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Last time I did an exhaust, I bought the Volvo kit. While the quality of the pipes and mufflers was top-notch, the over-axle pipe design gave me fits, so I swore I would not buy another kit from Volvo.
I installed a Starla kit on my father's 245 some years back, which has held up very well, but even Starla parts have gotten expensive.
Last month, I had to replace a muffler on my father's car and he bought the only thing available locally: a Walker QuietFlow SS. I installed this one as well, and was very impressed with the quality of the muffler. Apparently this is one of Walker's premium lines (the SS stands for stainless steel), and rather more expensive than their SoundFX line. We all are aware that Walker and Starla are part of the same parent company, so I was not surprised to find Starla/Walker on the label. My reasoning was that Starla must be nothing more than Walker parts with a different stamp. I was wrong, as you shall see...
I am getting ready to replace the exhaust on my new(ish) 245 from the manifold back, and I saw that RockAuto had the Walker components much cheaper than the Starla kit from eEuroParts. Even considering the free shipping from eEuroParts, RockAuto was considerably cheaper AND they had a Walker cat on sale that currently qualifies for a mail-in rebate from the manufacturer. So I ordered the entire exhaust, Walker components from RockAuto.
To get to the point, the Quiet Flow mufflers are still impressive, and the cat is okay, but the axle pipe and tail pipe are rough, with crush bends rather than the smooth mandrel bend of the Starla components, and the Walker head pipe is the worst I have ever seen.
I sent it back to RockAuto today and ordered a Starla header pipe from eEuroParts. I can live with the crush bends on the axle pipe and tailpipe, and I really do like the mufflers. The cat will do - even though it is made so as to work with the fixed or spin flange, and not especially well suited to either application - but that restrictive header pipe with the sloppy welds that looks like it will rust out before the mufflers - that ain't going on no car of mine.
Caveat emptor. Walker/Starla are NOT created equal, but the Quiet Flow line of mufflers are very nice. Better than Starla quality I think, and with a lifetime warranty against rust-out.
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