Another Downpipe thread: Installation Question...

[Bpitz15]

Hey guys I know this forum is littered with downpipe questions but unlike the other threads I have already chosen my exhaust and am in the process of installing it as we speak.
Couple questions for those who have done the install themselves...

Right now I have the pass. side downpipe completely disconnected. O2 sensor disconnected and such. pretty much just hanging there. My catback is also disconnected and out of the way. NOW! it seems as if my stock DP is hitting the half-shaft shield... do the shields need to be removed? or do i need to jack my car up more?

Also I had a blast getting the first 3 nuts off of the pass. side manifold and I can tell w/ out even trying that the driver side is going to be a BITCH!!!

now any tips and or pointers? Know that i do have a good amount of tools it just seems as if I am running out of space to actually move.

Also since we are on the topic are there any tips or pointers on getting the new (FI) downpipes on?

Thanks in advance guys

B6 S4 6MT

[Bpitz15]

Thought I should add some pics of how she is sleeping tonight

[ieatfishburitos]

For difficult bolts, spray some PB Blast on them a few hours earlier, or even over night.

What points do you have the jackstands under? I tell ya I've got like 8 jackstands under my mclaren, I freak out about the idea of one of them falling.

[MOFSTEEL]

You sir have some balls.
Sliding under a car on jack stand and trying to wiggle free exhaust piping is not something even I would attempt.
Unfortunately I do not have any useful information that I could share but I wish you luck.

[aaaudiprotein]

Contact trexturk he did some crazy stuff with his stock downpipes. Then he decided it was to loud, so he put more resonators :)))

[Bpitz15]

-PB blaster is already applied.

-Car is super sturdy as it sits. The car doesnt even wiggle when i tried shaking it. I am using some sub-frame connections to rest the jackstands on.

-These are aftermarket (Fast Intentions) downpipes going on. The removal is being a PITA. But I will contact trexturk to gather some input.

[tatarin]

i did the install myself also and it was a bitch. i took off those heat shields for easier access. after that it's pretty much a whore to get all the nuts off. i had to use long extensions and a swivel head socket connection. to get couple of those nuts off. and yes use PB blaster. or even WD40. but good luck man

[trexturk]

hey, the driver side is a little harder cause there is less room.
for the top bolt closest to the drivers side, its kinda tricky cause you need to first slide in like a 2 foot 3/8th extention.(it should slide inbetween the frame and axle shield) then when the extention is near the bolt, you need to add a swival and a 13mm. Then attach to bolt and remove. If you try to put the extention, swival and 13mm, it wont fit cause the 13mm and swival wont pass the shield.

Then the other 2 bolts you need a stubby ratchet, swival and 13mm.

Once everything is off the downpipes should slide out. You dont need to remove the shield. But if your car is auto i dontknow if you need to remove it.

Hope this helps and good luck

[Audi05s4]

is your front windshield tinted all the way

[Justincredible]

Funny you should post this I'm doing the same thing right now. I mean right now. well not this second I'm on the computer but I will have them off in the next hour.

OK few tips that worked for me. Now mind you I have a tip so you may have more room then me to do this. It was utterly impossible to do the job with out letting down the rear cradle. Those are the 3 18mm bolts on the back of the motor cradle. Let me know if you need to see pic's

ok so you already know how hard it is to get to the bolts on the pass. The driver side is not any easier. But this trick worked for me. I don't know what approach you used but here you go

1 remove the shields you are going to need to do this or the Dp is not going to come out.

2 lower the rear cradle. I left 1 bolt in but loose on the side I was not removing the Dp from. you are most likely going to need to do this as well to get the precat past the trans and the body (I did on the tip)

3 defiantly use the extension and universals but from what I found go threw the fender well. Some of the bolts you won't be able to see but you will be able to reach them and get to them easier (although blind other than feel) threw the fender. This is what I did. I got a ratcheting box 13 and a small extension ratchet with a swivel 13. Got on my knees and with the rotor almost in my stomach reached into where the flange and bolts were. Like I said you can't see but you have tons more room to work that way. Try it I found it very helpfull.

Please feel free to P.M. me or let me know I have all my tools out that I'm using I would be glad to take a pic so you can get some Ideas.

[Justincredible]

These are the cradle bolts I was talking about.

I also uploaded the pic of the driver side manifold note the shield . Just thought I would shoot you the heads up. I don't know if you will have this on a 6 speed manual or not. but it was kinda in the way the whole time

[Bpitz15]

Just an FYI this car is a 6MT.

-my windshield is not tinted. Only the top 3-4 inches is. Must have been an optical illusion in the pics.

