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Exhaust Cross Pipe

29K views 137 replies 40 participants last post by  RobbertNLD 
#1 · (Edited)
79252


It's finally done and up for sale. We went all out on this, it's make from 304 stainless including the welds and mounting flanges. All the included nuts and bolts are flanged and serrated nuts which makes installation relatively easy. The 304 stainelss provides a good temperature barrier but to provide further temperature protection to the slave cylinder, oil, and transmission we include Mishimoto header wrap, which is expensive wrap, but it's the best. We also went with a long lasting copper reinforced connection donut instead of the factory graphite type. The graphite types tend to flake apart every time you remove them, ours can be removed and reinstalled multiple times if needed. This part isn't cheap but we used the highest quality materials and parts, and it's make in the USA. It's going to last forever.

The factory cross pipe is the main restriction in the oem cat back system so this pipe gives about 90% of the performance benefit of a typical full cat back system while retaining the ability to run the Record Monza exhaust, or anything else that connects to the stock mid pipe.

At this time this is only available for the manual transmission cars.


Greg
 
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#3 ·
lol...I think there are a few threads discussing your mystery parts! Hmmm. perhaps I should reword that?

aloha mike
 
#8 ·
I suppose that could be an option, but header wrap works a lot better than coatings in terms of heat reduction. The coatings are good, but it's a question of thickness, the wrap is about 100 times thicker, or more. Coatings do have their place, there are areas where wrap isn't practical, like on the exhaust manifold.

Greg
 
#5 ·
Ordered! Looking forward to getting it installed.
 
#6 ·
Blimey! I had a guess at the price and was about 200 bucks shy. Oh, and it’s sold out already! Loki’s like a bomb proof part, though.
 
#7 ·
Ditto on the price, too much for me, but looking forward to the reviews, and even better some dyno comparisons perhaps?
 
#10 ·
Greg-

Two questions-

1. If this pipe doesnt (or wasnt intended to) fit an automatic, will there be an automatic version coming out anytime soon?

2. Any chance of a less pretty 400 series stainless option that might lower the price some?

I'll save my pennies if #2 is a big fat no, but if #1 is also no, then #2 doesn't matter.

Thanks either way!
 
#15 ·
I bought my EuroCompulsion crossover pipe Friday Sep 18. Received it on Monday. Some posters have been concerned about the high price. Well, I’m a retired automotive research engineer. I used to do durability testing of 18 wheeler cat converters for my client FMC. We called the test “shake and bake” I ran those cats for days on a vibration table with exhaust so hot they glowed cherry red. I had several techs and two fantastic welders working for me. I used to buy the very best stainless steel for our test fixtures. That stuff wasn’t cheap 14 years ago. What I see in this pipe from EC is first class work. Add in the heat wrap which appears to be like that used in my Sila titanium turbo blanket, and the stainless hardware, and I can understand the price.

I planned to have a local custom exhaust shop install the pipe because of all the reports I’d read of broken studs when installing Goodwin’s cross pipes.
I had my Abarth in for alignment tweaking Monday PM at my Go-To guys, Yoi Kazoku, drift car specialists in San Antonio. (No, I don’t drift, but these guys know modified cars and they listen to what grandmother wants them to do.)

I mentioned my plans for the cross pipe to the owner, Justin. He said “if you bring it back in an hour, we can knock it out for you.” I mentioned that studs often break and he insisted they could take care of it. Well, I went back at 5:30, at 6:30 they snapped off the studs. They didn’t want to use a torch on the nuts because there’s a turbo line close by. It was too late to continue so they shot lots of PB Blaster on the studs, closed the shop, and TJ gave me a ride home in his truck.

Tuesday noon they told me the car was all set. The broken studs came out easily that morning. They bolted the pipe to the cat instead of using studs again. The rest of the hookup was simple.

