Comments on DIY APR downpipe install and EPL Stage 2 tune

[OlyS6]

I finished installing my downpipes this weekend and did it myself with handtools and using a jack and jackstands, as I don't have a lift.

Keeping in mind that I'm no mechanic, everything went well in the end, but took me longer than anticipated (between 8 and 9 hours). I would imagine having a lift and fancier tools would have made it significantly quicker. An extra set of hands would have been hugely helpful in several areas as well (primarily attaching the midpipes- although straightforward, I found it annoying as I kept having one-end or the other of a midpipe sliding out and falling before I could get the clamps tightened).

Although the APR install instructions are quite good, and the pictures are all spot on, there are a few areas that I thought could have saved me some grief and some time had I known better:

1) There isn't a list of required tools. I imagine any home mechanic worth their salt has everything required at arms length, but I needed to make a run for some extension arms for my socket wrenches to get at some hard to reach places. With that said, the bare minimum tools for the job:

Socket wrenches with extension arms (6 inches would work in most hard to reach places), for nut sizes 10 and 13mm.
Torx bits or Torx screwdrivers, size 25, 30, and 50.
A pry tool for the plastic push-tabs in various spots.
A Phillips-head screwdriver for the 7 screws on the belly pan.
A 22mm wrench or oxygen sensor wrench- my 22mm wrench was way too big to fit in the tight spaces for the original O2 sensor locations, and I wound up just using a vice grip on those, which worked out ok.

Recommended:

A Vagcom cable and VCDS software to check any fault codes that arise- I had to diagnose that one of the downstream O2 sensors wasn't working because the end of its harness became detached during the install. I likely would have had a MUCH harder time figuring this out without it.

Also recommended:

1) Vibrant J shaped O2 spacers, part 11619. These are available on amazon as well as from Eurosport tuning. Mine arrived from Eurosport within 3 days of ordering them.

2) A tube of Permatex muffler and tailpipe sealant. I found (the hard way) that butt-joints between the APR downpipes and midpipes are much more prone to an exhaust leak than the OEM flange joints. Adding a 1/4" ring of this paste to the end of each downpipe completely eliminated the exhaust leaks that I found after I first completed the install.

'Trouble spots'

1) Although the pictures are technically accurate, some of them are very deceiving in my opinion. Attaching the new downpipes brackets to the downpipes and the transmission is essentially impossible to do from underneath the vehicle, as is shown in the pictures. You just can't get the supplied 13mm nuts that go onto the spring bolts in place from underneath the vehicle, unless you're a magician. It can be done by hand from above, given that the downpipes take up much less room over the transmission than the stock downpipes and cats do. This was about the only time I was glad I wasn't using a lift during the entire process.

2) Take heed on the picture regarding removing the bulkhead with the heatshield. On mine, the rubber molding on the bottom of it kept pulling off part-way, preventing it from fully re-seating later on, which led to me smelling exhaust fumes in the cabin once the install was complete, and I found that the bulkhead was not seated properly.

3) The clamps provided to attach the downpipes to the midpipes work well, but they can be a huge pain to tighten unless you have at least a 6 inch extension arm on your socket wrench- it's a very tight space to work in.

4) I found the text regarding the new wiring harnesses for the O2 sensors confusing. The bottom line is that sensors number 2 on both sides have to criss-cross over the transmission to the opposite mid-pipes, because the original stock downpipes crossed over each other behind the engine. For example, sensor number 2 on the right (passenger) originates from the right side of the engine, but has to be routed over the transmission and ultimately the sensor attaches to the left (drivers side) catalytic converter.

5) Speaking of the right (passenger's side) second oxygen sensor, the brown plastic harness connectors are really difficult to access, as the factory has them fixed with tabs to the underside of the transmission and are difficult to reach. The pictures make it look easy to access. It's not.

6) If you decide to use the J-shaped O2 spacers, attach them to the midpipes before you install the midpipes!! I learned this the hard way and had to take the midpipes back out of the car when I realized that there was no room to screw in the O2 spacers- super frustrating...

