just ordered the drivetrain stuff, now on to power. I usually stay away from ebay for stuff and prefer namebrands. Looking at all the downpipes out there, I see that they are ridiculously expensive. This one on ebay "seems" like a fantastic deal in comparison. Just wanted to get feedback from some of the knowledgeable people on here. Has anyone tried these? Any fitment issues? Do they start to fall apart prematurely, etc?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AUDI-...Q5fAccessories

any suggestions as to where I should look for a good system that wont be ridiculously expensive? One friend recommended this one, the other says to go with AWE.

 

well, IMHO until u step up the game and run anything bigger than k04's buying downpipes is a waste of money. do what i did and about 60% of the other guys on here do, gut the cats. its about a days worth of work but u deffently will notice a difference in performance and sound. If u have all the tools it should be very cheep. maybe 100 bucks of so if u want to heat wrap them like i did to mine plus a few odds and ends u may need to buy, rachet wrench, heat wrap, pair of gloves ect.
there are many DIY out there so its not a big worry on how to do it. if u reallly want DP then check the classifides sometimes they have good deals. I dont buy anything from ebay, except my headlights, every article i have read says they are junk, the metals cheep, and they crack from the 900*F that our cars put out.
Save your money for a different ecu, or suspention.

thats just my .02

 

Piggies from VAST are stock DPs with gutted cats. The price is pretty good too once you get the core charge refunded. I think this is better than DIY and it comes with relocated sensor bungs to avoid the CELs

 

I wouldn't buy DPs from Ebay due to quality and fit issues. 2nd LazerB5 on just gutting the cats though I would just do Piggies and gut the precats only, leaving the main cats to be more environmentally friendly and to still pass emissions inspections (depends on your home state, of course). Just a warning - in some states (like here in NY) modifying your exhaust and/or downpipes at all is technically illegal so if you chance it, you need to have a trusted shop who either won't notice or won't call you on it.

If you upgrade to K04 turbos, then Piggies are still quite good, though you would get a bit of a step up with aftermarket DPs. I just went through a DP search myself since I'm planning a near-future upgrade to K04 or larger turbos. All these numbers include cats since I don't want to do straight pipes:

DIY piggies: no cost, lots of labor to gut precats and move the bungs
Piggies from VAST: 2.25" stock size, gutted precats, 400cpi main cats, $395
JHMotorsports: 2.25", 400cpi, $875
AR Design from Avalon: 3", 200cpi race cats, $1149
AWE: 3" tapers quickly to 2.25", 400cpi, $1295
ASP: 3", 200cpi race cats, $1599
APR: 3" tapers quickly to 2.25", $1639
Miltek from Eurocode or Stratmosphere: 2.3", 200cpi, $1899-$1999
034 Motorsport: 3", $1250

You might want to check with Tomasz formerly from Startup Racing at twojewoda at hotmail dot com. He recently posted on QW that he's getting rid of his stock of ASP downpipes for $1150, I think. A good deal for very nice pipes.

 

thanks a ton for the info. My stock cats are bad and throw a CEL, so i figured upgrading now is a good idea. I didnt know the stock downpipes are decent, so maybe I'll jsut get the ecu and keep these stock cats until I swap turbos. Are "piggies" just stock cats? And does anyone have a link to a DIY for hollowing out the cats?

Bing, you know your ****. thanks for the help, man!!

Edit: a friend jsut told me that if my cats are clogged and i run a tune, i could screw my turbos. I dont know if there is any truth to that. What do you guys think?

 

The Vast piggies incorporate some better secondary cats and gut the Pre-Cats, which are directly after the connection to the DPs. Gutting the precats yourself will cause CELs because the secondary O2 position and tolerances are based on the assumption that the pre-cats are doing some scrubbing. You can delete, "defoul" or relocate the Secondary O2's yourself.

I went with Vast piggies myself because it seemed to be the easiest, most affordable option. They are not going to deliver the same gains as a true aftermarket DP upgrade from AWE, ASP, JHM and so on, but the cost less than half as much and stock fitment is guaranteed..

 

Bing, I am totally grabbing the majority of this post for my guide. If that's Ok with you?

 

i have a good friend and trusted shop that is a dealer with AWE. How do you guys feel about their products?

EDIT: in my short time as an audi owner on this forum, I can see that bing is a true asset to this community. Thanks for all the help in all my threads, bing!!

 

Also, yes - the Vast piggies are modified stock pipes. You can send them yours and have them modify them and send them back, or you can get a someone else's core that has been modified and then send them your stock DPs to get your core refund.

As for messing up the turbos, the science behind this is confusing. Most of us were led to believe that the main reason to upgrade DPs is to decrease the spool time of the turbos. Although this happens to some extent it is not actually the main benefit of upgrading the DP's when you start making more boost (ie with bigger turbos).

What you are really reducing is back-pressure from the exhaust gasses piling up as they attempt to exit the system. Cats, pre-cats and smaller diameter pipe all restrict the flow of exhaust air and increase back-pressure. The turbos have to work harder to push against denser, pressurized air on the exhaust end and if the pressure is too high they can actually sieze.

 

Better main cats? Really? I was pretty sure they just used stockers.