07TurboGTI
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Arlington, VA
I installed the A&L 3" catted downpipe on my 07 FSI about a week and a half ago so I figured I'd make a post about it in case other people go this route.
Overall, a pretty nice piece. Clean welds, fittment was on point no real issues installing...pretty straight forward, remove your old DP put this one in. The rear O2 was pretty stuck but we just heated it a little and with enough force it came out.
Sound: A little more audible at idle and a nice sort of girgle in the lower RPM's but to me it gets a little rapy almost the "bees in a can" type sound that some people would get when using non-lined flex sections in my boosted Maxima days in the upper RPMs under heavy load. No clue if that is a factor with the VW's.
Power: I feel like it improved the mid-high rev ranges just like other people have reported. Honestly though, it wasn't as drastic of a change as I expected...nice change but not a crazy difference like some other people made it out to be. I do now notice a very slight lower RPM loss. Perviously, around 2,500 RPMs there would be that nice turbo spike and hard pull then things would taper off in the higher revs. Now, that spike is smoothed out and its more of a linear power band now.
Questions/ other comments: There is no hanger for the DP with this set up. You do not reuse your stock hanger either because it's welded to the stock DP. This to me is not a good solution. I've noticed some sort of rattling sound only on start-up when the car is cool and some additional vibration type rattle in the lower revs when the exhaust is cold. I can only imagine this sound will be amplified in the cold winter months if nothing is done. On that note, I've scheduled an appointment to have a shop weld in a hanger. Hopefully this solves those sounds on start up because the DP should be more stable with less chance to rub against other metals under the car.
Also where the DP meets the stock cat-back to me is sort of lame too. The DP now just "mates" up to the stock cat-back..as in there is no overlapping of the pipes or solid exhaust flanges that I've seen with some other brands. All you do is mate the two pipes and re-use your stock copper colored exhaust sleeve to go around the two pipes and then use the provided exhaust clamp to clamp the two pipes where they mate up.
In conclusion, a solid piece that could use a little bit of work in my humble opinion. Hopefully the shop I'm taking it to can do something to solve both of my concerns with the hanger and the way the two pipes just mate up. The fact that I even have to do this after spending money on the DP is depressing though. My mods are GIAC flash and this downpipe. A&L provided me a spacer for the second O2 and I've driven a few hundred miles so far with no codes at all. Sorry for the long post but hopefully it's helpful!
Overall, a pretty nice piece. Clean welds, fittment was on point no real issues installing...pretty straight forward, remove your old DP put this one in. The rear O2 was pretty stuck but we just heated it a little and with enough force it came out.
Sound: A little more audible at idle and a nice sort of girgle in the lower RPM's but to me it gets a little rapy almost the "bees in a can" type sound that some people would get when using non-lined flex sections in my boosted Maxima days in the upper RPMs under heavy load. No clue if that is a factor with the VW's.
Power: I feel like it improved the mid-high rev ranges just like other people have reported. Honestly though, it wasn't as drastic of a change as I expected...nice change but not a crazy difference like some other people made it out to be. I do now notice a very slight lower RPM loss. Perviously, around 2,500 RPMs there would be that nice turbo spike and hard pull then things would taper off in the higher revs. Now, that spike is smoothed out and its more of a linear power band now.
Questions/ other comments: There is no hanger for the DP with this set up. You do not reuse your stock hanger either because it's welded to the stock DP. This to me is not a good solution. I've noticed some sort of rattling sound only on start-up when the car is cool and some additional vibration type rattle in the lower revs when the exhaust is cold. I can only imagine this sound will be amplified in the cold winter months if nothing is done. On that note, I've scheduled an appointment to have a shop weld in a hanger. Hopefully this solves those sounds on start up because the DP should be more stable with less chance to rub against other metals under the car.
Also where the DP meets the stock cat-back to me is sort of lame too. The DP now just "mates" up to the stock cat-back..as in there is no overlapping of the pipes or solid exhaust flanges that I've seen with some other brands. All you do is mate the two pipes and re-use your stock copper colored exhaust sleeve to go around the two pipes and then use the provided exhaust clamp to clamp the two pipes where they mate up.
In conclusion, a solid piece that could use a little bit of work in my humble opinion. Hopefully the shop I'm taking it to can do something to solve both of my concerns with the hanger and the way the two pipes just mate up. The fact that I even have to do this after spending money on the DP is depressing though. My mods are GIAC flash and this downpipe. A&L provided me a spacer for the second O2 and I've driven a few hundred miles so far with no codes at all. Sorry for the long post but hopefully it's helpful!
