Caution when ordering apr cast hfc/downpipe until rectified if 6mt

[poweredbyaudi7]

(*POSITIVE UPDATE ON POST 20)

I recently ordered the new APR Cast HFC/Downpipe and installed it this weekend. I was hesitant because a friend with a 6MT tried to install on on his 6MT and it was resting against his transmission. I found this out after I had already made my order. The problem is, on the AT transmission the intermediate shaft is not incased in the transmission as shown below.



While the 6MT the intermediate shaft is incased making the exhaust tunnel a hair smaller as seen below.



You can see circled in red where mine is contacting the transmission and I have also added pictures of a buddy's car showing the contact as well. He sent his back to APR who did a test fit in their jig and said it was good, sent it back to him, in which he tried to install it again and it still rests against the transmission. He is supposed to be trying to drive to Alabama for them to install it for him and take measurements to rectify the problem. At first I was going to keep this quiet, but then I thought about all the people who bought this cat with a 6MT, had it installed, and they said nothing to them. about it. If you are a 6MT and have this cat, I would encourage you to validate you are not making contact with your transmission. This will require you to take off your belly skid and actually look from under the car. Please post up and let me know.






Buddy's

[lettuce]

Wow, that's awful. I would absolutely not drive your car like that.

Sorta similar situation, I went to go pick up a '71 Roadrunner with a buddy back in the day. Driving it home it started slipping gears like crazy, getting worse and worse as we drove (3 speed auto). Pulled over and checked the transmission fluid, looked fine, so stupid teenage us tried to make it home. Ended up completely roasting the transmission on the highway. Turned out the exhaust was touching the transmission oil pan and cooked the thing to death.

This doesn't look as bad as that, but still.. can't believe this made it past the illustrious and infallible APR QC. Must have been the same quality guy who OK'd the APR 'stage' badges I bought which are a nice cloudy pink a few months after putting them on my car.

[JLP429]

Thanks. I was planning to order one soon. But will hold off until further update. Please keep us posted.

[poweredbyaudi7]

Thanks. I was planning to order one soon. But will hold off until further update. Please keep us posted.

This was my intent of this thread. I really would like those with a 6MT to validate theirs is or isn't contacting their transmission as well...

[poweredbyaudi7]

No other 6MT guys have this HFC?

[ichigoismyhomie]

Maybe it's a bad casting batch and poor quality control

[poweredbyaudi7]

Yeah thats strange, I don't have such issue.....

Did you do the install?

[hyperunion]

Did you do the install?

Apr contact you yet?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[poweredbyaudi7]

Apr contact you yet?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Yeah, said they have a car coming up in a couple weeks with the same issue to check it out.

[poweredbyaudi7]

Nope, had a apr dealer here in cincy do the install, they did tell me the installation didn't go exact to the instructions, took some finessing and about 5-6hrs.

So they had to bed it to get it to work....that is probably not ideal.

[Dub_prime]

Nope, had a apr dealer here in cincy do the install, they did tell me the installation didn't go exact to the instructions, took some finessing and about 5-6hrs.

Have any pictures of the finessing? Only hard part is taking the old one out. You can turn full lock to the left and see the downpipe if you aren't too low.

[poweredbyaudi7]

Have any pictures of the finessing? Only hard part is taking the old one out. You can turn full lock to the left and see the downpipe if you aren't too low.

This is good to know. Never thought of that....

[poweredbyaudi7]

Update, APR is supposed to have another car with this same issue come to their shop with a fix by the end of the week. Let's hope it is that quick...

[JLP429]

Update, APR is supposed to have another car with this same issue come to their shop with a fix by the end of the week. Let's hope it is that quick...

Thanks for the update.

[poweredbyaudi7]

And we are making progress. I have to say, APR has been a stand up business for working with a couple of us on here. The original HFC/Downpipe setup is no longer available to those of us with 6MT. They have created a fix, but are probably working on getting jigs setup for mass production. Kudos to APR!

http://www.goapr.com/products/apr_ex...pe_20t_b8.html

[hyperunion]

And we are making progress. I have to say, APR has been a stand up business for working with a couple of us on here. The original HFC/Downpipe setup is no longer available to those of us with 6MT. They have created a fix, but are probably working on getting jigs setup for mass production. Kudos to APR!

http://www.goapr.com/products/apr_ex...pe_20t_b8.html

They updated the site ... Excluding manual's....
Hopefully the specific manual version is available soon... Funny this was missed originally, guess the development manual b8 with the efr is running a different arrangement dp
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Zach L]

Hope this gets remedied for you OP and other 6MT guys that already have bought one. And props for making a thread instead of keeping your mouth shut.

