BHPian F10D1061 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:2017 WagonR AGS gets a Free Flow ExhaustFor the folks who just want to see what has been done, here’s a quick summary TLDR: Car Model: 2017 WagonR VXi AGS Mod: End to end exhaust. From headers to end pipe. A custom silencer was made, catcon was removed. Notable Effects:Significantly improved performance across the rev range.Responsive engine from revs as low as 1500rpm, which was not the case with my K10 engine earlier.Abysmal FE if you drive enthusiasticallyIncrease in Fuel Efficiency by ~10-15% if driven with a light foot.Bassy, throaty, slightly unrefined note at lower rpms, turns into music as the revs climb.Idle rpm has decreased, presumably due to power at low revs now being sufficient to run the engine and compressor.Installation Details: Done by Automech Exhausts, Mumbai.Total Cost – 17,000 Now coming to the story. Background The story starts with another WagonR. A pretty light blue one, 2009 model, with the 4 cylinder F10D. The one I learnt to drive on. I was always enamoured by the instant response (cable accelerator) and sheer torque lower in the rev range. The car would climb bridges in 5th gear at 35kmph. This new WagonR came in 2017, while I was still in school, as the gear shifts were too uncomfortable for my mother. This was a top of the line variant, all the bells and whistles, preferred choice of my mother who wasn’t confident driving any other model of car. Whoever said WagonR wasn’t popular with the ladies. The other WagonR just sat until I became of age to drive it, and for a long time, I was the only one in my family who used this car because it was essentially in nearly scrap condition other than the mechanicals. The new WagonR was practically the only car in my household Why a performance part in a city car? Given the constraints of an NA engine, I thought that a FFE would be the most vfm option. Automech exhausts is popular in this forum, and I got the contact details from google maps. So then called and set an appointment for the workshop. The costs were 17k for a mild steel setup. Truly the most difficult part for me was justifying the cost to my parents, who were understandably confused, until they gave in to their pestering petrolhead kid. PS – They are both very happy with the mod now. Especially my mother, who could not care less about cars. The Exhaust: I requested specifically for a setup to extract maximum low end performance without much noise, so there is a custom built muffler (not exactly sure) along with the straight pipe. The catalytic converter has been deleted. The pipe itself is wider than the stock pipe. The installation itself happened in parts. While they have pre made setups for many popular models, I believe mine was the first Gen2 WagonR to be worked on, so everything had to be made specifically for this car. The first part was the tail end of the exhaust, which was installed on the same day, while the headers had to be fabricated, and sent for coating to Pune. Thus for some days, I drove around with what I think is a catback setup, until the rest of the exhaust was getting ready. The car was already feeling better to drive. In a week the entire setup was installed and it was quite a tangible difference in drivability. The Effects: The car accelerates faster on the same input, can hold higher gears without struggling, gets marginally better fuel efficiency on efficient driving, although FE has become rather sensitive to throttle input. The ECU took around 150-200km to fully adjust to the new normal, and has accordingly scaled the fuel inputs. The car now idles lower ~850rpm (earlier ~1000rpm) with AC, ~700rpm (earlier ~800) without AC. I have also observed a very non linear flow of power. across rpms From 1k – 1.5k, the engine is almost uselessly dead, with barely enough power to keep going. From 1.5k – 2k, the torque starts flowing and is sufficient for keeping up with city traffic. The engine seems to be most efficient around 1700 – 1800 rpm. 2k onwards, the performance really starts coming nicely and linearly, till 3k rpm 3k rpm onwards, the engine really wakes up, you can hear the exhaust note changing and it happily climbs with increasing power all the way to redline. Even at redline, if not for the soft limiter, you can feel the engine wants to put out more and more, a very enjoyable experience. However, flooring it in this rev range now gives you FE much worse than you’d expect of a K10 engine, in the range of 6-8. Summary: All in all, it was a worthwhile upgrade, and while the price feels steep, it will actually start making up by better average FE and a pleasurable driving experience. Vivek ji at Automech is a rather experienced and knowledgeable person and I’d happily recommend Automech to anyone who asks. I had plans to continue adding mods to this car, and was researching a new suspension setup, better fog lamps, CAI and retune. However it seems we will be getting a new car soon, so don’t think they will be as useful anymore. The tyres have been upgraded from 155/65 to wider and larger 165/70 Yokohama earth 1. This alone had greatly improved the grip and handling, and now it has the performance to match I have very few pics as I never expected myself to write this post, and I am studying in another city now. This is a from a trip where I was consciously hypermiling within Mumbai city without AC, with moderate but moving traffic. Here is a photo of the actual header to back half of the exhaust before installation, that had come back after being coated. This part otherwise contains the catcon in stock form. I can attach more pictures, and a recording of how the car sounds when I get back to the car during Diwali. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
