Can a DPF be "upgraded"?

[Aaron113]

Most people remove DPF and EGR as the first step in owning a diesel car, that said, most people also get away with that on checkups. Now, my question is, can i use a bigger diameter DPF from a bigger engine instead to create my own "high flow" DPF mod?

The rationale behind this idea is by most part "i don't want to blackface pedestrians", meaning, i want to keep things legal (nox and soot...) but still be able to tune a diesel engine to my liking. I'm aware a good tune will never make black clouds but regardless of that, i personally think this idea is doable and i just need some "experienced engineers" here to pitch in if there are any willing to help out a fellow gearhead.

Also, thinking back on the stock DPF that i got, i cant shake the feeling that it was made with the utter minimum in dimensions/cost in mind from the company and installing a bigger one might even prove to be better, as in not being able to clog up as fast as the smaller one does and it might be easier to clean/burn out once on a highway. (then there is the forced limp mode thing and other nick nack that's super annoying...)

I'm slightly concerned about the heat it could emit, its basically an oven that has no other purpose than to burn soot but then again, so is the smaller one. With good heat isolation it should not pose a risk, i always carry a fire extinguisher anyway, might as well use it one day, amirite

Curious to hear your opinions on this.

 

[obi_waynne]

Yes a larger DPF will offer a larger surface area and will flow better. This mod is actually quite often done if you know an exhaust fabricator that can match the pipes up for you, remember to do gradual increases and decreases, not steps between each length.

Head is a good thing in the DPF, the more the better, it is common to heat wrap these right up to the exhaust manifold headers.

Another option might be a twin pipe exhaust with two dpf's but setting up the sensors for this can be a pain on some models.

 

[Aaron113]

Your comments are always worth an entire thread page, didn't think of twin piping, nice suggestion

My car is quite simple when it comes to basic sensors, but i cant say the same for newer cars. Aside from that, i couldn't find any trace of anyone doing that kinda thing, everybody be deletin'.

I was just curious if this concept could be used to junkyard fabricate your own performance diesel exhaust system and still remain in the legal boundaries but still being able to tune the car, even fuel "rich" tunes that are otherwise called rolling coal without the cloud.

Aside from fabricating such a thing, i was meaning to wrap the exhaust manifold and all the pipes until the back end of the new dpf so that way the heat generated wont damage anything and still do its thing with the no-no particles.