is 3" exhaust pipe overkill,on a mav,with lets say right around 300hp?my question being,is i work in a custom exhaust shop,and i run a pines mandrel bender.the smallest tooling we run is 3".the owner said i can bring it in and do the exhaust,on company time,just pay for the aluminumized tubing.i'm hoping i can use the 3" vs.paying a muffler shop $300.00 as i was quaoted.,for 2 1/4".also i'll be using some dynomax turbos.if anything else,i could make some sidepipes and have them chromed.as always any help,or ideas is appreciated.thanks...chuck.
3" is probably overkill for that level engine. 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 is more functional. there is such a thing as too big an exhaust pipe. if the bends are gentle and well designed there will be almost no difference in et between closed and open exhaust. i had 2 1/2 to the rear of a 440 barracuda that i shifted at 6500 rpm with a closed exhaust. i thought the exhaust was hurting me so i short shifted and lost 3 tenths. then opened the headers and went back to 6500 shift. went a tenth quicker. any full exhaust that only hurts a tenth is working pretty well. sometimes too large pipes will actually hurt performance, especially in street driving. a little back pressure can be a good thing.
Four sticks of 3" aluminized pipe should only cost you around $50.00 I'd say Do the exhaust yourself, have a cool mandrel bent 3" exhaust system, and spend the extra money you would have spent having someone else do it making your engine want 3" pipes! Also not to nitpick, but backpressure is never a good thing. The reason to run smaller diameter tubing to increase the velocity of the exhaust gasses.
ok,thanks guys.any other thoughs out there?i'm leaning toward the 3"setup.if it doesn't work too good,i'm going with some chrome sidepipes.thanks again guys...chuck.
