Lets have a muffler thread

[burn_your_money]

I've ran a NA with an "open header." That lasted all of one week.

On my 1.6TD w/ K24 the exhaust rotted off at the downpipe halfway down the firewall. It wasn't too loud but it did drone quite a bit. The cabin would fill with exhaust fumes though and I always had headaches.

[Smokey Eddy]

I've ran a NA with an "open header." That lasted all of one week.

On my 1.6TD w/ K24 the exhaust rotted off at the downpipe halfway down the firewall. It wasn't too loud but it did drone quite a bit. The cabin would fill with exhaust fumes though and I always had headaches.

My exhaust got forcibly removed years ago and i was too poor to make an exhaust for a long while (no welder) so i drove with just a downpipe for a long time and i was starting to constantly smell of exhaust and i had a head ache at all times. I'm sure it was REALLY REALLY bad for my health... it boosted like there was no tomorrow though with just 2 feet of 2.5ID pipe on the turbo.
Glasspacks are pretty cheap. If i found a 2.5 inch glass pack I could easily stick it in the exhaust. Would it make a difference? Or am i wanting something different like a muffler?

[gnavs]

A 2.5" turboback with a glasspack would work.  It's not offensive at all and actually sounds pretty good.  Apparently the soot from the exhaust shortens the lifespan of them though.

[Smokey Eddy]

Yeah that is something to take into consideration.
What about mufflers over resonators or glass packs, do they soot up too?
Im guessing anything with an edge will catch all the soot and boy does she ever spew the soot

[Rabbit on Roids]

I did notice a power increase in my build when i did that but it wasn't worth the stench of exhaust or the deafening racket it made.

VNT's rock, i have nothing more than a downpipe, and its only loud in the car at WOT. exhaust doesnt even come in the car. it makes soo much more power with just a downpipe, rather than a full system.

[kaneb]

2.5 turbo back. Sounds nice and aggressive on a good romp but i can keep it quiet if i want too.  I do miss that little turbo  sigh/phaser sound with the stock DP though.  I lost that with the new downpipe.

[GEE-BEE]

2.5 Complete S/S here from techtonic's with a flowmaster muffler

No drone,  Perfect

Downpipe is polished, tailpipe is ceramic coated black

Gee-Bee

Paid 300.00 for DP, 315.00 for exhaust

[RadoTD]

I'm not sure if this equates to the diesel world, although I can't see why it wouldn't.

What I've found is that the glasspacks help get rid of raspiness/volume, but them on their own just drone. Having a muffler that forces the exhaust to completely change direction seems to get rid of the drone. You are, of course hurting flow though.

[Patrick]

Straight pipe is fine as long as you go all the way to the back of the car, use the stock layout. Mine is an AAZ in a mk2 four door jetta, it's fine until you stomp on it. Just make sure teh pie goes a little past the bumper............

[vanbcguy]

I did a trip from Vancouver to Kelowna / Penticton and back with nothing but a downpipe.  It was ok while cruising, but ANY kind of acceleration was pretty brutal.  Accelerating up any kind of incline was nuts, especially past about 2500 RPM.  At that point it sounded like the world was going to end inside the car.  I've got a K24, trust me it isn't a very effective muffler!

I still have my stock Mk III downpipe at this point, but have a 2.5" all the way back from there.  Gibson muffler with dual tips - I would have preferred something with at least SOME kind of turndown at the end, but this is what was available at the time.  Sounds pretty good - nice and comfortable for normal driving, but can still rattle the office windows driving downtown when I step on it.  Only downside is it just shoots smoke straight backwards so it's highly visible.  the left side of my back bumper/trunk lid is also noticeably darker than the right side!

Recently added a Manaflow 2.5" diesel cat as I had to get through AirCare here.  That didn't really make any difference for noise under normal driving, but it has cut the peak acceleration sound down a tad.  Annoyingly enough during my AirCare inspection I found out they don't check for cats on mechanical diesels, even if they came with them.  If I took the same car through as a gasser without a cat it would be an automatic fail with no repair cost limit due to "tampering" with the emissions system.  Go figure.

[RadoTD]

 Annoyingly enough during my AirCare inspection I found out they don't check for cats on mechanical diesels, even if they came with them.  If I took the same car through as a gasser without a cat it would be an automatic fail with no repair cost limit due to "tampering" with the emissions system.  Go figure.

Wait.. so I don't need to weld the old body of a cat around my exhaust to get through air care? Do I need anything there at all?

[745 turbogreasel]

I had  a stock Jetta 1.6TD in my Caddy, home built 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 downpipe, then I tried a glasspack, turbo muffler, and Flowmaster in every combo I could, and fankly, there wasn't much difference.
I think length of pipe made a lot more difference than which muffer.
I settled on DP - glasspack - Flowmaster - angle cut tip just ahead of the drivers rear tire.  Not stealthy, but I wouldn't describe it as loud either.

[commuter boy]

I first tried a 2.5" PP downpipe with straight pipe.  Too loud during acceleration and the drone at highway speeds was crazy bothering me.

A straight through flowmaster muffler helped alot, but it could still get annoying.  If I was going to do it again I'd put a resonator in as well.

[arsenicpants]

crap video, but it shows my 1.6TD / k14 / open TT downpipe and what it sounds like
i like it, but i'll be putting in a 2.25 system with a flowmaster so I can pass aircare

Jetta Diesel first start

[truckinwagen]

on my old TD 1.6 I ran with just a 2.5" downpipe and almost went mad from the noise and smell(and headaches)

I then installed a turbo muffler right after the downpipe and exhaust to exit right in front of the rear drivers side tire.
sounded great, good noise under hard acceleration, but not too loud or drone.

I later removed the muffler and kept the same exhaust piping, and it was almost as maddening as just the downpipe.

so a $20 turbo muffler from schmucks makes a world of difference.

-Owen