Corksport Downpipe and Mid-Pipe Installed!

[aaronc7]

you're from ohio, I'll forgive you (born and lived most of my life in ohio lol)

Yep, there's a cat in the stock Downpipe AND mid pipe.

The corksport DP has no cats in it and the corksport mid pipe (same thing as a test pipe) has no cats either. It removes both cats. There's no emissions in ohio so you don't need to get a high flow cat, I'm just doing it so I don't smell my car as much and just because I'll feel better about having one, lol. The best place to put a cat in would be in the mid pipe (same place where the 2nd stock cat is)

Catback portion has no cats, the corksport one will just replace it with bigger piping and it's own muffler/resonator.

Hope this help, let me know if something's not clear!

 

[lewisb01]

you're from ohio, I'll forgive you (born and lived most of my life in ohio lol)

Yep, there's a cat in the stock Downpipe AND mid pipe.

The corksport DP has no cats in it and the corksport mid pipe (same thing as a test pipe) has no cats either. It removes both cats. There's no emissions in ohio so you don't need to get a high flow cat, I'm just doing it so I don't smell my car as much and just because I'll feel better about having one, lol. The best place to put a cat in would be in the mid pipe (same place where the 2nd stock cat is)

Catback portion has no cats, the corksport one will just replace it with bigger piping and it's own muffler/resonator.

Hope this help, let me know if something's not clear!

YEs Ohio sucks thanks for the reminder lol! At least E-CHeck is gone!

That was very helpful!!!!!
So if I do this install I should expect a smell coming from car? if so how bad?

Also I use to things to my other cars like my civics etc.. but this car is so much better than any crappy civic or Acura i've owned that I want everything on this to be super clean. So I ask alot newbie questions cause I want to make sure everything is done right.

 

[aaronc7]

haha, I used to have a civic too. Personally I don't think the smell is THAT bad, but you can definitely notice it when you come to a stop (unless the A/C is in recirc mode of course). I live in Daytona and there's always tons of bikes so it's a smell you get half of the time anyways... Some say the smell can eventually get into the interior and stuff- I don't know but I don't want to take a chance. I might as well help out the environment at the same time at the expense of a HP or two.

I'll be putting my high flow cat in the mid pipe on Friday. I'll definitely post up some pics and comments.

 

[lewisb01]

Okay here is another question.

Would it be stupid of me to just install the Downpipe and the Catback system and not install the mid pipe leaving me with the one CAT (smell reasons) or would I be lossing a lot of HP by not doing all 3?

I really don't want to smell like gasoline, exhaust fumes or whatever the smell is for lossing both CATS when I go places this is my DD

 

[ericrapp]

Okay here is another question.

Would it be stupid of me to just install the Downpipe and the Catback system and not install the mid pipe leaving me with the one CAT (smell reasons) or would I be lossing a lot of HP by not doing all 3?

I really don't want to smell like gasoline, exhaust fumes or whatever the smell is for lossing both CATS when I go places this is my DD

Hey Lewisb01, I read a comparison between test pipe, high flow and stock cats by sport compact car or somebody like that aways back. The difference is small enough between them that it is not a concern really. Size matters in turbo exhaust. The idea is to remove restrictions to gain performance. So run a cat but make sure it is a least the diameter as the rest of the exhaust.

 

[ericrapp]

Aaron, your tips and extra help on my exhaust were great! I was pretty nervous upon start up that I would have dicked up something. Or worse the oil smoke would start. It was the nice rich fuel smell that made me think I was at the track! No lights buzzers bells, or Leaks. And it is awesome! Sound and performance. I am sure sure when we throw a tune up in there, this exhaust is up to the increased flow. Thanks again for your help. peace

 

[aaronc7]

Ericrapp: glad to hear it all came out well!!! Yeah, the smell isn't bad or overbearing I don't think, but it's there.

As for Lewisb: I'd say there's nothing wrong with that setup. Their midpipe took awhile to come out, so many of the first people who had the corksport setup were stuck with the stock mid pipe for awhile. Also, thru corksport you get a 10% discount if you order the full TBE OR just the DP and catback...so you'd still be getting a really good deal.