7) Strangely, the APR instructions leave out the fact that you have to re-install oxygen sensors number 1 on both sides (it goes over removing them from the original downpipes, but not replacing them back onto the new downpipes). This is easy, as they maintain the same relationship they had in the car and the same spots on the APR downpipes as they were on the factory downpipes (left sensor 1 stays on the left side, right sensor 1 stays on the right side).

Although I'm ultimately glad I did and learned quite a bit more about the overall process, it took me quite a bit longer than I had anticipated.

The good news is that I also flashed the EPL Stage 2 tune this weekend, and it has been a blast! I wound up putting a little over 100 miles on it this weekend with the new downpipes and the new tune, and thus far the O2 spacers seem to be working, as it has not thrown a CEL.

I hope this is mildly helpful, and would encourage anyone who is even minimally handy to give it a try if they are so inclined- if I can do it successfully, I'm sure everyone else here can.

[nefkntym]

Pretty spot on for this write up. I started my downpipe install yesterday evening and finished it up this afternoon. Car sounds great, feels a little more responsive and I am going to contact EPL tomorrow about getting a stage 2 tune. Looking forward to it.

I used the same vibrant 02 spacers from amazon as well. I used the smallest restrictor, but so far no cel either.

[kpriv]

Great write up. Thank you!


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[ryanlada]

Pretty spot on for this write up. I started my downpipe install yesterday evening and finished it up this afternoon. Car sounds great, feels a little more responsive and I am going to contact EPL tomorrow about getting a stage 2 tune. Looking forward to it.

I used the same vibrant 02 spacers from amazon as well. I used the smallest restrictor, but so far no cel either.

Agreed. This is pretty much my exact experience. We didn't pay close enough attention to the instructions on the downpipe brackets and wasted a lot of time by trying to install them on the wrong side. The passenger side bolted right up, the drivers wouldn't. Turned out I had them flipped. Pay close attention to the instructions, it tells you that the offset bracket goes on the passenger side.

[DGVR6]

Wow.. that dam 13mm bolt on the tranny was a bitch to remove. Just couldn't get anything to fit. Had to remove the heat shield by the axle to get a good grip

[Clipse3GT]

Free Bump! I will be tackling this project in the new two weeks. Thanks for the tips!

[Krueger]

So I just added Milltek Large Bore downpipes to my 2017 S6. I had a lift for the installation along with two friends to help. I ran into similar issues with the APR instructions...mainly with reinstalling the bulkhead. Mine wasn't seated properly either the first time. I also got exhaust fumes in the cabin. It took removing/installing it two more times to get it seated properly (I could do it now with my eyes closed lol). I definitely recommend having somebody around who has dealt with the bulkhead before if you are going to attempt this. My advice on the bulkhead is this: if the two torx screws that go through the bulkhead and attach to the plastic pieces on the strut tower brace don't line up perfectly, chances are the bulkhead isn't seated properly. Also, if the rain tray doesn't sit perfectly once everything is back together...chances are the bulkhead isn't lined up properly. A third way to tell is to look at the heat shield attached to the bulkhead and then the head shield attached to the firewall directly below it. If the edges aren't parallel and flush, the bulkhead isn't seated properly. You shouldn't be able to see the firewall at all when looking back at the two sections of heat shield.

Another minor (but majorly annoying thing): the APR instructions left out the bracket attached to the top of the strut tower brace on the drivers side. I had to dig for photos online to be sure I had it installed properly.

I considered the APR downpipes, they are almost half the price of the Milltek kit. I was ready to pull the trigger but I thought about it some more and decided against them at the last second. This was for a number of reasons: #1 I decided I didn't like how the pipes themselves were engineered. I really don't like that they use butt joints to mate the primary and secondary downpipes. That section of the pipes right by the flex joints is under a lot of stress...I feel as though they would need to be re-adjusted and retightened after a while due to the engine/tranny torquing back and forth. I HATE exhaust leaks and I just didn't want to have to worry about that down the road. Milltek and the OEM system use a welded flange/gasket assembly...that IMHO is much better design. My guess is that APR didn't use them in an effort to keep the cost low.
#2 I don't like how they relocate the rear oxygen sensors. I don't like fishing wiring through my car...yes I understand its very simple but just knowing that I have wires fished/zip-tied in places they aren't supposed to be bothers the heck out of me. Also, I don't like the way they look under the car...the way the wiring comes out from under the underbody paneling looks kinda hack-ish to me. If the sensors were in that position from the factory, they would be secured and routed to that location along both sides of the tranmission.

