Pro's and cons? 3200 exhaust - Nigelo?
Pro's and cons? 3200 exhaust - Nigelo?
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3200gt

Original Poster:

2,727 posts

250 months

Friday 1st December 2006
quotequote all
Nigelo or someone with 3200 exhaust knowledge?

What are the pro's and cons of going for a straight thro' exhaust on a 3200? ie removing the back boxes entirely and running a pipe from the b/box inlet pipe to a nice aftermarket tail pipe? Obviously there will be some fabrication required to get the mounting brackets sorted.
Does the standard b/box produce required back pressure? What will happen if that back pressure is not there? would it allow the engine to rev more freely, Would there be an issue come mot time? etc, etc.

Obviously it would be louder but as the turbo's deaden the V8 pulse to some extent would it be THAT much louder?
Anyone else done anything like this?

Thanks,

nigelo

293 posts

259 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
quotequote all
3200gt said:
What are the pro's and cons of going for a straight thro' exhaust on a 3200? ie removing the back boxes entirely and running a pipe from the b/box inlet pipe to a nice aftermarket tail pipe? Obviously there will be some fabrication required to get the mounting brackets sorted.
Does the standard b/box produce required back pressure? What will happen if that back pressure is not there? would it allow the engine to rev more freely, Would there be an issue come mot time? etc, etc.

Obviously it would be louder but as the turbo's deaden the V8 pulse to some extent would it be THAT much louder?
Anyone else done anything like this?

Unusual question but don't think I'm best qualified to comment on the noise side (see below). However, I have noted the Guys over on the Ultima forum spend a great deal of time searching for exhaust solutions that kill the DBs without losing too much power. Reason is simple - many tracks will not accept them with much more than 102db IIRC and that's the rub. Secondly, if Plod considers the noise to be truly excessive you could receive a warning where failure to remedy could result in siezure of your car and its destruction. Not a path where most of us wish to travel.

On the performance side, you will gain nothing. A reduction of back pressure after the turbos will theoretically increase boost BUT the electronically controlled Pierborg boost valve will still limit boost to its design value of around 1600 mbars (about 8psi over atmospheric). You could achieve a slightly higher intermediate boost ie before the turbos have fully spooled up, but the difference is academic. There is a way to increase performance of course but that requires a sensible remapping of the ECU (so called chipping) combined with exhaust improvements. On this point, its interesting to note that modena-tec, the German tuning outfit, achieved some good bhp figures but the on-road performance increase over standard was not as significant as one expected. This suggests the bhp increase was obtained at the expense of a loss of mid range power, something Maserati has always excelled in.

On another point, the biggest restriction in flow is the centre catalyst rather than the rear silencers so back pressure reduction is not going to be that significant.

The 3200 is a GT designed for high mileage in comfort - Too much noise will quickly kill all that and IMO render the car fit for nothing. Quite a few on here seem to egg folks on to make as much noise as possible but frankly I wonder how many actually own these cars. Having owned Ferraris / Maseratis continuously for nearly 27 years, I still enjoy a nice orchestra but at a sensible, non-tubi, volume.

hope this helps

3200gt

Original Poster:

2,727 posts

250 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
quotequote all
Thanks Nigelo,

My reason for asking is that I am at the stage where my b/boxes will let go pretty soon. They have lasted over 5 yrs so can't really complain.

Tubi's, Larini's, and quicksilver all claim extra performance and volume from straight thro b/boxes. These will cost between £750 and £1500 (depending on your choice of make).

So if these are straight thro, presumably one could achieve the same results by just removing the b/boxes altogether, extending the inlet pipe into the b/box and sticking an after market 1 into 2 tail pipe. Thus maintaining the appearance, gaining the alledged power increase and "desired" increase in volume and all for about £100 !

So Im a little confused as to why any one would want to buy one of these products ?

Robertf

158 posts

237 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
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I can't believe they will be quiet without back boxes. My 3200 has a split on the back of one rear silencer and it does sound nice, but its pretty loud. So I would imagine that no back boxes would sound like that X2. I'm going for Larinis I think purely on price, and that they look nice quality. They promise that the car doesn't sound much louder than standard at modest revs, which is what I am looking for and even at full blast must be quieter than a car with no rear boxes (I hope!)

Nigello, agree that one or two can get carried away making cars louder and louder - its their call of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if most only use the car weekends. I need mine every day, for school run, work etc, so overly loud would be an embarrasment.

To each their own of course....