-So let me get this straight. I DO need to remove the heat shields from the axles? Correct?
-I need a 2ft. 3/8 extension for the driver side.
-I can possibly gain better access by removing my wheels and working through the fender wells.
-PB Blast, PB Blast, PB Blast!
-Thanks Justincredible for the rundown. I do have a 6MT car but that information will be very useful.


Also I dont think this was understood but my Pass. Side DP is disconnected but is STILL in the car. I cannot get it past The trans mount and heat shields.

-Any more info out there guys? this is helping out a ton!

[tatarin]

take the head shields off to get some room. they are held by 4 bolts

[Justincredible]

Also I dont think this was understood but my Pass. Side DP is disconnected but is STILL in the car. I cannot get it past The trans mount and heat shields. !

Yes remove the heat shields and drop the cradle....then pull & twist...pull & twist to get out

[ieatfishburitos]

For difficult bolts, spray some PB Blast on them a few hours earlier, or even over night.

What points do you have the jackstands under? I tell ya I've got like 8 jackstands under my mclaren, I freak out about the idea of one of them falling.

Ok, so here is a pic of my paranoia... I have 8 stands (can only see 7 in pic) under my project car and I'm still nervous sometimes..

[Bpitz15]

DONE!!!!!!!!

I am going to have to write up a little tip/DIY for this installation since i got a bunch of pics.

Vids will be up shortly.

[Bpitz15]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWcsuwpNT-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RSVdQNttcs

and a prior video of just my catback

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6guftlV4Ti8

and just the Downpipes during the installation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqO0kBby6E8

[Justincredible]

Great vids...I love the hand throttle that is so me. I wont get in the car if Im still dirty from working on the car.

Did any of the info help?

[Bpitz15]

Great vids...I love the hand throttle that is so me. I wont get in the car if Im still dirty from working on the car.

Did any of the info help?

absolutely!!

Here is a write-up I just quickly put together.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229355

[Bpitz15]

I will be getting some day-time Vids of me revving/bragging to help potential buyers decide which exhaust to choose.

Big thanks to Jeffstar for selling me the downpipes.
Danny at Fast Intentions for the quick tips to help speed up my process
and to all who have posted in the forum who gave advice!



also a quick funny story... my buddy came over to give me a hand mating the cat-back back up with the DP's and after the install we went for a ride. Mind you he is a Class B drifter and owns an SR powered 240sx. We were driving with big smiles on both our faces and i let him drive for a bit just to help him become a believer in the S4. We were talking how it was so different being behind the wheel as compared to being in the Pass. seat. and he said "The difference is amazing... my Jaw was actually starting to hurt from getting pushed back so hard" I had a good laugh about it

[oatzel]

You sir have some balls.
Sliding under a car on jack stand and trying to wiggle free exhaust piping is not something even I would attempt.
Unfortunately I do not have any useful information that I could share but I wish you luck.

x2 i'm not even super crazy crawling under when its on ramps

[Justincredible]

Bpitz15,

Great job I added a little tiptronic info to your wright up if that is ok.
It is so funny you were doing that at the same time. The entire time I was thinking it was almost worth the 400$ in labor to have them installed. But it really feels good to do it your self.

I did the same thing me and a friend whent for a ride like the second the car was running. I have piggies Dp's (for 400$ you can't go wrong they are the same dimensions as the milteck Dp's for like 1/3 the price.) But I have the stock cat back....I think the cat back is really holding the car up. the Dp's give the car a hole new sound even with the stock cat back. I think it sounds like poo with the stock cat back. So I will do a before and after.

great work we are part of the DIYs club feels good. now I just need to let these cuts heal and Ill be ok

[Bpitz15]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu7lsjj2Al0

quick walkaround and rev

[Justincredible]

LOL I love the shotty comment. Definitely sounds clean. I was going to post clips of my exhaust but Im almost sure there will be a lynching if I do. I love your sound but mine is just old school loud

[WaySloS4]

Sounds amazing!

[Bpitz15]

LOL I love the shotty comment. Definitely sounds clean. I was going to post clips of my exhaust but Im almost sure there will be a lynching if I do. I love your sound but mine is just old school loud

screw the haters LETS HEAR IT!!!

[Bpitz15]

Sounds amazing!

and thank ya!!

[Justincredible]

screw the haters LETS HEAR IT!!!

Let the lynching begin...

First off this is exactly what I wanted. The noise in the car is low believe it or not. I Feel that the car really woke up with the 2.5 compared to the 2.0

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/V...d-98eb00511a7a

I had one of the vast guys make the vid for me.