[OlyS6]

So I just added Milltek Large Bore downpipes to my 2017 S6. I had a lift for the installation along with two friends to help. I ran into similar issues with the APR instructions...mainly with reinstalling the bulkhead. Mine wasn't seated properly either the first time. I also got exhaust fumes in the cabin. It took removing/installing it two more times to get it seated properly (I could do it now with my eyes closed lol). I definitely recommend having somebody around who has dealt with the bulkhead before if you are going to attempt this. My advice on the bulkhead is this: if the two torx screws that go through the bulkhead and attach to the plastic pieces on the strut tower brace don't line up perfectly, chances are the bulkhead isn't seated properly. Also, if the rain tray doesn't sit perfectly once everything is back together...chances are the bulkhead isn't lined up properly. A third way to tell is to look at the heat shield attached to the bulkhead and then the head shield attached to the firewall directly below it. If the edges aren't parallel and flush, the bulkhead isn't seated properly. You shouldn't be able to see the firewall at all when looking back at the two sections of heat shield.

Another minor (but majorly annoying thing): the APR instructions left out the bracket attached to the top of the strut tower brace on the drivers side. I had to dig for photos online to be sure I had it installed properly.

I considered the APR downpipes, they are almost half the price of the Milltek kit. I was ready to pull the trigger but I thought about it some more and decided against them at the last second. This was for a number of reasons: #1 I decided I didn't like how the pipes themselves were engineered. I really don't like that they use butt joints to mate the primary and secondary downpipes. That section of the pipes right by the flex joints is under a lot of stress...I feel as though they would need to be re-adjusted and retightened after a while due to the engine/tranny torquing back and forth. I HATE exhaust leaks and I just didn't want to have to worry about that down the road. Milltek and the OEM system use a welded flange/gasket assembly...that IMHO is much better design. My guess is that APR didn't use them in an effort to keep the cost low.
#2 I don't like how they relocate the rear oxygen sensors. I don't like fishing wiring through my car...yes I understand its very simple but just knowing that I have wires fished/zip-tied in places they aren't supposed to be bothers the heck out of me. Also, I don't like the way they look under the car...the way the wiring comes out from under the underbody paneling looks kinda hack-ish to me. If the sensors were in that position from the factory, they would be secured and routed to that location along both sides of the tranmission.

I've mentioned elsewhere that in retrospect, I wish I'd known about the AMS downpipes before I went and did the APR installation- for many of the reasons you've pointed out. I worry about your exhaust in the cabin, though- while the bulkhead needs to be properly seated, exhaust in the cabin is most likely secondary to an actual exhaust leak at one of your exhaust connections. The only way I finally diagnosed mine was by using the blower function on a shopvac, and blowing air into one of the tailpipes while sealing off all of the other tailpipes (car not running, and engine cold, of course). I then found air hissing out of the driver's side butt-joint between the downpipe and midpipe- it took using an exhaust sealant to fix it, as tightening down on the clamps and fiddling with the exact position of the pipes didn't change anything. I also have to say that even though I've tried contacting APR several times regarding this issue and sending them pictures of the offending downpipe (one edge was somewhat flattened right out of the box), I've never gotten a single response from them. Although everything is now working fine and my car is running great, I am unlikely to be a returning APR customer or recommend them to anyone. The only thing that could sway my decision otherwise is if/when I'm ready to go Stage 3 and if APR is the only tune available. I imagine that EPL will likely have a Stage 3 tune at some point...

[Krueger]

I haven't had fumes in the cabin since I fixed the bulkhead so I'm good there.

