stainless steel downpipes from vr4drifta

[Davezj]

Hi All,
this is for those of you that have bought the stainless steel downpipes from vr4drifta,

i have few question as i am thinking of getting some. so before i take the plunge i am after so feedback. I have a one piece stainless system at the moment but it is far to drowning at about 2500rpm for my liking, which is unfortunately cruising speed for me. so i am probably going with different cat back system with a nice set of downpipes.

what are they like for quality?

what do you feel they have changed in performance?

what sort of change did they make to the sound?

i just wanted some feedback from people who have actually had them fitted.

All help gratefully received

[VR457]

Hi Dave - here is my feedback -

Standard exhaust with decat pipe and then custom downpipe.

1. Noise - deeper grumbling at idle, not louder. Cruising / high speed, car is quieter! Good surprise for me that.

2. Performance - a) bulk of torque / response between 3000 - 5000 rpm. Significant difference felt in that zone. Comments from others is that it felt 25-30% stronger. b) Slight difference in low end performance, with power climbing steadily from 2000 rpm and gradient change from 2500 rpm. c) 5th gear - good response at motorway speeds - 80 mph thereabouts. d) Stopwatch measurements - although it was definitely faster, when i measured the 30-70 mph times and compared them to times from air mod gain a while ago i could see no difference. The ecu might have normalised the air intake or I could have an issue with air leaks. Can you do a compression test for me???

3. Comments from others - 'noticeable increase in pulling power' - this person did not know the car had been modded. 'feels like its going to take off', 'one word? - ooooooooooooh!' - this person knew about downpipe change.

4. Service / quality - place looked a bit 'ghetto' but guys seemed ok enough, that is, discounting Amesh's overenthusiasm. Had a problem with car after fitting, scraping noise, so went back, they put car on ramp and welded a different fitment bracket because the standard slipped off fitment and scraped driveshaft (?). Quality of pipes - 9/10 and that is being picky. They mentioned they could fabricate whole exhaust but sounded pricey. Felt confident that if i had more money would use them again. Guys worked well, efficiently, with care and seemed to know their stuff. Showed me car mag with their feature car, a BMW Alpina. Other vehicles displayed their pipes, including a pickup with 2 x 4 exhausts! Said he wanted to outdo the Zonda!

[foxdie]

Hi Dave,

Have to agree with Jamil here, they're definitely better than stock downpipes, being able to hear the turbos whistle is cool as well :)

My only gripe is mine knock against the chassis of the car on rapid deceleration (ie. floor it for about a second then lift off), I'll get it fixed soon.

[Davezj]

thanks for the info guys they sound like a good option.

[exevoowner]

Have bein told there has bein some fitting issue's as there made for one car and dont fit other's ?
Could anyone shead any light on this as i'm looking at a second hand set that i've bein offered

[Nutter_John]

There are differences between facelift and pre-facelift cars , this means that if the DP's were made on a PFL car you will struggle to fit them safely on a FL car .

Also if the engine mounts on the orginal car are worn the enginge will sit lower in the bay so when fitting to your own car you may find it sits too high if your engine mounts are good

The straight pipe section on the DP's pipes touches the Xfer box which it shouldn't do , so needs to be moved slightly to the right for proper fitting

[Nick Mann]

I had a set fitted yesterday to my facelift that had been pre-made on a pre-facelift. I understood that these had fitment issues on a different car, but they fitted mine perfectly. The clearances are all better than the stainless set I had on the last car which never had issues with the exhaust rubbing or knocking. John, are you aware which cars had what difference, as I have never noticed any? Also, worn engine mounts will make less than 1cm difference to the height of the turbo elbows, which the flexi before the cat should solve with relative ease? My mounts are in good condition and the decat pipe from eBay slotted straight into the gap between the downpipes and the fujitsubo, no need for pressure on the flexi at all.

The guys who make them at Torque Flow in Birmingham came across as intelligent, helpful and eager to please with q good job. They fitted a decat I supplied free of charge at the same time and told me if I have any issues with the pipes to go back for free rectification work. I'll be surprised if I need to! I do agree with Jamil though, the trading estate they are on is a bit run down!

From a performance point of view it is difficult to be absolute due to the decat at the same time, but I am very happy. The noise at cruise is not noticeably louder but when pressing on the deep rasp is pleasing. I'm sure some members here would say my car is still too quiet but the Fujitsubo is the reason for that I guess.

Fundamentally I can't see any reason not to have these pipes, I would buy them again if I was back in that position!

