V 70 R Exhaust info

[markpin]

Hi

Looking for some advice about my cars exhaust system and what is my best solution.

It currently has just one after market 'sports' box on the nearside rear so the twin boxes and pipes are all gone. This makes it sound sporty but its a bit of a 'all mouth and no trousers' car unless you give it some really welly! In fact my standard V70 AWD is more responsive and nicer under most driving conditions apart from when you give it welly. It goes well obviously having the 193 BHP and Turbo but the R does have a bit more under hard driving, just very very noisy!

The V70 R reminds me of a customer I had in the 80s who had a very noisy MG metro with a straight though exhaust that also had no go, I have always been a bit anti removing boxes from pipes to make them sound as it tends to remove all the power. I fitted a new system on that metro and the was transformed into a proper car which was not only quieter but also went much faster! I also had the same issue on my V8 disco where by fitting back in the extra middle box, it transformed, it made it go much better (Land rover wise that is).


So, with the Volvo, I think I should get hold of some original boxes and cross pipes and put it back to standard which will make it as Volvo intended and probably not only much quieter but will also likely go better. I also was considering what cost a stainless system would be for it from CAT backwards.

I am aware that some of these R models had the twin rear outlet pipes, one on each side, does that make a difference to performance or sound?


Any information about the best systems to have on these cars to give best performance without stupid noise or expense would be appreciated.

Thanks

[400-ascona]

Exhaust back pressure will make little to no difference on a turbo car. The scavenging effect/pulse timing of a well designed system may help turbo spool up times slightly (would imagine its almost unnoticeable tho).
My R has a single tailpipe. Some later ones had twin pipes. Not sure what the rule is, but someone will know.
As mine has the aperture for a second pipe (albeit blanked), I do occasionally toy with the idea of the Jetex twin rear pipe kit for the AWD. Just never actually get around to doing it!
I do agree that on normally asperated cars, exhaust design can help performance significantly, or if badly executed, it can reduce performance.

[RollingThunder]

I hate boomy exhausts lol - mainly because I get headaches quite easily these days! So I'm reluctant to get anything that will make my car noticeably nosier in general running - but I still like my cars to sound a bit throaty, so I'll be fitting an aftermarket system in due course.

You have three basic choices -

1. OEM. Either get genuine parts (expensive) or aftermarket copies (cheaper, but likely to be less well made);

2. Custom. Get a price from a local exhaust specialist - nearly every town has one. I've had custom exhausts fitted to my last 3 cars - full stainless, 200 cell cats, and silencers & exhaust tips to my choice. These have cost around the £350-400 mark, fitted and with a lifetime warranty.

3. Aftermarket. Stick with a well know/reputable manufacturer and you'll get a well designed and well built system. BSR's systems are made by Jetex, and there are also other well regarded systems by Simons and Ferrita. All of these tend to be more expensive than a local custom system, but you'll find many positive reviews about them online and on YouTube.

Bear in mind that if you fit a sports cat when changing your exhaust, you should keep the original cat and get it weighed in at a scrap yard - they go for decent money nowadays apparently, and might even cover most of the cost of the new system!

oh, and finally, some info that the custom exhaust guy told me -

1. 2.5" is fine for a standard or mildly tuned T5. 3" will make it boomy. You only need 3" if your car has 350bhp or more, or if its being raced.

2. If its a turbo, you don't need to worry about inter-cylinder exhaust pulses along the exhaust as the turbo will have blocked them - its the removal of back pressure that is needed to enable the turbo to spin up more quickly; However for non turbo cars, the pulses are important for cylinder scavenging - but this is more a function of manifold design and if its a V8 with multiple manifolds a cross pipe is usually needed.

HTH

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

Bear in mind that if you fit a sports cat when changing your exhaust, you should keep the original cat and get it weighed in at a scrap yard - they go for decent money nowadays apparently, and might even cover most of the cost of the new system!

This is a good point, but better than this you could do us all a favour and simply sell the original cat to another owner (you could use the "Sales" section on here for example). The reason I say this is that cat theft on these cars is getting all too common, and somebody who has had their cat swiped will thank you for selling them an original replacement (I know I would!) whereas if it goes to a scrappy it will be taken out of the market for ever, and make getting second-hand original replacements even harder. For this reason you would probably be able to charge even more than the scrappy would give you as a bonus.
Just my tuppence!
Cheers

[markpin]

Thanks everyone, some very useful points there to consider

I have already found a Norwich based independent who can give me a quote on a stainless rear system in the new year.

