PRL Motorsports Downpipe / Front Pipe Pre-Order 1.5T Civic X

[elusiveaura]

Well that would SUCK lol. I'm gonna have a shop do the install but that worries me haha

i have seen a couple people posting that they broke 2 bolts and have still been able to use thw DP without any issues. worst case you may have an exhuast leak and might throw a code. then you would have to unbolt the turbo drill out the studs and retap with new bolts.

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[IronFusion]

Well that would SUCK lol. I'm gonna have a shop do the install but that worries me haha

Since you have decided to have pros do the work, I'll mostly just touch on the other stuff. But first... If you even vaguely think you may want the DP wrapped in tape at some point... Do it when you open the box, or never think about it again. If your car isn't brand new or uber lightly used, you won't want to touch the new pipes again once installed- whether it's your labor or checkbook on the hook if you have a change of heart.
It took my car a few months and hundreds to thousand+ miles before the CELs started. It seemed to happen when I was stuck behind another car with obvious dirty exhaust, or after a short period of spirited driving and then abruptly getting caught in bumper to bumper B.S.
It was P0420. Not sure if it coincided with the CVT seeming to hunt for the right ratio, or if what I felt was a result of the drivetrain getting lax as the code was thrown, but before the alert sounded.
There is a specific option in Ktuner, even (pretty sure) for the off-the-shelf tunes that are otherwise locked down, for P0420. Not sure if Tuners can lock down access to that, but as long as you don't try to squeeze yours to tune for your upgrade for free, they might tweak the config to additionally suppress the code.
Not sure what your rationale is for going catted, and I won't assume. I wanted the additional performance, but was willing to relinquish a bit of potential for the sake of the environment. Yes, my car threw codes, but the exhaust never smelled a bit different. I don't have a MT, so I also figured an optional upgrade isn't the time to be all absolutist about wringing out every bit of performance. Again, my preference. Yours and everyone else's is a personal choice. But that absolutism is a slippery slope... Maybe someone doesn't preserve any catalytic action by going with a test pipe. Maybe they also decide to modify the PCV to vent to atmosphere. How people spend their time and money is a liberty. What toll they exact on the environment... eh- that's where my opinion strongly diverges.

 

[elusiveaura]

Will the PRL FP hookup to the thermal exhaust without any issues? The thermal comes with a FP but I may replace it with PRL if t works with no issues. Also probably a dumb question. I don’t have to worry about any CEL with just the front pipe correct?

Since you have decided to have pros do the work, I'll mostly just touch on the other stuff. But first... If you even vaguely think you may want the DP wrapped in tape at some point... Do it when you open the box, or never think about it again. If your car isn't brand new or uber lightly used, you won't want to touch the new pipes again once installed- whether it's your labor or checkbook on the hook if you have a change of heart.
It took my car a few months and hundreds to thousand+ miles before the CELs started. It seemed to happen when I was stuck behind another car with obvious dirty exhaust, or after a short period of spirited driving and then abruptly getting caught in bumper to bumper B.S.
It was P0420. Not sure if it coincided with the CVT seeming to hunt for the right ratio, or if what I felt was a result of the drivetrain getting lax as the code was thrown, but before the alert sounded.
There is a specific option in Ktuner, even (pretty sure) for the off-the-shelf tunes that are otherwise locked down, for P0420. Not sure if Tuners can lock down access to that, but as long as you don't try to squeeze yours to tune for your upgrade for free, they might tweak the config to additionally suppress the code.
Not sure what your rationale is for going catted, and I won't assume. I wanted the additional performance, but was willing to relinquish a bit of potential for the sake of the environment. Yes, my car threw codes, but the exhaust never smelled a bit different. I don't have a MT, so I also figured an optional upgrade isn't the time to be all absolutist about wringing out every bit of performance. Again, my preference. Yours and everyone else's is a personal choice. But that absolutism is a slippery slope... Maybe someone doesn't preserve any catalytic action by going with a test pipe. Maybe they also decide to modify the PCV to vent to atmosphere. How people spend their time and money is a liberty. What toll they exact on the environment... eh- that's where my opinion strongly diverges.

 

[IronFusion]

Check with @PRL Motorsports about the fit. No, just the FP will not cause CELs.

 

[PRL Motorsports]

any aftermark

Will the PRL FP hookup to the thermal exhaust without any issues? The thermal comes with a FP but I may replace it with PRL if t works with no issues. Also probably a dumb question. I don’t have to worry about any CEL with just the front pipe correct?

