Downpipe with racecat - Not sure I can justify costs??!

[T5rookie]

Hi guys,

I really do not understand the cost of the downpipes with racecats.....Ferrita want £580ish for what is essentially a piece of 3" pipe with a flexi welded in, then mating to a 2.5" section with a hi flow cat...

I have just bought the cat back ferrita system which comes in £180 cheaper than the downpipe....

Surely there is more sense in going to a custom exhaust place and asking them to make one or just having the existing cat cut out and a pipe sleeved in its place?? The come MOT time just swapping it back in myself?? The main targets for the hi flow cat and downpipe are decreased back pressure and faster spool so for the sake of an extra £300 can anyone really support their case?

Thanks
Alex

[LiamT4]

Hi guys,

I really do not understand the cost of the downpipes with racecats.....Ferrita want £580ish for what is essentially a piece of 3" pipe with a flexi welded in, then mating to a 2.5" section with a hi flow cat...

I have just bought the cat back ferrita system which comes in £180 cheaper than the downpipe....

Surely there is more sense in going to a custom exhaust place and asking them to make one or just having the existing cat cut out and a pipe sleeved in its place?? The come MOT time just swapping it back in myself?? The main targets for the hi flow cat and downpipe are decreased back pressure and faster spool so for the sake of an extra £300 can anyone really support their case?
Thanks
Alex

Err... no, would be the short answer! There must be cheaper places out there.
Its a similar story when it comes to the RIP kits, some places are charging over £300.

[smithy]

i would use the standard downpipe and fit a racecat to that and if you use volvo r.i.p it would be alot cheaper.

[T5rookie]

BSR were just as expensive when I rang them for their downpipe too....

What's the R.I.P kit??

Thanks

[LiamT4]

Reverse intercooler pipe. Basically it shortens the distance between turbo and intercooler and helps reduce lag, can help with cooling the air too. It was fitted to the early 850 t5's. Not sure if the newer (2000 on) cars would need a rip kit, mainly phase 1 s70/v70 and the 850's.

[Wombatbomb]

The cost of the Ferrita downpipe has a lot to do with the very high quality Kemira CAT that is fitted.

With regards to a decat, it's not that simple. A P2 car has a post CAT o2 sensor, and will throw an error code. You can have this overcome by having a custom map written (which will probably cost more than the saving over a decent DP) or possibly try a spacer on the sensor but I'm unaware of anyone successfully getting the second option to work on one of these cars.

Also, the presence of a CAT is irrelevant for an MOT, it's not a testable item, all they check is the emissions. If the car passes the emissions then it passes the MOT. However, removing the CAT means the car will fail any VOSA check as you'll be in contravention of the Construction & Use regs, which has the potential to be very expensive.

[smithy]

ccp nuneaton do racecats mate and would fit them to your standard downpipe and r.i.p is reverse intercooler piping which shortens the piping by 18 inchs faster spool up

[smithy]

Reverse intercooler pipe. Basically it shortens the distance between turbo and intercooler and helps reduce lag, can help with cooling the air too. It was fitted to the early 850 t5's. Not sure if the newer (2000 on) cars would need a rip kit, mainly phase 1 s70/v70 and the 850's.

the s60r /v70r used r.i.p as standard.

[T5rookie]

Ah yeah ok.....I don't think the ripkit is available for the phase 2 anyway...So it would have to be done by myself or custom.

Ok so if there is a post-cat o2 sensor then won't the increased flow of a racecat still throw it off? Do any of you that decat just accept there is an error code constantly there?

On the stock turbo I'm not sure on the huge advantage of going 3" from the downpipe so removing the stock cat for a race one might be a good option I guess...

[LiamT4]

I had the cat removed on my 2000 s40 t4 (made a noticable difference higher up the rev range) didn't seem to be causing any problems, but it was only like that for about 8? months. So can't really say in the long term.

Regarding the rip kits, i think a few people on here have done it themselves.

[p fandango]

RIP kits are quite easy to do yourself with a bit of planning & plenty of time searching ebay for the right degree corners & reducers

[T5rookie]

It seems irrelivent on the phase 2...Just looed on my intercooler and the feeds are both at the same height about 1/3 of the way up the intercooler end tanks....So swapping them over wouldn't acheive much at all....I guess it's different on the older models.

[smithy]

Ah yeah ok.....I don't think the ripkit is available for the phase 2 anyway...So it would have to be done by myself or custom.

Ok so if there is a post-cat o2 sensor then won't the increased flow of a racecat still throw it off? Do any of you that decat just accept there is an error code constantly there?

On the stock turbo I'm not sure on the huge advantage of going 3" from the downpipe so removing the stock cat for a race one might be a good option I guess...

yes they do an r.i.p kit for the s60r/v70r mate and it would make difference or they would not off fitted them on these models.

[T5rookie]

If it's the phase 1 v70r the intercoolers are different aren't they?

Looking at my core and the end tanks, the inlet and outlet are the same height near the top and roughly the same amount of pipework goes from the turbo and the inlet mani, so reversing them wouldn't do anything on the phase 2 surely?

Will have to investigate...