Well, I'm not too sure how it happened, but somehow I have developed a rather annoying exhaust leak that whistles under throttle at the flex pipe on the header. Anyways, my question is, is the flex pipe absolutely needed or can it be deleted all together to form a solid header that leads to the rest of the exhaust system? In the past I've owned Honda's, Ford cars and trucks, Mazda's, and now my non-turbo S70. The S70 is the only vehicle I have ever owned that uses a flex pipe, and I've found in the past on friends cars/trucks that they are the weakest link in th system.

Can it be deleted?

&

Is it advisable?

 

Bump!

 

Delete it at your own risk; the volvo engineers obviously figured it needed to be there...

I've seen posts where people have found exhaust shops that would replace just the flex coupling. FCP and others sell replacement headers w/flex coupling that run about $250; less on sale... but they're not OEM.

 

The flex section is there to allow the motor room to move around.. deleting it is not advisable.