Solid Fabrications 3" Track Exhaust DC5

[solid-fabrications]

Ok no problems. I'm always here to help if you need. As I said it's a passion of mine and I spent hours upon hours hand making each part so it's really heartbreaking to find out it's not sitting right.

Keep me updated and if I can be of help just give me a message on Facebook. It's the easiest way to get in contact with me.

Regards

Alan

 

[p1tse]

A good thread in my view, as started by the OP stating “their experiences” and some responses were a bit harsh when reading. Glad to see both parties in contact with learning outcomes.

@ solid fab; I‘m running a tegiwa mani and mugen twinloop, and like the oem setup the exhaust tailpipe is further in than I would like. I would prefer it to be flush or slightly protruding out from the exhaust bumper cut out; can this be achieved with additional flanges (sections/ connectors) or a cut and an additional extension on the tailpipe itself?

 

[Matt-DC5]

I am also aware of this issue as I stumbled across it when fitting the SF. Spoke with Alan as soon as it was on the car and explained the situation, as he mentioned on an earlier post he does build the systems on his car to ensure that the fit is bang on - I have photos of my system finished before he posted it out and fitment was perfect.
When installing to my car however the exhaust sat in like the picture provided, and coincidently I also have a DC sports manifold fitted which is the reason to why it happened. When speaking with Alan he said he was more than happy for me to bring the car to him to resolve this, but being in Yorkshire it wasn't feasible. He therefore offered to send me 2 flanges with longer bolts to space the backbox section out more which then sorted my problem.
Fair enough posting this to find out if anyone has had the same issue, but people then think that your slating the company off, and blatantly isn't your reason for this thread as your happy with the gains produced.
With supporting mods my DC5 made 258bhp and can say that from this exhaust upgrade, it has completely transformed the car and will 100% recommend this to anyone looking to upgrade

 

[Midnight]

I think it's clear there was a bit of communication error at the start. However the offer to send parts to try and rectify it is appreciated.

I think it comes down to you can't please everyone (Looking at it front SF point of view) and maybe we should have been advised at the start regarding the manifold (our point of view).

Learning curve for both I feel and I'm sure this will help potential buyers moving forward with a SF system.

👍🏼

 

[carl hammond]

Morning all,

Firstly thanks Midnight for the review and comments on your experience, such is always handy to everyone be that good or bad as things can‘t always be spot on.

I‘m kinda confused here as I‘ve both seen and been in Mark‘s car and not only is the solid fab system he has a work or art but it‘s also a good sound both in and out the car.

The provided images however make me wonder if you was supplied the wrong system in error as after reading the comments from all I‘m lost for the below reason:

If the car having an after market system can change things (DC fircexampke) then why has this issue not been faced and highlighted by others on Japanese system such as the Fujitsibu or Kakimoto?

I have a complete manifold back DC system and the fits perfect and have been considering an RM01A cat back to mate to the DC manifold and d.pipe, Chris ran this setup with no fitting issues or back box looking or being too short so how can this be as they too are off the shelf and won‘t be made taking the DC into account.

Hopefully this makes sense as too me it doesn‘t add up and I‘ve witnessed a perfect solid fans system in person but also seen this (and knowing the op via a number of chats and transactions) would fully trust him also.

But one thing I can add is I mailed Solid fabs about 9 months ago and never got a reply which didn‘t give a good start to my consideration of using them, but their exhaust look and sound amazing to me so if I was to ever have one I‘d just go there to avoid any issues.

 

[p1tse]

@matt-dc5 do you have pictures of the flanges and bolts?

My current setup of a tegiwa mani and twinloop is a little short just like oem really and would like to see what flange design can help on length?

 

[Midnight]

Patch, from my understanding all you'll need is some universal flanges. E.g. For us it would be ID 3" and around 10mm per flange.


So just make sure you have the exhaust sizes correct and that should solve the situation being a bit short. Most flanges come in a 8 or 10mm thickness so just measure how much you want added extra and buy flanges to suit 👍🏼

 

[p1tse]

Thanks

But what I struggle to understand and picture is what Carl mentioned when a jdm exhaust with aftermarket mani there aren‘t issues. Mine is just similar to oem in length.
What I can‘t picture is adding the flanges for length, this surely has an impact to the hangers fitment, angle and changing the b pipe and back box fitment angle etc.

 

[carl hammond]

Thanks

But what I struggle to understand and picture is what Carl mentioned when a jdm exhaust with aftermarket mani there aren‘t issues. Mine is just similar to oem in length.
What I can‘t picture is adding the flanges for length, this surely has an impact to the hangers fitment, angle and changing the b pipe and back box fitment angle etc.

