No bigger than 2.75"...and if your engine is stock, 2.5 in, mandrel bend, with hi flow cat, and mufflers.
Not 3"!!!!
 Fossicker
					
					
						Fossicker
					
					
                                        
					
					
						G'day , I'm getting a new exhaust fitted to my defender next week what size do i go ? The exhaust guy recomended a straight through 2.5" mandrel bend or do i go the 3" ? what is the best option?
thanks
No bigger than 2.75"...and if your engine is stock, 2.5 in, mandrel bend, with hi flow cat, and mufflers.
Not 3"!!!!
 Wizard
					
					
						Wizard
					
					
                                        
					
					
						mine has a 2.5" mandrel bent stainless with decat and no silencers..... it sounds a treat and goes really well
In general - bigger the better for performance.
There are reports that the turbo can overspeed if you fit a 3" exhaust. However there are several people on here who have 3" exhausts and the turbos have not failed...
Not this crap again...
Optimum based on what??? Price vs performance maybe, but that is all...
On a TD (or TP engine), reducing back pressure will increase power. The "optimum" for performance is something like this:
Which has orders of magnitude less back pressure than any diameter full length exhaust you care to fit.
Overspeeding on a tuned td5 is very possible.
I've tested this 1st hand and seen the issues - although we didn't destroy the turbo thankfully.
3" pipes are the choice of tuned 4200cc Nissan diesels with increased boost etc. A 2500cc rover doesn't even come close even tuned to 20psi and 200kw.
Here's what donaldsons say:

My original post said:
Both of those statements are correct.In general - bigger the better for performance.
There are reports that the turbo can overspeed if you fit a 3" exhaust. However there are several people on here who have 3" exhausts [forgot to add on TD5s] and the turbos have not failed...
Don't Td5s have a redline of 5500 rpm and a max boost of 22 psi in stock form?
Even assuming the same volumetric efficiency, a stock TD5 will flow MORE AIR at redline than a stock 4BD1T, and slightly less than a stock TD42.
I am sure we both agree that the best compromise is a 2.5" or 2.75" on a TD5, however it is by no means the "optimum" for performance - if that is your priority.
EDIT : Those I can find with a 3" exhaust after a quick search:
Clarkie has a 3" mandrel bent exhaust - the turbo seems to be holding up fine:
3" exhaust for "Baldrick" TD5 Defender
Benny_IIA also had one on his TD5 110 ute (I think it is now sold?).
George130
Redback
Micka
Probably plenty more as well. No blown turbos amongst those with 3" exhausts.
and what do we find here:
As I posted in another thread:Originally Posted by tombraider
Originally Posted by isuzurover
Redoing the numbers above with more accurate VE values based on boost pressures. (VE is usually a maximum at peak torque then drops off)
Stock TD5 vs Stock 4BD1T vs Stock nissan TD42T
TD5 (22 psi - std (VE=2.5)) = 215 CFM at peak torque and 551 CFM at peak power
4BD1T (17 psi std (VE=2.2)) = 219 CFM at peak torque 440 CFM at peak power
TD42T (8 psi std (VE=2.0)) = 229 CFM at peak torque 458 CFM at peak power
The CFM at peak power values are wrong because I have kept the same VE, however the ratios between the engines are accurate. If anything the TD5 will increase over the other engines, as the VVT turbo will allow it to keep boosting for longer.
Now all the nissan sites that talk about a max boost pressure of ~15psi for tweaked nissan 4.2s - which increases CFM at peak power to about the same level as a stock TD5!!!
If anyone can find a problem with my numbers above, then let me know??? However this shows that a stock TD5 flows about the same air as a stock 4L TD, so a tweaked TD5 could easily flow as much as a tweaked 4L TD.
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