Solid Fabrications 3" Track Exhaust DC5

[Indi]

But if that's the case Indi, Alan knowingly knew there was a shortfall of 20mm, manifold dependant then that's something that should be spoke about at the start?

The welds and workmanship of the exhaust are phenomenal, gains are there to be seen. That's why it's so frustrating that on our specific car it doesn't sit correctly.

Alan's reply about sound is correct in terms of sound. We find it droning however if people are used to other loud exhausts titanium in particular then I guess you could call it quiet.

Im 'guessing' that Alan's car has the SF manifold installed too. So are we now saying that the SF manifold isn't OEM fitment?

I'm not really convinced of this whole different length manifold as the previous exhaust sat EXACTLY the same on both OEM manifold and D.C. Sports manifold.

Strange really but one thing I'm sure this thread irrelevant of people's opinions will help both Alan and potential customers communicate better in terms of what's needed and what's installed

Well mine was mated to Tegiwa manifold so I can't really speak of what it would have been like on a DC manifold.

The sound is personal preference as already mentioned, I've had Kakimoto regu 06&r like yourself in the past which was my favourite exhaust sound wise and also it made reasonable power on my car (246 bhp) with pretty much same mods as you (RBC, TEG intake, Teg manifold and kakimoto Regu exhaust) and fitment wise I found it a lot better than RM01A.

 

[SamDC5]

Not sure how you can slate the Fujitsubo when it rubbed on your aftermarket ARB? mine fitted perfectly and I did mine on my drive

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[Indi]

Not sure how you can slate the Fujitsubo when it rubbed on your aftermarket ARB? mine fitted perfectly and I did mine on my drive

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In that case strange how Kakimoto and SF both did not rub on the Progress bar as they had a lot more clearance. Also Midnight has an aftermarket ARB or is thinking of switiching to Progress ARB so this is just giving a heads up if anything not sure what your problem is :lol:

 

[Chrismartin]

This is just my opinion, if you're getting a custom exhaust done the person carrying out the work needs the car there to test fit and make sure the fitment is bang on.

Unless the exhaust is CNC cut and bent I'm afraid you're never going to get a perfect fit without them having the car. My RM-01A fitted perfectly and sits well and I won't ever be changing it.

While no doubt the exhaust looks brilliant and the performance gain is quite clear, they need to probably realise they can't just knock up an exhaust and ship it out without taking measures to ensure perfect fit every time.

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You've just described Tegiwa perfectly mate 😘

 

[SamDC5]

In that case strange how Kakimoto and SF both did not rub on the Progress bar as they had a lot more clearance. Also Midnight has an aftermarket ARB or is thinking of switiching to Progress ARB so this is just giving a heads up if anything not sure what your problem is

You can't really say fitment is poor because you've changed the ARB for a different fitment. I don't have a problem, just stating the flaw in your reply.

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[carl hammond]

I think the main issue here is the case with anything, if you go away from OEM then there is a potential something could go wrong. This could be form Manifolds to exhausts and ARB's and so on, especially it a parts being made or supplied by a cheap company like Tegiwa who seem to have a rep for selling cheap copies of other companies high end good which have been tried and tested and undergone R&D.

I've heard bad things about a lot of parts recently and a few names seem to come up regularly (Tegiwa for one), I have purchased one thing from them but this was a part that was not their own so to speak so used them as a supplier as they had better delivery times than other companies I tried first.

The manifold to exhaust thing still confuses me as I can't see how the op has had a few exhausts recently all with the same manifold yet the systems fitted fine, whereas the SF didn't and was too short. Someone else mentioned the cars as Alan tests all on his car, is one a FL and the other PFL?

My car came with a complete DC system manifold back so no fitting issues here but I am considering a new catback to quieten it down a bit and was thinking of an RM01A as Chris had this and the same manifold as me and it was a perfect fit and great sound, but SF is still an option as I am local enough to visit and have it done in person (just a shame my email was missed or ignored 9 months ago).

Has anyone else has an issue with a system being too short? if not could it be that something else has been moved (engine somehow) as John said he was having issues with such things on his FL when moving bits from his PFL (if I remember correctly)

 

[Indi]

You can't really say fitment is poor because you've changed the ARB for a different fitment. I don't have a problem, just stating the flaw in your reply.

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Well surely there should be more clearance than couple of mm OEM bar being 21mm and progress being 24mm. I have no doubt mine would've fouled on an OEM ARB over bumps. And sorry to correct you but fitment isn't different only difference is it's whole 3mm thicker.

