LAKE FOREST, Ill., March 31, 2000 -- Tenneco Automotive will launch the new Walker® Mega-Flow™ exhaust system exclusively for class A and class C recreation vehicles, with an RV "Ride and Drive" for RV and automotive editors in Seattle, Wash., April 3-6.

The Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust Ride and Drive will demonstrate to editors and writers from a variety of RV and automotive publications around North America the difference that the Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust's low back pressure system can make in terms of vehicle power, performance, and fuel economy in place of a vehicle's original exhaust equipment.

The Walker® Mega-Flow™ RV exhaust system, designed exclusively for RVs, is a special design of the already successful Walker® Mega-Flow™ exhaust system for class 7 and 8 trucks.

"Tenneco Automotive has built the new Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust with the specific requirements of large RVs in mind," said Bill Laughlin, Tenneco Automotive general manager, specialty markets for the North American aftermarket. "Excessive exhaust system back pressure can adversely affect RV performance and fuel economy. The Mega-Flow™ RV, with its low backpressure design, cuts exhaust system backpressure dramatically."

Tenneco Automotive spent two years developing the Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust for class A and C motorhomes that can benefit from reduced backpressure. The new Mega-Flow™ RV exhaust system is an aluminized stainless steel product, fully welded, and using mat glass and a double shell to reduce heat that can emanate from the muffler. The Mega-Flow™ comes with a signature chrome tailpipe tip.

The Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust is intended to replace and improve upon an RV's original equipment exhaust by employing a free-flow design and specifically eliminating the "elbows" in some OE exhaust designs that can add to back pressure, increase overall heat, and reduce mileage and power.

The Mega-Flow™ also utilizes a unique proprietary glass technology called Roving, developed jointly by Tenneco Automotive and Owens Corning to minimize backpressure and allow the freer flow of air throughout the system while also maintaining vehicle sound control.

The Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust Ride and Drive is April 3 to April 6 in and around Seattle, Wash. The Drive includes three pairs of RVs - one pair of class A motorhomes, one pair of light duty tow vehicles towing travel trailers, and one pair of heavy, class 6 tow vehicles towing fifth wheels. One of each pair will be equipped with the original equipment exhaust and ride control. The other vehicle of each pair will be retrofitted with the complete Mega-Flow™ RV exhaust system and Monroe® Gas-Magnum® RV shocks, or in the case of the light duty vehicles, with the Dynomax™ performance exhaust system and Rancho® RS9000 shock absorbers.

Teams of editor/writers accompanied by Tenneco Automotive engineers will drive the vehicles nearly six hours out from Seattle and back, observing mileage, acceleration, heat and noise.

In Seattle, the editors will have the opportunity to take the vehicles to the Seattle Drag Strip, where five-time world champion top fuel drag-race driver Joe Amato will compare the vehicles on the quarter mile racetrack in a test designed to quantify improvements in acceleration.

Tenneco Automotive engineers have established Mega-Flow's™ quality via a battery of laboratory tests. Laboratory testing indicates that the Mega-Flow™ muffler is capable of flowing twice as much exhaust gas as the original equipment system. Increased exhaust system backpressure can adversely affect performance and fuel economy. Vehicle sound tests run with the Ford 460 and the Chevrolet 454 also show the Mega-Flow™ system to have sound control comparable to all competitive equipment. In the Ride and Drive, Tenneco Automotive engineers are putting the advanced Mega-Flow™ product at the disposal of some of the finest RV and automotive writers around.

Broadly defined, the U.S. market for recreational vehicles consists of some 9.3 million units. About 1.9 million of those are large self-powered recreation vehicles or motor homes. Many of the remaining 7.4 million are large units towed by large pick-ups trucks. Tenneco Automotive's initial Mega-Flow™ introduction will include 7 applications that initially cover about 90 percent of self-propelled vehicles. Tenneco Automotive already offers a Dynomax™ performance muffler for pick-ups.

"Following our previous launch of the RV Gas-Magnum® shock absorber, the introduction of the Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust demonstrates our commitment to the RV consumer," Laughlin said. "We intend to quickly expand the number of exhaust product applications to cover the entire RV field."

The Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust will be supported by a four-year / 400,000-mile warranty on the muffler and a 60-day safe and sound guarantee. If a customer is not delighted with the system, Tenneco Automotive will replace it with a comparably priced muffler of the customer's choice.

Tenneco Automotive's advanced technology is reflected in every phase of Mega-Flow™ RV Exhaust production: from state-of-the-art CAD design and engineering to advanced CAM processes; from the use of top-flight materials to the specific-to-RV sizing that enhances those vehicles' performance, safety and drivability.

Tenneco Automotive is one of the world's largest supplier of exhaust systems and components and the leader in nearly every major advance in automotive exhaust for more than 70 years. The company offers the widest selection of mufflers, systems and accessories in the market today.

Tenneco Automotive is a $3.3 billion manufacturing company headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., with 24,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco Automotive is one of the world's largest producers and marketers of ride control and exhaust systems and products, which are sold under the Monroe® and Walker® global brand names. Among its products are Sensa-Trac® and Reflex™ shocks and struts, Rancho® shock absorbers, Walker® Quiet-Flow™ mufflers and DynoMax™ performance exhaust products, and Monroe® Clevite™ vibration control components.