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Author Topic: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted  (Read 12565 times)

Offline RedRobin

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2012, 09:11:01 am »
it worries me that some people...

Maybe you shouldn't worry so much what other people do? This DP seems to work perfectly, so it really doesn't make a big difference which catback you mate to it. Mainly it will just change the sound characters of the car. Its not like your changing the way engine works.

Its not a bad thing that people want to save money and not go with the unbelievably expensive exhaust options. IMHO they just dont represent a good value for money. So If someone wants to make his/her own combo, its perfectly fine and is certainly more rewarding for a person with a modification bug.


....I can respect what you are saying but I am only expressing concern for the sake of others reading this thread and following the examples. There's more to performance exhaust systems than just the sound. You say: "This DP seems to work perfectly" - The term "seems" does not fill someone with confidence. Perhaps you don't know that a very expensive and very important component in a performance exhaust system is the catalyst which uses precious metals.

Of course if someone wants to make their own combo it's entirely up to them and makes no difference to me, but do they really know better than the specialists who have spent years of time and investment in producing high performance exhaust systems fit for purpose?

Each to their own of course but I'm just sharing my opinion  :smiley:
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 09:12:46 am by RedRobin »


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Offline Powervalve Nige

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #16 on: September 13, 2012, 09:25:12 am »
The problem you need to be aware of is the braided flex liner.
As the gasses super heat the flex braid expands dramatically and chokes the flow of the system. Unfortunately it has no memory and stays in its expanded position, the net result will be a dramatic loss of performance.
The only reliable product suitable for this application is the stainless steel 'i - LOK' flex.
So if you are going down the path of upgrading your performance you need to be aware of this. In other words a loss of power may take some time for an un educated (on this matter) technician to diagnose, especially as outwardly the flex will appear structurally sound.
That is of course if it doesn't snap first - at just over 100mm in length it is no where near long enough to absorb the transverse torque of the 2.0 TFSi especially when tuned - it needs to be at least 200mm to prevent this (Just look at the OEM DP for evidence on this and feel how flexible it by comparison.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news but hey knowledge ahead of the event can save money in the long run.

Cheers
Nige


Offline RedRobin

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #17 on: September 13, 2012, 09:33:01 am »

The problem you need to be aware of is the braided flex liner.
As the gasses super heat the flex braid expands dramatically and chokes the flow of the system. Unfortunately it has no memory and stays in its expanded position, the net result will be a dramatic loss of performance.
The only reliable product suitable for this application is the stainless steel 'i - LOK' flex.
So if you are going down the path of upgrading your performance you need to be aware of this. In other words a loss of power may take some time for an un educated (on this matter) technician to diagnose, especially as outwardly the flex will appear structurally sound.
That is of course if it doesn't snap first - at just over 100mm in length it is no where near long enough to absorb the transverse torque of the 2.0 TFSi especially when tuned - it needs to be at least 200mm to prevent this (Just look at the OEM DP for evidence on this and feel how flexible it by comparison.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news but hey knowledge ahead of the event can save money in the long run.

Cheers
Nige

....This is exactly the sort of expert information which people should be taking notice of and why I would not ignorantly attempt a Heath Robinson experimental approach whether I have a modding bug or not. Cheap eBay products are generally simply not to be trusted in my opinion.

Pay peanuts and you get monkeys.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 09:34:35 am by RedRobin »


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Offline JMP

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #18 on: September 13, 2012, 10:33:55 am »
....I can respect what you are saying but I am only expressing concern for the sake of others reading this thread and following the examples. There's more to performance exhaust systems than just the sound. You say: "This DP seems to work perfectly" - The term "seems" does not fill someone with confidence. Perhaps you don't know that a very expensive and very important component in a performance exhaust system is the catalyst which uses precious metals.

Im aware of the function of catalysator, thank you very much. I used the word "seems" because I have only my own limited user experiences & logs about this and Im not trying to sell anyone anything or provide you with confidence. You might have your own reasons to buy an exhaust system and so did I. So it might fail or not, I didnt plan for it last me 10 years anyway because I will most likely change my car in couple of years. Experiences about ebay decat pipes lasting well (even the flex joint) insprired my purchase. I do my own work so I can swap it out and change the flex section if it breaks, but as I have stated I have mounts so maybe it doesn't. I have heard stories about Milltek joints breaking, so that doesnt inspire confidence either. The flex joints are quite short with APR & Milltek also.

