The pics expresses my deepest emotion! Thank GOD! it's a HIGH QUALITY EXHAUST. I had an issue with a CEL that I couldn't find out what it was, I thought it might be a small exhaust leak coming from the obx donut gasket causing the car to lean out so i decided to order a flex pipe to replace the donut (cheap) gasket design. Take the thing apart and what do you know... I had leaks all over the place!!... "huh, no wonder I lost to that 5.0L mustang the other day".... With my friend's help we rewelded everything and thankfully the car is running much better! with no CEL. I regret buying OBX, quality really sucks compared to my Alta cat back.. guess this is what happens when you go cheap on your MINI.. I only blame myself --- and OBX for making a "High Quality Exhaust"...

 

You get what you pay for. At least you fixed it.

 

yeah....well at least now everyone knows that if they feel power loss or a CEL with this downpipe they should take the time and check the welds for cracks. Funny thing is that I only been running this downpipe for about 4 months..

 

Ceramic coat it. I can't say much I have a Riss Racing Pipe.

 

Seen these crack before.

 

Eesh. Should find someone to buy it and go with an Akrapovic DP...

 

I wouldn't want to sell it to anyone. If it cracks again, i might just make a custom 3" dp to connect to my Alta cat back. At least my baby is running good again! FMIC is on it's way to finally go stage 3 on the AP.

 

Thats all well and good but, that pipe is catted. To run a higher tune you need a straight pipe without a convertor. Also some of us are not about to spend that kind of money on a pipe.

 

If you're gonna do it the first time, might as well do it right. Doesn't take long to save up a few extra bucks to get a AK DP compared to OBX even if it is few weeks to a few more months waiting to save.

 

I'll have to go with Porthos on this one. A pipe is a pipe, the difference is quality of welds, piping used, and size. I simply went with OBX because of the price. I was originally going to make my own downpipe, but i didnt want to hack up the stock dp just in case i needed to reinstall it. I also prefer catless and since i am down in Miami, i dont have to worry about smog emissions and what not . I feel most companies over charge on labor for their products, but hey support them if you can. BEFORE INSTALLING THIS DP, JUST SPEND AN EXTRA $15 ON EBAY AND BUY A FLEX PIPE. This wouldn't have ever happened if i had it installed first hand. We live and we learn.

BTW the AK DP is really well built and worth the money for those guys who don't want to put the extra work in or have to worry about making modifications. I enjoy making my own stuff work whenever possible. SWEET R56! ra2fanatic.. i like.

 

Thanks Black! Happy modding!

 

Glad I found this thread. Was considering the OBX and now I will get one for sure and add the flex pipe to it. When I asked the vendor about the lack of a flex section he said, "I have sold many of these and no problems so far." I knew that was a lie.

 

Yeah, definately get the flex pipe. I just think people haven't mentioned their problems to the vender. It's more of a hassle to get the vender to say his product sucks and give you your money back then just fixing it yourself. Hope the best! Good Luck!

 

Hey guys just installed Alta FMIC that i got used for $500 (not too bad). Pretty simple install. Finally at stage 3 tune on the Cobb accessport and i can say im loving it. Took my MINI up to 140mph with ease. Seems like power is more consistent at higher RPM range.

 

There's someone on ebay who must have stumbled upon all the RISS remaining stock or something. I got their DP, catless, for 200 shipped. Not much more over the OBX. Just FYI for anyone interested.

 

I bought the Riss pipe on ebay too from I believe the same guy. Looks kinda flimsy. Doubt I will install it.

 

Riss Racing pipes are not flimsy. I have one on my MINI the problem is that the O2 bung at the top is not in the right place so I had to dremel out my heat shield to get it on.

 

Maybe not flimsy but the welds look weak. Maybe I got a fake one, the dude on eBay says its Riss but there's no name plate on it. Kinda looks like the obx one without the plate.

 

OBX parts are cheap ****. They're all made in China for pennies using sub-quality stainless with **** welds.

 

So while everyone is on the topic of downpipes....If I were to install a catless downpipe, but kept the cat on the exhaust (reducing the R56 from 2 to 1 cat), would I fail emissions testing? I live in CO and can't seem to find any info on this. If I need 2 cats to pass then I will just wait for Alta's new cat-downpipe that they said is supposed to come out this fall.

 

First of all, stop buying Alta's trash

You will fail emissions testing since the downpipe cat is the catalyst that's doing most of the work. Also, it's the only cat on the car that's monitored by the ECU. The seconds cat is not monitored. You can cut out the second cat and still pass.

 

I'm new to the Mini world and modding in general, but is there a specific reason to not buy Alta? What catted-downpipe would be recommended?

 

There's nothing wrong with Alta's products and they have good customer service.

Dave

 

There is a camp here that think Alta is the face of Devil. I have yet to see Alta break a MINI. There was a guy in the Nissan world that was CnC his own parts in his garage one of them being a crank pulley which he was not balancing. Well after about 3 weeks 6 Frontiers and 5 Sentras blew up in a week because of that. So until Alta starts blowing cars up their parts are not that bad though they do over hype them.

 

I figured that may be the case. I'm not looking to try to get the most powerful MINI out there. I just want something with over 260hp but I'm more concerned with a good torque figure. I want to make my MINI quick off the line but to have a good set-up for mountain driving. Not looking to destroy other cars light to light. Alta is attractive to a new guy like me because I can buy a lot of the parts I'm looking for and I don't have to worry too much about fitting issues.