I have been trying to fit one of these XS power / relentless Chinese exhausts for the last few days on my TT. Just been doing a few hours here and there in between the rain showers.
It is without doubt the most difficult thing I have ever had to do on a car. Previous to this that was changing the gearbox from a 5 speed to a 6 speed on my Passat , changing the gearchange mechanism , New clutch and DMF along with a different starter motor and I had to fabricate a new gearbox mount as well.
What a ball ache. The main issue I have had was trying to get the original downpipe out. It just didn't want to come out. I didn't help that the braiding on the flex part of the exhaust had split, meaning it all ruffled up making the flex section wider than it should have been.
Corrosion on a 15 year exhaust system doesn't help either.
I went for this item from the Ebay seller Turbo Revs. £145
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-S3-T...EL-EXHAUST-TURBO-DECAT-DOWNPIPE/322209643945?
Quality looks OK. I tidied up the tube on the turbo flange. Used a rotary file in a drill to smooth it out a little.
This was it before.
Didn't take an after picture but it looked better.
Here is the kind of thing I was contending with.
Try and undo those nuts on the cats
. Obviously I just got the angle grinder and hacksaw out.
Fortunately the nuts on the turbo itself were in very good nick. The subframe bolts are ridiculously tight. I would recommend removing the heatshield on the firewall only a few small screws and a nut secure it but it gives you a load more room to swing spanners etc to undo the nuts on the turbo.
Also rather than struggling with the red exhaust hanger and having it get in the way. Just undo the 2 10mm bolts on the back of the subframe and remove it out of the way.
Heres what my downpipe and cat looked like after removal.
I also took the opportunity to remove the rest of the pipes from the AC system that I have deleted, As I had the heat shield off that covered them up.
Anyway the new pipe fits reasonably well, It has issues.
The holes on the turbo flange are slightly oversized as this allows some wiggle room up and down to position the pipe but I have found even with the end of the downpipe as low as it will go the flex is close to the tunnel and even closer to the propshaft.
When I took the car for a drive it was fine for the first few minutes but then I think I could hear the flex rubbing on the prop. The balance weights are just really in the wrong place for me. I tried using a pry bar to improve the gap a bit but that's about as good as I could get it.
The other issue is the diameter of the decat pipe where it narrows down to fit the OE system. The OE pipe is 65mm outside diameter. The decat pipe
63.5mm , you wouldn't have thought that would make that much difference but the OE pipe clamp even fully tightened only just grips the smaller tube.
To get around that I happen to have some 63mm steel pipe that was only 1mm thin. So cut a piece about 80mm long and then slit it. Wrapped around the decat pipe to increase the diameter to approx 65.5mm . The clamp can now grip both pipes and a solid join is made.
Bearing in mind the size of the flex and where it has to fit through I am not surprised people have issues fitting these it really is borderline.
The car may be back to the state it has been for the last few days tomorrow. Had it jacked up quite high to get some room underneath then had to get the steps to sit on top of the engine to undo the bolts on the back of the turbo.
If anybody has any ideas on how I can improve the clearance between the flex and the propshaft that would be good.
