# Did the Downpipe install myself (Review)



## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

Fellow Audi /VW owners,


I did the APR Downpipe install today so I would like to give you some feedback on the installation difficulty level, instructions and overall the time that it takes. The downpipe that I installed today was the recently released APR for MBQ 8V quattro/Golf R. I purchase this downpipe from excelerate (they are vendors on this forum).

APR did a good job with their install kit, all the little bit and pieces comes with the downpipe (booklet, gloves, spare screws, tip tires). If you are trying to do this job on jackstands, go ahead, good luck!! It is not like you can't but it is a whole lot harder. I recommend doing it on a lift because you have to pry some components and you also have to have room to tug the oem downpipe.

*From the top*

Unbolting the engine cover is a piece of cake. The turbo clamp is also *very easy* to unbolt. Undoing the o2 sensor can be tricky because you don't have much visibilty nor room. You need to be very careful with not breaking the firewall clips that routes the o2 sensor harness. 

*From the bottom * 

- You have to remove lots of shields and panels. First thing is the engine tray(7 or 8 T25 torx), very easy. Another black plastic tray that runs across the car(two T25 Torx) and two plastic clips (push in the center pin), very easy to remove this plastic tray. 
- Bracket that holds the downpipe to the crossbar(two 13mm bolts) very easy.
- Circular shield above the drive shaft. This is hard because one of the 8mm nuts get hidden by the fat top cat. I wasted nearly 40 minutes on just one 8mm allen nut. I tried every angle, every tool until I realized that you need to pry the exhaust up so that you can insert the 8 mm allen long socket.. Once the socket was in, I finally was able to remove the bolt in 2 minutes
- Removing the driveshaft. Well, you just need to unbolt the three 10mm (12 points bolts). You don't need a triple square tool for this, just a regular 12 point socket(10mm) will do it. They are very well tightened so be aware. In order to remove the bolts to need to put the car in neutral
- You also need to remove two 16 mm fat screws holding the transmission mount. One these two bolts are remove the engine "swing" in forwards and backwards motion(you will need this motion later on in order to pry the driveshaft out). *Easy*
- Pry the driveshaft out and to the side(driver side). *Easy* 
- The stock cat is supported by a bracket. You will hardly see the bracket, it is located under neath the turbo. There are like 2 nuts. *medium difficulty*
- Hassling with the oem downpipe is a bia-tch and that is why I was saying that doing this on jackstands will make you go nuts and curse a lot!! You need to move the downpipe a lot and turn it and keep tugging it (Remember, your driveshaft you be lose already and pry lose and to the driver side). 


*From inside the car*

- Put the car in Neutral in order to rotate the driveshaft so that you can remove the bolts. When you install the screws you might want to lock the transmission or have someone holding the wheel steady while you torque it. *Easy* 


*The install * 

Everything is much easier. *From the top* you do the V band, plug the extension o2 harness and re-route the 02 harness 

*From the bottom*

- The APR downpipe goes in 15 seconds (upper portion). There is plenty of room. Just slide it in and provisionally put the clamp. *Easy*
- Center section requires a lot of moving around and twisting it until you get the correct angle and position. *Some what easy* 
- Driveshaft goes in *very easy* as long as you pry it and move it with the other hand in position
- Torquing the bolts requires you to physically lock the wheels otherwise the driveshaft might turn however you can still torque the bolts. *Easy *
- Installing the downpipe center bracket is a piece of cake(two 13mm) and the big 16mm nut/bolt supplied to move the smaller bracket
- O2 sensor reinstall and harness re-route is a piece of cake (zip ties provided). *Easy*
- Reinstalling the two big fat long 16mm differential bolts requires you to "swing the engine" in a forward and backwards motion. *Easy*
- Re-installing the Vband is *easy*. You can now position the 6mm allen screw facing forward(it is facing the rear from factory)

Overall, it took me about 3.5 hours. I never done this downpipe before. I have done a MK5 downpipe and other imports. If this is your first time I would say no less than 3 hours in a lift. If I had to do it again it would take me probably 2.5 hours(not bad). *I chose not to put back a couple of stupid shields*. I have a bad back and I was having some pain towards the end.

*Myth busted*. Whomever claims that you need to rest the car for hours to cool down is false. I started working on the car within 10-15 minutes. That is the time that it took me to set up my bays/lifts from the Auto Hobby on base. The exhaust was a little bit hot but I unbolted the V-band allen bolt with my fingers once it was lose. It was no hotter than when you change a hot bulb light. 

CEL came in within the 50 first yards of riving the car away. I haven't done the stage II tune yet but I will do it this week. Good luck and please PM me if you get stuck on a step or if you just want some advise.


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## Converted2VW (Apr 8, 2009)

cool!
Thanks for sharing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

I will be posting some pictures later on.


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## crawler07 (Jun 16, 2009)

Is there enough room near the dp to just cut it in half if one wanted to do this on jackstands to make getting it out easier? Once I go stage 2 I don't plan to go back and the dp could always be welded up if I needed to go back to stock for some reason.


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## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

crawler07 said:


> Is there enough room near the dp to just cut it in half if one wanted to do this on jackstands to make getting it out easier? Once I go stage 2 I don't plan to go back and the dp could always be welded up if I needed to go back to stock for some reason.


