PowerFlow Stainless Exhaust System

[highlander]

Hello,

I have for sale a cat-back PowerFlow stainless-steel exhaust system. The exhaust was custom-designed and built to fit on to my old 1.8 litre 406 saloon, but it may also work with a 2.0 petrol. It is NOT suitable for use on a 2.2 petrol (saloon, estate, or Coupe).

The exhaust is more free-flowing than the mild-steel OEM parts, so should help extract exhaust gases from your engine faster than the stock exhaust will. This means that petrol can be more thoroughly burnt owing to a higher concentration of oxygen at the point of combustion, giving more power from each cycle.

It is also designed to produce a sportier sound than the stock exhaust, but it is not excessively noisy - it has a nice burble while idling, snarls nicely when accelerating, but quietens down a bit while cruising.

Unfortunately I will not be able to post it, as it's a bit large - about 6 feet long, excluding the backbox and tip. The exhaust is located in Aberdeen; I can travel with it a bit, within reason; let me know where you are if you are interested in buying the system.

It cost me £320 all-inclusive to fit it to the car in the first place - I'd be looking for about £100 for the complete system; maybe a little less.

For reference, here it is hanging from the back end of my old car:



Cheers
Graeme

[Hangar18]

If you can guarantee it will fit my car- I will be willing to engage negotiation with you sir

[waue1978]

If you can guarantee it will fit my car- I will be willing to engage negotiation with you sir

Thought you only got guarantees when you bought from a shop...


Highlander - what was the issue when trying to fit it to the coupe then? Bore size too small or too big? I'd hazard a guess that it'd be no good for estates due to the extra length, otherwise I'd be looking into whether it'd be near suitable for an HDi.

[Doggy]

I'd hazard a guess that it'd be no good for estates due to the extra length, otherwise I'd be looking into whether it'd be near suitable for an HDi.

I think there's only a marginal difference in the length of the tailpipe

[waue1978]

Saloon - Length (mm) 4598
Width (mm) 1765
Height (mm) 1404

Estate - Length (mm) 4736
Width (mm) 1765
Height (mm) 1502

Coupe - Length (mm) 4615
Width (mm) 1780
Height (mm) 1352


138mm difference between Graeme's saloon & my estate. I actually thought the coupe would be shorter than the saloon.

[highlander]

Tell you what I'll do - I will measure each part of the exhaust system and give you photos of it. You can then measure the different parts of your own exhaust and see how it compares in diameter.

The 1.8 and the 2.0 probably won't have much difference in the exhaust systems, and therefore the 2.0 is more likely to be suitable as a recipient than my 2.2 was.

I would guess that the PowerFlow pipes have a larger diameter than the factory-fitted 1.8 pipes, and may actually be the same or slightly larger diameter than the factory-fitted 2.0 pipes.

The problem with it going on the 2.2 was basically that the pipe on my old PowerFlow was a lot narrower than the OEM exhaust. He said they could fit part of it, but the diameter of the pipe would have restricted gas flow through the system at higher revs (about 3,000 RPM), so performance would have been choked. Additionally, the pipe that runs from the catalyst into the first silencer box entered the silencer box at a different position on the 2.2 than on the 1.8 (so if the pipe was the right size, we'd have just needed a different silencer.

I can't guarantee that this exhaust will fit any car other than another 1.8 saloon - but I bet it can be adapted to fit a 2.0 (saloon/estate/coupe). Either way, I need shot of it as it's leaning against a corner of my living room, and the backbox is sitting on the floor next to my fish tank

[waue1978]

I hate to say it, but I've got a funny feeling that your exhaust is going to be no good on anything other than a 1.8 (or 1.6) petrol. Had a look on Ebay & they all seem to have different part numbers. All that I can find that's shared are 1.9/2.1TDs, 2.0 & 2.2 HDis & the 1.8i one says that it also fits the 1.6i.

All the rest just say 2.0 or 3.0. Backbox may be adaptable though as it could be that the only differences between diesel & petrol ones is a downswept tailpipe, but again, all the Ebay ones are just showing the same shared models as above.


Never say die though, my old 2.8 Granada had a Janspeed backbox that was designed for a Calibra Turbo...

[Hangar18]

I will measure each part of the exhaust system and give you photos of it. You can then measure the different parts of your own exhaust and see how it compares in diameter.

That would be amazing if you could do that- I guess it'll just have to be rough angles/clearances (if applicable) but mainly the lengths and diameters between components

I would guess that the PowerFlow pipes have a larger diameter than the factory-fitted 1.8 pipes, and may actually be the same or slightly larger diameter than the factory-fitted 2.0 pipes.

There's a difference in bore between the 1.8 and the 2.0- I'm pretty sure of it. (don't know how much or why I think it though, lol...)

The problem with it going on the 2.2 was basically that the pipe on my old PowerFlow was a lot narrower than the OEM exhaust. He said they could fit part of it, but the diameter of the pipe would have restricted gas flow through the system at higher revs (about 3,000 RPM), so performance would have been choked. Additionally, the pipe that runs from the catalyst into the first silencer box entered the silencer box at a different position on the 2.2 than on the 1.8 (so if the pipe was the right size, we'd have just needed a different silencer.

So the powerflow is actually SMALLER bore than a standard 2.2 exhaust bore :S? so surely wouldn't that be detrimental/negligible to the flow of a 2.0?

