My experience with Aluminized steel is that they will last a very long time compared to mild steel but they will eventually corrode from the inside out.

Aluminized steel is just that. Steel\Aluminum combo. Turbo charged engines produce wide heat ranges in the exhaust, resulting in constant moisture\condensation. This accelerates the corrosion from within.

Stainless will last forever. Aluminized 4-10 yrs. (no salt conditions).

If you are keeping the car for a lloooonnngggg time, but the SS. Short time, buy the AS.

 

Cat back I would suggest SS, as the appearence is unmatched to Aluminum and it is very visable. Mothers Metal Polish works great for the finish shine. I have an HKS cat back set up. The H-Pipes are SS and painted with a light gray ceramic paint to keep the "heat" internal. My setup is on the link below...and no, I did not pay that much !

Downpipe to Main Cats:

1) You have to ask yourself how long you plan on keeping the vehicle. SS application and you will never worry about your exhaust. Condensation tends to build up more after the main cats.

2) Price difference; Can you afford SS ?

I tend to keep my cars. I've had my 83 since new. My 91 has SS downpipes, with stock main exhaust with gutted main cats, SS H-pipes with SS tail pipes, Mufflers and tips. There is nothing wrong with AS systems...they just don't last forever. AS will certainly do the job and be an excellent upgrade to mild steel.

http://conceptzperformance.com/Cart/...863.159.209.98

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2449068241

This is a link from Ebay. Nice setup on SS exhaust

 

That exhaust doesn't look very high quality at least as far as the bends go. But it is a good deal if you're not looking for the ultimate amount of performance you can get.

 

I agree on the excessive "bend" in the tail pipe. It will tend to slow velocity... but for a SS cat back system, the price is nice for 304 SS.

 

Hey there Big Lou
Could you do us a favor and finish filling out your profile? That would help us out in answering some of your questions.

At the moment specifically, on what type of material you want your exhaust to be.

Depending on what area of the country or even what country you live in would help here. If you live in an area that receives alot of rain and/or snow, I would recommend the stainless steel exhaust. If you live near a large body of water like the ocean or a Great Lakes front property, again the stainless steel would be beneficial. I'd only recommend the aluminized steel if you live in the central south to southwest part of the country.

 

I agree with Rizz on Stainless in this case. If you can afford it, get it. You won't be disappointed.

Since we're talking about downpipes, how much more will you get out of downpipes compared to gutted precats?

Also, should you be concerned with heat from the downpipes since you are unable to use the factory heat shields? If this is the case, should you use exhaust wraps to help keep the heat inside the exhaust system, or will it not make a significant difference. As we all know, excess heat with a turbo means less horsepower.

I'm changing my clutch in a few weeks and I'm still on the fence about purchasing downpipes, or hollowing out my precats. I must say that the specialty-z downpipes do appear to be of higher quality than anything else I've seen.

Thanks for your help.

 

Hijacking the thread huh? You should be ashamed of yourself!! LOL

Depending on what downpipes you get, I think that they'll be more beneficial. The ones from Dupree (IMO) will make a big difference along with some test pipes or hiflow cat pipes. By themselves, about the same as gutting the cats.

I wouldn't worry about the heat shield. Mainly cuz there's another heat shield attached to the body of the car along the driveshaft hump on the underside of the car. Besides the exhaust also uses the moving air underneath the car to cool itself off. So no worries.

 

Hey, come on..lighten up on the new guy! Ha-ha. I just figured my question flowed well with the previous threads. Just tryin' to save some time. Thanks for the advice.

 

Um....not to sound nieve, but I probably will anyway. Rizz, you mentioned Greg Dupree and IMO. 1st, what is IMO? 2nd, is there a website for Dupree? I've seen his subframe spacers, but that's about it. I haven't been able to find his site. Help.

 

Ok class in session. J/K

In My Opinion (IMO) or add Honest in there (IMHO)

Greg Dupree and company

www.specialtyz.com

 

Ok, I feel lame. I didn't realize SepcialtyZ was Dupree's. You gave us that website just a few days ago in another thread.

Thanks