mroberte

First off, Happy New year! Its been awhile since I've been on the forums as the holidays were insane. But with the new year, comes new presents!

Installed this over the weekend and WOAH this car is fast now! I wasn't expecting such a dramatic difference, but its fast and spins all the wheels on launch!

The sound of the AWE Tuning Touring Exhaust sounds AMAZING and so much louder and meaner. At idle its still calm and not overbearing, but the higher revs it sure does start singing.

The install was a royal Bit%h to say the least. Getting the stock downpipe out is impossible without moving the drive shaft and heat shields out of the way. I basically followed the simple steps thankfully that EmmanueleDesign had posted over on Audizine. I didn't remove the engine mount, instead I removed the heatshield covering the drive shaft and then the center support. There you can slightly bend the driveshaft to get it to remove from the transmission. Either way (motor mount removal or driveshaft support) is not going to be easy. I would NOT recommend installing this with jackstands as there just isn't enough room to get the stock DP out since you need to twist it out like a contortionist. No real special tools are needed, just allen wrenchs/bits, Star bits (15mm I think), 13mm, 10mm and 12mm wrenches and sockets. Thick gloves to not rip your skin open from the metal around the DP flex joint.

Installing the new USP Downpipe was literally about 30 minutes, however the two AWE and USP parts are, as expected, not compatible in terms of length. I needed to weld an extra 3 inch tube to one of the flanges to make up about 10 inches in pipe to connect the DP to the catback exhaust.

Note, if you also install this by yourself, take care to route your Oxygen sensor away from any rotating parts. I used a few zip ties and dropped it down on the driver side instead of the original passenger side location behind the heat shields. Also when you remove the stock DP you will most likely hit some of the heat shield. When you reinstall the new, make sure there is enough clearance to nothing is touch or you will have rattling like I did. Next day bent them back to their shape and no more rattling.

Now onto visual instructions of install with the sweet sweet sound it makes!





Back on the Lift



Removal of stock DP clamp in engine bay then pull off the turbo manifold.



Remove lower plastic splash guard for easier access to bolts.



There is a middle plastic piece that is held with two plastic tension clips. Push in the center of the clip, plastic dowel will go in, then you can pull it out completely.



Clearly can see how close the stock DP and the drive shaft are to each other.



These two nuts are hard to get to with a weird angle to try and break loose. I think this is either a 15mm or 8mm Allen bit. This part needs to be removed before the drive shaft heat shield can be removed.



All of the brackets and heat shields that were removed. Top Left: passenger CV shaft cover, Middle Left: Driveshaft heat shield, Bottom Middle: Catalytic Converter bracket holder (You don't need this anymore, remove for new DP), Right: Power Steering pump heat shield. Removing will make things 100% easier to remove stock.



Remove Heat Shield that covers Driveshaft to remove center support.



Remove three bolts to unhook driveshaft. I marked the bolt location with whiteout just incase for reinstall.



Center drive shaft support that I unbolted. Carefully have someone pull down on the driveshaft, then another person move the drive shaft off the transmission and push to the drivers side.



Drive shaft now is off of the transmission and moved to the side.



USP Downpipe with Hiflow Cat.



Stock DP with giant stubborn Cat (left) compared to the two piece USP DP.



The missing link! About 10 inches of new pipe needs to be made to connect USP DP to AWE exhaust. I used existing Flange, bought a new 3" SS pipe, welded it together, cut off excess and used clamps to secure.



Extension piece made/welded with flange to compensate for the 10 inches of gap between DP and exhaust



Attaching the USP DP to suppled bracket to stock support.



Back to front view (AWE Tuning Touring Exhaust)



Front to Back view, USP Downpipe, highflow cat to exhaust.



After all done



Father's ride, just put in a turbo'd RB inline 6, slip diff, and custom coilover suspension! We'll be ready for upcoming autocross season!

aj6

How'd you secure the O2 sensor extension cable along the driveshaft tunnel? My BB downpipe has the cat in the same location and right now I've secured the cable through tension only. I want a better solution but haven't found one yet.

Edit: Great writeup and photos btw. My install went the same way minus loosening the rear driveshaft mount. What a pain that stock DP is to remove though!

mroberte

@aj6, I ended up using tin snips to cut one of the holes on the driveshaft heat shield a little larger to accommodate the bigger plug to go through. Filed down the rough edges to smooth it out to not ruin the wire with/when vibration, then routed the cable behind the two heatshields till it got to the power steering rack. There is where I cable tied the connector to the PS connector, from there it was a straight shot up to the engine bay on the firewall trying to make sure to keep it far away from the CV shafts and the drive shaft. I used about 3 cable ties underneath and the existing clips in the top of the engine bay firewall.

And yes, this was probably the most elaborate uninstall of such a relatively small piece. I've done engine swaps on my old car in about 2 hours, this took me about 6!! But learned a bunch about the car now for anything in the future!

aj6

Interesting solution, thanks! I'll probably borrow some of that when I finish it up over the weekend.

CalSam

Sounds amazing and the video looks like the car is really pulling. I'll keep an eye out for your car in the city/freeway. Should be the loudest A3 out here.