exhaust downpipe and manifold gasket

[91rtstealth]

I'm going to be driving my 96 talon tsi as a daily driver for a while now that my DD took a crap. The downpipe has a leak in it, as well as the manifold gasket....so it freaking sticks like fuel when you accelerate hard. It's annoying.

I'd like to find a simple OEM or OEM-like downpipe for it. It has a stock exhaust on it still and I'll likely keep it that way. I just want to find an OEM style downpipe that will install easily. Any recommendations? I'm always afraid to buy cheap things on ebay for fear they won't fit correctly...I saw some recommendations on the dsmtuner homepage, but there were so many....

same for the manifold gasket...where would you recommend I get one?

and what's involved in installing these pieces?

thanks in advance

 

[crash89]

Megan usually has decent products for down pipes and I just buy a gasket from a local parts store.. I bought a 3" megan DP for my spyder a couple years ago and it bolted up flawlessly.. Cat back systems you can usually buy from ebay, they're really all the same.. A pipe is a pipe.. Hell, I still run my ebay muffler on my "custom" 3'' stainless exhaust" on my AWD set up..

Punishment racing has pretty much the same downpipe for relatively the same price.. Just be sure which o2 housing you have.. An evoIII o2 housing will have a different angle than a stock 2g housing making the downpipe not fit properly..

 

[91rtstealth]

so what size is the stock exhaust?

and if a buy a 3 inch downpipe is it going to bolt up to the stock cat?

 

[crash89]

I honestly have no idea the size of a stock exhaust.. My guesstimate is about 2"?? I have a picture of my 3" next to a stock GSX exhaust though Ill include.. As far as a 3" exhaust bolting to a stock Cat, Im not sure.. I do know that some or most aftermarket downpipes will come with slotted flanges to accommodate for a smaller diameter cat or cat back system.. Some even come with a cat delete, where it eliminates totally the cat converter and bolts to the cat back system.. There also is available an aftermarket cat converter, High flow cats will bolt up to aftermarket DP's and sill qualify for emissions.. You'll have to check with your states emissions requirements though..

Heres my exhaust vs a stock GSX exhaust.
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[91rtstealth]

well can anyone tell me of a downpipe that will bolt up to the stock cat back? I just want something on the car so it doesn't stink every time I get on the throttle. If I could get a 3" to easily bolt up the stock cat back that would be convenient ### then when the factory crap rots offs, I can eventually upgrade to 3" all the way back..

any suggestions?

 

[mike96]

Any 3 inch downpipe should work fine so long as you don't get one that is designed to fit the EVO3 O2 housing... The only problem you are going to have is that you will need an adaptor to go from the 3" DP to the factory 2.25" exhaust. Those normally come with the cat back exhausts do to the fact that you need them to bolt from the factory 2.25" cat to the new 3" cat back.. You will be going the opposite direction and the DPs don't come with the adaptor... Look on e-bay there are several 2.25" and 2.5" downpipes avalible that will bolt up fine.

 

[91rtstealth]

i'm probably going to order this:

MEGAN RACING 3" DOWNPIPE EAGLE TALON GSX AWD 2G 95-99 | eBay

it seems reasonable, and I'm always weary of buying the cheapest of anything because it's usually trash and doesn't fit so I figured I'd go with this. Some of the downpipes on ebay seem way to good to be true for 80 bucks. So, what other things will I need to make this bolt up to my stock exhaust? I'll likely get a 3" cat back down the road, but currently this is my daily driver and I just want it get me from A to B.