Suzuki 4WD Club of Victoria

Hi Fellas.
My exhaust manifold is cracked. It has been cracked for about five years with little change, but now seems to be getting worse.
My muffler also has a loose baffle. Its probably time for a new exhaust system.
I was thinking of buying a set of extractors from ebay. New $175 . They have a 2inch outlet , quite a bit bigger than the standard system.
Is this a good idea for my car, or would I be better off getting another manifold and standard system.
Also, is there a fire risk from a sporty exhaust system? (risk of starting a bush fire I mean)
Regards, Wayne.

considering you can get second hand sierra manifolds I think you should do that and stick with your standard stuff
muflers themselves are pretty cheap you could just rpelace that.
I spent between 4 and 5 hundred doing my whole exhaust including extractors off ebay (althought they were 200)
so ask yourself this, is it worth 300 bucks to have a tiny bit more performance ?

I have always found extractors to be more reliable than manifolds on my cars.
Have broken a few manifolds and broken exhaust ends off where the bolt to manifold.
Have only split one set of extractors, but the were seem welded.
Power increase isn't fantastic, but I have always been happier with extractors.
My exhaust shop told me not to go too big on pipes, as you lose power.

Just to add my thoughts.

There is no additional fire risk from using extractors and a bigger exhaust. The biggest fire risk in the bush is a catalytic convertor which you may not have? Perhaps you do. Extractors will put a lot more heat into the engine bay area (particularly if unshielded) so be careful about the placement of plastic parts close to the exhaust. Not really a fire risk just the risk of melting stuff. Of most concern in a Jimny where space is a little tighter but maybe not so bad in a Sierra. Since more heat is dissipated in the engine bay (this is how they work) in theory the exhaust pipe will be cooler and therefore a lower fire risk.

Extractors are generally thinner walled than a manifold and in my experience tend to corode faster and so not last as long as a stock manifold. Not sure about cracking.

A bigger exhaust will usually mean a louder exhaust because to get any benefit from it you will need to use a more free flowing muffler otherwise there is no point. (You are just using a big pipe and then blocking up the end of it.) Consider how much louder you want it to sound.

If you want to improve performance I would say stick with the stock manifold and exhaust size but go for a tripple flow muffler, one that is slighltly more free flowing than the stock one but not too noisy. In my opinion the muffler is doing more to restrict a 1.3 litre engine than the 1 1/2" exhaust pipe. The difference may be very small and hardly noticeable but then I have not seen any evidence that extractors actually improve performance on a stock Sierra either, just make them sound louder (better?).

A stock exhaust will most likely be cheaper.

Just my opinions to throw into the mix.

Mike

Wayne, I have a set of brand new Genie extractors if you're interested.

Are they shiny Matt?

Nah, they're blue. Although the genie badge on them is shiny.

Hi Fellas.
Thanks for all the advice. I reckon there's wisdom in all of it. The thing I hate about exhaust manifolds is the 2 studs on the flange. Whenever I have to take my exhaust pipe off I never know if the nuts will turn or the studs will break. One has already been drilled out.
Thanks for the offer of the Genie extractors Matt. Pm me a price for them. ( got any jousting sticks?)
Regards, Wayne.

Hi Wayne,

A second hand SS LROR extractor is up for sale on ebay at the moment. The LROR web site has a useful video on their product also.

Cheers Richard

Hi Fellas.
I now have a new and very neat exhaust,thanks to Matts Genie extractors and Performance Exhausts in Vermont. It is inch and three quarter with a tri flow muffler.
The large tri flow muffler is mounted sideways and tucked high up beside the fuel tank, well out of the way.
But I can't help thinking it is a bit close to the fuel tank.
Does anyone know if there is a minimum distance an exhaust should be from the fuel tank? Is 3 inches acceptable?
Regards, Wayne.