I've been skeptical of APR's exhaust products since I had their downpipes on my B6 S4. Those were the biggest POS. They never fit properly, the build quality was terrible and the CATs they used at that time were worthless. Several people told me their exhaust products have improved significantly over the past few years so that's why I gave them another look. I went through the same thing with my S3...I considered the APR downpipes & ended up going with a full Milltek setup. Milltek has never done me wrong, the CATs they use are absolutely top-notch. The absence of raw exhaust smell is probably the #1 thing I look for. Even though the milltek setup was a lot more money, I knew 100% for sure that my exhaust wouldn't smell. Sooo that's why I'm a repeat customer.

APR has chosen their price point very well...their downpipes are expensive enough to where you don't feel like you are buying a crappy product but cheap enough (compared to competitors) to where everyone in the market has to consider them as an option.

APR should just stick to software...I've had many of their tunes and they've always been fantastic.

I'm going to make a detailed post about the exhaust setup on my S6...a lot of fabrication was required and each component was chosen individually.

[Krueger]

I do have another question for you...why did you need get the Vibrant O2 sensor spacers?

[OlyS6]

I do have another question for you...why did you need get the Vibrant O2 sensor spacers?

Because the APR downpipes position their cats beneath the vehicle, rather than in the stock position right behind the engine. Because of this, they run colder and therefore less efficiently. Without spacers, you'll get a check engine light for a CEL. The Vibrant spacers have been successfully used by several folks on these forums to help trick the O2 sensors into thinking that the cats are running just as efficiently as in the stock position. APR simply codes out the secondary O2 sensors in their tunes so you don't get a check engine light. EPL does not code these out, hence the need for the spacers so I wouldn't be driving around with a check engine light. I get the benefit of flashing the tune from home (and back to stock) while also not getting a check engine light in either the stock or tuned configuration. Everything has been working great, although in retrospect it may have been worth the additional cost to go with different downpipes instead. We'll see how things go- I have over 1000 miles in this configuration with an EPL stage 2 tune and no check engine light. If it becomes a repetetive issue, I'll likely go through the pain of swapping out for different downpipes.

[Krueger]

Oh, I wasn't aware they turned off the rear O2 sensors. Is that true for all of their tunes? I'm definitely not going to go through the trouble of getting extension harnesses for my rear O2s then. Right now my rear sensors are plugged into the stock-ish locations on the Milltek downpipes. If this is true, you just saved me several hundred dollars, thank you lol

[nefkntym]

Pretty spot on for this write up. I started my downpipe install yesterday evening and finished it up this afternoon. Car sounds great, feels a little more responsive and I am going to contact EPL tomorrow about getting a stage 2 tune. Looking forward to it.

I used the same vibrant 02 spacers from amazon as well. I used the smallest restrictor, but so far no cel either.

Just a quick update, I did get a CEL after a couple of days.. I cleared it and it was gone for the next week. I ultimately pulled off the APR downpipes and installed AMS downpipes to avoid the issues you guys stated above. The APRs sold and I am loving the AMS units. They are more responsive than APR units most likely because of the bigger CATs and I have had no CELs since the install with no spacers on a EPL stage 2 tune.

[OlyS6]

Just a quick update, I did get a CEL after a couple of days.. I cleared it and it was gone for the next week. I ultimately pulled off the APR downpipes and installed AMS downpipes to avoid the issues you guys stated above. The APRs sold and I am loving the AMS units. They are more responsive than APR units most likely because of the bigger CATs and I have had no CELs since the install with no spacers on a EPL stage 2 tune.

Although I'm tempted to go that route as well, thus far my APR downpipes are working fine with the O2 spacers and no issues- with finite resources, there are other mods I want to spend money on first- it also pains me to think of going through the pain of pulling out the downpipes and putting in new ones.

[carx7]

This was a good read. Thanks to the OP and contributors.

I have an RS7 with Miltek exhaust and APR stage II. I recently installed 042 o2 spacers at the recommendation of my shop (local APR dealer) so I could set readiness and pass the OBDII check for state inspection.

