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My Vauxhall blew its exhaust packing out - why?

I have a 2000 Vauxhall 2.5 CDI Petrol Estate just coming up to 90,000 miles. I was driving at about 70mph on the motorway recently when it felt a bit "out of breath" for about a minute on three or four occasions, but generally ran well. When I went to unload the boot, I found a trail of glass fibres from the exhaust pipe. I pulled them out and there are still more visible in the pipe towards the silencer box. Any ideas as to what might have caused this caused this?

Asked on 3 March 2012 by CB, Luz, Algarve

Answered by Honest John
The glass fibre is the silencing for the exhaust system. The metal fittings that hold it in place must have disintegrated, the exhaust temporarily got blocked (which explains the drop in performance), then the blockage got blown out of the end pipe.
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