This is a video i asked for with a little music. If you are offended by foul language don't click. This is one of my favorite songs thought it added a little spunk to the car

A personal vid I asked for

[D.K]

Let the lynching begin...

First off this is exactly what I wanted. The noise in the car is low believe it or not. I Feel that the car really woke up with the 2.5 compared to the 2.0

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/V...d-98eb00511a7a

I had one of the vast guys make the vid for me.

This is a video i asked for with a little music. If you are offended by foul language don't click. This is one of my favorite songs thought it added a little spunk to the car

A personal vid I asked for

What mufflers does your custom catback have?

[Bpitz15]

Let the lynching begin...

First off this is exactly what I wanted. The noise in the car is low believe it or not. I Feel that the car really woke up with the 2.5 compared to the 2.0

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/V...d-98eb00511a7a

I had one of the vast guys make the vid for me.

This is a video i asked for with a little music. If you are offended by foul language don't click. This is one of my favorite songs thought it added a little spunk to the car

A personal vid I asked for

that blew my mind! the full exhaust sounds pretty damn good! sounds like you got some flowmasters on there.
And that launch looked super fuckin quick at the end of the vid. Any new times?

[Justincredible]

What mufflers does your custom catback have?

Thanks I have herd some Vast audis sound like that so when I got the piggies I begged for info. The cat back is actually a 2.5 X pipe that vast has for there 2000-2003 A6 line 4.2 V8. I worked with them on my 2002 A6 4.2 before I sold it to get the S4

that blew my mind! the full exhaust sounds pretty damn good! sounds like you got some flowmasters on there.
And that launch looked super fuckin quick at the end of the vid. Any new times?

Thanks bro, You cal almost always tell out the gate the people who are going to love the sound and then there are those who are more the purists I guess that don't like much past stock.
I didn't really want to here the OMG what have you done to your car sounds like crap kinda thing. So hiding it here I should be ok. I actually wouldn't have done it if you didn't post the F the haters thing LOL.

So Yes flowmasters 40 series. You got to love em. the system is almost full 2.5. The system is Vast Dp's then Vast X pipe then back to dual 40 series. I absolutely love the sound. I drive with the windows down just to hear it.

Performance wise this is the break down.

I had the exhaust set so I could drive on the stock exhaust till I got the other cat back made. So on the Dp's Vast put a flange like on the Fast intentions. So when I got my new cat back I could drop it if I needed to work on the car if needed. Bottom line I had the shop make the cat back but install the stock exhaust.

I drove the car for a few days again with the stock cat back. Then one night I switched them. To me I felt like I just uncorked a large restriction. The video shows it clearly. The car just gets up and goes better. The first time I launched (the car is a auto) the ESP light flashed. I don't think I was spinning the tires but the car definitely accelerates faster for sure. Im sure adding any exhaust will help but there definitely is a difference now car definitely is more responsive and goes threw the revs faster

[Bpitz15]

love it dude!
this just goes to show the amount you can customize the shound coming off of these cars. You can go from Ferrari (tubi) to American muscle (Flowmaster) and everywhere in between.
Big thumbs up to you for showing us you can take the less expensive route and still get a great sound.

[Justincredible]

Thanks again bro,

The total thing cost less then 1000$

The Dp's 450
The X 350
2 flows 180 (with the needed pipes to connect to the X)
not bad I would say the performance and sound was definitely worth the money. Now Im looking into a ECU program...But Im planing on going to the track in the next week or so If I can

I saw you had cross drilled rotors. what is the weight difference compared to stock on those?

[Bpitz15]

Thanks again bro,

The total thing cost less then 1000$

The Dp's 450
The X 350
2 flows 180 (with the needed pipes to connect to the X)
not bad I would say the performance and sound was definitely worth the money. Now Im looking into a ECU program...But Im planing on going to the track in the next week or so If I can

I saw you had cross drilled rotors. what is the weight difference compared to stock on those?

I would love to see some track #'s and performance gains w/ the ECU program. Any dyno time in the future?

The cross drilled rotors were already on the car when i picked it up used. I wish i could give you some input, but i can imagine the weight difference isnt that substantial.

[Justincredible]

I would love to see some track #'s and performance gains w/ the ECU program. Any dyno time in the future?

I was thinking about doing some Dyno #'s but in no offence to any of the chip companies. There are huge claims from some that just don't come threw. Also with the huge swing between dynos and there #'s. I thought real world 1/4 times would be good for me. 1/4 mile times are not real subjective

I have experienced chips from GIAC,unitronic,APR. To me (some will swear by others for sure) APR was the only one that felt like it did something. So I'm kinda shopping around looking into the right tuner for me.