They cannot get readiness to set and the most recent advice they got (from APR I believe) is that my only option is to re-install the factory down pipes :/ Has anyone else been successful NOT doing this? I guess I need to read up on the AMS downpipes, but am unclear how they work with a stage II tune (more research for me! :)

I realize I'm driving a modded car... was just hoping that the spacers would work as advertised since there was no point in buying them if I'm just going to have to swap back to stock pipes anyway to get readiness set.

many thanks.

-Chris

[OlyS6]

This was a good read. Thanks to the OP and contributors.

I have an RS7 with Miltek exhaust and APR stage II. I recently installed 042 o2 spacers at the recommendation of my shop (local APR dealer) so I could set readiness and pass the OBDII check for state inspection.

They cannot get readiness to set and the most recent advice they got (from APR I believe) is that my only option is to re-install the factory down pipes :/ Has anyone else been successful NOT doing this? I guess I need to read up on the AMS downpipes, but am unclear how they work with a stage II tune (more research for me! :)

I realize I'm driving a modded car... was just hoping that the spacers would work as advertised since there was no point in buying them if I'm just going to have to swap back to stock pipes anyway to get readiness set.

many thanks.

-Chris

Are you getting any errors with the spacers, (too rich or to lean), or are the sensors just not getting to a ready state? I've read of folks trying to force readiness via VCDS, but have not seen a step-by-step guide on it. To the best of my knowledge, driving the car under different conditions for a few days should do the trick to get the sensors to readiness(regular driving alternating with driving it like you stole it)


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[OlyS6]

Are you getting any errors with the spacers, (too rich or to lean), or are the sensors just not getting to a ready state? I've read of folks trying to force readiness via VCDS, but have not seen a step-by-step guide on it. To the best of my knowledge, driving the car under different conditions for a few days should do the trick to get the sensors to readiness(regular driving alternating with driving it like you stole it)


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You should not have to switch to factory downpipes... if all else fails, you might try the Vibrant j-shaped spacers. with the smallest flow restrictors.


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[carx7]

The local APR shop is forcing readiness through VCDS, but it immediately trips the CEL once readiness is set. They tried a few times several weeks ago and suggested the 042 spacers. So I picked those up and installed them. Took the car back today and after 3 hours of trying, each time readiness set the CEL came on. I did not think to ask about the specific Code, I just knew it was secondary o2 related.

I thought (in my head) switching downpipes was no big deal until they said 7hrs of shop time and I'm reading 8-9 here. I'm pretty competent DIY guy, just didn't want to sink a day :). I'll check out the vibrant. Also posting a pic of the new 042 spacers.... so pretty.

[carx7]

The local APR shop is forcing readiness through VCDS, but it immediately trips the CEL once readiness is set. They tried a few times several weeks ago and suggested the 042 spacers. So I picked those up and installed them. Took the car back today and after 3 hours of trying, each time readiness set the CEL came on. I did not think to ask about the specific Code, I just knew it was secondary o2 related.

I thought (in my head) switching downpipes was no big deal until they said 7hrs of shop time and I'm reading 8-9 here. I'm pretty competent DIY guy, just didn't want to sink a day :). I'll check out the vibrant. Also posting a pic of the new 042 spacers.... so pretty.

042 spacers I'm using.

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[kpriv]

another spacer option you can look into are the ones from fabspeed. Little more expensive, but they have a mini cat in them which might help, and perhaps more importantly, they are 2-piece so you should be able to get them on/off without having to undo other parts of the exhaust. As Oly found out the hard way, you have to loosen the midpipe to catback portion of the exhaust to screw in the vibrant spacers.

[carx7]

another spacer option you can look into are the ones from fabspeed. Little more expensive, but they have a mini cat in them which might help, and perhaps more importantly, they are 2-piece so you should be able to get them on/off without having to undo other parts of the exhaust. As Oly found out the hard way, you have to loosen the midpipe to catback portion of the exhaust to screw in the vibrant spacers.