There is room to cut it and make the downpipe a two pieces for removal however the upper portion(if you were to cut it) is a bulk fat piece of metal (cat)that you still have to "negotiate" with and clear it through the subframe. It probably took me like 5 minutes of tugging but it can be frustrating because the cat has two brackets that stick out and they get stuck on the tunnel shield and other components.

I also agree with you. I am not planning on doing anything else to it for a while, just an air filter but a drop in air filter.


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## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

Folks,

I have a few interesting updates and observations that I want to pass on:

1) The new power deliver is noticeable. The engine responds better and you can feel that extra 37lb-tq in the mid range. I am running the high torque output file for 91oct gas. The gains are like 20hp/37lb-tq 
2) The increase of noise is also noticeable. It does not create drone but it is definitely louder (this takes me to the third point)
3) Now I know that I don't need to buy the resonator delete. The car with the APR downpipe is already louder. I can imagine removing the rear resonator and replacing it with the resonator delete kit it would be just too much. I had my wife driving it half throttle and full throttle on my street and it is plenty loud at WOT. 
4) *Let me save you the time and hassle*. Please get your authorization code from whomever you purchased your APR downpipe from. I didn't know that you must provide an authorization code or otherwise you have to pay for the APR files(the ones that APR waives and the same ones worth like $179 when you go from stage I to stage II). Also plan for having access to your e-mail so that you can give the authorization to the shop so that they can burn the files.


Why am I saying this? well, m poor wife took my Audi S3 to get the car tune while I was at work, At first they ask for the authorization code. Secondly I went to lunch and I was out of reach so the shop and my wife had to wait until I finally logged in to my email account to click on the authorization e-mail from APR. We turned a 30 minute job into a 2 hours plus job 

Last but not least thanks to Greg from excelarate. He answer the phones quick and they have this immediate e-mail correspondence which makes the difference. Thanks Greg!


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## will13k7 (Aug 30, 2015)

nice write up! stage2 is perfect for these cars, after months of stage2 I have no desire for more. plenty fast to get you in a lot of trouble quickly.


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## LilJonny16 (Jan 13, 2009)

Thanks for the info OP!! I went ahead and installed my Ultimate Racing downpipe this past weekend. I did it on jack stands!!! More accurately, I did it on Jackpoint jack stands which don't sit as high. I previously did a downpipe install on my friends MK6 R on jack stands a few years ago. I figured i could do it on the S3 also and I did. It was actually pretty easy, IMO. I did bend some of the heat shielding a little bit while trying to remove the downpipe but that was more so because I was being impatient  

When removing the downpipe, just swing the back end around to the passenger side and then wiggle wiggle. Lol 

Also, while I don't think Ultimate Racing advertises it and I definitely wasn't expecting it, I haven't gotten a CEL. I've driven probably 75 miles so far.


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## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

^^ So are you running APR software? The ultimate racing has a great price, I didn't even knew that they had a downpipe for our cars but I knew the company for many years. Here is my take on the Ultimate racing deal:

Yes, it is cheaper initially but you have to pay shipping from Canada and the finish of the downpipe is obviously towards a budget product. It would still do the job(same power, same torque). Additionally, you would probably have to pay the extra for going from stage I to stage II.

I considered cheaper alternatives when I was purchasing my downpipe. I opted for APR for the incentive of not paying the fee for going stage II. At the end is all the matter of choices. By the way, did you even torque the bolts? V band, driveshaft, o2 sensor or did you just tightened? I spent a good portion of my time lifting the car up and down, and up and down and up and down (like 8-9 times) just triple checking things.


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## LilJonny16 (Jan 13, 2009)

I'm not running any software yet. I was waiting until I finally got around to installing the downpipe and intercooler. Downpipe is done and eventually I'll get to the intercooler. But APR is who I'm going to go with. 

When I bought my downpipe, APR hadn't released theirs yet. And while yes I kinda wanted APR's since they've started charging for Stage 2!!!  What happened to free software updates for life!!! I chose to go with Ultimate Racing because of the price. Even after APR's Stage 2 upgrade price, I still came out cheaper by $200. The Ultimate Racing downpipe seems to be quality piece to me. A metal pipe that holds hot air. I'll spend crazy amounts of money on other parts that serve a more significant purpose. But as you said, it's all about choice 

I didn't torque anything. The v-band and exhaust, I doubt I could crush or over-tighten them even I wanted to. But I used a little common sense with those. However, when tightening the bolts for the driveshaft I did break one. Lol. I didn't have a buddy to help and so I was using an impact gun. Which works by the way if you don't have a friend to assist. I had it tight but decided to pull the trigger one last time to make sure it was it good and bam, it broke off. It was the last bolt. I was so upset. No worries, the way the bolts hold the driveshaft in place, it won't be an issue removing it. Unfortunately the bolts are special order and won't be here until Wednesday.


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## [email protected] (Oct 12, 2011)

Nice work! :thumbup:


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## 27turbocars (Jun 26, 2016)

and here are the results :

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...mph-faster-on-the-1-4-mile-after-APR-stage-II


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