We put the stock exhaust back on the 300bhp 1.8T project for sound/volume reasons. But is that actually a problem? I made a DIY exhaust back pressure tester to find out.

Exhaust Back Pressure

You can see how I made the sensor here.

So How Bad?

It’s pretty bad.

From around 3000RPM and 14 PSI of boost, exhaust back pressure hits around 0.5 bar, at 4000 RPM it hits around 0.8 BAR. I didn’t take it any further than that, I had my answer. The 55mm stock 1.8T exhaust needs to be changed.

On these numbers, I’d say the limit of the exhaust is around stock power levels, in this case 180bhp.

Next Step

The next step on the journey will be modifying the 70mm exhaust to make it as quiet as possible with no/very small restriction. Subscribe for updates.

Explore StrikeEngine

StrikeEngine TV Highlights