New exhaust time

Trojan

Trojan

Trojan

Soldato
Joined
19 Sep 2003
Posts
5,319
Location
Adelaide, Australia
So, my exhaust is knackered. I took it to Gordons Tyres yesterday to have a free inspection, and it turns out both the middle and back sections have gone and need replacing.

They offered to get a new exhaust and do the work - for £350 :eek:

Obviously I told them no chance, so what I'm after is recommendations of a decent place to go to get the mid and back sections replaced for a better price.

I've been looking at www.powerflowexhausts.net and from speaking to people on Cliosport it seems I can get a cat back stainless steel custom made exhaust for £270 which includes a lifetime guarantee. Does anyone have any experience with powerflow exhausts at all? What other places should I be looking at?

Cheers :)
 
From what i've heard, Powerflow are hit and miss as they are a franchise so you could either get a good fitter or a bad one. Its probably a limited lifetime guarantee as well.

See if you can get a premade exhaust system for it - Mongoose, etc etc

Otherwise Hayward and Scott do good systems (at a price!) as do Zorstec from what i've heard.

Good luck ;)
 
There's a Longlife exhaust garage in Leeds, so not too far from you.

I know several people who have Longlife systems and have been pleased with them. I think, from when I was getting quotes, it was around £280 for a cat-back system.
 
I'd personaly give Powerflow a miss. From the hideous contraptions I've seen fited to other peoples cars, it's clear that some/most of the fitters lack any understanding of gas flow. In particular the bends formed from a series of kinks in the pipe, and splitters/joiners made in the form of a T rather than a Y caused much laughter.
 
agw_01 said:
There's a Longlife exhaust garage in Leeds, so not too far from you.

I know several people who have Longlife systems and have been pleased with them. I think, from when I was getting quotes, it was around £280 for a cat-back system.
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I've also heard good things about longlife systems ;)
 
Gaijin said:
From what i've heard, Powerflow are hit and miss as they are a franchise so you could either get a good fitter or a bad one. Its probably a limited lifetime guarantee as well.

See if you can get a premade exhaust system for it - Mongoose, etc etc
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You may be right about the guarantee, I don't know, that's something I'd check with them before purchasing.

Problem with a premade one is that I'm wanting a "Stealth" style, and the only one I've come across to fit a 172 is this K-TEC racing one, but at £320 excluding fitting, it's definately on the expensive side.

Gaijin said:
Good luck ;)
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Cheers :D

agw_01 said:
There's a Longlife exhaust garage in Leeds, so not too far from you.

I know several people who have Longlife systems and have been pleased with them. I think, from when I was getting quotes, it was around £280 for a cat-back system.
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These the people you're on about? I'll send in one of their quote forms, see what they have to say.

Thanks for the suggestion :)

Dogbreath said:
I'd personaly give Powerflow a miss. From the hideous contraptions I've seen fited to other peoples cars, it's clear that some/most of the fitters lack any understanding of gas flow. In particular the bends formed from a series of kinks in the pipe, and splitters/joiners made in the form of a T rather than a Y caused much laughter.
Click to expand...

Is this from any particular branch, or Powerflow fitters in general? Also, I wouldn't be asking for anything fancy, just a simple replacement for the standard 172 exhaust. I wouldn't have thought they'd be able to go far wrong with that, surely?
 
I don't know at what branches the exhaust were made tbh. I guess it's all about expectations really, some people would have been (and were!) really happy with the exhausts I saw as they sounded ok(ish) and had nice looking tailpipes. Personaly I'm more interested in how well it's built and fits and how well it performs. There must be some Powerflow fitters that know what they are doing, just a case of tracking them down.

It looked to me that the exhausts I saw were made from standard pre-formed sections, bends, straights, flanges etc. and were a bend wasn't quite sharp enough it had been bent a bit more in a vice, hence the kinks. Just shoddy workmanship.
 
Dogbreath said:
I don't know at what branches the exhaust were made tbh. I guess it's all about expectations really, some people would have been (and were!) really happy with the exhausts I saw as they sounded ok(ish) and had nice looking tailpipes. Personaly I'm more interested in how well it's built and fits and how well it performs. There must be some Powerflow fitters that know what they are doing, just a case of tracking them down.

