Does anyone know or can hypothesize about what effect in HP and torque gains a flowmaster 50 replacing the stock muffler on an 83 mercedes turbo diesel 5cyl 3L would have? Also, would the sound be excessively loud? I already have a self-designed short ram air system and recently purchased a more legitimate system(not made out of plumbing joints and PVC that is, but hey, it worked). Obviously these cars will never be race cars but it would be nice to have the car purring on both ends.

This topic has been discussed many times.. there are even videos in the archives of people of this forum who have done custum exhausts on these types of vehicles.

Most of which say that there is not a noticable power gain, and they went back to the stock configuration due to the noise.

Search the archives.. see what comes up...

I really don't see any gains in HP or torque. The turbo may spool a little faster though.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

If you do go with an aftermarket muffler...go with something straight through, not a chambered design. That will aid in more performace, not just sound.

This will allow for reduced turbine backpressure (which is what you want... zero pressure aft turbo, high pressure preturbo) to allow for more high RPM power. Probably 2800-4500

I doubt you'll see it spool much quicker as there's not much of anything I see that would cause big turbo lag such as precats or a highly restrictive intake setup.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

What I got from searching the site and your replies is that a straight-pipe would be best for performance and sound.

2 things:

1. Isn't removing the cat. conv. illegal?
2. Will it produce so much sound as to get me pulled over?

the older diesels don't have cat converters.....therefore its theres nothing to remove. except for a resonator and muffler

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Only diesels that have cats are about 2004.5 model and newer that I have seen...

Straight pipe is absurdly loud and resonates badly. I plan to do as follows:

Remove resonator section, install a pair of Magnaflow diesel mufflers (4" dia x 18" body) to really keep the sound down. 4" due to size wise. I want to keep the stock style tail pipes so I'll get to that bridge when I get there... but the stock system is HEAVY. I found one in a boneyard...

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]