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Goodbye resonator Posted by sam96CS [Email] ![]() ![]() |
And good riddance. My car's 3rd resonator section failed at about 180K miles in the usual way, a rusted through seam in the pipe that passes over the rear axle.
As others have noted here and on the performance board, the resonator is of no acoustical value unless you prefer a quiet car. The resonator is definitely a source of weight and a suspected source of backpressure.
I had a local shop with a mandrel bender fabricate a straight through pipe out of 2.5" aluminized steel welded to the old connectors at each end and with hooks that correspond with the stock hanger locations.
The engine has more low end torque, and the turbo seems to spool up faster. This difference is not big. It feels like the ambient temperature dropped maybe 30 degrees F.
Another pleasant result is the the sound produced by the original stock muffler in the absence of the resonator. The exhaust sound is deeper and louder. Not loud enough to intrude into the cabin or annoy the neighbors. Just a nice Swedish growl.
I paid $258 including material, labor, tax. That compares well to buying a Starla resonator and paying someone to install it. Knowing that I won't need to replace this part again is a bonus. There is no downside to this modification unless you want a very quiet exhaust.
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