Recently there has been a couple of poor attempts to copy the AMS cast widemouth design. Sadly a lot of honest people are going to run the risk of being duped and get a seemingly lower cost product but in the end could pay even more in replacements and labor time.

For this reason I wanted to shed some light on the positive attributes of our pipe vs the competition.

Now this thread only pertains to the downpipes pictured. I am sure there are other quality units out there but these two units are copies (albeit bad ones) of the AMS piece. You will only see one pictured because the two non AMS pieces are identical to each other. One being a copy and the other being a copy of a copy.

We understand that at $469.95 our downpipe is one of the most expensive on the market... However it is also the best made and best designed.

The biggest and most obvious difference in our pipe and the "competition's" pipe is the fact that our pieces are 100% cast as they join to the flex section. Both of the AMS ends are cast because that is the best way to make this product with the highest level of performance and the highest level or reliability. Could we of made it like the competition? SURE, but we would be cutting corners and not delivering our customers the best product we can.




Now lets get into the areas that you CAN'T see in the pictures from the outside.

The first and most obvious is the bellmouth section as it mates to the flex section. Here at AMS we cast that entire piece to allow not only a stronger piece but more importantly a much cleaner and smoother transition for the exhaust gasses to follow. This slight taper allows the gasses to cool and accelerate as they enter the flex section.





The competition however took a different approach. Rather than spending the money to completely cast that section they decided to slip a pipe in the end and weld it. This proved to be a bad choice as not only have they added another weld but that pipe is slid so far in that it sticks 1/2 inch past the opening of the bell mouth. This creates a nice deep groove all around the pipe to catch the air and cause all kinds of turbulence...... not good. In fact that lip is so deep that if you were to pour water through the pipe it would catch over 1/2 a cup of water!!!





Now let's move downstream to the exit of the pipe. Here at AMS again we have cast this piece in an effort to not only make the smoothest transitioning piece but one that will LAST!!!




The competition again took a different approach. They decided that stainless steel tubing was the best route. This might have worked but they missed one large area... They left the O2 bungs sticking up into the exhaust stream. So now not only does exhaust gas have to fight the massive lip up before the flex it now has to move over more raised areas creating even more turbulence!



Lastly let's take a close look at the bosses / bungs on the two downpipes. Here at AMS our engineers designed a custom heat shield to be used with our downpipe. This product actually never came to light but to be safe we kept that feature in our casting in case down the road we wanted to move forward with it. For now though those bungs are not functional at all.

The competition actually took the SAME approach for once...EXACTLY the same actually! The problem is they copied a feature for a part that doesn't even exist! They copied our EXACT BUNG PLACEMENT! I guess they just assumed it was a functional part and put it in there. Or maybe they assumed it was for the factory shield and never realized it because they never even tested their product. Or MAYBE...JUUUUUUST MAYBE they planned on copying our heat shield if that ever made it's way to market. I guess we will never know.



The last point I want to make is on the labor side. A side some don't even consider or think to consider. Anyone that has installed an EVO X downpipe can tell you its not something you want to do twice.

Wouldn't you rather put on a part made of higher quality parts and of better design? Wouldn't you want to put on a part that does just say they have a good track record but has the PROOF of that track record? Wouldn't you rather put on part from a company that tests on the race track, that puts in the hours to make SURE your part lasts instead of just assuming it will?


In closing yes our downpipe is as much as $200 more than some of these competitor versions but as you can see above there is a reason for it. We spend more making our piece so it works the best, makes the most power and is worry free for the life of the car.

We know that money in this day and age can be tight for anyone. All we ask is that you really look at the big picture. A few dollars saved now can turn into hundreds lost down the road in doing things twice. We see it every day inside our walls.

To read more about our widemouth downpipe please view our site and click the link following:

http://www.amsperformance.com/cart/A...-Downpipe.html

Thank you and as always feel free to ask if you have ANY questions.

Eric Gaudi
Sales Manager
AMS Performance