I'm a girl and I'm still learning these things so can somebody help explain the difference between a downpipe and a midpipe? Right now I have an axle back muffler exhaust on my car and the rest of the exhaust is factory. So do I need both of these so that the exhaust is finished



3" Down Pipe



3" Mid Pipe



Or do I only need a mid pipe? A test pipe replaces the catalytic converter right? Sorry for the dumb questions. I'm still trying to learn all these different terms and descriptions. I've read in some threads here that you guys have told people to go to an exhaust place and have them bend custom piping. Could I do that instead of buying the things I linked above? Would I be able to get a 3" downpipe and mid pipe or should I just buy the ones already made for my car? Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. It helps a lot.

 

If what your going for is to completely replace the stock exhaust you would need both a Downpipe and a Midpipe, Yes.

Exhaust places wont make you an exhaust without a catalatic Converter (at lest not in fort wayne) So if you wanted to go catless i dont think this option will work. You could always give a local shop a call and find out

The downpipe bolts directly up to the Turbo, which then connects to a Midpipe and then the catback. My GTI dosent have a seperate midpipe, so it just has a Downpipe/catback, the stock downpipe is like 4' long lol

 

I think these are terms used differently by manufacturers then.



TURBO -> O2 Housing (replaces primary cat) -> Downpipe -> Test Pipe (replaces Secondary cat) -> Midpipe (between 2nd cat and muffler) -> Muffler (axle-back)



Axleback = Rear Muffler

Catback = mid-pipe + axleback



Here is my TurboXS turboback exhaust. Labeled top to bottom:

Muffler (axleback)

Test Pipe (deletes secondary cat)

curved O2 housing (deletes primary cat)

downpipe (connects Primary Cat to Secondary Cat)

midpipe (connects secondary cat to muffler)