AWE Tuning has spent considerable time examining how to maximize the performance and options of this exhaust system. The factory exhaust consists of a long downpipe with two catalytic converters, and two rather large mufflers in the section after the cats.

Thorough long term street testing has confirmed that our high flow downpipe, whether equipped with with the 400 cell ceramic catalytic converter or the 200 cell metal catalytic converter, will not set a Check Engine light or any fault codes in the ECU. For customers looking for ultimate power, the HJS German made metal catalytic converter featuring an Emitec core will provide an additional 9hp over our ceramic converter option.

Here are some features of the system. Each feature was chosen for performance and longevity reasons, and when making your exhaust decisions you should settle for nothing less:

• Fully mandrel bent tubing
• Thick .065" wall T304 stainless steel tubing
• Fully lined stainless steel flex joint in downpipe
• Stainless steel internal muffler and resonator construction
• Stainless steel MIG and TIG welds
• Stainless steel T-bolt clamps
• Double walled exhaust tips to reduce heat discoloration
• Included OEM turbo to downpipe gasket
• In house dyno developed
  
  

The downpipe features an integrated resonator to keep the exhaust sound volume civilized even with the elimination of the very restrictive factory converters. The catback system is topped off with our signature 3" beveled exhaust tips. The tips sport laser etched AWE Tuning logos and are double walled to ensure a mirror polish even under hard usage. The system has multiple slip joints with high quality t-bolt clamps, to allow optimal adjustment.

Our catback systems will mate up to the stock downpipe, and our downpipe will mate to our catbacks or any other catback that is designed to mate up to the factory downpipe.

Why did AWE Tuning choose 2.5 inch and not 3.0 inch diameter for their MK5 exhaust? The first prototypes of this system were indeed 3.0 inch, but they found that the effort it took to move the large mass of air in the 3.0 inch system at lower rpms resulted in a loss of torque with very little offsetting gain up top.