I have a Ragazzon rear exhaust without any mufflers, and I think it's a bit too loud to be honest. It sounds AWESOME when you are going at full throttle, and the sounds is great fun everytime, but it's really annoying when you are crusing at a steady 3000 rpm on the motorway. It drones quite a lot sometimes as well, which isn't very pleasant at all.
My car is mapped and has been dynoed at 292 hp, and I would image that the straight through exhaust improves performance a bit. There is still a catalytic converter right after the turbo outlet though. I image the biggest gain, would come from losing that or perhaps go for a higher flowing cat, a bit further down the exhaust.
So just in my opinion, if you use the car daily like I do, make sure to get an exhaust with some sort of muffler!

 

I am going for the Ragazzon turbo back system over the next few months, I am buying it in 3 sections to save on import duty. They recon 15-20 bhp increase. I had the same system on my old Mito 150 sport and that made a noticeable change.
Allan

 

It depends on how you drive as whether a 'performance' exhaust will be worthwhile and whether you can live with the possible drone or boom which may be a side effect.

I spent about £1500 on a Supersprint cat back system for a Citroen DS3 petrol turbo a few years ago. There was a noticeable loss of torque below 2000rpm and I couldn't really feel much of an improvement above this. It sounded slightly sportier but overall I regret the purchase.

I now look for dyno charts proving that any tuning product actually works and whereabouts in the rev range.
With my driving style, I'd rather keep all the low down torque but there is always a trade off. What you gain at 6000rpm, you will lose at 2000. (same applies to cams)

If you want to tune a 1750, I'd just settle for a remap and keep it looking standard,

 

Ok thank you; that is very useful advice.

 

Hi Julainkbh,

I upgraded my exhaust and got a BMC filter at the same time. I did feel an increase in performance however my car has not been dynoed so I can't give you exact figures. I opted not to go for the Ragazzon exhaust for the exact reasons mentioned in other replies here and opted for the Ascari package from Veloces in north London. I am very pleased with the results but this was also all in part preparation for a remap which I am booked in for mid Feb.

 

Hi Julainkbh,



I upgraded my exhaust and got a BMC filter at the same time. I did feel an increase in performance however my car has not been dynoed so I can't give you exact figures. I opted not to go for the Ragazzon exhaust for the exact reasons mentioned in other replies here and opted for the Ascari package from Veloces in north London. I am very pleased with the results but this was also all in part preparation for a remap which I am booked in for mid Feb.

Do you have a video of the exhaust? Start up/revs? Ive been tempted to go for their remap package with the exhaust upgrade too just need some sort of video evidence to show the other half as the convincer! Can’t seem to find any on YouTube!

Cheers
Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

If you want a 'performance' oriented exhaust there are a few things you can do.

Firstly downpipe. the QV downpipe is horrible. It has an incorporated cat which is also very restrictive.

Ragazzon and Supersprint both do a replacement but they are expensive. A competent Exhaust shop should be able to build you one with V-bands and a high flow cat. secondly to this, there are ragazzon copy downpipes on ebay that don't look too badand they're relatively cheap in comparison. Then just get the shop to build the rest. Dont bother with 3inches etc as the turbo outlet is 2.5in and that is more than enough for over 300bhp. Mild steel is fine, Stainless is also fine if a little expensive. Mild has thicker walls so has a less tinny sound.

Secondly Cat converters. Ragazzon use a 200cel cat and i assume SS do the same. OEM cats are generally pretty restrictive.

other than that, you can keep the exhaust stock for stealth and quietness. There is no restriction that is going to decrease performance other than maybe a few bends. If you want a bit more noise, removing the centre resonator will increase volume but be aware an untuned exhaust is likely to drone. Both Raga and SS have done a lot of RnD into making systems that dont have the dreaded drone at 2500-3000.

Obviously any performance mods to an exhaust will be refined with a remap.

 

Thank you, for that; very helpful.

 

Just ordered the rest of the Raggazon system, just have to wait now. My BMC air filter arrived in Perth today so should be delivered tomorrow or Monday. Should be fun.

Allan

 

At least Veloces should have a demo car. I remember regretting the change in character to my Lancia Delta HPE after changing to a stainless system which boomed when at cruising speed on a particular stretch of A road I used on my commute.

 

I have full ragazzon decat, big open air filter, FMIC and remaped the car

sounds awesome

when you are not boosting it's not loud, but when the turbo starts to suck air things get hot!

 

Sorry for reviving an old thread but can you get the Ragazzon catless downpipe to fit onto a standard exhaust and what is the outlet size of the downpipe because I already have a 2.5" straight through exhaust just need the downpipe. So would it fit straight on? And from the pictures it looks like it has a place for the wideband O2 sensor to screw in just like the stock one has before the cat. Is this correct? Cheers.

 

From what I understand, you can replace the new DP straight on, no problem.

 

Thanks. I will go ahead and purchase the Ragazzon downpipe then. The reason I don't want to remove the cat from original downpipe is because I will probably need it when it comes to MOT time for emissions so I can just swap the original back in to pass and then swap back over to the decat. Only a once a year job so not a big deal.

 

Why not just hollow out original cat and stick hi flo cat further down stream.this way you should be able to keep lamba sensor on original decatted pipe.

 

⚠ ⛔ old thread revival warning!!! ⚠ ⛔

I’ve been wondering about this myself. I want to keep everything looking stock under the bonnet, and have a mid pipe delete that will easily take a cat.

what issues would this cause if any? And how would they be overcome?

 

If you are putting hi flo cat further down system that will sort the emmisions out and they are only about £100 on ebay.

 

Anyone know if there is just the one O2 sensor before the cat on the qv 1.8tbi engine and none after it on the exhaust as its the only one I can see and if putting the catless downpipe on will cause an engine light? Thanks.

 

Replace the original cat with an uncatted one or a DP with a cat - the original is rubbish. If you go with only a DP, go for at least a stage 1 tune

 

So do you know of anyone who has hollowed out the original cat?