[8v] exhaust upgrade questions

[Oliver Seiler <oseiler@acm.org>]

I'm going to be upgrading my exhaust from it's current state:

- cheap aftermarket muffler
- catalytic converter with catalyst rattling and breaking
- 4-to-1 exhaust manifold (aka boat anchor)

I'm going to be going with a Techtonics system. I was originally going to
go for 2" tubing, but now I'm thinking of 2.25", mainly because I'm
planning on upgrading the engine at some point in the future (most likely
keeping it an 8V, but moving up to 2.0L and higher compression ratio).

One downside of this plan is the catalytic converter. A bolt-on one from
techtonics (cat. no 253150) has a 2" outlet, so I'd have to go to the
weld-in version (cat. no 253153) for 2.25". How much extra hassle is this?
Does it weld up to both the downpipe and the rest of the exhaust? I've
always wanted a small welding setup, but I'm not sure if I want to get it
for this.

I suppose a related question would be: At what point (horsepower-wise)
does it make sense to move from 2" to 2.25" tubing? I'm not sure what I'm
aiming at for an engine, but if I go for the route of taking an Audi 80 3A
engine I'm looking at around 110-130 HP, compared to my stock JH at 90 HP.
Is the 2.25" tubing worth it?

Speaking of the Audi 80 3A engine, how easy are these to come by?

Cheers
Oliver

Oliver Seiler -- Software Developer, Pivotal Software, http://www.pivotal.com
            Scirocco MkII Diary - http://osroc.weblogs.com


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