Mild Steel vs Stainless Steel

[ruimond]

I'm deciding on getting a custom cat back exhaust done at my local exhaust shop. But i'm not sure if its worth getting the piping and so forth in stainless steel.

Stainless Steel costs a fair bit more, whereas the mild steel version would cost me about $350-400 with a tip of my choice. Are there any other benefits of having stainless steel apart from it lasting longer? Performance or Sound wise.

I'm still deciding on whether to get a dual tip or single tip. Dual tip looks pretty nice and different. I don't see many people with dual tip from the muffler though on there forums. So its a hard choice :P I saw in a sticky thread the 1st post had dual tip which looks nice too.

The local shop i might get it done at uses Lukey Mufflers, my friend has it on his Corolla which i had a look at the other day. Never heard of them till recently, i'm not sure what are other peoples opinions on these mufflers.

http://www.lukey.com.au/default.asp?...mplate=CONTENT

Cheers

[kimona]

Never liked the look of polished stainless steel... too much bling for me. I'd go with mild steel and paint the whole thing black (except the tips) after it's been made up and test fitted. Is the Lukey available with offset inlet and dual outlet?.

[largeorangefont]

Most exhaust shops use alumnized tubing, not mild steel.

I wouldn't wast money on stainless. You can just paint the mild steel or alumnized steel as stated above.

[turboyaris]

yea mild steel rusts, so it would need to be coated of some kind or it will rust through quickly. when i've built manifolds i use mild steel and have it ceramic coated, its 8$ for a mild steel u bend and 30 for the same in stainless

[ruimond]

Thanks for the replies guys...i might just get the mild steel. I think the mild steel is coated anyhow.

On the website it says - "Available in two variations - polished Stainless Steel or Aluminum Coated Mild Steel (ACMS)." So yeh it's coated with aluminum.

Originally Posted by kimona

Never liked the look of polished stainless steel... too much bling for me. I'd go with mild steel and paint the whole thing black (except the tips) after it's been made up and test fitted. Is the Lukey available with offset inlet and dual outlet?.

Umm im not sure what you mean by offset intlet. But i think it's just the single inlet and outlet on the muffler i was looking at.

[thepoche]

Originally Posted by largeorangefont

Most exhaust shops use alumnized tubing, not mild steel.

I wouldn't wast money on stainless. You can just paint the mild steel or alumnized steel as stated above.

What kind of paint is needed to do this? Any high heat paint or is there something specifically for exhaust?

[1NZYaris1]

Use a heat shield paint, most automotive parts suppliers will stock it.

[ddongbap]

Salty water does the trick.

[Tamago]

i say do it right once... i've run aluminized steel exhausts and they last about 3 years... you'll be back doing all that work over again in 3 or so, meaning you will have spent the money anyway.

[at3GG]

If you dont want the "hassle" of painting/sealing it then go with the stainless, it will be worth it in the end. Myself i enjoyed wrapping my header and exhaust and am also looking forward to coating. To each his own. Mild with a good seal shouldn't give you any problems though, and would still be cheaper

[thepoche]

Originally Posted by Tamago

i say do it right once... i've run aluminized steel exhausts and they last about 3 years... you'll be back doing all that work over again in 3 or so, meaning you will have spent the money anyway.

Sometime there is no options, like the long tube header from richard

[Tamago]

Originally Posted by thepoche

Sometime there is no options, like the long tube header from richard

that sounds like an issue from his end.... why not provide the best, especially for the kind of $$ he's asking for..

have ANY of his projects come into fruition yet? you guys and the xD owners have been waiting for FOREVER for your performance parts ;(

[WolfWings]

Oh, he hasn't said yea or nay to offering the exhaust in Stainless. I said up-front I'd pay double, no questions, for stainless. More than that I'd likely still pay since I live in the mid-america rust belt in Kansas City just low enough we have to use road salt heavilly for a couple months out of the year, but not so heavilly or often enough people buy dedicated winter tires. And even then I'd likely wrap and coat the wrapped stainless piece before installing it. Or at least coat it.

I look at wrapping and coating as a way to keep the heat in, less than a way to protect the exhaust from the elements. Only chemistry can truly protect the exhaust from the elements and nasty chemicals, which means stainless for me if it can be afforded.

[ruimond]

I'm probably getting my exhaust done on Thursday this week. Pretty exicited. Will take photos when its done. Just gonna get it in mild steel since the exhaust place suggested there's no point going stainless for our conditions and as long as you drive it decent distances it won't really rust that fast and last pretty long.

My friend was telling me not to get it...he reckons the exhaust on the yaris is "Try Hard", but said my Short ram intake AFE was cool enough as it is and said i won't get any performance from the exhaust at all. But i'm probably still gonna go ahead anyway.

[TLyttle]

Another property that stainless has is its hardness: by being more rigid, it holds exhaust resonance better than MS, therefore increasing the tuning ability of the system.

If you tend to drag the bottom of your car over things (rocks, curbs, pedestrians), the stainless is less likely to be damaged, but repairing any dents could be a problem.

Doing the system once and once only does have its attractions...

[TheSilkySmooth]

400 bucks for an exhaust on a Yaris - He he! funny!

[ruimond]

Originally Posted by TheSilkySmooth

400 bucks for an exhaust on a Yaris - He he! funny!

Yeh all the custom places are around that much here in Australia. Or the ones i've been to anyway. :(

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