Even though I think APR drastically overhypes their R&D, I commend them on admitting fault and getting this straightened out.

Yeah thats strange, I don't have such issue.....

Nope, had a apr dealer here in cincy do the install, they did tell me the installation didn't go exact to the instructions, took some finessing and about 5-6hrs.

I don't find it odd how quick this response came from someone that probably hasn't even seen the problem area with their own eyes. Especially when the shop even said install didn't go as planned. This kind of uninformed response is all over car forums and it creates confusion.

[poweredbyaudi7]

UPDATE

So after working with Ryan, APR came through as directed. They sent me the new HFC for a 6MT today, and I installed it today. You can see by the pictures that I wrapped this with exhaust wrap from PTP, which makes it's outside diameter a little larger. Even so, it still clears the transmission quite a bit. I am over happy with not only the support APR has given me with this, but the final product. APR could have told me to kick rocks and deal with it, but they accepted responsibility, did their research, and created a product that is solid and works. Thanks again Ryan for all your help and keep up the great work APR!

[Dub_prime]

Zach sir, I have no clearance issues, no rubbing, no nothing, I only stated had they some difficulty installing it, if there was any problem with clearance they would have told me, its still on my car and performing perfectly, cheers.

I would recommend you get under the car and look to see what they had to do to make it fit. There was a design problem that impacted the 6mt cars that has been resolved. My guess is that you will see that the pipe has been "modified", most likely with a BFH to clear the transmission. It still being installed doesn't mean there wasn't a problem and that they didn't just make it fit. Poweredbyaudi7 and I both did the installs ourselves and experienced the same exact issue, in fact I had 2 that had issues and was the car they used to redesign it.

APR went above and beyond to get this problem resolved and I commend them.

[Zach L]

Zach sir, I have no clearance issues, no rubbing, no nothing, I only stated had they some difficulty installing it, if there was any problem with clearance they would have told me, its still on my car and performing perfectly, cheers.

No they wouldn't have told you. Get under the car then come back. Handing money to someone doesn't give you the ability to speak for the job they did.

[hyperunion]

UPDATE

So after working with Ryan, APR came through as directed. They sent me the new HFC for a 6MT today, and I installed it today. You can see by the pictures that I wrapped this with exhaust wrap from PTP, which makes it's outside diameter a little larger. Even so, it still clears the transmission quite a bit. I am over happy with not only the support APR has given me with this, but the final product. APR could have told me to kick rocks and deal with it, but they accepted responsibility, did their research, and created a product that is solid and works. Thanks again Ryan for all your help and keep up the great work APR!

Looks good!.. just not a fan of wrapping DP's.. guess it does reduce under hood temps.. but may in time lead to corrosion and breakdown.. I had my whole exaust wrapped and temp coated on my old k04 b6.. but said I wouldn't wrap again.. not really worth the gains when s4s will always be faster...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Rollin Thunder]

Looks good!.. just not a fan of wrapping DP's.. guess it does reduce under hood temps.. but may in time lead to corrosion and breakdown.. I had my whole exaust wrapped and temp coated on my old k04 b6.. but said I wouldn't wrap again.. not really worth the gains when s4s will always be faster...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Agreed ☝️. I would ceramic coat before wrapping. Excess exhaust temps play a large roll in performance. Keeping the heat in can hurt performance.

[helldriver]

No they wouldn't have told you. Get under the car then come back. Handing money to someone doesn't give you the ability to speak for the job they did.

Your right, I don't have the means to look underneath it right now, last time my car was on a lift I didn't see anything wrong, but I wasn't looking for that, you guys are right, I will stop by the shop that installed it and talk to them tomorrow, I want to know what they did exactly, sorry guys for the bad info, one things for sure is they had to go past the point of no return and cut the suitcase muffler etc out, so they had to make it work somehow, we'll see, I'll let you guys know this week.

-Scott

[Zach L]

Your right, I don't have the means to look underneath it right now, last time my car was on a lift I didn't see anything wrong, but I wasn't looking for that, you guys are right, I will stop by the shop that installed it and talk to them tomorrow, I want to know what they did exactly, sorry guys for the bad info, one things for sure is they had to go past the point of no return and cut the suitcase muffler etc out, so they had to make it work somehow, we'll see, I'll let you guys know this week.

