[Guest]

Had my new exhaust and Apexi filter fitted by Gary (Evoboy) this weekend.

The exhaust system consists of
PE Downpipe
Magnex Decat
Blitz Nur Spec R cat back

I decided to go this route for 2 reasons

1. Firstly the Blitz follows a much straighter path than the OEM exhaust and other aftermarket exhausts that follow the OEM route.

It's still possible to fit the exhaust down this route without it being lower than the maximum travel of the axel so there should be no problem with bottoming the exhaust out.

2. With a minor mod to the Blitz the exhaust is now 3 all the way down

The blitz was modified to remove the restriction at the waist where it has to taper to join onto the standard cat

Before

After

A few other points to note

1. The OEM turbo elbow could be better, compare the OEM part to the PE downpipe.

2. The CAT looks very restrictive to me, almost like having a brick in the exhaust

The results

The sound is unbelievable! The combination of the Exhaust and Filter change the whole character of the car, it now sounds and feels like it should do. The car now pulls a lot better, most noticeably (and worryingly for me ) in 5th gear from 3k revs and up it pulls much better.

Have no mistake this exhaust is VERY loud, people do turn and look when they hear it, I feel like a boy racer! I now have to drop the car into neutral when I enter my housing estate and cruise onto my drive, I'm sure the neighbours will be up in arms if I didn't

The sound is also very invasive in the cabin although you can cruise at 70mph withit being no louder than the OEM exhaust, ANY extra gas at all though and you hear things immediately. I can see why this might irritate some people on long motorway trips although if it does all that is required is a bit of restraint to keep the car at low revs. Personally I love it

The other benefit from this exhaust was that school boy giggles I got when I saw my rear view mirror light up yellow and orange on the very first day driving home. It must have been a substantial flame too!

I'm not sure if it's just the new filter but when I come off the gas at high revs I get a nice PSSssst, maybe the OEM BOV? Anyway the Apexi filter sounds fantastic.

Fuel cut
The one and only drawback has been the immediate and thereafter intermittent fuel cut that I'm getting. I've only had this fitted since Saturday and haven't driven the car enough yet or pushed it too much (wearing new discs and pads in) but I've had fuel cut about 10 times so far.

I can't always recreate it but I have seen it happen sometimes when I'm cruising at 3k revs and I drop a gear and floor it, fuel cut happens at around 6k revs. It will also sometimes happen from standing starts when I floor it in every gear, fuel cut at about 6k revs in 2nd 3rd and 4th.

I need drive the car more and push it more before I can nail down when the cut is happening, maybe it's still the ECU getting use to the new setup and it will stop after a while? I wonder if an ECU reset might be a good idea anyway. For some reason I thought I was going to get fuel cut with this setup, oh well if it remains I'll have to bring the ECU remap forward a few months (my bank manager will love me!)

The fuel cut is really for info; I'll keep people posted on what happens with it as it may influence their choice of exhaust. What are other peoples experiences with the Nur spec R, decat and PE downpipe? If you have a similar setup (I know evoboy has) did you have any fuel cut? Do you still have the waist? Did you have an ECU remap at the same time, before or after the exhaust was fitted?

I suspect that the fuel cut may just be down to how unrestrictive the exhaust now is, with any luck it will go away, although its very intermittent at the moment and if I'm progressive on the gas it never happens, I can at least live with it till I get a remap done.

Well there you go that's my experiences with my new exhaust and filter, hope it's of some use to people.

Lastly I would just like to say a very big thank you to Gary (evoboy) (and his sidekick Dan) Gary put up with me watching him fit the exhaust and took time out to explain what he was doing and point out interesting parts of the process. Gary it was a pleasure to watch you work, I've never seen someone take more care over the car than I do myself, you treated the car like it was your own and I know that's not because I was watching! It's nice to know there are people out there who take pride in their work and give a toss about what they are doing. I'll be back again for more work!

Ta

Ryan

 

[Guest]

Excellent stuff mate!

To avoid the fuel cut, you need to either lower the boost or get an ECU remap / new ECU. I would recommend an A'PEXi Power FC ECU. It will replace your ECU and you can change all the settings with a remote control that comes with it. That way you can keep the ECU if you sell the car, which you couldnt if you get say a PE remap. It will cost the same as an AVCR and SAFC but you wont need the fuel pump and wont be overloading the injectors and using the fuel pump.

 

[Guest]

nice one mate...

question: on pic 1, the turbo down pipe looks like it turns in 90 degrees compared to the old one, is this the case??
question: does evoboy do this for a living, and is he willing to fit other stuff for other people??

lee

 

[Guest]

Claudius,
Yup I was ready to have to sort out the ECU, I hadn't considered the Power FC ECU but on first glance it does look good. how come you didn't go this route yourself?