I was able to just get my 042s in without moving the exhaust, but could see how a little bit more length would be an issue. These look awesome. Wonder how durable that " mini cat" is? Bummer that this is going to be more trial and error than science.

[OlyS6]

another spacer option you can look into are the ones from fabspeed. Little more expensive, but they have a mini cat in them which might help, and perhaps more importantly, they are 2-piece so you should be able to get them on/off without having to undo other parts of the exhaust. As Oly found out the hard way, you have to loosen the midpipe to catback portion of the exhaust to screw in the vibrant spacers.

Correct- would try different spacers if you're throwing a CEL. Several of us have had good luck with the Vibrant using the smalllest restrictors, but as Kpriv mentioned, can be annoying to put on, but no where near the pain of swapping downpipes. Should take less than an hour. The fabspeed ones Kpriv mentioned may be a quicker install for you.


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[flyfishing]

Was there a thread that said not to use exhaust sealer and to have them welded on?

[OlyS6]

Was there a thread that said not to use exhaust sealer and to have them welded on?

I don't believe so, but there was a recent thread regarding exhaust leaks between the APR downpipes and mid pipe where the OP used a dremel to cutaway a small amount of the overlapping sleeve clamp, and found he got a much better fitment with no exhaust leak by doing that. I personally wound up just using permatex exhaust sealant on the edges of my downpipes and mid pipes, and have not had an issue in the past 6 months and 10,000 miles (I drive it daily). If the leak recurs, I'll either try to slightly modify the overlapping portions of the sleeve clamps, or just say screw it and go with AMS downpipes instead, which I'm kind of wishing I'd done to avoid an issue with spacers or exhaust leak in the first place. Lesson learned...

[DGVR6]

Going to order fabspeed for my catless let you guys know if it works

[kpriv]

Going to order fabspeed for my catless let you guys know if it works

I have a set sitting in my garage that I purchased from Krueger (on this thread) after he was done with them. He said they worked on his setup but he added cats so no longer needed them. I bought them for two reasons (1) if I ever flash back to stock to take the car to the dealer, I'd throw them on so the car doesn't pop a CEL while they are working on it and (2) figured they would be easy to pop on and off for emissions testing when the time comes (without having to mess with undoing the midpipe to fit on the vibrant spacer).

That said, I've never had a reason to put them on so interested in any real world feedback you can provide.

Kyle

[carx7]

I have a set sitting in my garage that I purchased from Krueger (on this thread) after he was done with them. He said they worked on his setup but he added cats so no longer needed them. I bought them for two reasons (1) if I ever flash back to stock to take the car to the dealer, I'd throw them on so the car doesn't pop a CEL while they are working on it and (2) figured they would be easy to pop on and off for emissions testing when the time comes (without having to mess with undoing the midpipe to fit on the vibrant spacer).

That said, I've never had a reason to put them on so interested in any real world feedback you can provide.

Kyle

I'm interested to hear how these work as well. I talked to fabspeed yesterday and asked if they had collected any data to show these actually perform differently/better than any of their competitors. The answer was no. To me (as an engineer) the mini catalytic converter is an interesting marketing idea that has some good theory behind it with no real world data to show these work any differently/better than another. I think this weekend I am going to pull my 42 draft design spacers and see about putting a restrictor in them similar to the vibrants.... although I just rechecked the website for Fabspeedand see these are only $125 each... for some reason yesterday I thought I read $225 each and couldn't get my head around $450 for something with no data... for $225, I may give them a shot. Replacing down pipes was not high my my "fun list" for the weekend :)

Also, I wonder if the orientation of the spacer relatively to exhaust flow has anything to do with ability of the spacer to do it's job?

[DGVR6]

I'm interested to hear how these work as well. I talked to fabspeed yesterday and asked if they had collected any data to show these actually perform differently/better than any of their competitors. The answer was no. To me (as an engineer) the mini catalytic converter is an interesting marketing idea that has some good theory behind it with no real world data to show these work any differently/better than another. I think this weekend I am going to pull my 42 draft design spacers and see about putting a restrictor in them similar to the vibrants.... although I just rechecked the website for Fabspeedand see these are only $125 each... for some reason yesterday I thought I read $225 each and couldn't get my head around $450 for something with no data... for $225, I may give them a shot. Replacing down pipes was not high my my "fun list" for the weekend :)

Also, I wonder if the orientation of the spacer relatively to exhaust flow has anything to do with ability of the spacer to do it's job?