 

[SamDC5]

If you're moving away from OEM of course things aren't going to fit as they should. If it was easy everyone would do it, sometimes things take a bit of work to adjust especially if you're going away from OEM.

There's a bit of a difference between an exhaust not being long enough and an exhaust that was made for OEM fitment fouling on an aftermarket ARB.

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[SamDC5]

Well surely there should be more clearance than couple of mm OEM bar being 21mm and progress being 24mm. I have no doubt mine would've fouled on an OEM ARB over bumps.

It isn't a couple of MM because I personally fitted mine and clearance is perfectly fine.

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[SamDC5]

Soon we're going to need qualified exhaust fitters at this rate

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[Midnight]

Don't even get me started on ARB's

Ours is 28mm and I 'think' we are swapping to the smaller progress bar. Not only because it fouls EVERY exhaust but the clonking and other noises are crazy

Yes totally agree with the whole 'moving away from OEM' may cause problems but we've had our fair share already and for something that was 'custom to fit' 'direct fit' you are kind of expecting it to fit. Although I feel I'm just going over old ground now. Will update Wednesday.

I just hope this can help other people if they agree with our opinion or not the pictures don't lie so maybe a bit more communication at the start would prevent such problems? We'll know more Wednesday though.

 

[carl hammond]

Deff helped me thanks

 

[SamDC5]

I like the reviews mate keep them coming it's what forums are about sharing information whether it be good or bad

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[impne]

Has anyone else has an issue with a system being too short? if not could it be that something else has been moved (engine somehow) as John said he was having issues with such things on his FL when moving bits from his PFL (if I remember correctly)[/quote]

My 2001 came over last year with std manifold and 5zigen cat back. Manifold had a crack so I purchased a skunk2 Alfa decat from for sale section on here.

I‘ve swapped these on my last one so it never crossed my mind I‘d have an issue so I didn‘t measure against the std one but after fitting the tailpipe it was approximately 40mm shorter.

I guess the manifold was shorter than the std one I removed?

Before I got chance to look into it more a skunk2 megapower system came up so I bought that, fitted it and all was fine again.

My guess is that the manifold is shorter than std and the system longer than std? So just fitting a system will lengthen it on a std manifold?

The manifold was boxed as ep3/dc5, it knocked when fitted so fitted mount inserts into my new std engine mounts which resolved the knocking on the arb. I‘d say the manifold is really an ep3 but happens to fit dc5 with a bit of work.

 

[Midnight]

Skunk2 alpha reviews when I was looking seem to be problematic on the DC5 (or should I say I come across a few reviews indicating this).

I'm not reading in to this D.C. Manifold business too much as kakimoto sat the EXACT same on OEM & DC.

 

[SamDC5]

Here's the 'poor' clearance on the RM-01A

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[impne]

Skunk2 alpha reviews when I was looking seem to be problematic on the DC5 (or should I say I come across a few reviews indicating this).

I'm not reading in to this D.C. Manifold business too much as kakimoto sat the EXACT same on OEM & DC.

You live and learn lol I did 🙄

I intend to go full SF now but drop my car off the make sure it‘s all ok

 

[Midnight]

Yes, I don't doubt if the car is there at SF the quality of work and fitment would be great.

It's clear that the lack of communication at the start may have caused these issues for us. We'll know more Wednesday for sure 👍🏼

 

[Midnight]

*** Update ***

Exhaust now fits!!!

We've used 3 x 10mm flanges and 4 x 8mm gaskets (that shorten when tightened) and it now fits like it should have with no more middle box rattling on underbody.

Clearly something is amiss somewhere as even taking into account the 20mm difference we've all learnt we still needed extra to protrude the rear bumper.

However I'm happy, exhaust fits and made good power.

Id like to thank everyone for the comments and Solid Fabrications for answering questions.

As already stated, hopefully this can help people move forward and not have the problems we did.

So I'll leave it as the below statement. Would we of ordered the SF exhaust knowing we'd have the fitting problem and the weight of the exhaust. No.

Are we happy with the power it made, yes.

Overview, while we had problems and the weight of this system can't be ignored as it is very heavy. The welds and off the car it looks more a piece of art than an exhaust. A few tweeks here and there this system could be VERY good.

 

[p1tse]

Good job all round.

Any pictures from the rear to see how it sits now?

Also where the flanges and gaskets all fit between the backbox and b pipe?