I dont want to fight about this, I know people tend to buy the products by brand names but be as precious metals as you keep saying, most of the downpipes are still grossly overpriced. This example worked for my application, if your not happy with it then you can just cry about it  :P



Offline RedRobin

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #19 on: September 13, 2012, 10:44:16 am »

I dont want to fight about this, I know people tend to buy the products by brand names but be as precious metals as you keep saying, most of the downpipes are still grossly overpriced. This example worked for my application, if your not happy with it then you can just cry about it  :P


....No problem, mate  :happy2:

As I said before, I'm just expressing and sharing my opinions. I'm not unhappy about what other folks decide to buy - Folks can and will make up their own minds. As a car enthusiast community we merely share our opinions and mine happens to be different from yours on the subject of exhaust systems.


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Offline JMP

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #20 on: September 13, 2012, 10:45:08 am »
The problem you need to be aware of is the braided flex liner.
As the gasses super heat the flex braid expands dramatically and chokes the flow of the system. Unfortunately it has no memory and stays in its expanded position, the net result will be a dramatic loss of performance.
The only reliable product suitable for this application is the stainless steel 'i - LOK' flex.
So if you are going down the path of upgrading your performance you need to be aware of this. In other words a loss of power may take some time for an un educated (on this matter) technician to diagnose, especially as outwardly the flex will appear structurally sound.
That is of course if it doesn't snap first - at just over 100mm in length it is no where near long enough to absorb the transverse torque of the 2.0 TFSi especially when tuned - it needs to be at least 200mm to prevent this (Just look at the OEM DP for evidence on this and feel how flexible it by comparison.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news but hey knowledge ahead of the event can save money in the long run.

Cheers
Nige



Do you have example pictures about the deformed flex liners? I have yet to see an example of that happening in our cars.. The liner is in between two braids sections in this DP so there's not much room for the liner to protrude inside the 3" pipe even if it tried to deform. You right that the OEMP DP is in its own leaque in the lenght of the flex section, the section is a lot shorter in all aftermarket applications. Atleast Milltek and APR are very short also and similar lenght to this ebay pipe. I didnt google what the BCS dp looks like, but Im sure its great :)

Offline Powervalve Nige

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #21 on: September 13, 2012, 11:24:51 am »
Before the advent of 'i - LOK' technology believe it or not the flex joints had no liners at all leaving the convoluted flex hose visible and exposed to absorb this hostile environment on it's own.
Very quickly the short comings of this solution to transverse motion were exposed at this end of the performance spectrum, in spite of the fact that the development of the flexible de coupler by Senior Flexonics had been a life saver to the automotive industry after the problematic and completely inadequate - from a warranty perspective mechanical spherical joints - (Those that remember virtually the entire British Leyland range relying on this design - and the subsequent growth in the exhaust fast industry growing in response to the need for replacement every twelve months  :grin: - will bear this out).
So the inner braid was the first solution, a design which was copied by both Indian and Chinese manufacturers supplying predominantly fluid flexible solutions not gas - sadly it fails to give the structural integrity over a long period that the 'i - LOK' gives, which in itself, inspite of what manufacturers tell you is not a totally 'bomb proof' design. The key to minimising the products failure risk (at this level) is to ensure on high performance applications that the flexible joint is sufficiently long enough to absorb both the mechanical energy and heat energy (Those of us that remember the 1st law of thermodynamics from our school days will understand this) in order to prevent the transference from causing the flex to crack or in the case of the braided inner style balooning as described in my earlier post.

As JMP says though this part can be replaced and a superior unit welded back into position as both the inlet and out let straight sections appear long enough to take a longer version - it would just be nicer for the owner not to have to undertake the hassle of this if it occurs  :happy2:

Cheers
Nige
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 01:59:23 pm by nige bcs »

Offline jammy78

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #22 on: October 08, 2012, 09:23:18 pm »
Well it's been on for nearly 2 months & I haven't noticed a drop in performance at all!?

