Kirban Performance 3" Bolt In Down Pipe Inquiry

[86BuickT]

Just wondering, has anyone had any experience with the 3" bolt in downpipe sold by kirban performance? Likes or Dislikes? The current stock downpipe has been bent/cut/cat welded directly to. The thnigs that appeal to me is it being stainless, the price(only 185 + shipping), and a somewhat better replacement than my current one. I worry about the downpipe requiring the use of a clamp to secure the pipe and the adapter from the turbo. Waste of money? Good alternative to the $300-450 price tag on most aftermarket downpipes? I currently have to replace the entire exhaust and this price is appealing. The car is stock and I plan on not modifying the car heavily.

 

[TurboTnZ06]

I have one on my GN. You'll have to use the muffler sealer stuff, its like a white paste and works well. I had to take my pipe off a couple times to get it all to fit right with a SFH. Do not use a BFH. You'll also want to port the lip on the exhaust housing while you are in there. I also had to grind down (clearance) the area on the pipe where the bottom allen bolt head would fit into the pipe so I could get it threaded in the housing. I also had to chop a half inch off an allen key to fit in there as well to tighten the bolts correctly in the car. With a stock turbo and this pipe and unported elbow I went as fast at the same boost level on pump gas as a TE44 and ATR 3 inch external gate pipe- 13.0 sec.

My THDP, ATR pipe, and RJC pipes dropped right in, in about 10 seconds each, compared to hours with the two piece pipe. The advantage to the kirban pipe is you can appear factory since you don't have to cut the heat shield (which is easy btw with a 4 inch electrical cutoff wheel).

I say get an RJC 3" internal gate SS pipe, it's only a couple bucks more and its a no brainer installation.

 

[86BuickT]

Thanks! That's what I'm looking for. I guess it comes down to you get what you pay for. The R&D for the RJC piece is what your probably paying for, which in my opinion is probably worth it when comparing it to the headache and labor involved installing the bolt in setup.

 

[TurboSpeed]

I have one on my gn, it lookes stock but alittle bigger. Same thing that Turbotnz06 said. Its a pain in the ass really,when your taking it off and on, but works. I wish i would of went with a different one tho.

 

[TurboTnZ06]

General tip- whenever buying a downpipe, always buy the testpipe with it at the same time from the same vendor so that it is the right length. Not all test pipes are the same length.

 

[NarcGN]

didnt like mine, didnt know you needed a dye grinder to port the elbow to make it fit. had it on my car for about 30 miles, took almost 2 hours to get it installed. ended up changing my turbo and buying an external wastegate setup.

 

[chriss4655]

Dp

I have the kirban D/P ,Wish I didn"t cheap out, Cost me more in the long run , They take a bit of work to install and get to seal up. I have a rjc pipe coming! Performace difference between the two, couldn"t tell ya

 

[pick1313]

I bought one used for $120 and thought it was a direct bolt in. IT ISN'T. I knew that the gutted cat I'm running would need to be 3" and had my buddy at the muffler shop weld a 3" snout on it. What I didn't know was that quite a bit more fitment was required of the pipe to make it fit my stock car. My elbow didn't need porting and this pipe doesn't use a gasket at the turbo. Kirban's recommended using a thin coat of hi-temp RTV before assembly to the turbo.

Now, I've got some serious OCD . So I took the turbo off the car and bolted the elbow on using RTV as instructed. In addition to fitting the pipe by cutting off 1/2" at top and bottom before reassembly I also had to grind a little off one of the allen bolts. Once fitted and assembled, I can easily remove with minimal effort . I've never had any leaks or rattles since installed.

I can't tell you if it's better or worse from a performance aspect, since the only other downpipe I've owned was the stock one (it's better than stock). I also don't know how long all this took me (quite a while) and it was aggravating. But, in the end I have a very clean install with no problems (and it was cheaper) . I can post some pics if you'd like.

 

[usetaboost]

Just port your stock elbow or purchase one cheap. A ported elbow makes plenty difference