XS Power downpipe part two installation. Well as I said before all the pipes came in and looked great. I looked all over the forums for someone that had done a 180 Quattro to get an insight as how to proceed; however, all I could find was 225 information. So I just dove in and went for it. First thing to do is get those front tires as high as you possibly can. A lift would be great but I did not have access to that so had to do it the old fashion way jack and stands. I got the car up the night before and sprayed all the bolts with PB Blaster. First thing to do is disconnect the O2 sensors, on the passenger side right under the door is a small plastic box about 3” square and the connections for both front and back senor are in that just take it off 2 bolts and unclip the connections. Next unbolt the 6 bolts from the cats to the stock down pipe, and get the back section of exhaust out of your way. Since all the bolts had been PB Blasted all the bolts came off easy I got lucky there (see pic). Next unbolt the stock down pipe, the lower two bolts can be reach from in front of the sub frame. For the top two bolts use a long 18” extension and come in from behind the sub frame (see pic). I cut the stock down pipe right in front of the sub frame where it split to assist in removal of the stock down pipe. Once cut the section connecting to the cats slipped right out. At this point I did not lower the sub frame hoping not to have to. The front part of the stock down pipe I pulled up through the top of the engine compartment. I placed the stock parts next to the new downpipe for alignment configuration (see pic). To get the new downpipe in remove the upper heat shield around the drive shaft, at this time I had to loosen the sub frame (only about 1”) no biggy only 4 bolts and the top portion of the down pipe slid right in no fuss no muss. Before bolting the downpipe up install the O2 sensor as you can move the downpipe as needed for easy access. Reinstall the downpipe to the turbo in reverse as the removal. Once the bolts were tight retighten the sub frame. The fit was great cleared everything no rubbing on the sub frame and cleared the drive shaft just fine (see pic). The test pipe portion then just bolts to the back of the down pipe and then the reducer (see pic). The project went just fine I had no issues or problems, did it by myself and took about 4 hours. I am by no means a master mechanic so if you are mechanically inclined you can do it. After the installation the car sounded great and no rubbing problems of the new exhaust. I defiantly felt a power increase at 3500-5000 rpm, liked it……. Next week will take back in for a redyno to get a true HP gain. Remember the original was 152.8 WHP. So stay tuned for the next exciting portion of the XS Power downpipe installation.

 

so what was the gains you got? any other mods you made?

 

got like a 12.7hp gain. since then stage 1 flash, cold air kn filter and cold side new inlet pipe