Good news, and bad news.

Installed the the fabspeed spacer, I removed the “mini cat” and left the first piece on. Added some non foulers from autozone, getting a “too lean” code, but with the mini cat on, I was getting a “too slow” response. Right now I’m on a fine line between no response and efficiency below threshold I would imagine. It can be that I need to add some washers to tightly secure the O2 sensor to the autozone piece to eliminate any possible leaks. In other words, what a bitch. 20 miles no CEL, but still, with that lean code, it will eventually pop up.

The good news, I can technically pass emissions if I want to. Everything checks out, all readiness codes pass except 1, which would be the o2 sensors. So if I get to the inspection station at the right time, I can come back out with a sticker. Regardless that’s not what I’m aiming for, I want CEL off for service.

So fab speed is a fail just because it doesn’t work as intended with the minicat. Modifying it further will probably get you there but it will be tricky. You’re better off with a o2 spacer with honeycomb material and playing around with that.

[mihneagabriel]

As some may know, I have the Russian downpipes and EPL tune which doesn't tune out the o2 sensors. I ended up stacking a short straight spacer off amazon with the vibrant j-spacers. The cel went away, and all the testing passes. I did my inspection this month and passed with no problems. The o2 spacers are in the stock configuration with no cats so if I can pass the apr pipes can

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[flyfishing]

Does anyone know if there needs to be an adapter to hook up APR downpipes to Miltek exhaust?

[DGVR6]

As some may know, I have the Russian downpipes and EPL tune which doesn't tune out the o2 sensors. I ended up stacking a short straight spacer off amazon with the vibrant j-spacers. The cel went away, and all the testing passes. I did my inspection this month and passed with no problems. The o2 spacers are in the stock configuration with no cats so if I can pass the apr pipes can

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Vibrant would probably be the best option

[wwhan]

Does anyone know if there needs to be an adapter to hook up APR downpipes to Miltek exhaust?

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post12483248

[mihneagabriel]

Vibrant would probably be the best option

Like I said, the vibrant spacers weren't enough for my setup. I needed another straight spacer on top of that one



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[DGVR6]

Like I said, the vibrant spacers weren't enough for my setup. I needed another straight spacer on top of that one



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Do you remember what code you were getting with just the vibrant ?

[mihneagabriel]

Do you remember what code you were getting with just the vibrant ?

This code was for bank 1 and 2. At one point the codes were still active and the CEL had turned off. Also 2 or 3 readiness were not passed

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[flyfishing]

For those doing this, shop did install and vibrant works well for me. readiness shows pass for everything with APR to milltek w/EPL stage 2. i had exhaust leak and some new clamps were ordered from APR and it solved the issue.

[vastano]

I know this is an older thread but it helped me install my downpipes this weekend. I wanted to add a couple tips of my own.

The first snag I hit was the passenger side O2 sensor plugs. I spent over an hour trying to unplug these. The only way I figure out how to do this was crawl on top of the motor and get down there with both hands to slide the plug out of the holder then unclip it. Look at the clip here (I know its black, not brown) to see how to disengage the clip from the holder: https://www.amazon.com/Kwiksen-Oxyge.../dp/B07RQDG329
. You'll have to slide the one out that is closer to the front of the car first, then the rear one will be able to slide out.

Second, I was worried that I would mix up the front and rear o2 sensor plugs even though I had them labeled upstream and downstream. Turns out the upstream ones have a 5-pin plug and downstream have a 4-pin plug. As long as you keep the colors straight, you cant really mix up the O2s.

