Ordered the downpipes from RHDjapan about 3 weeks ago and they arrived on Friday...
I then got charged customs charges...
but aside from that the quality of the downpipes is amazing and worth the money imo....
Originally I was'nt going to fit them until I had fitted a 2nd threaded port for the wideband lambda probe... but i just could'nt resist!... so before i knew it the car was jacked up and i was trying to remove the old downpipes!!...
bloody ell!! removing the rear turbo flange nuts was difficult!.. they where so corroded it was virtually imposible... and to be honest i would not have been able to do it without my phneumatic impact wrench... I had to go at it for over 30 minutes per nut with WD40 heating the studs and impact wrench... in the end i unscrewed one of the studs rather than the nut....
the new pipes fitted fine... although i think the main exhaust flange was a little too short as i ended up pulling my fujitsubo fwd.
unfortunaley i had to remove my cusco lower arm due to the fact the new pipes sit about 10-15mm lower than the standard ones...
But the most important bit: Do they make a difference?
Answer: You're damn right they do!...
the spool up time is crazy fast... you have max boost at 2200rpm and the car is fuel cutting like crazy! the boost characteristic is completely changed from standard and my AVCR has already changed the duty cycle... its absolutley brutal!... I think its the combination of 3" system + decat + down pipes ( and maybe the 4 degrees C temperature) that has yeilded this effect... but i would definatley recommend it to anyone.... i am gobsmacked at the difference
just gotta sort this damn fuel cut now!...
heres some photos of the pipes and compared to standard.. (I wrapped the front section to prevent heat soak)