The exhaust is now a little louder, about 2 decibels more at 3,000 rpm, measured using a sound meter app on my phone. I know you all want to know about performance gains. My butt dyno says it was worth the $500. The car pulls even stronger now from 3,200 RPM on up than it did before the pipe, and it was pulling much better than stock before. Seems to be spooling up faster. I still have a Y-pipe to install in place of the muffler. Hope to get to that on Wed-Thur. I don’t plan to spend my bucks on dyno runs for the car (I’ve been quoted $150 for 3 runs). I may do some 0-60 times with a data logger I can connect to the OBDII reader. Need to find a safe place to do that.

Thanks, Greg. I didn't want to go the total replacement route. With this setup, I can easily swap the stock muffler and the resonated Y-pipe back and forth as I want to. Might even want a Record Monza some day, and I still get most of the potential performance gains. Auto part Pipe Engine Fuel line
Auto part Automobile repair shop Vehicle Car Exhaust system
Auto part
 
#16 ·
Nice write up! Hopefully Greg can test fit one of these to an automatic someday soon to verify the fit, or produce a version that does fit.

Sorry to hear about the studs snapping, but it seems like a common problem when replacing these cross pipes. I wonder if using a socket and ratchet is where the problem happens, and zapping them off with an impact has better luck. I have snapped hundreds of bolts and studs using a handheld wrench over the years but very few when using an impact. If these studs are soft enough to twist off as easily as we frequently hear, one can only hope they are soft enough to be drilled out and there is enough room to do it without the surgery of removing the cat. I've been down this road enough to dread the thought of it.

As for the pipe itself, sounds like a home run!
 
#17 ·
Nice write up! Hopefully Greg can test fit one of these to an automatic someday soon to verify the fit, or produce a version that does fit.

Sorry to hear about the studs snapping, but it seems like a common problem when replacing these cross pipes. I wonder if using a socket and ratchet is where the problem happens, and zapping them off with an impact has better luck. I have snapped hundreds of bolts and studs using a handheld wrench over the years but very few when using an impact. If these studs are soft enough to twist off as easily as we frequently hear, one can only hope they are soft enough to be drilled out and there is enough room to do it without the surgery of removing the cat. I've been down this road enough to dread the thought of it.

As for the pipe itself, sounds like a home run!
Nice write up! Hopefully Greg can test fit one of these to an automatic someday soon to verify the fit, or produce a version that does fit.

Sorry to hear about the studs snapping, but it seems like a common problem when replacing these cross pipes. I wonder if using a socket and ratchet is where the problem happens, and zapping them off with an impact has better luck. I have snapped hundreds of bolts and studs using a handheld wrench over the years but very few when using an impact. If these studs are soft enough to twist off as easily as we frequently hear, one can only hope they are soft enough to be drilled out and there is enough room to do it without the surgery of removing the cat. I've been down this road enough to dread the thought of it.

As for the pipe itself, sounds like a home run!
Monday evening, the studs snapped off using a socket and breaker bar. Tuesday morning, Jason was able to easily remove the broken studs with a special stud removal tool; must have been enough stud sticking out to get the tool on. We will never know if the overnite soak with PB Blaster helped or not. The threads were chased with a thread tap before using bolts to fasten pipe to cat. This should be OK for the life of the car. I'm so glad I brought this job to a professional shop.
 
#18 ·
I’m going to be installing mine this weekend. I will make sure to hit them with PB blaster - really don’t want them to snap.

If they do snap - what are the studs actually in? Are the studs stuck in the bottom of the down-pipe/cat?
 
#20 ·
The studs are into the bottom of the cat. I HIGHLY recommend paying a muffler shop to do the install. Advise them to be careful of the studs. When (if) the studs break, they are equipped to take care of it. If they break at home with your car on jack stands, you are "up the creek"
 
#19 ·
I have the goodwin racing 2.5 crosspipe. I have a leak at the cat and its throwing a p0137 code for faulty o2 sensor or leak. I went out and bought a gasket recommended here and a new o2 sensor just in case. Should I wrap the exhaust in heat shield like this? I don't have any plans for autocross or racing but occasionally ill have a spirited cruise. Is it required?
 
