|
JT,
I have struggled a lot with this question. Basically, if you are going to race your car and/or drive it at WOT for lengthy periods, yes, you should replace your stock exhaust with at least a cat-back sport exhaust system or you risk damaging both the catalytic converter and/or the turbocharger due to the immense back pressure generated. If you drive the car normally with the occasional "strong (WOT) run" then you will be OK with the stock exhaust. You should deduct about 10HP and 10 ft./lbs of torque from whatever numbers you see advertised, if you stick with the stock exhaust.
I, personally, would not mind a sport exhaust as long as it is not very loud. I had (before my current car) a '98 V70R with the dual tipped exhaust, I loved the sound but it was very loud (and drove my wife nuts, although she was a good sport and did not demand to get rid of it); I have been told, since, that the sport exhausts on AWD models resonate quite a bit louder than those installed on FWD models (my guess is because of the two mufflers found in them).
I will, eventually, give a sport exhaust a try with the current car; I just need to find the...most quiet one, out there.
Right now, I am very pleased with the updated ECU eventhough I have the stock exhaust. The car has torrid acceleration so I can only imagine how it would be with a complete sport exhaust (from the header all the way back!).
One thing that you should definitely do, if you upgrade the ECU, use a high quality full synthetic motor oil and a thicker viscosity.
Yannis
--
2001 V70 T-5M SR, Classic Red/Graphite Lthr., ipd ECU Upgrade, Cold Weather, Dolby Surr. Sound, Rear Spoiler, 17' 'Tethys' alloys
|
