so i blew i wrist pin in my 99z24, and now have a 96 sunfire gt that i'm swapping most parts over to and starting fresh on some, one of which being the exhaust. i picked up a dc header with a 2.25" downpipe, and have two xecelerator stainless fully welded mufflers and 3" stainless tips. plan was to have my local shop that has done other exhaust work for me weld and make a 2.25" system for my gt as well, but this time he decided to say screw me and ask over $300. so i told him i would build my own for less then that, needless to say i now have a 16 ton pipe bender, welding mask and gloves with an arc welder from a neighbor. problem is i only have a 2" mold die and 2.5" mold die to bend my pipes with, not a 2.25" like i would like. i have a 2.25" on my z24 and love it, but have to choose bigger or smaller. my idea is since i am not planning on running a cat or resonator to keep the to the 2" do keep some back pressure since the mufflers are basically straight throughs. any suggestions would help, i'm excited to build my own exhaust just want to know should i go 2" or 2.5" and whether or not to have no resonator and cat or put on of the two in? thanks


...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....

bigger. especially because your pipe bender will almost certainly give you crush bends.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

I would run the larger exhaust. Its going to yield better whp but I suppose it depends on what your planning on doing with the car but upper rpm power will benefit from a higher flowing exhaust. If you plan on keeping a near stock power car, than maybe the benefits of a smaller exhaust would warrant that but everyone has different goals.

What exactly are the benefits of smaller exhaust? Lighter is all that I can think of. Bigger exhaust wont lose any low end, unless you go stupid huge.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Yeah, I agree..If you were planning a 3" on n/a I may not suggest that but thats just me....my 3" crush bends are working for me on 300whp

so if i ran the 2.5" would it be a good idea to add a resonator of some kind? also i have 2.25" mufflers, should i get the 2.5" ones or just run reducers to fit them, planning on running n/a so i don't want to wide open of an exhaust


...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....

if you are going N/A i would say at least a 2.5 and boost at least 3.0







RIP JESSE GERARD.....Youll always be in my thoughts and prayers...

Be a man, open header.



Paying someone to install parts and bragging about it being fast, is like watching someone bang your wife and being proud to raise their kids.

skinnyman wrote:so if i ran the 2.5" would it be a good idea to add a resonator of some kind? also i have 2.25" mufflers, should i get the 2.5" ones or just run reducers to fit them, planning on running n/a so i don't want to wide open of an exhaust

If you going to run the 2.25" muffler you might as well run the 2.25" piping. That will cause a bottle neck.

but with the dc header only having a downpipe and collector of 2.25" does it make sense so run a 2.5" system, or just a very open 2" system? plan right now is a long type of glasspack after the header and then the mufflers at the end all done in 2"?


...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....

If you have a 2.25" downpipe you'd be much better off with a 2.5" pipe than a 2" pipe.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer