BX16V.com Forum

I've recently read the following in the current edition of CCC's Citroenian Magazine;

The general consensus by the 16v Club is that Walker front
pipes are the ones to go for and not Bosal like the one I
had and genuine parts are as you would expect - NLA!

Now it was my understanding that BOSAL where the OEM suppliers for the BX range, and that the BOSAL front pipe has the correct full length siamesed section which runs past the bend. Obviously the OEM pipes aren't branded BOSAL but all the walker back boxes i have had have failed pretty darn quickly in comparison to BOSAL. It was my understanding that the Walker front pipe only had a short straight siamesed section and wasn't correctly flanged etc

There are other exhaust based misnomers in the article, and while i'd never read anything in the Citroenian as being the truth, i'm wondering what others have found with front pipes. I've got three original front pipes in various states and conditions, and i wonder if i should be scrapping them off in order to get a walker one if it will last longer?

erm, i think its tim2cv that writes the bx related coloumb in there??

The Walker front pipe is not as good as Bosal. That simple.
The Bosal is still available if you know where to look, the local factor SDL can get them on order.

The Walker has a cheap resonator without the fluting, indeed the divider doesn't run past the bend and causes a swirl effect at the base of the divider which does not aid a clean slug pull through the pipe, it aint flanged properly at the top to mate nicely with the manifold and the neck shape is a pure bend, it doesn't have the gentle double curve that the Bosal unit has.

Hi guys.

Well I have the opposite opinion on Bosal exhausts. I had one on my valver - and not only did it rust pretty quick (two years and replacement needed), it also held back the engines power because of the stretched bendings that varied in diameter all the way. I cannot say for the front pipe, since that was the only part I didnt get replaced at the time.

If you do a direct comparison between Walker and Bosal (at least of everything after front pipe), you will see the bendings are smooth on the Walker, whereas the Bosal are stretched bends.

However, last time round I bought an original exhaust - and the bends are even smoother than the Walker one.

Well at least thats the way it is in Viborg, Denmark

MZWiZard wrote: However, last time round I bought an original exhaust - and the bends are even smoother than the Walker one.

Erm, all the exhaust bits that are stamped PSA (ie OEM) are made by Bosal..

My virew is that so long as you have a down pipe with the divider that runs full length you should be ok.

I do not know for sure but I reckon some of the better manufacturers actually make two types of 16v downpipe i.e. trhe right one and a cheaper short divider item.

I would imagine Tim Leech has written that article and I think we may have to point out that our senior members do NOT hold with those views

IMHO Bosal have always been bloody good quality and earne dtheir reputation by producing exhausts that were extrememly hard wearing and resistant to rust.

What has been shown on numerous 205 conversions nad lots of RR runs is that a short or non existent divider tends to give a couple of extra BHP at the top of the rev range but almost always looses torque lower down.

Cheers
Luke

I hear you guys - but if I one day get the oppertunity, I will take pictures of the situation here in denmark. It seems we get some very different qualities across the world...

MZWiZard wrote:I hear you guys - but if I one day get the oppertunity, I will take pictures of the situation here in denmark. It seems we get some very different qualities across the world...

Are you runninf a cat though?

Cheers
Luke

Toddman wrote:

MZWiZard wrote:I hear you guys - but if I one day get the oppertunity, I will take pictures of the situation here in denmark. It seems we get some very different qualities across the world...

Are you runninf a cat though?

Cheers
Luke

Yes I am - for now at least. It just passed MOT today( ), but the cat's inside is very loose and rattling and Im pretty broke, so I guess I will weld in a pipe until I get money for a cat

I haven't checked out a new 16V downpipe for a while, but one thing's for sure, a new downpipe, even a Citroen supplied one, may well not be exactly the same spec as the original one fitted when the car was new, even if it's the same make. An awful lot of new exhaust parts supplied by manufacturers for obsolete models are effectively pattern parts. That in itself makes any dispute between Bosal and Walker pointless, as i have had both superb and trashy pipes from each manufacturer. I used to be supplied with obsolete stock from a Citroen main dealer once a year, and the really original stuff was always a cut above, with a five year plus life expectancy from a rear silencer. A BX16V downpipe is an expensive bit of kit to make properly, so theres no margin.

Frechracing blue is correct.

Many years ago, when I neeeded an exhaust for my MK3 Cavalier, the main dealer gave me a choice between the OEM part and an alternative part for about half the price. When I needed another exhaust part a year later, they only sold the cheaper version.

This helps to explain why the 1st exhaust on a car always seems to last longer than the next, even when bought from a dealer.

If you want to run with no cat, you can simply bash the insides of it out with a broom handle.

Check 1st if it needes to work for the 'MOT' test in your country.

Vanny- I would keep the old down pipes, they will be handy if you need to fabricate one in the future.

Mike

Interesting.

I think my front pipe is an original oem, because it has lasted for the 6½ years i got the car and its also got the long split. Thats why when the original cat were worn out, I reused the downpipe, welded a pipe on for a couple of months until I could afford a replacement one, which I welded on and have driven for 4 years. Though the cat didnt last as long as expected then still, when looking at the pipe, it seems that it will even last another 5 years so this must be the quality you talk about.

Economy says I will have to go the pipe instead of cat way again for some months, though the torque of the engine suffers severely.

Some very valid points raised here and I totally agree.

However the point Vanny is making is that an article has been written by somebody and they have stated that the "16v club" have said that Walker is the pipe to use over Bosal.

I might be flattering ourselbves here but I assume the 16v club is us and I for one am not happy that we are being misquoted - I think we are lucky here to have some very knowledgeable members who have certainly not said such things.

Cheers
Luke

It's a few years ago now and things may have changed, but I always recommend Bosal front pipes. I had a snapped front pipe replaced a long way from home and the only one available was a Walker, this oddly had NO siamesed section on the front pipe at all. I lost a lot of low down torque which is precious enough as it is on the valvers. I had my system made up by Powerflow when they had a guy at Coalville and replaced the downpipe at this time with a shortened Bosal item with a resonator box on the end. This bought all the low revs torque back.

Maybe irrelevant but hey
--
René

Good points all round.

I've had a Walker front pipe with a splitter, and also a Walker that didn't ahve a splitter.
either way, neither of the Walkers had a proper resonator, and both made bottom end torque suffer.

My car had a Bosal OEM front pipe when I got it, but it was FUBAR.
It now again wears a Bosal OEM front pipe, proper splitter, proper fluting, proper resonator, the difference between that pipe and a Walker pipe (even a Walker with the splitter) is dramatic.

I do also take the point about varying quality from the same manufacterer.
I've had some very ropey Bosal stuff in the past (not for BX's) but I've always taken them back and a better part has always issued forth.