sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

Its been a busy two weekends for me, as you can tell, but well worth it

To start with here is last weekends project removing the stock suspension, and installing BC type BR coilovers. Car feels like it floating on a cloud now, so bad a$$
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Stocker:
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Then we have my review on the Rexpeed LHD Gauge Pod (they could use a new mold, doesn't quite work):

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Which brings us on our timeline to this weekend. As some of you may or may not know, the DC Sports DTS6012 is basically the best of all worlds as far as cat-back goes. No drone, at all, nice deep sound; I also have a HFC so its a bit loud for now, but I think once it gets a nice build up of carbon it will sound really supurb

So on to my dilemma; other than the SS article, I don't know if anyone else has installed this cb on a Sportback RA, but it doesn't quite....fit right. The edge of the resonator chamber is literally grinding on the drive-shaft. I went to an exhaust shop a little bit ago to see what could be done. The mechanic was very helpfully, despite them closing within minutes of my arrival. But the lady who owns the business just kept saying "this is so poorly made, you should have had us build you one" (expecting me to what....just start throwing money at her yelling 'please, please save me, I'll pay any price'). Funny thing as soon as she walks inside, David the mechanic says "Man this exhaust is really nice, its probably just a slight defective from production."

So until Monday, when the exhaust shops re-open, I'm rolling ****-eyed just so I'm not stranded:

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So I dont know if this one unit is defective, or if the Sportback is slightly different from 09 to 10 (isn't the SS RA Sportback an 09?); but for now I'm none to happy.
And everything was coming together so well....

Thanks for listening to my need to vent, hope this will help someone else if they get into a similar predicament.
Please any advice would be greatly appreciated (and yes its assembled correctly, David the mechanic and I went over everything possible)

-Steve-

EDIT:
Just checked and the SS RA Sportback is a 2010, just like me. Now I'm even more confused as to why this exhaust doesn't fit...

jan_ralliart

iTrader: (3)

nice build, did you get the BR base model or inverted?
i m plannin to order inverted, i heard they perform better on track,
plz provide more reviews on the coilover after it s all settle ^^

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

Thanks, so far I love it. In pic 2 you can see that its the standard BR's; I'm not a track star, more of a spirited road warrior (I live in So-Cal about 10 miles from the beach; it's all flat land around me, and then bad-a$$ canyons to the beach ) so I dont need the inverted's. Althought for $200 extra if you are inclined to go to the track I hear it's definitely worth it.
Oh and another thing, for anyone else with a Sportback, dont waste the extra $ for rear extenders. There is literally no where to put them, the top of the rear suspension towers are completely enclosed by metal. I learned the hard way not to set the dampeners too hard to start with either; last night I had to re-drop the rear to turn them from -10 of full hard, all the way to full soft. But totally worth it, no more bouncing on the road; now it literally feels like I'm flying a little airplane arcoss the ground
Now to contact DC and see what the hell is up. Maybe they will invite me down to their shop (about an hour drive) so they can take a look and fix it ; here's to hoping

chazyronnie

Stevo how much did you got the bc coilovers? And where did you purchased it? The DC exhaust fits perfectly on the sedan i remember they used this exhaust in WW SB RA on SuperSport mag weird how they didnt fit your SB...

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

I got them from Import Image Racing, they are doing $995 shipped I believe.
Ya I just emailed DC to see what the deal is, kinda fouling my mood right now.....
Oh well on the better times

08Lancer89

iTrader: (15)

Can we have side pictures please I like to see ur stance.

RazorLab

iTrader: (8)

Yea the rear shock towers are a pain in the *** on the Sportback. I totally never thought of adjustables and it. You really have to make damn sure you can live with what you set them at when you install them!

RideSober

iTrader: (3)

I have the same exhaust on my SB, and it fits perfectly. There is no rubbing at all, and the pipe is not even close to the drive shaft as shown on your car.

But for the record, the rear pipes on your car don't look anywhere close to being in the proper mounted location, look at how poorly they line up to the original exhaust exit holes in the rear valance...

So I know from your comment above you are confident the exhaust is "mounted properly" but did you use the same rear hangers that were used on the stock exhaust? I"m not even sure if that is possible, but if so, that might explain the problem.

The RA comes with additional rear hangers and the DC sports exhaust uses those additional rear hangers. Look at the difference in the location of my rear pipes compared to yours.

jan_ralliart

iTrader: (3)

maybe they sent you the evo x one?

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

The reason the exhaust tips arent lined up is because I had to drop it away from the drive shaft. Those pics of where the grinding was happening, there wasnt a gap at all it was literally right on it, here is how I had to move it just to get back home:
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As you can see there is now about an inch gap, which down line ends up looking like this:
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This was NOT how it looked originally, THIS IS MODIFIED FOR NO RUBBING!!
On the original install they were perfectly centered in the bumper slots. I just didnt take an pics then, only of the f-ed up results.

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

I'm not sure what you are referring to, I can see in your pic you are using the same rubber hanger piece from the stock set-up???

EDIT:
See where you mechanics hand is, that is the EXACT spot where the resonator chamber is rubbing the drive shaft, weird....?

SnipeRA

iTrader: (1)

How was it installing the coilovers? Easy? PIA?

RideSober

iTrader: (3)

There is an additional hanger bracket provided from the factory on the passenger side of the RA that is not used with the stock exhaust. However it is used to mount the DC Sports exhaust. My point is that if the DC sports exhaust was mistakenly mounted using the same hanger as used with the stock exhaust (which would be easy to do), it will not fit properly.

Look at the clearance on my car between the drive shaft and resonator seen in this picture, there is very adequate clearance, and you should have the same.

If you did not notice the DC Sports exhasut was deisgned to be mounted to a different hanger than the stock exhaust, that might explain the problem.

Hope this helps and wish you the best of luck. Those coilovers are sweet, please let us know how the car handles now.

By the way, and I very pleased with my DC Sports exhaust. The car is clearly more responsive down low, and just to be sure I was not feeling a "placebo effect", after my install I reviewed the Super Street dyno chart from their RA build to see of there was an explanation in the torque curve. The explanation for the increased responsiveness is very apparent since the torque curve was changed following the exhaust install so that the torque comes in about 500 RPMs earlier.

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

Ya I know which hangers you are referring to, they are on either side of the rear diff. Yes I tried to use the hanger on the passenger side (as the driver's side wont work at all) but that puts it directly next to the drive shaft as well. right now that hanger is not being used. The more I look at it the more I'm starting to think either one or two of the flanges are welded at an incorrect angle (such as the one that bolts to the HFC pipe. That would cause it slope directly at the drive shaft. I emailed DC, and I'll call them tmw to try and get a resolution to this.

EDIT:
I looked at your center pipe and it does the same thing just not so severely; look at your resonator chamber, and see how it slopes right at the drive shaft. And the 3 sided flange as well...

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

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I know these are night pics, but this one of my fav times to see my car. After working intensely all day, I walk outside and see my baby sitting under a florescent parking lot light. Something about these lights, and the way they shine off our paint (they one time I actually like the paint, haha; not color, I LOVE the color, referring to....luster/quality)
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So this is the new coilovers after about 8 days (mostly likely fully settled). I'll do some day pics later this week. When I saw her tonite I just couldnt help myself
ENJOY!