He’s got a R though so it’s a little different cause he’s fighting the haldex body (can’t clock the top end toward the block more) and has the mid pipe section that has to clear the driveshaft.
My fwd fitment is great also but cause I have a Vband at the end of it I also did encounter close fit to the Tunnel brace but stacking 2 washers under the bolts fixed that.
I have a AWE Turbo back touring. At first i thought it was a bit loud even for the touring. Never had a check engine light or any O2 sensor issues have over 45k on it now and I bought it from someone that parted out their car and probably had another 10k on it. Like the sound it makes now but my kids also say I am going deaf (???) I used to wish it was a bit quieter but since I don't Daily my car much anymore i enjoy it now. Although it is night and day vs the electric car I drive in now...lol
I’ve had the IE Downpipe for 3+ years now and probably ~60,000 miles. I will say that recently it has had more of a smell to it compared to when I first got it. I’ve also never been able to get a j-style spacer to work with it, so I just swap back to stock when emissions are due (takes me about an hour on my GTI).
I have been running the IE dp as well and always been happy with it. Just want something bigger now with my set up. As an fyi you might want to try a straight spacer. See the O2 spacer thread. Jake’s (GTI Jake) comments from the first post below…..
“General starting points:
Catted downpipe with the cat BEFORE the o2 sensor = Vibrant Adjustable straight spacer with medium or large insert depending on the cell count of the cat (higher cell count 300+, use large. Lower cell count like 200 use medium)”
Hi
I have a 2015 Golf R ,stage 3 Littco L500 turbo .
DP was a catted HPA ,custom cat back 3" with 3" straight through resonator into a pair of 2.5" mufflers .
Changed to a Trackslag fitted with a Gen2 G-SPORT UHO cat with HPC's TC1 coating and flow coated on the inside .First drive less drown, quieter. quicker spool,less odour at idle and I could actually hear the turbo spool while driving .
The factory style flex section also reduced vibration at idle .
Cheers
Mal
I have been running the IE dp as well and always been happy with it. Just want something bigger now with my set up. As an fyi you might want to try a straight spacer. See the O2 spacer thread. Jake’s (GTI Jake) comments from the first post below…..
“General starting points:
Catted downpipe with the cat BEFORE the o2 sensor = Vibrant Adjustable straight spacer with medium or large insert depending on the cell count of the cat (higher cell count 300+, use large. Lower cell count like 200 use medium)”
The mid-pipe is too long/angled weirdly. I've had two shops rotate it around (with me personally underneath the car) and the only way to get it to not rub on the heat-shielding by the front-end AND not rub on the prop-shaft near the rear diff will put it up against the stock rear chassis brace. I dunno if most guys just drop the brace or ignore the rubbing on their shaft (heh), but I wasn't happy with the setup until I found an aftermarket brace with extra clearance. I do think their flex pipe is a good design, though, especially if you have stiffer mounts.
The actual downpipe is great, don't get me wrong. The header guy who did the coating took one look at the size and was amazed it was just for a 2 liter.
I have similar fitment issues with the Trackslag DP on my 17' A3 quattro. The mid-section sits too high and was rubbing against the prop-shaft support and heat shielding. Took it to a local exhuast shop and they slightly bent the two front DP hangers to lower it. Not the ideal solution, but it solved the fitment issues. It's also good to know that I'm not the only one having fitment issues with this DP for the AWD cars.
OP: My Trackslag DP has no smell and the sound is surprisingly quiet. Fitment may be a concern since you have AWD.
Don't know about emissions as I haven't had to take it in for SMOG yet, but hopefully the O2 spacer I installed works?
Dear god I didnt know they made downpipes that cost $800+, I've always ran Megan Racing / Depot Racing downpipes for like $350 and even then I thought it was expensive for a pipe.
Dear god I didnt know they made downpipes that cost $800+, I've always ran Megan Racing / Depot Racing downpipes for like $350 and even then I thought it was expensive for a pipe.
I'd cross the MAP off your list if you're looking for a quality piece. I had one for about 2 years or so? Eventually replaced it with something better. My issue was mainly with the low quality cat, it might be different if you got the GESI one.
As far as noise, my non-GESI catted/resonated downpipe was louder (and worse sounding, which is pretty subjective) than the catted Bull-X replacement. That resonator on the MAP one doesn't do shit.
My R is going in for a custom 4” DP here next week with a 4” G-Sport GESI cat. Nick at 485 Designs here in Denver does top notch work. He may be offering these off the shelf for R’s if anyone is interested. Pricing set to be in line with Trackslag. This is his RS3 DP to get a look at his work.
Prelim pictures of the custom 4" DP for my Golf R by 485 Designs here in Denver https://www.485designs.net/automotivefabrication
This is with a 4” G-Sport GESI cat. Since my car's current exhaust is so far from stock w/ the Vibrant 17950 they are trying to get an R with a stock exhaust in their shop ASAP to build a fixture, so they can be ordered off the website like their RS3 offering. I imagine the final off the shelf versions will vary slightly from mine.
Just throwing it out as another 4" option to the Trackslag for the OP (and others) that will be made domestically and the plan is to keep pricing inline with what Trackslags go for.
Trackslag would be my choice. I went another direction and had a 4"dp made for me by a friend of mine. Its not super fancy or pretty but definitely does the job.
Prelim pictures of the custom 4" DP for my Golf R by 485 Designs here in Denver https://www.485designs.net/automotivefabrication
This is with a 4” G-Sport GESI cat. Since my car's current exhaust is so far from stock w/ the Vibrant 17950 they are trying to get an R with a stock exhaust in their shop ASAP to build a fixture, so they can be ordered off the website like their RS3 offering. I imagine the final off the shelf versions will vary slightly from mine.
Just throwing it out as another 4" option to the Trackslag for the OP (and others) that will be made domestically and the plan is to keep pricing inline with what Trackslags go for.
A good catalytic converter is $400 by itself. The difference is right there with the CEL, build quality, and smell. Of course no one can stop you from strapping a $50 piece of shit cat to your car, or even worse, running without one.
