club.liberty.asn.au

After weeks and weeks of waiting , the Phat GT designed dump pipe was now finished. Having just completed the ceramic coating process last week, it was now ready to be put on it's next victim (Phil being the first). So I dropped by Liverpool Exhaust early this morning, hoping to get it done in 2-3 hours.

However after removing the factory dump pipe, the installer was unable to fit Phat's pipe on. Uh-oh. A quick call to Phat revealed his design was based around Phil's manual MY07 GT. Mine is auto (yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh you bastards ), so the gearbox is bulkier and was in the way of the pipe. Heh-heh, I guess this makes me Phat's dump pipe guinea pig for the MY07 GT auto.

Anyway, the installer ended up cutting Phat's dump pipe in the middle, and then custom made the connecting piece between the dump pipe and the resonator from stainless steel. It had to have enough bends to wrap around the gearbox.

Hmm, I'll need to check with Phat on this, but I'm guessing the ceramic coating helps the piping from getting too hot. But without the heat shield like the factory pipe, I wonder how hazardous it's going to be with the stainless steel pipe exposed like that.

In any case, after 5 agonizing hours , the install was finally done. The installer did a fantastic job at welding the pipes together, and even polished it nice and shiny.

Initial feedback is the car is more responsive. Seems more eager to run through the RPM's, especially at mid-range. Noise has also increased, both inside and out. It rumbles a bit more from within the cabin, but not enough to intrude or be an annoyance. From the outside the exhaust note seems a bit deeper as well as a bit louder. I'll post up another recording of the K2's with the DP on YouTube tonight and update the Exhaust Clips thread.

Overall it is a positive performance mod. A bit more noise, but also a also more power and response which outweighs any negatives.

This mod is definitely recommended to anyone thinking about it. I don't know about the MY04-MY06, but for you MY07-MY08 owners, please verify that the dump pipe you're getting (whether it be AVO from NextMod or this one from Phat) matches your transmission.

Update - Took it out for spin tonight to put the DP through it's paces, and the car really came alive. Turbo spool seems quicker, especially at mid range, and acceleration is very punchy now. Exhaust note is more aggressive inside and out, but still a civilised environment inside.

And the exhaust video has been uploaded to YouTube and the Exhaust Clips thread updated. Unfortunately it sounds almost identitical to my other K2 videos only it's a bit deeper in tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBuYfG9RgWI

The Phat GT designed dump pipe in the flesh. Shiny! And like most aftermarket ones, has a single cat instead of two like the factory's


The single opening of the factory dump pipe. Pretty restrictive, but again it should be to keep noise levels down.


Like most aftermarket performance dump pipes, Phat's one has two holes to allow for escaping gases to shoot straight to the cat rather than get bottlenecked at the flange opening.


Looking from front to back, you can see the chopped dump pipe at the top and the fat arsed gearbox that stands in it's way. Wow, do I need to clean the car's underbelly.


The stainless steel connection pipe that joins the dump pipe and the centre pipe. Again, pretty good weld and polish from the installer. Very professional.

very nice, im shocked at the stock dump pipe

Excellent writeup Jim!

I'll be looking into one next month hopefully.

Nice!

Would be interesting to see a comparison of the openings between PHAT GT's and AVO's DPs.

Cheers
Daniel

Hmm, I'll need to check with Phat on this, but I'm guessing the ceramic coating helps the piping from getting too hot. But without the heat shield like the factory pipe, I wonder how hazardous it's going to be with the stainless steel pipe exposed like that.


arith
from what I understand about ceramic coatings they a usually applied to pipes which have a thick wall section, as pipes with thicker walls get hotter and retain the heat for longer periods of time, then pipes with smaller sections.

I am guessing due to the bends in the dp they used a thicker wall section pipe, but in the extra part added by the installer for your car they may have used a thinner wall section pipe, if this is the case you may have no need to coat the new section, but bear in mind a thinner wall section pipe will make a difference in sound.

....... I hope this makes sense...... maybe its time for auto trans cooler it may help with the extra heat from your exhaust affecting your transmission.

senator wrote:bear in mind a thinner wall section pipe will make a difference in sound.

Ahh, thanks for explaining that, senator. I hope the difference in sound you talk about is a good one and not in terms of more noise or more metallic sounding.

nice jim, next time, i need to have a ride..

hi jim,

i just heard your you tube recording,i cant wait for mine to turn up now,we need to catch up i want to see it in person.

norm

not a fan of the dump...

open mouth design with a splitter i believe is the best dump option.

but hey each to their own... what costs ???

I like the deep tone...

senator wrote:Hmm, I'll need to check with Phat on this, but I'm guessing the ceramic coating helps the piping from getting too hot. But without the heat shield like the factory pipe, I wonder how hazardous it's going to be with the stainless steel pipe exposed like that.


arith
from what I understand about ceramic coatings they a usually applied to pipes which have a thick wall section, as pipes with thicker walls get hotter and retain the heat for longer periods of time, then pipes with smaller sections.

I am guessing due to the bends in the dp they used a thicker wall section pipe, but in the extra part added by the installer for your car they may have used a thinner wall section pipe, if this is the case you may have no need to coat the new section, but bear in mind a thinner wall section pipe will make a difference in sound.

....... I hope this makes sense...... maybe its time for auto trans cooler it may help with the extra heat from your exhaust affecting your transmission.

Guys,
Ceramic coating keeps the heat in the pipes for faster exhaust gas, you want the pipes to retain heat. It also helps keep heat radiating into engine area. Its better than thermal tape cos it doesn't cause as mush corrosion.

Spec B Wgn wrote:open mouth design with a splitter i believe is the best dump option.

That's great, but unfortunately that's not an option for us MY07-MY08 folks with the BL9 (2.5t w/single scroll).

That's one of the reasons Phat GT even design something like this. As any such products were all for the BL5 (2.0t w/twin scroll) because that's what they still use in Japan. So, gotta make do with what I got.

On top of which I don't need it any noisier than it is now, which is still very civilised. And besides, I'm very happy with the 'seat of pants' power increase.

Looks nice, sounds good too.. saw it on youtube lol..

not too loud but enough to be satisfied with!

PRO20B wrote:Would be interesting to see a comparison of the openings between PHAT GT's and AVO's DPs.

I also found this an interesting comparo. Sorry if me posting others handi work pisses anyone off. BTW Jim, what is that yellow thing hanging down towards the back of your new DP?
stock DP photo by Jim


PHAT'S DPphoto by Jim


AVO DP photo by Tangles

cool pics Jim.
Yeah i've used Phat's DP on a few cars and feedback above is exactly the same.

I still reckon there should be 2 cats like the standard dump, on one of the cars I've done with a bigger turbo, this dump pipe and HKS premium exhaust. It was very droney on highways and sitting at the back seat was unbearable.

probably be the same with the AVO dump.
Might of been the turbo, but still it was pretty bad.