ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A derro who should really know better has spent close to a month's pay on putting an exhaust on his Ford Ranger, contravening the lease agreement, only for it to end up sounding like an old 70hp Johnson 4-stroke.
Just a very basic level of research would've netted Benjamin Stick, a Betoota Heights short-term accommodation property manager, a cornucopia of information and advice not to do that to any vehicle with a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost engine in it.
They say not to do it because it makes the car sound like a boat.
"I guess it's OK," Stick told The Advocate this morning.
"It's better than the stock exhaust and it's supposed to run better. But yeah, I know what you mean. It sounds good, but like I'm not sure if it was worth $10,127.45? The actual exhaust was less, but like they told me I had to get it tuned and then they put in a new chip, plus I needed to get better tyres as well. They reckon I needed wider ones. I'm not sure, but I'm sure that's what the whole thing cost."
"But like sure, if you close your eyes and rev it, it does sound like an old outboard boat motor. I'm not sure it's all bad, but between you and me, I thought it'd sound a bit tougher or something, you know?"
A local exhaust technician, who requested anonymity to protect their safety from the industry, said blokes in his trade can see Ranger owners coming a mile away.
"You know they are dumb as two planks because, as you say, you need a very basic level of research and understanding about how motors work to understand that an EcoBoost sounds like utter shit anyway and no amount of exhaust modification will ever make it sound good. That's just the way it is," they said.
"So when you get a young bloke in who says, 'Put a mean exhaust on my Ranger,' you just do it because you know he's a dumb cunt who doesn't know any better. Sure, it's not very ethical, but we are exhaust techs, not surgeons or lawyers. We'll happily make their $90,000 ute sound like shit for $10,000. We don't have to drive it."
More to come.
