Finally received the APS EW yesterday.

In short: it's a piece of ****.

I can overlook the 2- v. 4-bolt flange issue, but:

The collector that leads to the flange is....... 3 INCHES. Hi, APS? WTF? The midpipe you are replacing is 3½"; the universal adapter for non-APS exhausts is...3½". Your proprietary APS exhaust is...3½". Why in the hell did you use a 3" collector at the flange?

Secondly... let's count the bungs... 1...2.......mmmmmmmmk, and if I wanted to use a WB? Yeah... bring your own drill bit, bung and welder, cause this piece ain't letting it happen.

I ended up cutting off the inlet that recirculates the wastegate back into the exhaust; I'll weld a patch over the hole and allow the WG to vent to atmosphere. I'll also brace the wg flange to the midpipe so it's not hanging there like a limp d1ck.

So, the first stage of fabrication is done - should have everything rewelded when I get off work tonight.

Long story short - if you done have the means to fabricate this pig, don't bother. I believe tig has a custom WG setup he's willing to let go for inexpensive - a bargain compared to the headache this thing has created.

I'll post pics tonight... testing results will be published on Monday when it gets an interim tune.

 

what the hell is an EW?

 

Guessing external wastegate.

 

EW is short for "ewwwww"

 

lol - external wastegate - correct

 

sorry about your troubles youve had with that thing, i knew it was crap from the get go just by looking at it. good luck with it, hopefully after all youve done to it, youll get good results.

 

Do I win a cookie?

 

Well - another disappointment; after cutting off the 2-bolt/3" flange and replacing it with the 4-bolt/3½" flange, we find...

The EW piping is approx. 2 inches longer than the midpipe it replaces, which means more cutting back and re-welding. Needless to say, I'm thinking APS had their head up their *** on this job...

Pics to come Sun nite when I have a chance to screw with this some more...

 

that sucks to hear. here i was ready to order it...

time to reconsider

 

i got some 3.5" APS downpipes that were total heap of turd with HUGE ol dents in it (with aps representitive telling me that it's normal and to get out of their face). Hope that makes you feel better

 

So - I'll upload pics tomorrow, but the replacement EW piping is not only 3 inches too long, it is offset to the driver's side by an inch so it does not mate up with the APS exhaust even with a flange exchange. The APS exhaust has *some* movement, but in order for the tailpipes to square out with the bumper, there requires more modifications than initially proposed.

Turns out, there was no clearance between the floorbard and the piping for it to mate flush with the turbo at the 5-bolt flange, so a 4lb sledge was needed to bang out the floor. Also had to use a die grinder to remove part of the tranny crossmember so it didn't rub against the EW. Fortunately for me, the 5-bolt flange only fits one way, so Peter at APS can't razz me about putting the EW in wrong

At this point I should have made my own, but I'm so frustrated that I'm determined to make this piece of **** fit - I swear to god I rec'd an EW for a car other than the Z...

The car is sitting at SRD in Tempe until their exhaust guy can tackle it tomorrow or Tues - we'll be cutting back on the dual piping of the EW, adding flanges and making a coupler designed to mate with the twin piping of the APS exhaust.

Peter tried to pass off an explanation about the piping/flange diameter changes are due to road-clearance issues, but his explanation doesn't make sense because the inner diameter of the exhaust turbine is 2.5", which then collects into a 3.5" midpipe, splits off into (2) 2.5" pipes, then recollects back into a 3" flange, then expands back into a 3.5" collecter, which then splits back out to 2.5" pipes onto the muffler - it's kindof a mess. I recommended he drug test the guys that made the jig for this thing.

 

I've got tig's EW pipe and was hell bent on going high boost with the APS ST until a unique opportunity opened up for me a few weeks ago. Needless to say, I'm going to be letting it go. IF you want it, let me know. The way APS botched the ST EW solution has really disappointed me ...

In any case, good luck with everything and keep us posted on what you get out of your setup.

 

wow APS is totally sucking ass.

oh and by the way....

per Peter there are 2 different APS ST exhausts. there is the one that Synth, Joe, and I have where the external wastegate doesnt fit and then there is the "special" APS ST exhaust that the APS car has where everything fits just fine.

damn we should have know.

 

Ridiculous thread for your reading enjoyment where Peter spins his tales of APS lore:

http://[other Z website]/forums/showthread.php?t=47993

Though I've been a die-hard proponent of APS-related items, I'm on record to say that this will be the last proprietary item from APS I purchase for this or any other vehicle. A custom one-off would have been less consuming with regards to time and money ;and in the end I'm blamed by APS for an assumption that an APS EW would actually mate with the APS ST and APS exhaust without extensive fabrication.

 

wow......

i just emailed my shop the thread over at the other forum to give him a heads up.

thank you so much for this information.

vinh

 

...nevermind, found it, nice reading...

 

has anyone tried running the pipe the way aps designed it? did it malfunction? what was your reason for modification. just askin because i'm interested in possibly running the kit in the future and the internal wastegate turns me off to the kit a little. and seeing their ewg setup almost gave me hope

 

The reason is because it didn't fit; it was 3 inches too long and 1¼ inches offset from center. You'll have to ask around as to whether anyone purchase and installed this with a stock or aftermarket exhaust.

 

The dents are NORMAL...they are for clearance issues on RHD cars...every set has them.

 

Is that why they sent me a 2nd pair without any dents?