Agreed this was my thoughts, how can all the Jdm and after market stuff fit without length issues (inc a dc sport cat back) yet this happened on this specific sf setup? I can only think that maybe somehow one of the parts sent isn‘t the one made for the car (maybe an ep3 part) meaning it‘s shorter? If not nothing seems to add up as I have never heard of any other system mating to an aftermarket mani (dc, tegiwa, eBay special etc) and being too short ?

 

[Midnight]

In short, yes Patch.

On our specific example we would need at least 3-4 x 10mm flanges. Which would move most the exhaust towards the rear. This in turn would move hanger placement and boxes as well.

I think maybe 1-2 you could get away with. However adding more would maybe cause other issues down the pipework.

Think we're going to try the flange option and report back.

Chopping and adding length to the exsisting pipework will be our last resort Wednesday.

 

[p1tse]

Thanks. I‘m interested as I‘ll like to make an extension without cut job, and the add flange piece was never a thought I encountered.

@carl, my only thought is whether Solid Fab is a FL or PFL, as reading John‘s Post about him moving parts from PFL and FL there were issues on length of sort? As I think the FL engine may sit slightly different? Only a thought though. Although some with aftermarket exhausts the b pipe also sits slightly different in height, so there is some difference? My rm01a b pipe with oem mani was very low.

Although there might be some differences in dc sport mani production over the years etc.?

Mine just sits like oem which is slightly tucked in.

 

[SamDC5]

Thanks. I‘m interested as I‘ll like to make an extension without cut job, and the add flange piece was never a thought I encountered.

@carl, my only thought is whether Solid Fab is a FL or PFL, as reading John‘s Post about him moving parts from PFL and FL there were issues on length of sort? As I think the FL engine may sit slightly different? Only a thought though. Although some with aftermarket exhausts the b pipe also sits slightly different in height, so there is some difference? My rm01a b pipe with oem mani was very low.

Although there might be some differences in dc sport mani production over the years etc.?

Mine just sits like oem which is slightly tucked in.

My RM-01A sits quite high with OEM manifold just thought I'd add. Never had any issues with it scraping (although I'm on OEM suspension) it doesn't look like it sits any lower than OEM.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[SamDC5]

For anyone interested, the RM-01A sits beautifully.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[p1tse]

I was lowered but looking underneath the b pipe on the rmo1a sat very low
I‘ve got pictures on here somewhere

Although the throttle response was good with it, I prefer the Mugen twinloop with decat.

 

[Midnight]

Kakimoto b pipe sits extremely low also.

 

[solid-fabrications]

No the systems are very different on the ep3 and dc5. No chance of there being a mix up. I have a picture of the exact system on my car before I send it out.

Also because it was a specific order of slight angle there is definitely no chance of a mix up.

I make each system by hand so quite hard to mix them up really.

Also with noise it's very subjective.

I personally have the same system on my car and drive it daily and find it nice and subtle, whereas other customers find it far too quiet and order middle box delete pipes.

It all depends on how you handle the noise really.

 

[MilanoChris]

Very impressed with the performance figures difference. Gives me some hope that switching to Toda instead of the Feel's on my FD2 will cure the issue I had on the dyno.

FWIW Kakimoto, RM01A and Toda all use 60mm (or 60.5). There's more to an exhaust system than the internal diameter.

 

[Midnight]

Very impressed with the performance figures difference. Gives me some hope that switching to Toda instead of the Feel's on my FD2 will cure the issue I had on the dyno.

FWIW Kakimoto, RM01A and Toda all use 60mm (or 60.5). There's more to an exhaust system than the internal diameter.

This!

Chris @ EFI was convinced that the baffle structure in the Kakimoto is one of the restrictive ones he's seen. Even before the map we seen gains of around 12bhp but obviously very lean.

Once map was adjusted we seen peak power of 29.9bhp over the kakimoto. Nothing else was changed just the cat back exhaust and map to suit.

Performance gains are there to be seen. Would be interesting to compare to the RM01A for sure as they tend to be less restrictive than the Kakimoto.

Brother sent across an image of the system connected to SF car and it seems to fit fine. However the 20mm DC sports (difference) still wouldn't give us the 2" difference at tailpipe.

 

[Indi]

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.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Makes me laugh people that jump on the bandwagon like this without knowing the full process. Each exhaust is made on Alans own DC5. Also I wouldn't talk so highly of RM01A in my experience the fitment was crap compared to SF and rubbed on my ARB..

 

[Midnight]

Makes me laugh people that jump on the bandwagon like this without knowing the full process. Each exhaust is made on Alans own DC5. Also I wouldn't talk so highly of RM01A in my experience the fitment was crap compared to SF and rubbed on my ARB..

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 👍🏼