Decat pipe options

Pbondar said:
Great write up..pisser that when you're paying good money for the 'correct fitment' you're having to do a cut n shut to make it fit..

Given my lack of metal working skills and tools probably sends this to the bin unless we can find someone willing to do a batch?

Smartbear hello?

I know of someone that could do this but fabrication is his livelihood not his hobby & as such i think the costs would be prohibitive on top of the initial purchase cost :(
Rob
 
Fantastic write up. Thanks very much for that. Very disappointed that the product has these issues. Just shows that they haven’t put in the required r&d

I have been holding off on my purchase as I am 3 months off MOT time, and thought it would make more sense to get a fresh ticket with a genuine emissions readout , and have the pipe fitted soon after.

I guess with this sort of mod you are going to come across issues with every manufacture. I have heard that the craftsmanship of the super sprint decat pipe is awful, so more expensive is not necessarily better.

I have my eyes on an exhaust system by another manufacture so maybe the two will go together better than the OE system.

Really appreciate the in-depth feedback though. :thumbsup:
 
Pooltee said:
Fantastic write up. Thanks very much for that. Very disappointed that the product has these issues. Just shows that they haven’t put in the required r&d

I have been holding off on my purchase as I am 3 months off MOT time, and thought it would make more sense to get a fresh ticket with a genuine emissions readout , and have the pipe fitted soon after.

I guess with this sort of mod you are going to come across issues with every manufacture. I have heard that the craftsmanship of the super sprint decat pipe is awful, so more expensive is not necessarily better.

I have my eyes on an exhaust system by another manufacture so maybe the two will go together better than the OE system.

Really appreciate the in-depth feedback though. :thumbsup:

I had a look at the Supersprint one before buying and honestly it didn't look great, not to mention its stupid money. All of the ones on ebay etc from various vendors look better designed and put together. Using the pipe I used you could probably get away with using just the one mounting point to the engine that's in the right place rather than two, that way you could leave unused the second mounting point that is out of position. Either that or you could fashion a bracket to bridge the second one from the down pipe to the engine. Obviously neither is ideal but it does look sturdy enough with just one mount IMHO. Either of these approaches would just leave the need for the centre pipe to be shorten slightly so you can use a sleeve clamp. Eliminating the need for moving and re-welding a bracket would certainly simplify the job quite a bit.
 
I have recently had a Supersprint decat pipe fitted to my E89 N20 but I had already had a Supersprint catback exhaust installed. The mechanic who fitted the decat pipe told me that it fitted well and there were no issues. The car was already Celtic mapped and I will now have to have the decat mapped out to remove the engine management alarm. The car sounds noticeably different but in a subtle way . I cannot comment on performance as I do not want to push it until I have had the cat mapped out.
 
Just a little update on the decat pipe as I forgot to mention this in my posts earlier in the thread. The pops and bangs through the exhaust have increased, or maybe its actually the case that they haven't increased, it's just that they're more noticeable now. Again it's subtle and certainly nothing too in your face like you see with a lot Audi/VWs etc. Nothing too chavtastic! :D
 
MACK said:
Just a little update on the decat pipe as I forgot to mention this in my posts earlier in the thread. The pops and bangs through the exhaust have increased, or maybe its actually the case that they haven't increased, it's just that they're more noticeable now. Again it's subtle and certainly nothing too in your face like you see with a lot Audi/VWs etc. Nothing too chavtastic! :D

Have you checked it’s sealing well? Air leaks in the exhaust can cause pops & bangs :?
Rob
 
Smartbear said:
MACK said:
Just a little update on the decat pipe as I forgot to mention this in my posts earlier in the thread. The pops and bangs through the exhaust have increased, or maybe its actually the case that they haven't increased, it's just that they're more noticeable now. Again it's subtle and certainly nothing too in your face like you see with a lot Audi/VWs etc. Nothing too chavtastic! :D

Have you checked it’s sealing well? Air leaks in the exhaust can cause pops & bangs :?
Rob

Thanks Rob, I'll take a look to double check nothing's changed. It was definitely fine running on the ramp a few days ago and the pops and bangs have been a bit more noticeable ever since it was fitted, so I suspect it's just the way it is.
 
Couldn’t reconcile Mack having so many goodies with the poor fit of the down pipe so I’ve ordered one of these babies :tumbleweed:

VRSF N20 Catless Downpipe for 2011+ BMW Z4 sDrive E89

It says they ‘guarantee a perfect fit’ :thumbsup:
 
Pbondar said:
Couldn’t reconcile Mack having so many goodies with the poor fit of the down pipe so I’ve ordered one of these babies :tumbleweed:

VRSF N20 Catless Downpipe for 2011+ BMW Z4 sDrive E89

It says they ‘guarantee a perfect fit’ :thumbsup:

Hopefully it fits out of the box, they do have a good rep states side so that's a positive. Did you have to order it from the US? When I was looking I couldn't find any of these in the UK or Europe or I'd have gone for that one
 
MACK said:
Pbondar said:
Couldn’t reconcile Mack having so many goodies with the poor fit of the down pipe so I’ve ordered one of these babies :tumbleweed:

VRSF N20 Catless Downpipe for 2011+ BMW Z4 sDrive E89

It says they ‘guarantee a perfect fit’ :thumbsup:

Hopefully it fits out of the box, they do have a good rep states side so that's a positive. Did you have to order it from the US? When I was looking I couldn't find any of these in the UK or Europe or I'd have gone for that one

Yup...coming from US..if the fit is anything like their order and dispatch it should be perfect..it’s already with Fed-Ex 2 hours after I ordered it :thumbsup:
 
Pbondar said:
MACK said:
Pbondar said:
Couldn’t reconcile Mack having so many goodies with the poor fit of the down pipe so I’ve ordered one of these babies :tumbleweed:

VRSF N20 Catless Downpipe for 2011+ BMW Z4 sDrive E89

It says they ‘guarantee a perfect fit’ :thumbsup:

Hopefully it fits out of the box, they do have a good rep states side so that's a positive. Did you have to order it from the US? When I was looking I couldn't find any of these in the UK or Europe or I'd have gone for that one

Yup...coming from US..if the fit is anything like their order and dispatch it should be perfect..it’s already with Fed-Ex 2 hours after I ordered it :thumbsup:

What was the shipped cost if you don’t mind me asking?
 
Pbondar said:
Yup...coming from US..if the fit is anything like their order and dispatch it should be perfect..it’s already with Fed-Ex 2 hours after I ordered it :thumbsup:

Hmmm, hope it gets to you quickly, but I recently had a parcel sent by an associate at Boeing (limited edition model of a 777X, as I wrote the 'Haynes manual' for the folding wing). Like you, Fedex had it en route in about 2 hours and it reached Stansted Airport in another 24 hours. And there it sat for ten days, waiting for customs clearance.
Hopefully that won't happen to you, but do keep an eye on the tracker.
 
Pooltee said:
Pbondar said:
MACK said:
Hopefully it fits out of the box, they do have a good rep states side so that's a positive. Did you have to order it from the US? When I was looking I couldn't find any of these in the UK or Europe or I'd have gone for that one

Yup...coming from US..if the fit is anything like their order and dispatch it should be perfect..it’s already with Fed-Ex 2 hours after I ordered it :thumbsup:

What was the shipped cost if you don’t mind me asking?

92USD
 
enuff_zed said:
Pbondar said:
Yup...coming from US..if the fit is anything like their order and dispatch it should be perfect..it’s already with Fed-Ex 2 hours after I ordered it :thumbsup:

Hmmm, hope it gets to you quickly, but I recently had a parcel sent by an associate at Boeing (limited edition model of a 777X, as I wrote the 'Haynes manual' for the folding wing). Like you, Fedex had it en route in about 2 hours and it reached Stansted Airport in another 24 hours. And there it sat for ten days, waiting for customs clearance.
Hopefully that won't happen to you, but do keep an eye on the tracker.

Yes had that with the Tecnic PNP ASD bypass harness...very frustrating, about 2 weeks at Heathrow..hopefully bigger parcel will stand out more? :thumbsup:
 
Well my VSRF de-cat downpipe arrived today..so not bad ordered late Monday..arrived Thursday from USA, 40USD freight with Economy Fedex..no additional taxes to pay..so far..

Plan to go to "The Performance Centre" http://www.performance-centre.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR0bNQU8Bq8AksJjdT1WL95DEkBUmL9p3QyyO7BwJsCU9YVBOtoGDjICXfk in Sunderland next week to have it fitted, remove the cat warning that ensues and a re-map..

It will be interesting to see how the current Celtic tune onboard compares to theirs and then the decat fitted...not a lot of love lost between these guys..
 

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Pbondar said:
Well my VSRF de-cat downpipe arrived today..so not bad ordered late Monday..arrived Thursday from USA, 40USD freight with Economy Fedex..no additional taxes to pay..so far..

Plan to go to "The Performance Centre" http://www.performance-centre.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR0bNQU8Bq8AksJjdT1WL95DEkBUmL9p3QyyO7BwJsCU9YVBOtoGDjICXfk in Sunderland next week to have it fitted, remove the cat warning that ensues and a re-map..

It will be interesting to see how the current Celtic tune onboard compares to theirs and then the decat fitted...not a lot of love lost between these guys..

Well it certainly looks a quality piece of kit. I'm well impressed with how quickly and smoothly it arrived. I'd been put off buying directly from the US after a bit of a nightmare I had 12 years ago with a stereo facia kit for a Boxster, but I think this has convinced me to give it another go.

I'll be interested to hear what you think to the results, have you tried the spacers yet? Made any difference on the road?

What's the beef between The Performance Centre and Celtic?
 
MACK said:
Pbondar said:
Well my VSRF de-cat downpipe arrived today..so not bad ordered late Monday..arrived Thursday from USA, 40USD freight with Economy Fedex..no additional taxes to pay..so far..

Plan to go to "The Performance Centre" http://www.performance-centre.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR0bNQU8Bq8AksJjdT1WL95DEkBUmL9p3QyyO7BwJsCU9YVBOtoGDjICXfk in Sunderland next week to have it fitted, remove the cat warning that ensues and a re-map..