I'll look into this some more

R

 

[Guest]

Lee,
The first picture doesn't have the OEM turbo elbow connected and the PE downpipe had to lie flat as it wasn't bolted to the rest of the exhuast, it should go up in the air like the OEM one, add the OEM turbo elbow and its the same angle and length

As for Evoboy, maybe he you should answer this one himself

Anyway I reserve the right to be told I'm wrong by Evoboy later but this is what I thought was going on. Evoboy is in the process of setting things up although it looks to me like there are just cosmetics left to do, painting the garage etc. Anyway from what I gather when things are ready Evospeed will be fully open and ready for customers. I'm sure he'd be willing to fit other things for MLR people before the grand opening, you'll have to ask him. Not sure what his plans are for making it his living but imho he has what it takes to do it.

They say a good relationship with your tuner is very important, I would imagine it would take some time and money to get to the level of relationship I already have with Evoboy (and this is only the first thing I've had done!) I'll be using him from now on for advice and if he's willing, for all work I have done to the car

Ryan

 

[Guest]

Original Post:
Claudius,
Yup I was ready to have to sort out the ECU, I hadn't considered the Power FC ECU but on first glance it does look good. how come you didn't go this route yourself?

I'll look into this some more

R

Because you learn with time. I have one on order. Email me and I will tell you how much it costs from Yellow5, sorry, I meant Fair Import.

 

[Guest]

Claudious is spot on with his advice,the Apexi Power FC,is in my opnion better than the Gems but the same money,it is something Im looking at.

Fuel cuts are not good for the engine so take it easy,it could cause a weakness that may show up later.

 

[Guest]

Claudius,
You have mail!

Are you getting the FC commander and boost control kit as well? If I go this route I think they are both must haves.

Barry,
Yup this does look like a good option, when you say same money is that including the boost controller kit and FC commander?

Hear what you are saying about fuel cut, if I'm progressive I don't have any problems at all, I'll keep an eye on things and try and avoid the situations where it happens until sort out the ECU.

Ta
Ryan

 

[Guest]

Ryan,
Nice review M8 , maybe u have a career oportunity in car journalism Thankyou 4 yr kind comments , much appreciated , customer satisfaction and quality of work r the primary objectives 4 Evospeed
Just shows how restrictive the standard exhaust and filter r when fuel cuts occur after just these changes , altho my special version of the Blitz installation is mostly responsible of course

Lee,
U have mail.

 

[Guest]

Gary,
Will you still be OK for fitting my clutch, first weekend in March?

Andy

 

[Guest]

evoboy: no mail yet......

lee

 

[Guest]

thanks mate, replied
lee

 

[Guest]

exhaust looks very good,glad you are happy.
one question,
when I'm cruising at 3k revs and I drop a gear and floor it, fuel cut happens at around 6k revs

Why would you drop it a gear when already at 3k ?

 

[Guest]

Good review Ryan and good workmanship Gary.
Ryan this is the sort of material Wastegate Chatter needs, whack it in Word and forward it to Brian ([email protected]) so non-internet peeps can enjoy your work too .

So whens the grand openning Gary?

 

[Guest]

JC, cause I'm a yob

HH6, I was planning to do something a little better to go on my website so when I've done that I'll send it into Brian as well

R

 

[Guest]

Barry - why do you think it is better than GEMS? Where can I get info on it?? Heard of it, but only by name.....

Is there tech info on the web somewhere?

Ta

 

[Guest]

Blade if you mean the Apexi power FC http://www.apexi-usa.com/electronics_fc.asp

From what little I've read it looks good although I havn't compared features with the GEMS yet

 

[Guest]

Firstly, great post, and has answer alot of questions i was afraid to ask, for fear of looking stupid.....opps......too late!

A few further questions:

On the OEM turbo elbow there is, what looks to be, a sensor. what is it?
without looking in my workshop manual (as i'm a lazy git and its 10.30pm), do you know if my 4 has got it?
and if it has where do you re-connect it (to yours or mine)?

The waist that you've had removed does it make that much differance? only asking because, being new to this game, i have not got access to people in the know at the moment (or welders for that matter).
and on the same question, have you removed the bolted conection altogether?

I will probably have exactly the same exhaust set as this ...when i can afford it.....i mean when the wifes not looking at my bank statement!...but SHHusshH..thats between us

Colie

 

[Guest]

Tony,the Power FC has a faster processor,and with the Commander you can monitor engine data in real time,and replay.

 

[Guest]

studmuffin ,
its the Lambda probe and it can be a b1tch to get out you reconnect it to the PE downpipe, it has a hole for it, you kinda need it to make the engine work

yup I would guess that your 4 has on.

As for the waist I'm not sure how much difference it makes as I never tried it without the waist, it just seems stupid to me to have 3 all the way and then have 2.5 half way down, so I cut it out, Evoboy did the same (in fact I copied him )

by bolted connection I guess you mean between the Nur spec and the CAT, yes this has gone and has been replaced with a weld, it should be easy enough for any welder to do but I'd suggest getting someone who knows about evo's to do it as you have to make sure it lines up correctly etc. also fitting the downpipe requires taking the rad out.

Where are you based then?

I guess my though was I may as well do it right the first time rather than arse about later

I guess the total cost for this was around about 1k |PLS|labour (not added it up yet )

R