left and Heat Transfer this summer and that's it... thank goodness can't wait to get out! 
I get looked at like I'm a screw up here because I don't drink myself retarded all the time 
I get looked at like I'm a screw up here because I don't drink myself retarded all the time
No, Maganflow catback is not out yet. RRM uses a universal muffler for their axle back. Last I heard the Magnaflow cat-back will not be released for a couple more months. Chris, any news?