3200gt

Original Poster:

2,727 posts

250 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
quotequote all
Mine is a sunny weekend car only, but what got me pondering this was an ebay auction for a pair of back boxes made by hpi engineering (or sumink like that). I phoned them a had a chat with the guy there who said that a local had asked them to make some "straight" through pipes for him. Apparently he wanted to do away with the boxes altogether and thats what they made for him and then just added a shiney tail pipe. This left them with a pair of patterns to fabricate replica's which is what they are selling on fleabay.

This entire job can't have been hard to do, all thats needed is a bit of exhaust pipe with a 56mm ID a couple of tail pipes to your choice and a few exhaust clamps for the joints and mounting brackets. Now if in essence thats all tubi's, larinis etc are (albeit with a fancy box instead of pipe connecting the two ends) how can they justify the prices they are asking?

This is the sort of bush engineering you could do yourself in a couple of hours for £100
or am I missing something crucial here?

stevenm

218 posts

300 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
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okay

disconnected my back boxes to hear what it would sound like with straight pipes as it has been discussed lots here...

totally rubbish. FAR too loud, intrusive and a real drone of a sound. basically it just sounds like your exhaust has a whole in it. now, i'm 26, own a race car with an insanely loud exhaust etc so take it from me that you do NOT want to do away with silencers - it's awful, i was hoping it would sound fantastic, it doesn't.

go on, see for yourself...

Robertf

158 posts

237 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
quotequote all
Thought so! Thanks for letting us know. As I said, I think its Larinis for my car.

3200gt

Original Poster:

2,727 posts

250 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
quotequote all
I'm still missing something here.
Why would tubi's larini's etc sound any different if they too are straight through?

wicked1

146 posts

247 months

Saturday 2nd December 2006
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There is one thing to remember about straight through boxes, you have no control over sound or resonance at speed. I have driven a few cars with broken back boxes and the drown at motorway speeds is really annoying, it does give you a headache after a while. Even though the tickover roar does sound rather sexy.

Laring, quicksilver, etc. are spending a fortune on the sound they make. There is alot more to it than simply fitting a straight through pipe. We have fitted various versions of Larini's and they all sound different, some louder than others, some lower in tone, etc.

I notice Laring change the size and shape of the boxes which seems to change how they sound. They also have responsibility to produce rear silencers that are regarded as legal but individual. Not everyone wants a loud exhaust but just about everyone agrees the originals are produced abissimally and do not last very long in mild steel.

Hope this helped.

lone granger

801 posts

269 months

Sunday 3rd December 2006
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the point being misse here is perhaps that 'straight through' means no deviation to the gas flow by baffles - it doesnt mean no baffles!!! - the baffles are simply concentric... - ie you most likely can see straight through them, however they are perfectly capable of huge volume reductions (vorsprung durch technik..)and certainly tuning the sound - hence the alteration of case design - it is after all a type of 'musical wind instrument'

bad loser

259 posts

265 months

Sunday 8th July 2007
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Well, I thought I'd bring this to the top as my right box is blowing.

Wondered what people had done eventually.

As far as I can see from trawling through a load of 3200 exhaust posts, some say Tubi's are loud and intrusive, others that they're not.

Are Larini's OK? I'd be happy with the original sound, to be honest.

I'm Stoke based so I'd probably order them and get them fitted by an excellent body shop guy that I use.

Kingdom

102 posts

247 months

Sunday 8th July 2007
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Here's someone that has recently done just this...interesting reading...

http://www.maseratiforum.co.uk/tm.asp?m=5323

stevenM

218 posts

300 months

Monday 9th July 2007
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tubis are fine, not loud and intrusive. sound really well outside of the car but sadly inside the car you don't get much of the benefit (in keeping with the car i guess).

CCCS

403 posts

253 months

Monday 9th July 2007
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When Wicked1 (Matthew at Giallo) serviced my car last year he told me that I would need new back boxes at some point.

He had a 3200 there that he'd fitted with a Larini. I thought it sounded great, not too noisey but an improvement on the sound of the originals. My back boxes broke a couple of months ago. Matthew told me that the Larini design had been changed and was much more noisey. This put me off.

Recently Nigelo pointed out that Eurospares were doing a stainless steel version of the original back boxes for £680 + VAT (I think). I'd looked at Eurospares a few weeks prior to Nigelo's post and they weren't available then.

I've had mine made and fitted by www.stainless-exhausts.com who are 20 miles north of Nottingham, at a similar price to Eurospares.


bad loser

259 posts

265 months

Monday 9th July 2007
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Thanks for that, Craig but your link doesn't work.

Where are they? Mansfield?

CCCS

403 posts

253 months

Tuesday 10th July 2007
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Sorry about that, I should have said www.stainless-exhaust.com

The're in Huthwaite which is close to Mansfield, speak to Don if you're interested.