You might consider getting the midpipe though. People who just get a midpipe show pretty decent power gains, so I think there's definitely power to be had in the mid pipe section.

Your best bet, mid pipe wise, would be to get the corksport mid pipe and get a high flow cat welded in or get the CPE or Cobb Downpipe when it comes out (both will cost more but will have a cat welded in). I'm getting my cat welded in on Friday...so wait around until the weekend and see what you think of it. I'll post pics and stuff. Then you can decide if that's something you want to do or not. Getting the cat welded in should work just as well, just may not look quite as nice. But...it's still the cheapest option out there. Might not be a factor for you...but it is for a college kid on a budget .

 

[lewisb01]

I'm leaning towards just doing the whole TBE from CS. But I have zero time to install itmyself so now I need to find a place around here that will do a good quality install and not charge me an arm and a leg before ordering!

God dayton, oh sucks!!!

 

[aaronc7]

Better than Bellefontaine....(about an hour north of you) where I'm from lol

Try to find a small family owned business or something. I know that can be hard because then you're not sure if it's a shady kind of place or not...ask around. The place I go to is called Marty's Muffler, lol. It's just like one guy who works there and owns it...a friend told me about them and its worked out really well.

 

[aaronc7]

Hey dudes, got a CEL today...but no worries!

I was just doing a couple hard runs and I noticed the CEL come on sometime in 5th. "well that's ghey" I said. So I headed over to autozone... its the CEL code for oxygen sensor circuit slow response. it was on (something something) bank 2...anyways 99% sure its the 2nd O2 sensor just being pulled "too far" out of the airstream due to the extender. Apparently the old extenders had a 1/4" hole and the newer ones have 31/64" (didnt measure mine but that's what i've heard). Corksports fix is to drill out to 1/2" (not much difference if mine is 31/64"). Anyways, the guy at autozone checks it, doesnt clear it I don't think because it was lit when I started the car. And within 1 min of me driving it goes away and hasn't been back. Hopefully just some fluke thing. Either way I don't think that code affects performance or anything...didnt feel like it anyways. I think I've had 1200-1400 miles on it now. The Cobb AP is supposed to eliminate any CELs associated with running catless etc so hopefully that will get rid of it forever (I just dont like seeing the CEL lol). Other than that it's been running great, get my catback tomorrow.

Stay tuned for when I get my catbak installed friday and getting my high flow cat welded into the Mid pipe!

 

[lewisb01]

So you are thinking your CEL might have something to do with running your complete TBE setup?

This make me nervous! Good thing i'm holding off on my order till I fully research this upgrade.

 

[aaronc7]

Nah, it's not really a big deal, just an annoying light at most. The car has 2 O2 sensors. The first one is the one that's important..monitors air to fuel ratio etc etc to keep the car safe. In the stock downpipe it is before the first cat. The 2nd O2 is right after the cat and it pretty much just monitors things to make sure the cat is working correctly. If the cat just fails or something, it will notice and set off a check engine light, so you know to go into the dealer or whatever and get a new downpipe/cat for emissions. Now that there is no cat there (corksport), something has to be done to trick the computer so you're not running a CEL 24/7.

See that little gold piece toward the bottom of the corksport downpipe? That's where the 2nd O2 connects to. It's pulled out of the airstream, which basically tricks it into thinking there is a cat there and won't set of a CEL. The problem is, sometimes it doesn't get hot enough (especially if the hole on the end of extender is small), so that's what sets off the CEL I'm 95% sure. Basically the CEL is just staying there's a problem with my cat or 2nd O2...but I know it's just because of the 'trick'...so it's nothing serious or doesn't affect performance. There's a couple other tricks (one involved a diode..dont know much about it), but I probably won't look into them as (hopefully) I'll be getting the Cobb AP soon. If this was an older car with only one O2 or whatever you wouldn't run into these minor problems. Just emission stuff makes it a bit more complicated, lol.

