Hi -
The muffler on my 97 golf 2.0 is has had its day and I need a new one - I looked on ebay at mufflers and found a wide array of prices see
Also - do most repair shops install these aftermarket muflers?
Thank you.
Those "coffee-can" exhausts are the favorite of riceboys everywhere. They make your car sound like a buzzsaw and don't really give you much of a performance boost. You'd be better off with a Techtonics cat-back (about $200) which has a more subtle, mellow rumble at idle which builds into a slight snarl as you apply throttle, not too much louder than stock. You'll get a little bit of a torque boost as well because the exhaust is tuned and you're replacing the middle muffler with a better-flowing resonator as well as slightly bigger pipes (2 1/4"). The only thing about it is the exhaust pipe sticking out the back is just a plain-jane pipe. You can put a nice tip on it for about $50 (I personally don't put any tip on mine - sort of a stealth thing I guess).
As far as installation, most shops will install it for you but they may charge a premium because you didn't buy it from them. If you're handy you can install the system yourself. You can just use a Sawzall to cut the old system off. After that you can easily install the new system, make adjustments to the pipes to make sure nothing hits and tighten the clamps.
Hope this helps.
Ron
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