[Expidia]

2000 9-5 6 cyl with 100k. Normally, I'd only go OEM but in this case with the car being 10 years old now . . . it's still a new car to me but that's not the way my Wife looks at it

I'd love to drive both our Saabs to 200k!

I just left Cole Muffler. They want $600 to replace the mid and rear mufflers and they are using aftermarket anyway.

Any suggestions on the most cost effective way to get these two mufflers replaced? He also says I need a special clamp for $28 for that muffler.

Anything to watch out for before I have them replaced?

I'm bringing it to another shop where my dealer gets his work done but I won't know the estimate until late Tues.

Thx

 

[MacNoob]

Quality local muffler shop should be able to replace the mid muffler with a straight pipe and the rear with a generic Magnaflow or similar for a couple hundred bucks. Weld the existing chrome tip to the new muffler. It will be a little louder/sportier.

 

[Expidia]

Quality local muffler shop should be able to replace the mid muffler with a straight pipe and the rear with a generic Magnaflow or similar for a couple hundred bucks. Weld the existing chrome tip to the new muffler. It will be a little louder/sportier.

That's funny, I just wanted to post a follow up and had not read your response even though you posted it the same day. I had solved the issue and what you suggested was exactly what I had done.

This shop has been around for 35 years. He put on two mufflers, welded and bent a few pipes to fit and I had asked him to try and save the chrome tip so it will still look OEM. He welded it back on. Took him about 45 min and he charged me $120 for the whole deal!

And you are right. It does sound a tad louder, but yet a little sportier :cheesy:

I found out about this shop when I called the guy who bought my two Saab's for me from the car auction. When I told him about the $600 the muffler chain wanted to do the job for, he said bring it to this shop and he will probably do it for a couple hundred bucks!

You Sir are clairvoyant

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[MacNoob]

thank you! I actually just got mine done last week. No center muffler and it is just on the edge of too loud, but not so loud that we are going back to have the center one added right away. $300 Canadian. I think you got a great deal.

 

[Saaber95er]

I do have a question, did you feel any difference in performance with the change? When I bought my car it had an aftermarket exhaust setup. The car seemed like it had a power loss when driven. When I investigated further they welded the entire system together including the front down pipe with the catalytic converter (which I didn’t like).
The tubing they used was 2” our systems have 2 ½” tubing. I bought a new center muffler $190.00 and an OEM muffler $145.00 from a guy on eBay (new) got another down pipe and made the system original again. Now the car has more noticeable pep. My point is when you change the system you should make sure the tubing remains 2 ½ “, because your engine compression can change with a smaller size diameter Tubing. Some shops are better that others, the guys at the shop just want to get the job done and sometimes don’t pay attention to details they just do the job.
The right size tubing is important. I would like to get my system a little louder; I’m still looking around for something that would give me more power and not compromise performance. I see allot of folks on the site did the exhaust change someone need to do a thread on the pros and cons of the change. If this was already been done can someone point me to the link. Aside from it being louder I’m curious to know if everyone was satisfied with the change just a thought.

 

[ivanwakeup]

I do have a question, did you feel any difference in performance with the change? When I bought my car it had an aftermarket exhaust setup. The car seemed like it had a power loss when driven. When I investigated further they welded the entire system together including the front down pipe with the catalytic converter (which I didn’t like).
The tubing they used was 2” our systems have 2 ½” tubing. I bought a new center muffler $190.00 and an OEM muffler $145.00 from a guy on eBay (new) got another down pipe and made the system original again. Now the car has more noticeable pep. My point is when you change the system you should make sure the tubing remains 2 ½ “, because your engine compression can change with a smaller size diameter Tubing. Some shops are better that others, the guys at the shop just want to get the job done and sometimes don’t pay attention to details they just do the job.
The right size tubing is important. I would like to get my system a little louder; I’m still looking around for something that would give me more power and not compromise performance. I see allot of folks on the site did the exhaust change someone need to do a thread on the pros and cons of the change. If this was already been done can someone point me to the link. Aside from it being louder I’m curious to know if everyone was satisfied with the change just a thought.

engine compression changes when you change the exhaust pipe sizing? i dont think so.....

but you are right- the right size exhaust is important. you have to have piping that is large enough to keep up with exhaust flow so youre not getting excessive back-pressure in the system, on the flipside- if its too large exhaust "pulses" (if you will) can get turned around and actually re-enter the block- which is not good.

if you want to experience that- run a 3 inch setup all the way through on a honda 1.6 litre. many turbo cars have no problem at all with a three inch setup because of the larger volume of exhaust gases being pushed out.

some people will argue that some backpressure is neccassary- but that isnt true in reality. the REAL goal is to get perfectly synchronized exhaust flow with as little backpressure as possible, so people say some backpressure is neccassary because it's almost impossible to find the exact right size that has NO backpressure without being to big to keep exhaust flow perfectly linear.

 

[Saaber95er]

engine compression changes when you change the exhaust pipe sizing? i dont think so.....

Maybe I should've said that you lose power. I know that’s what happened to me and after the change I felt the difference.
If I did a mod on the engine I would consider a 3" tubing but I’m totally against welding the entire system together and that would have to be done to connect the flex pipe to a larger tubing and I don't want to go the route of using adaptors and clamps to fit the pipe.
In a perfect world I would like to get a system that’s compatible and as close to OE as possible so if anything goes wrong I would have the option to remove and replace parts instead of taking it back to the shop to have things welded again. That’s just me I find that the exhaust system in these cars are very easy to work on. When I decide on the system I will use I will get all the piping flanged so it can be put together easily; if need be taken apart easily as well.

 

[MacNoob]

the right size exhaust is important. you have to have piping that is large enough to keep up with exhaust flow so youre not getting excessive back-pressure in the system, on the flipside- if its too large exhaust "pulses" (if you will) can get turned around and actually re-enter the block- which is not good.

if you want to experience that- run a 3 inch setup all the way through on a honda 1.6 litre. many turbo cars have no problem at all with a three inch setup because of the larger volume of exhaust gases being pushed out.

right, for a normally aspirated (no turbo) engine there is a 'correct' size of exhaust for proper function - on a turbo BIGGER IS BETTER once past the turbo. No reversion can happen on a turbo.

Super high HP turbo cars run a short pigtail right off the exhaust side of the turbo and out the side of the car... total exhaust path from the turbo to tailpipe might be 2 feet of 4" tubing. Yes, it's loud....

 

[MacNoob]

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