Hey im jsut doing a quick survey.... Im having some custom headers fabricated for my 2006 3.2 fsi... what would be the reccomended set up?
3-2-1 or a 3-1?

 

To be honest, why??

 

well apparently the previous owners thought it would be nice to use a ghetto chrome paint on the headers that are on the car which ended up reacting with th heat and causing it to rust so the dealer wants an obscene amout of money to replace it to prevent a future leak its alot cheaper to take it to a custom shop and have them fab a new set possibly a 1/4 -1/2 inch bigger... not sure yet

 

anyone?? no opinions?

 

Well the thing is, the exhaust manifold on our cars are really short. (Think of short headers back in the days) Also there are warmup catalysts right after the exhaust manifolds and etc. Anyways, looks like you can get a set of genuine Audi exhaust manifolds for about $500 total for both left and right. Obviously this does not include labor.

http://www.genuinevwaudiparts.com/pa...layCatalogid=0

 

Oh the other thing... Are you sure it is actually the manifolds, not just the heat deflectors?

 

3-2-1 should flatten your torque curve, but you need know which two to merge first. And, as pointed out, they are so short it prolly wouldnt be by much and thus not worth the expense.

3-1 will help too, prolly be close enough, and be easier and cheaper to build.

 

yea i have a professional exhaust shop that im going to... they quoted me about 400 with labor included to bend and weld it all together(friend of a friend.. not charging me all the labor or for the pipes)... i just have to provide the gaskets. im under the assumptin that he should know what the hell hes doing... I HOPE!!! lol but as for the heat shield they took it off... bunch of idiots and painted the actual pipes... im sooo pissed!!!

 

You can do anything you want to your own car... you are the one that has to live with it.

BUT...

What are the stock manifolds on your car? On my 2000 2.7t they are effectively short headers (3 to 1) with heat shields around them. The heat shields DO make them look kind of like true "manifolds." The space there is also very tight.

What type of pipe bending tools does this professional exhaust shop use? Most use bending tools that "kink" the pipe causing restrictions in the pipe. If they use mandrel bending tools (Very expensive, most small shops will not have) they can make smooth bends.

I find it hard to believe that a set of headers can be made to fit in the space provided that would be an improvement over the stock system... at anywhere near a reasonable price.

If you do end up with a set that fits, that improve performance and costs the same or less than stock.... make more sets and sell them!

 

lol yes its a mandrel bender. i would love to keep the stock headers because i really cant afford to do anything right now but the rusting problem is really bad. it looks like its almost eaten all the way through the pipes and those things are not thin so its gotta be pretty bad. im looking at maybe having him make an exact replica but with slightly bigger piping for better airflow. im going to need it when i get my ecu tune in march. the dealer is charging me almost 900 for a stock set up... so thats the reasoning behind the decision. if it does inprove performance then i will let everyone know. right now i run a 15 flat so i'll see how i run after this