Grp N Exhaust On A Daily Driver 1.9 8v?

[Faz85 0]

Apologies for asking such a common question, but most of the posts I have found regarding the group N exhaust dont make it clear whether this is a good choice for a daily driver...

 

Basically I am suffering a bit of a blow from the exhaust (from the backbox) and have decided to revive the exhaust system by replacing the lot (or at least the downpipe back). After searching I have decided upon one of three; either standard system, Grp N, or Jetex.

 

I know many people have chosen the Grp N, and many have commented on the noise aspect, but I was just wondering how many of you people have it on daily drivers? And if so, what is it like to live with?

 

(GLpoomobile and pugtorque: you have both given interesting verdicts on the Grp N in the past, but im not sure whether you guys are speaking from a daily drive P.O.V or not)

 

I use the motorway every day in my 1.9, and although i would like to fruiten the exhaust note a bit, I dont want it to be unbearable for everyday use.

 

Opinions appreciated

 

Faz

[j_turnell 136 3 Cars]

Used mine as a daily driver and yes although it is a little loud its a nice sound, not like your local Nova, very raspy and pops and bangs on down changes. Personally i like it, if i was to change it i would go standard.

[mickie 3]

im using mine as a daily driver with a full magnex exhaust system fitted, i think its not too bad, wheel bearing rubbing on the other hand is annoying as hell

[boombang 2]

I wouldn't go for a Peugeot sport type grp N on a daily drive, as there isn't likely to be much left of it after a few months.

If you were to, best bet is to wipe down the exhaust with some spirits and give it a coating of black high temp paint. The standard paint is seriously pourous and causes rapid rust.

 

Aside from that, if you are happy with a grp N sound, DES Developments do a lovely stainless system for sensible money that is very similar.

[e30m3 0]

I's agree with boombang, the peugeot grp N doesn't last long i painted mine with high temperature paint before fitting an its very rusty a year later, wouldn't be suprise if i was ordering a new one soon.

Edited January 21, 2007 by e30m3

[boombang 2]

Price for these from Special Tuning has gone through the roof btw.

 

I recall mine was around £120 with PSOOC discount.

 

Now they are £155!

(£36.00 centre, £81.00 rear, then the fixed £15 p+p then VAT)

 

I guess you can get them elsewhere but I would go for the DES stainless system, which isn't a lot more.

[feb 47]

It's nice for A/B road blasts but not motorway trips as it is noisy. I used to have one and ever since I started using the car daily removed it. You need to be cruising at 3k rpm or above 4.5 nearly 5k in order not to have resonance unless you want to be deaf!

Edited January 21, 2007 by feb

[luggy 13]

I had a full stainless steel system on mine and I did a lot of motorway miles and it was too feckin noisy on long journeys. Havent got any experience of the group N ones. I've now got the standard system on which has been on nearly 2 years which I sprayed with high temp paint and its still in pretty good nick. Motorway miles are far better, doing 80 without realising it, previously the vehicle sounded like it was moving faster than it was, but the standard system you still have the sweet pug engine tune accelerating between 3 and 4k.

[bales 1]

Mine was used as a daily driver with an OMP grp N and was fine, it was loud and it was boomy on the motorway but it really depends on what you are prepared to put up with. If I was driving on the motorway a lot a grp N isn't probably the best choice as it will be noisy.

 

Have you considered a Jetex, they are well made and are not too noisy from what I have heard.

[Faz85 0]

Cheers for the replies guys, as i expected, quite a few differing views on this one. I've come to the conclusion that it might be a touch noisy for me to use everyday, so i am now considering the Jetex exhaust, its only 50 notes more than the Grp.N, and like you say Bales, I've also heard its quite a good system.

 

And of course if me and the Jetex dont get on, i'll be selling that and going for a standard item like many of you guys, it might turn out to be the best option for me after all.

 

Faz

Edited January 21, 2007 by Faz85

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

I've got a Peugeotsport group N on mine & have had for over two years so far.

 

I gave it a few extra coats of high temp paint & although its rusty to loook at it isn't developing any holes yet so I wouldn't worry about the longevity of them. If they aren't holed they shouldn't fail an mot just because they are rusty.

 

They are strange though, new they are loud on the motorway & need a few hundred miles on them at least to run in so they are more bareable on the motorway but if you drive a lot late at night often I wouldn't fit onee as you will attract the attention of the police easily & you can't gun it as much late because of the noise.

 

I'm swapping back to an oe phase 2 system soon before I custom build my next system.

 

Graham.

[ashley peddle 3]

i have one on my car... its not a daily driver but iv done 20k miles on it in 18 months mine has lasted that long... however i think its starting to die now (but thats because i have cabs and i cant help but make it pop / bang all the time )

[GLPoomobile 958]

I bought my Group N from Special Tuning for my old 1.9, and it is now on my 1.6.

 

Yes, it WAS a dailydriver. I used to drive 45 miles per day to and from work, from Central London to Hatfield. So it was a 50/50 mix of urban traffic and motorway.

 

Firstly, I have never found the group N excessively 'loud'. Yes it is louder than an OE system, but I have never found it unbearable. It does have a monotonous drone at around 2/2.5K rpm, but agan, I'll emphasise that I have never found it too loud for daily commuting. I have even driven to Edinburgh and back (a journey I'll be doing again at the end of the week), which is circa 7 hours of non stop motorway cruising, and it hasn't pissed me off.

 

OK, so you can't exactly have a relaxed chat with a passenger, or listen to your stereo without turning it right up, but lets be honest here, that is pretty much the case with an OE exhaust at motorway speed due to the 205's lack of sound deadening and wind protection.