I can't guarantee that this exhaust will fit any car other than another 1.8 saloon - but I bet it can be adapted to fit a 2.0 (saloon/estate/coupe). Either way, I need shot of it as it's leaning against a corner of my living room, and the backbox is sitting on the floor next to my fish tank

Whey You've got a REAL reason there!

[Doggy]

I need shot of it as it's leaning against a corner of my living room, and the backbox is sitting on the floor next to my fish tank

What's the betting Graeme ends up flogging the fish tank?

[highlander]

I wish I could - there's still fish in it. Horrible, smelly little bastards; they sh*t absolutely everywhere, all day, every day. And of course, I'm the poor f*cker left to clean it all up.

The Wifely Person and the Childly Person decided they wanted tropical fish. I said "you know who's going to be left cleaning up the tank and feeding them" and they said "no no, we'll help", and did they f*ck.

We have two fish left (the little fuckers bully each other til they die from stress, and/or simply eat each other). One is an Opaline Gourami (pretty looking, but agressive bully. Pretty much always has a rope-like line of sh*t pouring out of him, which kind of detracts from the charm). The other is a Sailfin Pleco (a kind of catfish, which specialise in sitting still for hours on end, and living for a very very long time).

If I weren't so opposed to animal cruelty, I'd just as soon tip the tank out of the window. I want rid of them in the worst kind of way, but I can't bring myself to kill the little fuckers. Nobody is interested in taking them off my hands, and my human co-habitants are sort of fond of them. So, I'm outvoted. Grrr.

...

</unexpected rant>


Anyway, about this exhaust. The problem with a stainless steel exhaust is that you can't just slap a great big pipe in place of a little pipe. You want to improve airflow, but not so much that there is no back-pressure at all. Therefore, the PowerFlow exhaust I bought is definitely a little bit wider than that of the original exhaust fitted to the 1.8. However, the exhaust originally fitted to the 2.2 is a lot wider than the exhaust originally fitted to the 1.8. The guy put my car up on the ramp and lifted up the PowerFlow exhaust off my 1.8, placing it next to the original pipe for the 2.2, and you could see the original pipe on the Coupe was visibly wider.

Measurements ... let me see if I can find the measuring tape. If I can't, I'll get one from my colleague tomorrow.

[Hangar18]

I wish I could - there's still fish in it. Horrible, smelly little bastards; they sh*t absolutely everywhere, all day, every day. And of course, I'm the poor f*cker left to clean it all up.

The Wifely Person and the Childly Person decided they wanted tropical fish. I said "you know who's going to be left cleaning up the tank and feeding them" and they said "no no, we'll help", and did they f*ck.

We have two fish left (the little fuckers bully each other til they die from stress, and/or simply eat each other). One is an Opaline Gourami (pretty looking, but agressive bully. Pretty much always has a rope-like line of sh*t pouring out of him, which kind of detracts from the charm). The other is a Sailfin Pleco (a kind of catfish, which specialise in sitting still for hours on end, and living for a very very long time).

If I weren't so opposed to animal cruelty, I'd just as soon tip the tank out of the window. I want rid of them in the worst kind of way, but I can't bring myself to kill the little fuckers. Nobody is interested in taking them off my hands, and my human co-habitants are sort of fond of them. So, I'm outvoted. Grrr.

...

</unexpected rant>


Anyway, about this exhaust. The problem with a stainless steel exhaust is that you can't just slap a great big pipe in place of a little pipe. You want to improve airflow, but not so much that there is no back-pressure at all. Therefore, the PowerFlow exhaust I bought is definitely a little bit wider than that of the original exhaust fitted to the 1.8. However, the exhaust originally fitted to the 2.2 is a lot wider than the exhaust originally fitted to the 1.8. The guy put my car up on the ramp and lifted up the PowerFlow exhaust off my 1.8, placing it next to the original pipe for the 2.2, and you could see the original pipe on the Coupe was visibly wider.

Measurements ... let me see if I can find the measuring tape. If I can't, I'll get one from my colleague tomorrow.

Funny isn't it... how a performance 1.8 exhaust could be smaller than a 2.2 OEM...

[HimBigChief]

Funny isn't it... how a performance 1.8 exhaust could be smaller than a 2.2 OEM...

Not really. Performance exhausts are a very complex issue and I won't even claim to have an understanding, but basically it is all to do with gas flow and pressure. You don't want the engine to be pushing all the exhaust gases out at atmospheric pressure as the engines are designed to run with set back pressure tolerances. The opposite is also true in that you can choke the engine by fitting too restrictive an exhaust. That's why a blowing manifold makes performance drop off, and the same with a blocked muffler, etc. Obviously different engines require different back pressures and gas flow, hence the difference between the 2 engines above. Think of it this way, the 2.2 is going to have more gases to shift out of the combustion chambers considering the cylinders are going to be bigger than the 1.8's.

Basically there is a happy medium somewhere in the middle which the performance exhaust manufacturers have to try and find. But like I said, I don't have an understanding of the science behind it but I do get the general idea.

[Hangar18]

If it's such a fine tuned field- then surely I'm not going to be doing my car any favours

[highlander]

Didn't find a measuring tape, will borrow one today.

If the PowerFlow pipe is the same width or even just a little bigger, you should find a little improvement (because it's stainless steel, and because of the design of the boxes, it will flow a bit more freely anyway). And, at least, the PowerFlow will never rust.

[Hangar18]

I look forwards to getting the 406 up on axle stands and finding out