Best exhaust

[Jake Seidel]

I have a 72 porsche 914 and my exhaust has failed what is the best performce exhaust for the money? I also am looking for a place to by my tire size and I am not having much luck?
Jake

[Alfred1]

I've read that Tangerine Racing makes a good product.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There is no "best exhaust"--they all have strengths and weaknesses.

First of all, what part has failed? The heat exchanger ducting? The exhaust pipe itself? The muffler? Those can be addressed different ways...

If you're looking for a complete exhaust replacement, and must have the absolute best, then you must click on the link Alfred provided and you must pony up a whole lot of $$. Period.

European Racing and Triad West Performance both make complete exhaust replacements that are less $$, but also less effective--they generally lose a few HP to the Tangerine system.

Kerry Hunter Enterprise makes an exhaust replacement system that is still less $$, and is generally regarded as slightly less effective yet.

The above are collectively referred to as "headers", or "racing exhausts". You will lose all semblance of heat by using them. Tangerine was working on a way to get a little bit of heat from their system, but I don't know if that has been developed to the point where it is for sale to the public yet.

If you need heat, you need the stock heat exchangers or an equivalent. SSI makes a stainless-steel replacement system which is very good stuff. They made 1.7 ones in the past, but those are NLA. They still make 2.0 ones; Pelican can get them for you. You will need a 2.0 muffler and 2.0 muffler hanger to use the 2.0 exchangers.

If your muffler has rotted, OEM is the quietest replacement that I know of. Everything else will be louder--some will be obnoxiously so. The OEM stuff tends to rust out much slower than any of the aftermarket parts except the hard to find stainless mufflers.

Bursch seems to be the default choice for those not needing a relatively quiet muffler. It's decent quality but not great, is louder than stock but not really obnoxious, and to many people offers a small seat-of-the-pants improvement in the power department. (Though that might be because of the extra noise. The ears seem to connect directly to the seat of the pants when it comes to power improvements.) It will rust out in a while, but not as quickly as some of the other replacements.

The Monza muffler has four tips. It is loud (many find it obnoxiously so) and if you listen carefully you can actually hear it rusting... It doesn't really seem to many any more power than the stock muffler, but some like the sound and some really like the four-tip look.

There are others out there, too... You can look at Pelican's on-line catalog to see what we have to offer. Just remember you want a muffler that is specifically for 1.7s, not for 2.0s (or for late 75-76 cars).

--DD

[Alfred1]

Good info. I printed it out so I can refer to it when it's time for me to buy an exhaust sytem.

[porsche914blue]

Dave,

Have you heard the Sebring exhaust? Looks like a Walker Dynomax muffler or something similar? Is it loud, does it suck? How's the quality and performance? It's cheap!!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

If I recall correctly, the Sebring looks a lot like a Bursch, with a collector feeding into a muffler... I think I remember it being a four-into-one collector, with a bolt-on muffler?

Not as much data on that as on the others I mentioned. Seems to be almost as effective as the Bursch, and a bit louder than the "quiet" Bursch. (I forgot there's also a "loud" Bursch which has something like a "glass pack" in place of the muffler section.) Could be worth a try! Another benefit is that you can swap out the muffler part to change the sound of the exhaust--and to restrict or allow exhaust flow...

--DD

[914rick]

Dave,
Chris does make a heat exchanger for the Tangerine header now. It provides enough heat to keep the windows defrosted and heat the cabin somewhat. I have it and I'm happy.
Thanks,
Rick

[jamcleod]

at a time when i needed a new muffler and was financially challenged (at least, more than now), i got a sebring for my 1.8. acceptable but i think it's got 1 flaw in that the muffler is unsupported and tends to oscillate, hope that's somewhat understandable. i just made a support from some plumbers strap.