 

One of the attractions for me was the 'rally style' popping and banging, but sadly I have never experienced this with mine (on either the 1.9 or 1.6). Mine also started to look rusty after just a few months but hasn;t disintegrated (yet). I probably will replace it with an OMP SS Group N or similar further down the line.

[Faz85 0]

Hi Guys, i figured i might as well finish this post off, since i started it...

 

Thanks for all the replies, after a week of consideration i've decided to go for the Grp.N since my current exhaust is already a 3 piece system (even though it should be the 2 piece, since its a 1992). I purchased it from AB Motorsport in Leamington for £137, he's the same chap selling them on eBay at the moment, and being local, its saving me about £20 on postage!

 

Im picking it up on monday, and have set aside the afternoon to fit it (it was either fit the exhaust or go to an advanced fluid dynamics lecture ) so fingers crossed it all goes smoothly and hopefully i'll have nothing but good things to say about it on monday!

 

Cheers

 

Faz

[GLPoomobile 958]

funnnily enough I meant to put a quick update following my last post. Did near 900 miles of motorway last weekend and I stand by my original comments that it isn't too bad. At motorway speeds it's mostly road noise and wind whistling past the door seals.

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

Don't forget you might need to trim about 2" from the centre pipe to get it all to fit snugly.

 

Might be worth ringing AB to check though but I had to when I fitted mine.

 

A search might help also as there have been a few topics about fitting these before (You made one didn't you Steve? )

 

Graham.

[Mattsav 1]

I had a Grp N on mine but fitted the middle box from a BX 16v which was perfect. Sounded nice, still popped and banged but wasn't too loud.

 

Unfortunatley it was made from cardboard and fell apart after 18 months and only 4000miles even though I'd painted it twice!

 

I've just fitted one DES's twin box Grp A systes and its bloody loud. I can't even hear the T/B's at the moment and its setting car alarms off!

 

I expect it will quieten down with a few miles on it, if not then I'll fit a bigger center box.

[Faz85 0]

Bloody Exhausts!! Quite possibly the worst part of vehicle mechanics, especially when lying on your back in the freezing cold without the convenience of a ramp...anyway rant over, the group N is now fitted!!

 

Strangely enough i didnt need to cut any of the pipework, possibly due to the downpipe i have, its clearly not an Arvin as it has no split down the centre of it. I probably would have replaced this as well, but it would have meant having another lambda boss welded into it, so i just made do. I had to use a 51mm clamp on the interpipe and a 54 on the back box and after several hours of pissing about with the downpipe fitting kit i fired her up...

 

My first impression was that it seemed louder than i expected at idle, but on the road it gives a nice throaty sound although being a tad on the loud side at 2K revs. It has the tendancy to drone quite badly, which i was expecting after reading previous posts. After about 4K it sounds superb, especially from the outside. I entrusted bro to boot it past me on the industrial estate so i could hear it...awesome noise, and im sure i wont tire of listening to it pop on down changes!

 

As for the daily drive aspect, I drove to uni this morning on the M6 and found it fairly tolerable. Cruising at 70 its not much louder than the O/E, but when opening the throttle more, it does drone quite a bit. I think i can live with it, and in any case, am i right in thinking it will quieten down a bit after a few hundred miles??

 

All in all, I think it was a worthwhile choice and I do believe it is acceptable for a daily driver.

 

Thanks for all the guidance

 

Faz

[GLPoomobile 958]

A search might help also as there have been a few topics about fitting these before (You made one didn't you Steve? )

 

Graham.

 

Well I did start a thread intended to be the 'be all and end all' of Group N exhaust threads, but there has been a thousand more Group N threads started since then You know what it is like on here, same questions asked every week I'm as bad as anyone else though, but I blame the search function, it's keek! (I did do a search once to see if I could find any threads about how to use the search function, but it didn't find anything )

 

Faz - glad you are happy with the zorst. Brave man fitting it in this weather though A few seconds of clasping a frozen cold exhaust pipe can be bloody painful

Edited February 7, 2007 by GLPoomobile

[Gibbo GTI 0]

After reading through this and other exhaust threads I decided to buy a Peugeot Sport Group N exhaust from A B Motorsport. Hopefully it'll arrive before the current one totally falls apart at the olive joint to the back box.

[Timmer205 0]

Just a quick question on this because i didn't want to start a new topic. I can't be bothered with getting a whole new exhaust system because mine is the non-cat version anyway but will the group N backbox just bolt on to the stanard pipe work?.

[bales 1]

If is the later OE system I don't think so as the (OMP) grp N is a smaller dia, 1 7/8" compared to 2"

 

Wouldn't be very hard to bodge on though.

[hodgy 0]

i have a group A on my daily driver and its fine. only time it does my head in is on long durneys on the motorway but apart from that i wouldnt change it for thw world

[Tony_205 1]

@hodgy; Which Group A u got matey? Peugeot Sport?

 

Im after a full system for a daily driver but not sure what to go for? Group A/N stainless/mild or what lol.

 

Dont mind loudness. Just want the best exhaust note. Will be going for whichever sounds most rally-car like under acceleration and deceleration with popping/banging and the odd flame

[ross009 0]

@hodgy; Which Group A u got matey? Peugeot Sport?

 

Im after a full system for a daily driver but not sure what to go for? Group A/N stainless/mild or what lol.

 

Dont mind loudness. Just want the best exhaust note. Will be going for whichever sounds most rally-car like under acceleration and deceleration with popping/banging and the odd flame

 

 

 

im with tony im after the same qualities in a system as him!!