I am converting my 75 over to a 74 set-up for H.E. just acquired S.S. HE's, my originals are shot!, current set up by p.o. is monza which i kind of like- but want what would be best for performance etc. and i have to change to match up to the 74 trapezoid shape flange.- so- those of you that have had various set-ups, what is your favorite for sound/looks/performance? this is strictly street D.D. any advice you can give would be appreciated.
sooo- monza, bursch, original stock, other type IV vw?
pjw.

original stock

100% stainless steel, dual outlet:

I am thinking of going this route on the conversion - kinda digging the RSR look.

RSR:

Here is the one I built for the 2.0. I opened up a 1.7L can, plugged up the stock tail pipe and welded on two new tail pipes made from race megaphones. Car ran great. was loud, but I liked it.

Boxster Muffler, they can be found cheap on ebay and are stainless

Click to view attachment

You wouldn't happen to have a video of what this sound like would you ?

Hey Phil,

I have a Borla SS / Dual outlet that has a low resonating, thoaty sound to it and has improved my power bands significantly. The construction quallity is excellent. I love it.

Click to view attachment

stock muffler twin piped with stock exit welded shut....

slightly more sound than stock...I did it mainly for the look.

Yea ditto- i would like to hear that too- post it to you-tube - so far i really like the sound of the Triad-west !

phil

looks good! is the sound similar to the Triad(see youtube)- where did you get it from?

p.s.- good to hear from you - i really like the look of that car! by the way i eventually got my gauge lights wired correctly- they look marvelous!- have you figured out a rheostat that works for the LED's yet?

phil

wish I could - motor is on a stand waiting to be delivered to it's new owner...

Very similar..... the note is a bit more melow.

I bought it off ebay from an individual who new the Borla manufacturer and had several new, never used units. Originally sold for $1100, I paid under $500. I understand they are no longer available unless used.

LOL,
They're a lot louder than stock. We just had one like that in our shop.

WRT the Triad,
We had one of those in our shop recently too. There isn't anything I liked about it.
IMO they're fugly, loud, and mediocre design. YMMV

No I haven't. I am just now getting back into my gauge work and will let you know if I get it done.

BTW, while rebuilding my engine (a 1.8/L-jet conv. to 2.0 w/96mm euro p&c's, 2.0 crank w/web cam) I built my own fuel rails w/pressure gauges. They work very nice with the std pressure regulator @ 32psi. I plan to fit an adjustable regulator????? Looks great in the engine bay. I will post some pic's later.

how do yours compare in the spectrum of all of these others?- i know yours seem to test out great on hp etc. how do they compare sound-wise? - on a scale of 1-10
10 being loudest, stock being a 4, where does yours, triad etc sit?

pw

I would love to see how that looks- i had originally ordered the fuel rails from A.A. but they never got them in, so i am still on my 2.0 stock ones- no pressure gauge connectors

phil

Hey - thats not nice chris Just kidding...i'm not sold on them myself either. I'll be able to get a better sense once I get my issues worked out.

I was wondering about the Triad. I have another thread going on hearing a rattling sound inside my Dansk.

Put my foot on to cover the tailpipe to check for leaks, and the rattle went away, and came back when I revved the engine.

Anyone on this thread ever see a Dansk banana go bad and make noise in just a couple of years?

And I have heard good things about the Triad, so another different opinion is REALLY interesting.

Need to replace the Dansk, pretty sure anyway, and I am unsure what to do.

John

A lot of west coast guys have them and say good things about them but I had never seen one until a few weeks ago. The car didn't have a rear valence so the Triad was pretty obvious even with the car on the ground. The first thing I noticed was the "unusual" shape.
With the car on the lift I looked at the overall design and the collectors. Its generally considered bad for tuning to join the left side pipes and the right side pipes due to the exhaust pulse timing, but there it was - the Triad has a collector off each trapezoid flange.
Then I listened to it as it was taken out for a test drive by Ed. Its certainly not quiet. Not as loud as the modified stock muffler with dual tips, but I wasn't impressed by the overall sound either. I didn't drive the car so I don't have any idea how it sounds from inside the car.
Obviously I'm a little biased, and I also tend to be a bit fussy about details, but I tried to view it with an open mind based on all the positive feedback I've read here.
Now you know my opinion, for what its worth.

So, Chris, what would you buy if you had my trouble with the Dansk sounding like a paint can with a rock inside it?

I am totally open to anything that sounds good. I don't drive in the rain, and from now on, I will remember to bring the car and exhaust up to temp whenever I start it.

I cannot be positive, but I think I have a loose baffle inside the Dansk.

It just showed up about 5 hours ago of driving ago, and it is intermittent.

73 2.0L Stock Banana from Dansk - 4 years old. 6,000 miles on it. Never sounded completely free from noise. Worse lately.

Thanks!

John

Hard to quantify it with a simple linear scale. There are significant differences in tone as well as loudness, and the loudness varies depending on throttle position and rpm.
Whether you're inside the car or watching it go by makes a big difference, and if you have carbs vs stock FI also affects what you hear - from inside the car especially.
I think my street mufflers are only slightly louder than stock, but hardly anyone has a stock muffler anymore for comparison.
Everything else is louder, with the dual tip modified stock unit being only a little quieter than my Stage 1 race muffler.
The only muffler I've heard that I thought was quiet is a Bursch on '75 HE's.

Probably the best way to judge loudness is to try carrying on a conversation with a passenger. With my exhausts its pretty easy to converse in a normal tone of voice while driving.

I'd go for the Tangerine EVO complete exhaust system.

Chris built me a custom dual tip GT style exhaust for my headers and it looks and sounds great. Amazing workmanship.

Thanks, Chris!

I have only been to your site once, and never even knew there were exhaust products.

I will have to look, but I do want to retain the SSHE's that I have. That may change what I have to buy.

This car is purely stock, but putting the Dansk in storage and having something a bit more reliable and even louder is not a sin.

The annoyance factor for the Dansk making noise is HIGH!

Thanks!

John

Chris, on the twin pipe conversion of a stock muffler, it depends if the muffler is left completely stock other than the twin pipe of if some of the internal baffling has been modified.
I have one of each....the completely stock with just twin pipe is not all that loud, but the one with the baffles modified along with the twin pipe is very loud (race car loud )

I am currently running the muffler that is stock internals with twin pipe and it is very decent over all sound wise.
I have had two cars with Bursch mufflers, and they were just about as loud, just a different tone.
I did mine because I like the look of the twin pipe.

scott I dig the flares.... do it yourself?

When I had my 4-banger, probably my favorite upgrade was my Triad. Threw some stainless tips on there. The build quality is very impressive. Sound was deeper, and just better, than stock. So too was accelaration - noticeable, no doubt about it. Price was totally reasonable in my mind as well.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment



Reid