SeaChiS6

So, this issue started about 2 weeks ago - car starts fine - regular sound from exhaust etc. - on full/aggressive acceleration, the car loses power; EPC light on and sounds like an exhaust leak from the engine bay. The EPC light mostly relates to coil packs - the car is out of warranty, so took it to an indy shop specializing in German cars - the tech says its not the coil pack but a leak from the manifold - my question is if there's a leak from the manifold, won't it persist? Why light up EPC on heavy acceleration? if it's indeed the manifold, should I take the opportunity of replacing with a performance type of manifold upgrade? He also says it's a ton of work to get to.
Anyway, any other possible ideas?
Thanks...

roadkillrob

because it is a boosted car, if it is a small leak, it possibly won't leak or leak very bad until heavy throttle higher RPM when it makes higher boost.

The supercharger is built into the manifold and isn't that hard to take off, just depends where or what is leaking, if it is just the manifold gasket, you can do it at home with simple tools in a few hours and gaskets are cheap, if it is something wrong with the manifold itself, then it can get pricey to fix replace. Your indy probably can't tell without taking it all apart, but gaskets would be the first place to look - normal procedure is to smoke test the car (put smoke into the intake) and then look for any leaks to determine where it is leaking.