As some of you may have seen, I recieved and installed my test pipes today.

Here's some information:

The pipes are NOT crawford test pipes. I thought they were, as the person I bought them from told me they were. They turned out tobe custom piping someone made from this board.

The pipes were about 2.25" diameter, although I didn't measure them to be exact.

The pipes are NOT stainless steel, and are just coated.

Install:

It was fairly basic, just lifting the car, and removing the CAT's, and then putting the test pipes on. There was very few problems, some of which included it was hard to remove the cats since there wasn't a lot of room to pull it out, it was very tightly in, even with the bolts removed. Secondly, it was hard to reach the bolts to connect the test pipes to the headers, since they are pretty high into the engine, and at an angle. Total time of installation took roughly 2 hours. 1 hour 15minutes for the first CAT, and only 45mins for the second. This is just because after you do one, it's always easier doing the second one.

Review after installation:

Car is much louder. I can't stress that enough. When you start it up, it just roars.. the car sounds mean, and you can hear and feel the power just by starting it. When taking it out for a quick spin, you can definatly feel the "power". My butt dyno isn't very good, but I can honestly say the car does pull much harder, especially around 3,000-5,000 rpm range. It simply hauls a$$.

The sound.. can't really describe it. Doesn't sound stock, thats for sure. It doesn't sound like a japanesse car.. or domestic. It has a growl, but very intensified. This is the type of sound which some people might love, or hate. Personally, I love it. Soon as I turned it on, 3-4 friends commented by saying, "Jesus Christ, that sounds amazing!" if that helps at all.

Smell.... yes, there is a smell. Be prepared for that. You will NOT pass emissions with test pipes, most should know that, but if you didn't, now you do. The smell is there, but it's not HORRIBLE. You cannot smell it inside the car at all, only when exiting, or if you're on the outside of the car.

Smoke.. there was very little. Only when my friend punched it, I noticed a little bit of smoke, more of a greyish, not black. Don't worry about smoke with test pipes, it wasn't bad at all.


Bottom line:

If you're looking for more power, don't care about emissions much, and want a louder, deeper roar, test pipes are for you.


PS - I also have the full cold air intake, and exhaust, which contribute to the roar. I'm sure on a stock car, the roar would be much less.. (for those who don't have an exhaust on yet) And finally, I do have a slight leak I believe, as I do hear a whistle when I left off the throttle and coast.. I'll check that out on Wed. when I get my dyno, and sorry, I do NOT have a baseline

Any questions, please ask. Once again, here is a photo of the pipes I installed.

 

Nice review, always nice to see members willing to make the effort to help the members here, hat's off to you for that man.

Now I wanna find the market place ad you bought them from, if I can that is.

 

Thanks.. I try my best


Slight problem though, there is a loud whistle coming from where I believe the pipes were installed. I checked all the bolts, and they are all on there very securely. I can't figure out what else it could be? There is no CEL light, so I know the O2 sensors are fine.

There is no cracks or holes in the pipes either. Any suggestions on what to do?

 

I heard that most of the guys that are putting on test pipes with the borla are getting the leak from the H pipe and have to have it welded or reclaped. Hope this helps

 

Just unbolt and put silicone on the pipes and then rebolt. Silicone should stop the leak.

 

Can you be a little more detailed please

 

Where ever you think the leak is just take the pipe apart put silicone around where the two pipes are going to bolt up and bolt back together and the silicone should hold the leak. That is what most people use for exhaust leaks.

 

nice review

 

Ah I see.. Thanks.. I'll keep that in mind!

Anyone else have the same problem with testpipes + exhaust?

 

can say that "I" have a leak (or a borla for that matter, i dont even have my test pipes in???), but i have been reading ALOT of people have the same problem. so its nothing to worry about! most of them got the h-pipe welded, and it was good to go!

 

Where can I get the Test Pipes?

 

I have a few questions about install.

I tried to install mine tonight, but realized 1/2 way thru I didn't have the right tools

1. What do you remove the O2 sensor with (size wrench)??
2. How did you remove the 3 bolts holding the cat on?? (I got 2 off using a 8mm socket for the end of the bolt/spine looking thing, BUT this MUST not be the right tool, as there was a lot of play and on #3, it just spins..........it was/is so frustrating, I don't know where to go from here???

please answer ASAP, as I have my car partly taken apart so I can finish the job as soon as I hear an answer.

THANX!!!

 

Those look like LSDunique's pipes. The leak is at the top of the H pipe.

RodH, 15/16" wrench will get O2's out and a 14MM wrench will get the cat bolt nut off.

 

RodH, I have a special tool which wraps around the O2 and unbolts it off, so I'm not sure about how to take it off without that tool since I've never used it.. if you still have problems, PM me and I'll find out for you.

 

I have the lsdunique pipes and they don't look like that at all.

 

Ricky, I have the same leak-like noise.

When I let off the throttle it sounds like a leak, but I doubt it is a leak since I don't hear it while revving up and while idling.

Also, the Borla H-pipe leak is obvious at idle and it goes after the cats, so if the cats were indeed leaking, then we would hear it even more during idle, but we don't. So I don't think it's a leak.

We made sure that everything was bolted up right, then we checked it out again after we heard the leak-like noise.

It might be normal with those pipes, however I have a slight metallic vibration noise. Do you have that?

 

What do they look like?

 

I have a metal vibration noise at higher rpms, not at lower. I'm going to get my dyno done tomorrow with the pipes on.

Also before the dyno we're lifting the car to hopefully fix what sounds like a leak. Thanks guys!

 

awesome, make sure you get a copy of the chart and post it.

 

Are you all sure it's not the resonance frequency of a different type of metal (that being the test pipe) that's causing the sound?

I had a very similar thing happen when I welded in a new SS resonator on my old car's exhaust... it sounded like a leak, but in fact, it was just a different type of metal and its resonance frequency.