If you could imagine multiplying the welding and fitting I did to modify the Hartmann downpipe by about 10, you would end up with this exhaust system. Actually, it wasn't ten times as hard. I now had much-needed experience welding stainless, and the help of a radial-arm saw equipped with a cut-off wheel really buzzed through the stainless steel. Doesn't it look pretty out of the car laying in the sun? :)

Another view of the beaut. The tubing is all 304 stainless steel which I purchased mail-order from burn's stainless. They sell 45, 90, and 180 degree constant-radius bends (AKA "mandrel bent") at pretty decent prices for the quality of the bend and materials. Tubing size is 2.5" diameter.

Here is the exhaust in it's natural habitat (mated to the Wabbit.) Notice how it just fits like a glove. There are no commonly-available 2.5" exhaust systems for the Rabbit in the aftermarket. And partially this is for good reason - with a larger tubing diameter, there is less clearance in the body channel and over the axle, etc. Without the precision that custom-fabrication allows, it would be hard to avoid exhaust system alignment problems. The muffler I selected is a "straight through" variety, for minimum restriction in mind. The system is actually a great deal quieter than a normally aspirated aftermarket 2.0" exhaust system with resonator and baffled main-muffler in a gas engine! The turbocharger in the TD engine seems to effectively reflect or muffle out a lot of the sound pulses exiting through the exhaust ports.

A different view of the exhaust system installed in the car. Notice the hanger brackets are not yet formed or welded to the tubing yet in this picture. Oh the details, details... of fabricating an exhaust system from scratch! I must admit, the end result is totally worth it! The free-flow downpipe and exhaust system allows the turbo to spool up at much more low an RPM, and allows less backpressure at high RPMs - effectively increasing power and torque in all driving conditions. This is according to some "stall-tests" I have done lugging the engine up a big hill in fourth gear, as well as what my highly-tuned "seat of the parts" sensor reads ;)