Well, I know have discussed this with others, but not on here. My take is MB is always been about performance and reliability. I think their engineers, just like a lot of US engineers are building motors to perform with the exhaust manifolds of today. Meaning, some engines today look to have log style headers from the factory. I just saw the copo Camaro on a TV show being built and it had log style headers, not long tubes. I can see gains in the opening up exhaust though...as the copo really doesn't have a muffler...lol