Suzuki Muffler, Matched Before It Ships

Suzuki's current local range is petrol, so exhaust work here is about catalytic converters and lambda sensors rather than the DPF systems that dominate the diesel marques. Cylinder count is the thing people get wrong: most of the range is a three- or four-cylinder with a single system, but the older Grand Vitara was also sold here as a V6, and a V6 is a different exhaust layout entirely from the manifolds back. The naturally aspirated and turbocharged Vitara derivatives differ from each other too, and the rear-drive Super Carry and Eeco are routed unlike anything else. In practice the decision in front of you is whether the section that has failed can be replaced on its own or whether corrosion has already taken the neighbouring joints with it.

The derivative — on a Vitara whether it is the 1.6 or the 1.4 turbo, and on an older Grand Vitara whether it is a four-cylinder or a V6. With that we can usually confirm the right part quickly, and we'll tell you whether we're quoting new, aftermarket or good used rather than leaving you to guess.

Burning petrol makes water, and that water condenses inside the coolest part of the system and sits there. A car that does long runs boils it off every trip. A car doing short stop-start hops across Johannesburg or Pretoria never gets the back box hot enough to dry out, so the inside stays wet and the steel goes from the middle out.

Occasionally, on a fresh split in thick metal. Far more often the surrounding steel is already paper thin from the inside, the welder blows straight through it, and the repair opens up again within weeks. Judge it by how the metal feels around the hole, not by the size of the hole.

On the coast it genuinely is. Salt-laden air around Durban, Gqeberha and the Cape Peninsula eats mild steel exhausts from the outside while condensation works from the inside, and that is where stainless earns its keep. Inland on the dry Highveld a mild steel box lasts a good deal longer.

Not directly on a small naturally-aspirated engine, though the back-pressure argument gets overstated in both directions. The practical objections are the noise itself, which can be picked up at a roadworthy inspection, and the drone that arrives at exactly the revs you cruise at on the N1.

It depends how the original was built. Some Suzuki systems bolt at a flange just before the box, others are welded as one rear assembly with the pipe. Send your VIN through the quote form and we will tell you which you are dealing with before anyone starts cutting.