So here is my first proper update for 2013. Saturday saw another visit to Alex at AKS to have a few bits fitted which I had collected over the last few months. These were a full S3 brake setup, Darkside Developments DPF delete and full Milltek.
Here's how I got on.
Before photos of standard front and rear brakes:
Front brakes fitted waiting to be bled. Also with my freshly powder coated GTD brake clips:
Side view:
Once all the brakes had been bled through it was time to fit the exhaust. First up was the 3" Darkside DPF delete. Lovely piece of kit. Nicely made. A bit too nice to not be seen really. I chose the Darkside pipe over the Milltek one as first of all it was cheaper, even with any discount that was to be had on the Milltek. And now I have seen it, the quality. The first thing Alex said was how well made it was. It has a longer flexi which helps stop any cracking issues. Another thing with the Darkside pipe is you can junk off most of the sensors. It only retains the lambda sensor. Pressure sensor pipework was binned leaving it connected but blanked off. Also the two DPF temperature sensors are now redundant and tied up out the way. We did try disconnecting them but it threw a fault. They can be mapped out however if I ever wanted to.
DPF delete and Milltek 3" - 2.75" adaptor:
Photo showing standard DPF junk against the Darkside pipe.
The manky old system was removed:
DPF delete fitted:
Once the rest of the system had been fitted we ended up with this:
Some did ask in General Chat why I had had the backbox painted. This is because the older Milltek backboxes were a bit deeper than the standard ones so sat lower than the bumper. With them being shiny it would stand out too much and I didn't want that.
Photo's showing backbox before and after:
Here are a few photo's from when I got home behind the 17" Classix. Not the best and is in desperate need of a clean.
I must say both the modifications have made a noticeable difference. Brakes are strong and still retains good feel through the pedal. Having the DPF delete and exhaust has also made for a pleasing exhaust note and help it breathe better. Pulls like a train now. It wasn't bad before but at times it did feel a little asthmatic.
Overall pleased with both of these.
A big thanks to Alex. As always great quality of work and attention to detail even though it took a lot longer than anticipated.
Next stop is DMR for an enhancement detail on Saturday. Time to work your magic Greeners