BTW this is my best explanation of things and how I understand it. Please correct me if I'm wrong!!!

 

[dkswim]

P0139 i love that CEL. but yeah there is no loss in performance with that cel its just telling you somethings wrong with the cat/ 2nd o2 sensor. if light is still on disconect your batary for 30 sec or so. its better to have a coad reader though that way you can cleer it and also verifi its not anythig else that could destroy your car trying to drive it to the parts store.

 

[aaronc7]

kbye

Cat welded in

The smell is gone...didn't notice a thing when the car was idling for about 5mins when I cleaned up and when stopped a stop signs etc.

I felt a TINY exhaust leak on the top part of the cat...dah gotta go back and have him fix the welding a little. Overall it's awesome I love the sound. Here's a vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmdhdfKdIZM

Is just my camera so quality isn't the best

Only concern is the tip doesn't look to be centered quite right. I left it how it was for now but hoping to maybe fix this (unless I'm just overly anal about it or something). It looks to be 'high' and 'to the left'. Seems really close to the plastic (melting)? I played around with the hangars and bolts and stuff and couldn't get it to really move into the exact center. For those who have this (..or anyone really) any ideas/tips? I had to muscle the Mid pipe and catback pretty good to get them to line up right, so I'm thinking maybe the mid pipe isn't hanging in quite the right "spot" and causing the catback portion to be a little off? Any thoughts/ideas? Thanks!

 

[blacksheepms3]

aaron. I have the vibrant dp back exhaust. the tip is not centered too. At first it annoyed me, but after a while it doesnt bother me anymore. the tip is near the right side close to the plastic. I've had for 6 months now and the plastic never melted. I have the corksport dp waiting for install since fall, your thread encouraged me to go ahead and install it. I hope i wont get smoke or a whole lot of cel.

my dp back includes a high flow cat already located at midpipe...so hopefully that will prevent the smell.

 

[aaronc7]

CS DP and Vibrant sounds pretty nice from what i've seen on youtube!

Yeah...saw a MS3 with the mazdaspeed 3 catback and it wasn't perfectly centered like mine either (almost exact same spot actually) so I'm cool with it now, lol. I got it centered by messing with it on the hangars but then it would bang up against the car...maybe has something to do with space available and 3" piping.

 

[blacksheepms3]

CS DP and Vibrant sounds pretty nice from what i've seen on youtube!

Yeah...saw a MS3 with the mazdaspeed 3 catback and it wasn't perfectly centered like mine either (almost exact same spot actually) so I'm cool with it now, lol. I got it centered by messing with it on the hangars but then it would bang up against the car...maybe has something to do with space available and 3" piping.

so now u hear ue exhaust hitting against the car? i was thinkin of forcefully bending things around to get it to be centered. but i was too lazy to do that. Besides my tip looks stock so noone will really cares if it's not centered. I like how the resonators are all hidden so u only see the tip. yours look awesome with double walled tip. mine is rolled.

 

[maestro]

CS DP and Vibrant sounds pretty nice from what i've seen on youtube!

Yeah...saw a MS3 with the mazdaspeed 3 catback and it wasn't perfectly centered like mine either (almost exact same spot actually) so I'm cool with it now, lol. I got it centered by messing with it on the hangars but then it would bang up against the car...maybe has something to do with space available and 3" piping.

Your exhaust should not hit the car. It may be a hanger that is hitting. Does it hit under hard acceleration, cornering, start up ??

 

[aaronc7]

It would hit going from side to side...so turning I guess. When I centered the tip perfectly it would actually rattle against somethign when idling too. I put rubber things close to 'end' and now it doesnt hit or have any problems like that, but its not centered perfectly in the back. This is how I have it now and will keep it that way....honestly it still looks great i love it!

 

[ericrapp]

Put the Cork mm inserts in and adjusted on hangars as suggested. NO rattle, just performance. oh and the sweet sound of course. The exhaust was hitting the H brace under acceleration. all better