I purchased the stainless s-pipe during the sale/preorder and ended up spending around $150 or so shipped for it. It took a while between development and problems with their bender and such but such is expected... shtuff happens. I think I was #3 for the order and James was very helpful over the phone. It was a very easy transaction.

Anyways... to the part that everyone wants to know about - the pipe

I received it just a day or 2 after James sent me the tracking number and unboxed it and took some pictures next to my stock s-pipe.







Overall you can tell it's quite a bit larger than the stock s-pipe. Also with a much better finish (duh) and smoother flowing bends. The quality of the piping is great and the welds are good. I did notice that there is a bend that is so sharp it almost looks crush bent. I'm not an expert on pipe bending but it made me do a double take.



I seriously doubt it's crush bent considering the rest of the bends don't wrinkle and i know it won't disturb the flow at all but I figured I would note this.

There was also the rear exhaust gasket and hardware.



I was a little confused why a spring washer was included. I understand what they want it to do but I'm also familiar with what happens with springs get hot (see: exhaust hot)... They don't stay too springy LOL. Anyways there was no problem with it coming off. I've driven it probably 300-400 miles already and haven't had any issues. I did use some gasket paste for the rear gasket as I was at my friends shop with the car on the lift and he had some sitting there. I'm not sure if its required or recommended but hell it was free why not.

I did find the O2 bung weld was a little messy...



It doesn't really bother me what the bung looks like honestly but I was kinda surprised it wasn't cleaned up a little. No worries it's tucked up under the car and no one will ever see it.

The clearance of the oil pan kind of bothers me though. For N/A it probably won't make any difference but it's maybe 1-2" from the bottom of the pan at the closest point. If I were to go turbo I wouldn't have it that close... If I get really bored I'll put the car back on jacks and get some photos of where I'm speaking of... but don't hold your breath

The driving impressions:

This is just an s-pipe. I didn't expect 9238798whp from it (after all, it's not a vinyl) and I didn't get 9238798whp. No shock here. I can tell after having the ECU learn for a couple hundred miles that it has a little more pep from 40-60. Worth the $150? Yes. Happy with the purchase? Yes. Would I recommend it? For people sticking with natural aspirated engines, yes. As far as forced induction, I would recommend modifying it to get a little bit of air between the pipe and the oil pan.

NOTE: I have NOT seen other S-pipe designs from other companies so I cannot say whether or not this is the norm for all aftermarket pipes. You could have this bent and changed at a muffler shop with a qualified welder/bender for probably very cheap.



Sorry the review took forever but I've been removing flooring and cabinets (remodeling the casa )

If you have any questions, feel free to post them up. Maybe James will jump in and answer some too

 

If you're very concerned, could you try coupling that heatshield to the new pipe?

 

how do you like the AW header/CC s-pipe combo? is it loud? do they mate up well or were there fitment issues?

 

Since it's bigger, did you consider ceramic coating it to keep the heat in and the velocity up?

 

yeah i could heat wrap it but i'd rather avoid that alltogether

 

i like it better than the alphawerks/stock s-pipe combo

it's not loud

they mate up perfectly fine

 

well i will eventually have a turbine to keep the flow up but i think i'm going to have it bent a little to clear the oil pan some more

 

yay another rice mod! whooooo yeah baby!

awesome pics matty! thanks for the review as well, i will now be on the hunt for a new S-Pipe once i order the exhaust!

YOU DA BOMBDIGGITY!

 

lol
thanks

i think

 

yeah...creative has not replied to an inquiry on that pipe from me from several days ago...lack of communication can equal far less sales.

 

i have i/h/e. im gonna see if this does anything. .i hope it does

and i got mine today. installin on thursday

-taek