Exhaust Manifolds and Downpipes

On the right is the stock exhaust manifold from the 86 Scirocco. It is a very restrictive manifold with a 4 into 1 design having very unequal runner lengths. I used a manifold from an 81 Rabbit similar to the one on the left, a far superior design. Some of these manifolds have plugged holes tapped for an oxygen sensor look for this if you need to use an O2 sensor, it makes fitting the sensor and the sample tube much easier. Installing this manifold, with the TT downpipe seen below, is a relatively inexpensive upgrade. If you want to do any upgrades to your engine, this is a good place to start, alot of bang for your buck.

I used the larger downpipe from Techonics Tuning designed for this type of installation. Note the difference in size and shape from the smaller stock downpipe for the 81 manifold. This is because the stock downpipe is designed to be used with a flex pipe. About 6 months after I installed this downpipe the flange broke off my catalytic converter (too stiff ??) I cut the flange off of the downpipe and welded in a swivel joint.

NOTE: The Techtonics downpipe shown above is no longer available but in it's place, Techtonics now sell a downpipe which allows you to use the ABA exhaust manifold in an A1, included with the downpipe kit is a replacement part for the shift linkage as the stock linkage would interfere with the new style pipe. This downpipe is quite pricey but it's all stainless steel so it should have pretty good life span.