Any aftermarket exhaust will work with our FP as a direct bolt on

 

[elusiveaura]

Pardon my ignorance lol but how would your fp hook up to thermals exhaust. This is their FP and it doesn’t have a flange at the end. Stock is top thermal is bottom.

any aftermark

Any aftermarket exhaust will work with our FP as a direct bolt on

 

[maddmatt02]

I think there's your answer. If thermal just uses a slip joint and clamp right there, your going to have to run their whole setup from PRLs DP only

So "any aftermarket exhaust that bolts to the factory front pipe will work with their FP as a direct bolt in"

 

[elusiveaura]

Got it thanks. Thinking about removing my thermal exhaust anyways and going with a different brand so I’ll see what I end up with.

I think there's your answer. If thermal just uses a slip joint and clamp right there, your going to have to run their whole setup from PRLs DP only

So "any aftermarket exhaust that bolts to the factory front pipe will work with their FP as a direct bolt in"

 

[PNW_FC3]

At peak we saw 16 hp and 5 ft/lb tq through our catted downpipe combo, and another ~5+hp/5+tq from going catless with our Si. These results should be pretty consistent with any 6MT model 1.5T. The CVT transmittion in our EX-T allowed us to see major gains down low without a tune.

@PRL Motorsports I have an SI as well and curious about the gains made down low and midrange?

 

[luispe7]

I was curious if you had an idea between your $625 catless combo to your $750 catted combo? I'm sure there's plenty of difference between these and stock. I think I remember on the bmw n54 (3.0 liter but one turbo/downpipe on each 1.5 liters of displacement) most people claim only a few who difference between HFcatted and non but I've never see a dyno comparison. I went catless for cost (nobody made catted for only 125 more) so no experience with catted.

Did you smell any exhaust in the cabin while you were driving with the catless downpipe?

 

[luispe7]

Since you have decided to have pros do the work, I'll mostly just touch on the other stuff. But first... If you even vaguely think you may want the DP wrapped in tape at some point... Do it when you open the box, or never think about it again. If your car isn't brand new or uber lightly used, you won't want to touch the new pipes again once installed- whether it's your labor or checkbook on the hook if you have a change of heart.
It took my car a few months and hundreds to thousand+ miles before the CELs started. It seemed to happen when I was stuck behind another car with obvious dirty exhaust, or after a short period of spirited driving and then abruptly getting caught in bumper to bumper B.S.
It was P0420. Not sure if it coincided with the CVT seeming to hunt for the right ratio, or if what I felt was a result of the drivetrain getting lax as the code was thrown, but before the alert sounded.
There is a specific option in Ktuner, even (pretty sure) for the off-the-shelf tunes that are otherwise locked down, for P0420. Not sure if Tuners can lock down access to that, but as long as you don't try to squeeze yours to tune for your upgrade for free, they might tweak the config to additionally suppress the code.
Not sure what your rationale is for going catted, and I won't assume. I wanted the additional performance, but was willing to relinquish a bit of potential for the sake of the environment. Yes, my car threw codes, but the exhaust never smelled a bit different. I don't have a MT, so I also figured an optional upgrade isn't the time to be all absolutist about wringing out every bit of performance. Again, my preference. Yours and everyone else's is a personal choice. But that absolutism is a slippery slope... Maybe someone doesn't preserve any catalytic action by going with a test pipe. Maybe they also decide to modify the PCV to vent to atmosphere. How people spend their time and money is a liberty. What toll they exact on the environment... eh- that's where my opinion strongly diverges.

how strong was the exhaust smell in the cabin? this is a deal breaker for me in deciding catted vs catless. Please let me know. Thanks,

 

[maddmatt02]

Did you smell any exhaust in the cabin while you were driving with the catless downpipe?

I rarely do but sometimes when cruising slowly through town I get it a little bit.

 

[luispe7]

I rarely do but sometimes when cruising slowly through town I get it a little bit.

Did you feel difference in power?

 

[maddmatt02]

Did you feel difference in power?

I told myself I did, and looking at the logs I took before/after I proved to myself it spooled faster and accelerated faster. But I still feel like the small amount of improvement there was I probably shouldn't have actually felt and it was in my head. Also I have to say I lied to you yesterday. I guess I'm usually in WA with Windows up because of rain and now down here because of A/C (hot down here) but I cruised all day yesterday with the windows down and noticed it more than a few times when I'd pull up to a stop light after driving hard right before.

 

[luispe7]

Yeah I have the cvt so off the line isn't too nice and also worth noting i had it in L the whole time and I have firestone indy 500s with the same dimensions as the stock tires and is dead on with radar signs. I'm currently running a stage 2 tune from ktuner (strongly considering getting a vittune) an intake downpipe and have deleted both mufflers and they weighed a ton! The app is called torque it connects to a Bluetooth obd2 device.

How are the indy 500s treating you?

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