It will be interesting to see how the current Celtic tune onboard compares to theirs and then the decat fitted...not a lot of love lost between these guys..

Well it certainly looks a quality piece of kit. I'm well impressed with how quickly and smoothly it arrived. I'd been put off buying directly from the US after a bit of a nightmare I had 12 years ago with a stereo facia kit for a Boxster, but I think this has convinced me to give it another go.

I'll be interested to hear what you think to the results, have you tried the spacers yet? Made any difference on the road?

What's the beef between The Performance Centre and Celtic?

Today is the first day we can drive for pleasure in Scotland...sadly it’s pissing it down and looks that way for several days to come...despite not wishing to get my baby moist I may go out in it this weekend..so will advise although can’t push it as hard in the wet..

I was shocked myself how seamless the order went..last year I ordered an ASD bypass harness from the states and what with their lack of stock , shipping and customs hold it took over 4 weeks and was more than double the US retail price by the time it got here..

Ideally I would have stuck with Celtic but since we’re now moving away from a bog stock tune I was keen to see the changes on a rolling road..most Celtic dealers don’t have those facilities around here..

So the guys in Sunderland have such a facility but it means I have to pay from scratch for a re-map..they offer a money back if they do not exceed another map..so hopefully we’ll do a run as is, with the Celtic tune, then I guess ideally a base map without the de-cat then run with de-cat and full-remap..

We‘ll see next week..they stated that Celtic over egg their numbers..digging back through their Facebook posts they have done a normal remaps on N20 engines With before n after rolling roads which show some variability but are at least comparative numbers on the same day with the same car..
 

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Pbondar said:
Well my VSRF de-cat downpipe arrived today..so not bad ordered late Monday..arrived Thursday from USA, 40USD freight with Economy Fedex..no additional taxes to pay..so far..

Plan to go to "The Performance Centre" http://www.performance-centre.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR0bNQU8Bq8AksJjdT1WL95DEkBUmL9p3QyyO7BwJsCU9YVBOtoGDjICXfk in Sunderland next week to have it fitted, remove the cat warning that ensues and a re-map..

It will be interesting to see how the current Celtic tune onboard compares to theirs and then the decat fitted...not a lot of love lost between these guys..

Will be interested to see the results. Currently waiting on full supersprint with decat to arrive..
 
Pbondar said:
MACK said:
Pbondar said:
Well my VSRF de-cat downpipe arrived today..so not bad ordered late Monday..arrived Thursday from USA, 40USD freight with Economy Fedex..no additional taxes to pay..so far..

Plan to go to "The Performance Centre" http://www.performance-centre.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR0bNQU8Bq8AksJjdT1WL95DEkBUmL9p3QyyO7BwJsCU9YVBOtoGDjICXfk in Sunderland next week to have it fitted, remove the cat warning that ensues and a re-map..

It will be interesting to see how the current Celtic tune onboard compares to theirs and then the decat fitted...not a lot of love lost between these guys..

Well it certainly looks a quality piece of kit. I'm well impressed with how quickly and smoothly it arrived. I'd been put off buying directly from the US after a bit of a nightmare I had 12 years ago with a stereo facia kit for a Boxster, but I think this has convinced me to give it another go.

I'll be interested to hear what you think to the results, have you tried the spacers yet? Made any difference on the road?

What's the beef between The Performance Centre and Celtic?

Today is the first day we can drive for pleasure in Scotland...sadly it’s pissing it down and looks that way for several days to come...despite not wishing to get my baby moist I may go out in it this weekend..so will advise although can’t push it as hard in the wet..

I was shocked myself how seamless the order went..last year I ordered an ASD bypass harness from the states and what with their lack of stock , shipping and customs hold it took over 4 weeks and was more than double the US retail price by the time it got here..

Ideally I would have stuck with Celtic but since we’re now moving away from a bog stock tune I was keen to see the changes on a rolling road..most Celtic dealers don’t have those facilities around here..

So the guys in Sunderland have such a facility but it means I have to pay from scratch for a re-map..they offer a money back if they do not exceed another map..so hopefully we’ll do a run as is, with the Celtic tune, then I guess ideally a base map without the de-cat then run with de-cat and full-remap..

We‘ll see next week..they stated that Celtic over egg their numbers..digging back through their Facebook posts they have done a normal remaps on N20 engines With before n after rolling roads which show some variability but are at least comparative numbers on the same day with the same car..

Looks like they know their onions. :thumbsup: How much do they charge for a remap? Mines booked in with Ptorque on 23.07 as I also wanted a more customizable map with a rolling road that can be tweaked etc. I prefer that to the man in van approach that Celtic offer.
I've just installed new plugs and coils ahead of the remap
 
Hi MACK, slight correction on VAT/tax..I got a text from Fedex with £26.40 to pay..but heh..my local MOT man says 'no problemo' on the Decat :thumbsup:

To do 3 or 4 different rolling road runs with different configs and fit the de-cat its £500 inc VAT.

I've got fresh plugs n coils and filled up with 99 Ron for the session next Wednesday! :driving:
 
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