After much head scratching on which exhaust to purchase from the choices of miltek,blueflame,APR,magnex,powerflow,pipworx...etc etc....
I decided to take part in the blueflame group buy from nige at BCS automotive
WHY?
Why? Well that's obvious.....I have a stage 1 edition30 and for my plans to go stage 3 and good system that's tried and tested with good gains! I find the stage 1 edition30 very fast (301.1bhp) BUT it lacks in "feel" I think it's all good being pinned in the seat but you need to have a nice sound to add to the power
it adds to the effect and makes it "feel" like a more alive drive!
SOURCING
the system was purchased from Nigel at BCS automotive, the system is entailed with a blueflame rear section so please allow a few days for a BCS downpipe to be made....the reason for this is fittment issues from blueflameside of things
My system took around 1 week to be made up and posted out, please see the "group buy" section on the forum for the latest offer or PM Nigel direct
FITTING
fitting wasn't done by me as I'm useless..but I work for Volkswagen so I got the guys to fit the system for me
The tech that fitted it for me said he hopes it doesn't need to bent! He's fitted a miltek TBE to a personal friends S3...apparently he needed to help it fit correctly, the guys at work were amazed at the quality of the system,the welds were pure craft,pipes were bent perfectly,hangers all in the correct places,
All the required parts,clamps,bush converter were all included in the box so the only part I needed to buy was a turbo gasket, the fitting too around 40 mins and was hassle free, everything lined up as it should, nothing needed adjusting to stop knocking...it was hassle free
The reason the down pipe is BCS is due to the down pipe hitting the heatsheild so I'm told
OTHER VERSIONS
there are lots of other versions of TBE exhausts from miltek,APR,pipeworx etc etc
Many pepole have theses versions and they all have strong plus points.
PLUS POINTS
•power
•Torque increase
•sound improvement
•looks
When the system was fitted it started with a nice burble! I took the car for a test drive and it was like a rope was took off from its neck! Revs are much smoother, feels like it revs easy, power increase is noticeable as the there is alot less turbo lag and its power feels improved by what I'd estimate at around 8bhp ish (I haven't been mapped to it yet)
The sound is great! I did a test which was NOT TO TELL THE GIRLFRIEND! I didnt tell her at all, didn't even mention I've bought it
when it was fitted I went and picked her up...at start up it made a nice burble with the revs raised...she didn't notice (at this point I'm trying not to laugh) when I started driving she still hasn't noticed...when I got to around 5k she said "the car seems louder? Is it just me?" I said it's fine...nothings changed
Then we came to the slip road from were I live...I put the car in sport mode (she still hasn't clocked it) then I accelerated
Hard and then!...."you've bought a new bloody exhaust"
My reply...I sure have!. The noise is fine, I really really don't like drone but a miltek was to silent for me but the BCS system is bang on the mark, doesn't drone, nice pop when on over run, sounds epic when on the loud pedal! The sound is to die for and with mine being a DSG the pop is to die for! I've been getting 17mpg for the last 3 days
MINUS POINTS
none really! I can't fault it yet!
SUMMERY
to sum it all up! What's improved
•power
•sound
•looks
For the price and results achieved and the horror stories about milteks brackets braking I thought the BCS hybrid system is a clear winner! I wouldn't spend over 1K on a full TBE miltek with cat when the BCS system does all the miltek does but the BCD suits MY needs better as like I said "the miltek was to quiet"
The build quality was pure professional workmanship, another factor to consider is who do you want your money to go to?
Nigel is a nice chap who always replies to messages and questions, he's no hard sales man and his knowledge and advice is great, he appreciated my buisness such in today's economy is very important to me as id rather spend my hard earned £££ on someone that will offer a service and a product rather than just a product
I'll post some pictures of the system and report as to how im finding it after a few hundred miles
I'd like to say a big thanks to Nigel at BCS for all your help and for keeping me updated
Thanks for reading guys
Jack