funny, mines just failed as well.
it only failed because the exhaust is too loud/non standard(theres a video of it on the exhaust sound thread) they said nothing about it being a side exit but they test it by comparing to a recording of a similar standard sounding exhaust. im bloody baffled as it aint loud at all.
The actual wording in the fail criteria is "
significantly louder" than a standard system...
It's another one of those items that falls on the head of the tester - basically it was brought in because of those dustbin silencers you see on
Rice and Saxos that look like they've have crashed into Halfords - the MOT guy has to compare to a "standard" exhaust noise (but not a standard system)...
... when my exhaust went on my 1.9TD, I commented on the old forum about how sweet it sounded T: and toyed with a side exit exhaust (chickened out though)...
... personally, if I were to apply this rule to the letter I would feel more inclined to fail those cheapy factor exhausts that are just as loud as the boy racers (and don't fit properly) - so where do you draw the line? (I test V8 TVR's, etc - need I say more
)
My next point is that there have been noise limits in Motorsport (96db at 1 metre) for yonks, meaning that proper free flowing competition exhausts are often quieter than these cheapo power robbing factor parts (many standard MK2 XR2's would fail this noise test at scrutineering - one of the many factors that has killed off grass roots motorsport - you turn up but can't race!)...
Oh yes, back to the thread topic - my 1.9pp consistently fast passes the smoke test (a fast pass means only one rev up is necessary)...
1.9's need frequent 6,000 mile oil changes and I can recommend the latest 5w/40 low ash synthetic oils - check out your nearest dealer for the latest Quantum PD oil, which they've made into a universal oil for petrol and diesel replacing the 5w/40 PD, 15w/40 TD and 10w/40 Synta - I've been using PD oil for the last 3 years in my 180,000 miler...