[crazyken76]

good rep on its way to you nick i totally agree in what you say about these pipes they have made my car so much better in every way sound and performance :)

[Nutter_John]

I have seen the differences on a few cars

A set wrd made fitted my 98 FL Saloon manual with no issues , they would not fit SGHOM's PFL Leggy auto properly (touching tranny tunnel), but would fit Tar's PFL Leggy Auto and Manual no probelm at all , they would not fit my 2002 FL Auto Leggy (touching rear of subframe)

The set of pipes I tried to fit of Ameshs were to an 99 FL Auto Saloon , we did take some photos showing the pipe touching the xfer box and touching the front corner of the tranny tunnel

As yet I have not managed to work out the exact difference between the models but deffo issues

[WOODY72]

Maybe slight differences during production of the pipes, bends/ flanges etc that could account for it possibly???? :stars:

[Wodjno]

Maybe slight differences during production of the pipes, bends/ flanges etc that could account for it possibly???? :stars:

That was my thoughts also..

[WOODY72]

Two great minds think alike Glenn boy! /Devil5:laugh:/drinkswine

[Eurospec]

There are some differences between models- but i dont know which ones are which. If you remember Camskill used to have Blueflame downpipes for the VR4 which they used to sell. On some cars they would fit fine, but on others they would fowl the xfr box. Nothing some heat and bending couldnt cure, but to be fair you spend that kind of money on a DP, you dont want to be smacking it with a big persuader- which would be the only solution if you didnt have heat or a press.

Cheers,

Ben.

[exevoowner]

ok so i'm confused so if they were made on one car they defo would not fit any other or could if they were of same age or run on the production line ?
could you put pic's up john of were they could have problem as could be a good bargaining point for me ???
mind you think with all the fuss fitting them i might just go with the camskill one's i've got off dylan111

[TAR]

Nigel, if you are looking to get a set from this company, the best advice is to go there and have them made up, that way they are sure to fit.

:happy:

[exevoowner]

There already made and were fitted to another car but the car has issues and change of plans means there being sold so was after info to fit them to mine as im getting them at a fraction of there cost price :-)

[Nick Mann]

From what Ben and John have said above, there is a chance that any stainless downpipe will not fit your car, I guess. Buy it and try it - if it doesn't fit it will probably fit someone elses!

But as Tim said, if you buy from them direct, they will definitely fit!

[Nutter_John]

Ok I have found proof that the xfer box is different between 01/02 chassis numbers and 03-05

Will attach photos this evening

[swinks]

In other words, main difference is due to alloy subframe fitted in post 2nd facelift cars, which dates mid 2001 onwards. That problem was already talked thru by guys making vr4 to LHD conversion and Andy (The Vee).
Search is your friend (couldn' resist) :jester:
IMO change which may affect maybe 18% vehicles here.

[Atik]

Just thought I'd put my own update to this thread. Got my set fabricated and fitted to the car prior to me picking the car up! There was a slight problem with the pipes being too low. One of the fabricated bends was put in vertically instead of horizontally, resulting in me having almost no clearance, even scraping up my driveway.

The guys at Torqueflow at the time said that they would rectify this without hesitation and true to their word, they did so last weekend! It took me a whole 3 months to get around to getting the car to them! Very efficient and friendly service and would not hesitate to recommend them to others. I can now clear my driveway and any potential policemen that decide to have a 'sleep' on the road!

Well pleased.

[sampsulo]

just out of curioity? seeing as im eons of miles away...can i have these fabricated in mild steel? what is the rule of thumb to follow to have a set of these done uo properly?

[exevoowner]

they can be made from any sort of metal as long as it can withstand the heat that is produced from the turbo exit most go for stainless as its good for heat and looks good to boot
if you need measurements i have a set of 2.5" downpipes in the garage i could send the measurements over oh mandrel bends are best as the flow is un interruped inside the pipe

[sampsulo]

madrel bending is what boggles my mind...is it that maching with moulds that they use in the exhaust shop? so mild steel as used for exhausts is good then? the measurements would be great...and come pictures...that flexi pipe needed? what if i dont want to make them into one but each turbo with own zorst.....advantages and disadvantages?

[elnevio]

Stainless steel is of course much much more resistant to corrosion than mild steel.

Having said that Sampa, I assume that your winters are nowhere near cold enough for salt to go down on the roads :sunny: which is a major contributory factor to corrosion over here.

[sampsulo]

what winter? lol....no such thing is central africa....ok so mild steel it is...will just figure out what mandrel bending is..wait for measurements and then find the cost of doing it.....
so i take it we'll be cutting off the flange off the current ones?

[MarkSanne]

Or to avoid mandrel bending, do it simple and buy pre-bent pipe-pieces and weld them to straight pipe pieces.

[Wodjno]

Or to avoid mandrel bending, do it simple and buy pre-bent pipe-pieces and weld them to straight pipe pieces.

/yes

[sampsulo]

Ah yes fantastic option. Depends on how much Imma be charged for it. Found sample down pipes from one Legnum vr4. Still Need measurements or pictures.

I wanna know about twin exhausts. One out of each turbo. Which is better?


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