-Scott

I don't think they would have cut something out. More likely they would have slightly bent the piping, or just installed it with it rubbing on the transmission. Some shops will do what it takes to get a job done, because they figure you and your money will go somewhere else if they don't. If the downpipe and transmission are indeed rubbing, the exhaust may have a slight indent at the contact point. My bigger, long term concern though would be the transmission housing because it's a softer metal (aluminum) than the exhaust. If one wears down slowly from the rubbing, I'd expect it to be the transmission and could result in a hole in the gearbox if not tended to. Look for a smooth, shiny spot on the transmission casing. You may have to force your finger in between if they're already touching.

Also, most shops will staunchly defend the previous work they've done. The last place you want to take a car for a second opinion is the same shop; I'd go to a different one. If you come to the new shop with a specific concern, they'll likely check it without charging you anything.

[noob2a4]

Thanks for the info! I was going to get this in the spring, but I guess I'll look into other options.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[poweredbyaudi7]

Thanks for the info! I was going to get this in the spring, but I guess I'll look into other options.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

The new version for 6MT will work fine. It will most likely be available by spring time...

[lexustbs]

Could you get the AWR turbo back exhaust and still do the APR stage 2? I'm being very impatient, but I need power ASAP!

Sent from my XT1585 using Audizine mobile app

[hyperunion]

Could you get the AWR turbo back exhaust and still do the APR stage 2? I'm being very impatient, but I need power ASAP!

Sent from my XT1585 using Audizine mobile app

No.. the awe exaust by itself, will not work with the stg2.. you'll need the hfc that is included with Apr's downpipe.
But it is a great combination!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[noob2a4]

The new version for 6MT will work fine. It will most likely be available by spring time...

Cool. Thanks for the info!


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Zach L]

Could you get the AWR turbo back exhaust and still do the APR stage 2? I'm being very impatient, but I need power ASAP!

Sent from my XT1585 using Audizine mobile app

No.. the awe exaust by itself, will not work with the stg2.. you'll need the hfc that is included with Apr's downpipe.
But it is a great combination!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Any turbo back exhaust is enough. A turbo back exhaust bolts directly to the turbo, hence "turbo back" and includes everything after the turbo including the HFC, downpipe and catback sections. Anything less is not be a turbo back exhaust.

[spin0rz]

So... Just sitting here, waiting for APR to re-re-release their 6MT HFC/DP.... Has there been any official statement as to fixing that in their production line?

Didn't they make a video on how it was "laser" rendered to precision....?

[Discipulus]

@Spin0rz, I emailed them on February 2nd and got this response:

--------------------------

"Kevin,

Thank you for your interest in APR! We are currently revising the downpipe to fit manual transmission vehicles. I do not know exactly when it will be finalized but we should have that available in the next 2-3 months. If there is anything else I can be of assistance with please let me know.

Best regards,

Ryan D’Annunzio
Customer Service/Technical Support"

-------------------------------------

So, it looks like possibly in May, according to Ryan?

[Discipulus]

I just emailed APR support and got this response from Ryan:

Kevin,



The updated downpipes are now available but many APR dealers still have remaining inventory of the previous revision that is not compatible with manual transmissions. You can have your local APR dealer order a downpipe and it will be the updated, compatible design, or if they have inventory on hand just make sure they were purchased within the last couple of weeks to ensure it is the compatible downpipe.



Best regards,



Ryan D’Annunzio

So good news! They're available!

[600snopro229]

What’s the best way to tell if you have the early downpipe or the revised version? I bought a used one on Craigslist and no longer have the guys contact info. I have a manual transmission, if I got the early version can it be modified easily?

[Discipulus]

Ask the seller if it was purchased before June 2017. Or you can contact APR and have them look up the serial number. I think there should be a serial number stamped on it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Audizine mobile app

[poweredbyaudi7]

What’s the best way to tell if you have the early downpipe or the revised version? I bought a used one on Craigslist and no longer have the guys contact info. I have a manual transmission, if I got the early version can it be modified easily?

If it is the wrong one you could just dent the pipe a little to get clearance of the transmission.

[600snopro229]

Anybody have pics of the early pipe bent, or slightly dented to make it fit the manual? Going to be installing mine soon and its the older version.

[Shaun543]

I just installed on my b8.5 (2013) with MT and had no problems. I left off the support bracket however as I tightened to turbo first and then could not get to line up and said F-it as the bolts on the turbo are like a nail in the head to get to and remove.