What are peoples opinions on this? a mate who has had a muffler joint here in Newcastle for about 40 years thinks the the steel used for mandrel bent piping is so much thinner that it doesn't last nearly as long so unless you need the slight gains it gives you for racing than cut and weld piping is a better option... any experience with this? im looking at getting high flow cats and a t304 stainless catback system custom made but dont know wether to spend the extra cash for mandrel bent piping...
As a result of the stretching on the outer skin, mandrel bent systems will be thinner on the outer radius and may therefore not last as long. But I have never hear of this being a problem.
I bought and cut about 20 mandrel bends while making my extractors. They where a uniform thickness along the bend and straight bit. Stainless lasts forever anyway...
mate inconel holds up on F1 cars for a whole race sometimes two for there manifolds and they glow red hot i dont think you will have any problems with mandrel bent stainless steel on a relatively standard car.
