[davidgirga]

£132 for the pipes.

 

[Redline_dtm1]

I did enquire about de cat pipes when I had to change a cat 10 months ago.
My tuner at the time did not recommend them due to the quality.
However they do seem very cheap at that price imho.

 

[davidgirga]

Very cheap compare to others. Just wondered if anyone has tried them.

 

[SimonRoma]

Honestly no, BUT some of the Chinese manufacturers seem to be upping their games and the quality of alot of stuff for motorbikes and cars looks fantastic value for money. Any comments and experiences all???

 

[Dave Kwatro]

They are stainless and TIG welded, so can't foresee any quality issues!

So, is there an actual low cell cat in the expanded part or is that just a chamber to look like a cat for MOT purposes? You will need a remap after fitting to change lambda expectations.

 

[ApoK]

Buy cheap buy twice! In most instances anyway

 

[SC08 LAB]

Yeah although they look OK, you're saving only about £100 on something that you're putting onto your £10k+ car, is it worth it to cause potential damage for the sake of so little?

 

[morski]

DONT buy anything from aliexpress... you dont get anything like what you see in the pictures nor expect any recompense if anything goes wrong or doesnt even turn up. Total waste of money.... unless yours grows on a tree then fine

 

[restricted]

They are stainless and TIG welded, so can't foresee any quality issues!

ah but all grades of stainless steel are not created equal..... any exhaust made from anything other than 304L is not going to last you a significant amount of time.
Whilst it may say 304 (i haven't looked at the adverts) many cheaper outlets will use a far lower grade (some will even use mild steel and then nickle plate it) of stainless steel which has no place on an exhaust system.
Then if it has been TIG welded and NOT back purged then the inside of the welds will be sugared and have embrittlement and fail very quickly. The picture above shows very pretty welds but i'd be curious on the amount of penetration those welds actually have.
Then you need to question the quality of the material within the cats.....
The closer it is to the heat source (the engine, turbo/supercharger) the better the spec it needs to be.

It's cheap for a reason, the materials market on a global scale relies upon certification for proof of materials and to back up CE accreditation and it's why a lot of industry won't buy certain materials from the Chinese domestic market....

just my 2 pence worth

 

[SimonRoma]

Well yes, I agree, wise words indeed. BUT to say that all Chinese stuff is shit is a bit over the top. Remember that 30 ish years back the Japanese products were considered to be low quality whereas today they are world leaders. The Chinese are surely getting better and sooner or later quality will be good.....

 

[restricted]

Well yes, I agree, wise words indeed. BUT to say that all Chinese stuff is shit is a bit over the top. Remember that 30 ish years back the Japanese products were considered to be low quality whereas today they are world leaders. The Chinese are surely getting better and sooner or later quality will be good.....

I wasn’t implying Chinese stuff is shit in the slightest... I buy many things from China.... however as a coded TIG welder by trade back in the day and as a Project Director within the materials market today I think I can comment with some authority on this.
The materials alone (the correct specifications for the end product) would cost more than what the above items are sold for, without considering labour, profit margin and shipping on top....
I’ve made many exhausts for my own use over the years and well, I wouldn’t start with anything cheap and from over seas

 

[restricted]

But it’s your car (or bike) and do what you want

 

[cadguy77]

Hearing a lot of noise over in the states about these from Russia.

Audi S4 S5 A5 A6 A7 A8 Q5 SQ5 3.0 TFSI TEST PIPES

 

[davidgirga]

Thanks cadguy77. I’ve looked into these RedStar decat pipes from Russia. I’ve put an order in.
Thanks everyone for the comments.

 

[ramon9591]

Just bringing this back up again - my understanding is that 99% of these pipes are made for LHD and foul on the steering column for RHD.

I ended up buying the Chinese ones as they specifically stated RHD compatibility. Not fitted them yet, but quality looks reasonable in person, but I can’t speak to how they might last. Mine’s not a daily so won’t see big miles over the short term to really find out.

 

[ramon9591]

And another follow up to this - passenger side (RHD) didn’t actually fit. I’ve hogged out that side and refitted, luckily the driver side fit fine.

I really don’t get why the passenger side didn’t fit - they literally don’t have to touch anything from the LHD version so I’m guessing it’s just a c&&k up and poor quality control on their side.