I found one on line for 600 so anything around 350 to 450 would be nice.

I never though about the Turbo effect on the back pressure issue, that makes it much more interesting so I can see that playing carefully is important with this stuff.

I already have a car I am breaking to give me a full set of spares and as I have two running cars, I think I will keep the spare cat in case I get visited by any toe rags.

I'll have to investigate a bit more about why its a little flat at low revs then because its not the lack of back pressure as my original theory had been from what you've said here. Maybe a bit of a service is the next step now that the car is working reasonably well.

Thanks again

[don kalmar union]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

I hate boomy exhausts lol - mainly because I get headaches quite easily these days! So I'm reluctant to get anything that will make my car noticeably nosier in general running - but I still like my cars to sound a bit throaty, so I'll be fitting an aftermarket system in due course.

You have three basic choices -

1. OEM. Either get genuine parts (expensive) or aftermarket copies (cheaper, but likely to be less well made);

2. Custom. Get a price from a local exhaust specialist - nearly every town has one. I've had custom exhausts fitted to my last 3 cars - full stainless, 200 cell cats, and silencers & exhaust tips to my choice. These have cost around the £350-400 mark, fitted and with a lifetime warranty.

3. Aftermarket. Stick with a well know/reputable manufacturer and you'll get a well designed and well built system. BSR's systems are made by Jetex, and there are also other well regarded systems by Simons and Ferrita. All of these tend to be more expensive than a local custom system, but you'll find many positive reviews about them online and on YouTube.

Bear in mind that if you fit a sports cat when changing your exhaust, you should keep the original cat and get it weighed in at a scrap yard - they go for decent money nowadays apparently, and might even cover most of the cost of the new system!

oh, and finally, some info that the custom exhaust guy told me -

1. 2.5" is fine for a standard or mildly tuned T5. 3" will make it boomy. You only need 3" if your car has 350bhp or more, or if its being raced.

2. If its a turbo, you don't need to worry about inter-cylinder exhaust pulses along the exhaust as the turbo will have blocked them - its the removal of back pressure that is needed to enable the turbo to spin up more quickly; However for non turbo cars, the pulses are important for cylinder scavenging - but this is more a function of manifold design and if its a V8 with multiple manifolds a cross pipe is usually needed.

HTH

Aside from getting an exhaust made specially you really only have the Jetex brand available off the shelf here in the UK. www.jetex.co.uk

The Jetex brand name is only used here in the UK and all is made by Simons in Sweden who also sell to BSR. BSR are a firm with a slightly iffy repuation

I was the Ferrita stockist here in the UK, they stopped making pipes for the S60R and V70R about 4 years ago.... little demand but you might get a used set from Tim Williams in Coalville... he deals with many of my former customers.

As said a 2.5" nominal system is preferable to 3" on lower output engines, the 3" are boomy, noisy and in fact slow up the gasses with outputs less than 350bhp or so.

I would cut out any thoughts of a locally made cat back and spend your money on a Jetex cat back. They are a decent long established familly firm here in the UK.

You will always be taking a chance with a local fabricator...

You might also consider buying from TME directly. www.tme.se Thomas Alsterfalk designs his own stuff and still fabicates himself. A bit more expensive than anyone else but he puts a lot of effort into his designs particularly in respect of back pressure and does have a system for 550bhp plus 'R' cars. I did stock and sell his 'R' system only.... again Tim Williams might just have something used of his stacked in a corner.....

Don.

PS. Just checked your original post.... looks like you are talking about an earlier V70R.... not the later AWD 'R's. Sources I suggest still apply if that is the case... there are loads of Ferrita systems out there somewhere that I supplied... even more likely that Tim Williams has those... used....

[RollingThunder]

Skandix sell the Ferrita and Simons systems - https://www.skandix.de/en/spare-part...encer-set/477/ , https://www.skandix.de/en/spare-part...ss-steel/1461/

PFV have Jetex systems - https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com...c759080b843cbb

All above links for an 850 estate, but will be compatible with early V70s

NB Didn't know Simon's made Jetex etc, thanks for that info Don

[sdg1970]

Then there's something clearly wrong with your R imo. Mine is almost as nippy through the range as my 440bhp Jeep. It does have a remap though.

Also I recently took off my 3" downpipe as it was horrendously droney inside the car and now I just have the single 3" cat back. In terms of acceleration it made no difference at all and I have the in car growl back. Much of this exhaust stuff is a good example of the 'experimenter effect' at work...