#21 ·
I wonder how much clearance there will be to add wrap to your Goodwin 2.5" pipe. The EC 2.25" pipe came with a high quality heat wrap. My shop wrapped the pipe with the entire roll supplied. I noticed when they took the lower shield off my car for access to the pipe that the shield has a nifty air scoop that funnels cooling air to the clutch slave cylinder. The cylinder is just inches behind the cross pipe. The original cross pipe has heat shielding strapped to the pipe. EuroCompulsion thinks it's important enough to wrap the pipe that they include the wrap and retaining clamps with the pipe.
 
#22 ·
Here's the GWR 2.5" cross pipe ceramic coated and with the first of its kind PTP Lava blanket. It fits just fine. The arch is little over 3" wide and even taller.

79338
 
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#30 ·
I just installed mine - car has about 4,000 miles on it.

I PB Blaster’d the nuts and studs and let them marinate about an hour. I broke them loose using hand tools and pulled everything apart.

One thing to note when wrapping / installing new cross pipe. The heat wrap is fiberglass(or something) and will get in your skin. I recommend wearing long sleeves and avoiding skin contact.

I got my o2 sensor out, but found that the factory positioning of the o2 sensor wire bracket made it incompatible. I ended up taking it off and adjusting the sensor wire so it pulled back more into the wheel well / lower wishbone area. No real issue.

Once in, I mocked all the bolts/nuts into place and found that the bracket the cross pipe bolts to needed to be loosened further up to allow some adjustment. I also did a slight bit of clearancing between the heat shield and cross/mid flange.

I referenced Godwin’s cross pipe install and torqued the cross/down pipe bolts to 20ft/lb. the cross/mid were tightened till I felt good :)

Everything else buttoned up and I’ve taken it on a short drive. Unfortunately it’s raining in Houston so I can’t really get on it.

That said - initial impression is good. After shift torque pickup is very improved and car feels better. Will post more once it dries.
 
#33 ·
@Greg when can we have this for AT? I gladly volunteer my Lusso as guinea pig, and my tuning shop for professional installation ;)

Cheers, SL
 
#36 ·
After a few weeks I’m still loving this.

It took about 3-4 days for the smell to go away. I notice most in low RPMs and non-sport more - there is noticeably more power/torque. I park in a basement and had to stay in 1st (or gun it to hit boost in 2nd) to get up the ramp with the factory cross pipe. Now I can easily make it up in 2nd without taking it fast / hitting boost.

I also notice when shifting. The car “recovers” boost a lot quicker after shifting. I’ve even had a shift or two where I slightly misjudged and got a nice pull of acceleration upon the clutch engaging. That would have never happened before. I’m also able to hit boost in low-speed (sometimes mid-corner) places I’ve never had power before.

I think it makes the car faster - for sure better to drive. I feel it carrying more speed, although it does so in a less noticeable way. Before I would really feel the surge of boost about 3.5k. Now, since it kicks in sooner it’s a bit less dramatic around 3.5k - but you’re also going faster.

This is worthwhile - a cross pipe of your choice - for drivability. It really seems to liven up the 1.4 and helps make the car feel better from a driving engagement standpoint.
 
#37 ·
Has anyone on here with an automatic bought the cross pipe to see if it fits? Greg said they still haven’t had anyone in the shop to test it so curious if someone did it on their own.
 
#39 ·
Crappola, EC has their biggest sale of the year since 21 hours ago and the high flow cross pipe is all sold out!! Guess I'm out of luck. Any idea when/if you'll have more available before the sale ends? TIA
 
#42 ·
Still none in stock. I was hoping to buy myself a xmas present during the EC holiday sale. Bummer.

@Greg - do you have an eta for new stock?
tia
 
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