The real test is coming up, either this weekend or next..... I'm taking it to Halfrauds Autocentre for the MOT (50% discount), so if they pass the emissions - every tester will!!!
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Offline sub39h

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2012, 12:12:32 am »

The problem you need to be aware of is the braided flex liner.
As the gasses super heat the flex braid expands dramatically and chokes the flow of the system. Unfortunately it has no memory and stays in its expanded position, the net result will be a dramatic loss of performance.
The only reliable product suitable for this application is the stainless steel 'i - LOK' flex.
So if you are going down the path of upgrading your performance you need to be aware of this. In other words a loss of power may take some time for an un educated (on this matter) technician to diagnose, especially as outwardly the flex will appear structurally sound.
That is of course if it doesn't snap first - at just over 100mm in length it is no where near long enough to absorb the transverse torque of the 2.0 TFSi especially when tuned - it needs to be at least 200mm to prevent this (Just look at the OEM DP for evidence on this and feel how flexible it by comparison.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news but hey knowledge ahead of the event can save money in the long run.

Cheers
Nige

....This is exactly the sort of expert information which people should be taking notice of and why I would not ignorantly attempt a Heath Robinson experimental approach whether I have a modding bug or not. Cheap eBay products are generally simply not to be trusted in my opinion.

Pay peanuts and you get monkeys.

No offence RR but sometimes I get the impression that you think that throwing money at something will make it better. I generally agree with the adage "pay cheap, pay twice", but i feel you're very quick to sing the praises of brands with known weaknesses whilst totally ignoring their limitations. Case in point: rubbish welding on Millteks. All the development you value so highly and money you spend, and you still got a shoddy product. They may have improved their designs now, but I think there's more to it than how much you pay or the fact it's from eBay.

This DP may still be rubbish. Only time will tell. But writing it off with no prior experience isn't fair
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Offline Dan648v

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #24 on: October 09, 2012, 12:17:49 am »
^^  :happy2:
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Offline RedRobin

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #25 on: October 09, 2012, 09:56:11 am »

No offence RR but sometimes I get the impression that you think that throwing money at something will make it better. I generally agree with the adage "pay cheap, pay twice", but i feel you're very quick to sing the praises of brands with known weaknesses whilst totally ignoring their limitations. Case in point: rubbish welding on Millteks. All the development you value so highly and money you spend, and you still got a shoddy product. They may have improved their designs now, but I think there's more to it than how much you pay or the fact it's from eBay.

This DP may still be rubbish. Only time will tell. But writing it off with no prior experience isn't fair


....I totally accept what you are saying, and no offence is taken whatsoever  :happy2:

I'm only flagging the need for caution in buying products which are yet to be proven. Rightly or wrongly, I do start off with a prejudice against stuff offered on eBay which isn't from the manufacturers/suppliers who already have a well established reputation which I feel I can trust.

I haven't experienced the weaknesses of some products which some folks report, so I can't always agree. Where I have experienced weaknesses and they have been put right with excellent service etc, I can't see any justification in me trashing their reputation.

I wish I had more money to throw!  :laugh: - I don't want much, I just want a lot of it!


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Offline jammy78

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #26 on: October 10, 2012, 01:14:57 pm »
Lucky this cat was cheap, as I've had a change of plans... new job  :congrats: = need to get a diesel  :sad1: ..... so I'm putting the car back to standard!  I want to look for cars at the weekend & may p/x it..... so haven't got time to risk it failing the MOT.

So someone else will have to be the guinea pig!
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Offline martziniuk

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #27 on: October 13, 2012, 08:48:53 am »
In the link on the first post it's now £2390 to buy one of these!  :surprised:
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Offline JMP

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #28 on: October 13, 2012, 04:12:45 pm »
In the link on the first post it's now £2390 to buy one of these!  :surprised:

You get what you pay for! dont be cheap  :happy2:

Offline jammy78

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Re: Ebay Sports Cat 100cell.... Pics & Fitted
« Reply #29 on: October 22, 2012, 09:31:45 am »
In the link on the first post it's now £2390 to buy one of these!  :surprised:

Still...... a BARGAIN!
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