I noticed a huge hold up on the forum was due to the spring bracket. Turns out you can do this outside the car before you put the downpipes back into the car, all you have left is the single bolt to the transmission. Also, I bought my downpipes secondhand so I didnt have the 'supplied' 13mm bolt for the spring bolt. As luck would have it, the OEM midpipe nut that connects the midpipe to the OEM downpipe worked perfectly.

I had no issues sealing the bulkhead to the firewall, just make sure the rubber on bottom goes into the channel thats made for it and you should be good.

Add exhaust sealant between the APR midpipe and downpipe. With this small addition and sealing the bulkhead I havent smelled exhaust at all since the install.

Ratcheting wrenches (10mm, 12mm, 13mm, 15mm) come in real handy for this install.

[daytona rs7]

Started installing my Mike's Russian downpipes yesterday and figured i'd share my experience in this thread.

Per vastano's recommendation, I tried installing the downpipes with the spring bracket already attached, but I couldn't get the downpipe in place. that spring bracket makes it just too awkward to maneuver. Luckily Mike's downpipes have a nut welded to the spring bracket flange (APR does not have this), making it somewhat easier to install the bracket from under the car. A 13mm ratcheting wrench is very helpful though.

I have milltek catback and their pipe leading to the downpipe is much larger than OEM with a flex joint just after the downpipe. making it difficult to get the (3) nuts off each of the downpipe flanges. A 1/4" drive short socket with a wobble extension was the only way I was able to get around this.

The most PITA part for me was the torx screw holding the bulkhead in place on the left (US driver) side. I ended up really having to bend the heat shielding out of the way in order to access this, more than I would have liked. I will replace the torx drive screw with a Hex head machine screw so it is easier to reinstall.

Also, My car has 27k miles on it and I was a little surprised how rusted the nuts at the downpipe flange were. they weren't frozen on there, but more corroded than Id of expected. if you have higher mileage you may want to spray these with WD40 the night before you start working.

Im 2.5 hours into the install and downpipes are in place with all bolts holding the donwpipes loosely fitted. After torquing all the bolts and reinstalling the engine bay components, I assume ill be at 4 hours total.


EDIT:
make sure you have the tools for the job. I realized my oxygen sensor socket was missing, requiring me to go to the store and get one. there are 2 types...a socket or a "crows foot" type....i got the latter. lesson learned it is difficult to get leverage with the crows foot version while using an extension. get the regular socket type.

[vastano]

Started installing my Mike's Russian downpipes yesterday and figured i'd share my experience in this thread.

Per vastano's recommendation, I tried installing the downpipes with the spring bracket already attached, but I couldn't get the downpipe in place. that spring bracket makes it just too awkward to maneuver. Luckily Mike's downpipes have a nut welded to the spring bracket flange (APR does not have this), making it somewhat easier to install the bracket from under the car. A 13mm ratcheting wrench is very helpful though.

I have milltek catback and their pipe leading to the downpipe is much larger than OEM with a flex joint just after the downpipe. making it difficult to get the (3) nuts off each of the downpipe flanges. A 1/4" drive short socket with a wobble extension was the only way I was able to get around this.

The most PITA part for me was the torx screw holding the bulkhead in place on the left (US driver) side. I ended up really having to bend the heat shielding out of the way in order to access this, more than I would have liked. I will replace the torx drive screw with a Hex head machine screw so it is easier to reinstall.

Also, My car has 27k miles on it and I was a little surprised how rusted the nuts at the downpipe flange were. they weren't frozen on there, but more corroded than Id of expected. if you have higher mileage you may want to spray these with WD40 the night before you start working.

Im 2.5 hours into the install and downpipes are in place with all bolts holding the donwpipes loosely fitted. After torquing all the bolts and reinstalling the engine bay components, I assume ill be at 4 hours total.


EDIT:
make sure you have the tools for the job. I realized my oxygen sensor socket was missing, requiring me to go to the store and get one. there are 2 types...a socket or a "crows foot" type....i got the latter. lesson learned it is difficult to get leverage with the crows foot version while using an extension. get the regular socket type.

I couldnt get my O2 socket to seat onto my o2 sensors, it seemed like the sensor itself was too long for this to work, I had to use the crows foot type.