It looked to me that the exhausts I saw were made from standard pre-formed sections, bends, straights, flanges etc. and were a bend wasn't quite sharp enough it had been bent a bit more in a vice, hence the kinks. Just shoddy workmanship.
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Hmmm, it does sound iffy. I may have a drive over to their Leeds fitters, have a chat with them and have a general look at their work. As I said earlier, I'm not interested in a nice looking tailpipe as I want it hidden like stock, and as for noise, I don't want anything intrusive.

Thanks for your comments mate :)
 
Well, I filled in an online quote form at Longlife Exhausts (as recommended above - ta for that :D ) and this is what they got back to me with:

Dear Mr Wood
Many thanks for your enquiry about a Longlife Stainless Steel Exhaust.

The cost for a custom built T304 stainless system from the catalytic converter
to rear, together with a standard or a concealed tail pipe for your Renault
Clio 172, would be just £289 including fitting and VAT, and is guaranteed for
life.

This quote is with a straightforward round tail pipe in either a rolled in, or
rolled out style. We also have over 45 other tail pipe designs to choose from at
a moderate extra cost if you fancy something different, such as ovals, twins,
and letterbox styles. Unlike other fabricators our tail pipes are not pre welded
to the rear silencer which gives you the ultimate flexibility in your choice of
style of tail pipe and also allows you to choose the sound that you want from
the car.

Hand-building and fitting your custom made system takes approximately 3 hours by
appointment at our Leeds centre. As with many customers, I’d be happy to give
you a lift into Leeds City Centre whilst your exhaust system is fitted.

The benefits of a Longlife Stainless Steel Exhaust include improved engine
performance and greater fuel economy. This is achieved by fabricating all our
exhaust systems on a free flow principle which means that your engine operates
more efficiently.

When you arrive, before work commences, you will be talked through the system
design and fitment. You will also be given a choice of sound, from quiet to
sporty, or somewhere in between. We can also ‘offer up’ a selection of tail pipe
designs to your car to help you make your choice.

After our work is completed the exhaust will undergo a thorough 12 point quality
check, to make sure it is clean, there are no leaks, and the fit is perfect, it
will then be tested for sound. Don't forget our exhausts are guaranteed for
life, so you can truly fit it and forget it, unlike other systems built from
lower quality 409 stainless.

Please call me on 0113 279 xxxx to discuss your requirements further or make an
appointment.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards

Paul Stapleton

Longlife Stainless Steel Exhausts
Unit 6, Lakeside Industrial Estate
Tong Road
Leeds
LS12 4QP
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Everyone think this sounds ok?
 
my 3.5" magnex on my focus is great. It fits very well, no rattle you can wobble it in your hands it does not touch anywhere, all welds look good, good warrenty. and was less that 300 fitted at demon tweeks. It even makes a good noise. not too loud, but not quiet. very impressed!
 
Morba said:
that sounds very good tbh.
all in an excellent service
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Thats what I was thinking. Sounds very profesional, and is also around about the best price I'm likely to get I think. Nobody heard anything bad regarding Longlife exhausts before I go ahead and book an appointment?
 
Actually, I can't recall ever hearing anything bad about Longlife. :)

And that's a good price for a cat-back full stainless system. You also have the piece of mind that if something does happen to break, you can take it straight back and have it fixed for free.

Btw, go for the 'sporty' sound choice. I want to hear what it sounds like :D
 
Personally I'd probably stick with a standard Renault unit, all in including fitting it'll be around 280-300 as the two sections were £180 and £90 last time I checked.

The problem with the factory 172 exhaust is that it's not quite in two sections, from the factory the exhaust is put on at an early enough stage that the two sections are actually welded together as one and it's put on as a whole. So when it goes that's it, you need to replace both bits :)

The standard exhaust isn't bad, iirc for the mk1 at least I've been told it's a stainless unit (although it's not shiney) and unless you are doing it to get more power I'd just stick with that personally, plus you won't have to declare it on your insurance.

Or if you want more power go the whole hog and get a 182 setup on there :)
 
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I've got a Powerflow exhaust on my car.
Sounds fantastic but some may say it sounds chavvy.
It burbles nicely at idle and sounds very nice when you boot it.
Fantastic quality as well and i've had no problems with it at all.
It's a Cat-Back system.
 
[TW]Fox said:
I went for a 'Sport' Longlife system.

My car sounded like a barryboy Nova. I took it back and they made it quieter for me :p
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You won't like my dads exhaust then. It sounds like something out of NFS:UG! :D
 
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