N54 midpipe on a N55 vehicle?

[CharsadehBEAST]

Anyone ran this setup before? I currently have VRSF catless + factory N55 mids + MPE with y-pipe. Was looking to get a bit more volume and address the horrible smell issue with aftermarket mids that have high flow cats but it's easily over $1k and have given up on that route. A lot of N54 guys run the N55 mids so might be easy to trade but wondering if it will significantly improve the smell issue? I can't drive around with the windows down due to the fumes and neighbor has been complaining to management as well (apartment complex).

[Aceway]

How about a race cat downpipe? Would be able to tone down smell and is cheaper. I've been thinking about getting one lately.

[________]

Originally Posted by Aceway

How about a race cat downpipe? Would be able to tone down smell and is cheaper. I've been thinking about getting one lately.

This and end thread. Lol
No smell, similar performance, better noise, potentially cheaper.

[CalvinNismo]

I have 1M mids with a VRSF downpipe. Works well and passes an MOT over here in the UK. You might get a tiny bit of smell on startup if you go outside and stand by the exhaust tips, but once there's a bit of heat in the cats, they're fine.

[hardcoreracing]

What stage are you running? Running e30 will help the smell, even more with e50, plus you get the extra power to boot.

[CharsadehBEAST]

Catted DP is the obvious option but more $ for both parts + labor.

Originally Posted by CalvinNismo

I have 1M mids with a VRSF downpipe. Works well and passes an MOT over here in the UK. You might get a tiny bit of smell on startup if you go outside and stand by the exhaust tips, but once there's a bit of heat in the cats, they're fine.

Is your VRSF DP catless? If so that is very reassuring to hear!

Originally Posted by hardcoreracing

What stage are you running? Running e30 will help the smell, even more with e50, plus you get the extra power to boot.

Stage2+ with e50 and upgraded LPFP for a few months now. Was stage2+ with e30 and stock LPFP. I can tell the difference when I went from e30 to e50 however it was not as significant as I hoped. But going from 91 octane to the e30 mix was quite a difference. Every 6 weeks or so I fill up with regular 91 and reflash, butt dyno estimate is ~20-25 hp difference

[CalvinNismo]

Originally Posted by CharsadehBEAST

Is your VRSF DP catless? If so that is very reassuring to hear!

Yeah, catless downpipe. It's a good, cheap setup and it sounds good too! For reference, my smell experience is based on V-Power, which is the best fuel we can generally buy over here.

[Aceway]

I installed a 200 cell cat right after where the stock resonator in the mid pipe would be. It got rid of maybe 60-70% of the smell. Good enough for me and the cat was around $110.

[iminhell1]

I honestly don't get the smell thing. I ran E50 - E85 in mine for years with no issues of smell, full catless. Idling in traffic, etc. etc. Put tons of miles on it.

I think you guys who have smell issues need to have the tune looked at. If the cat isn't lighting off it will smell. If the cat is too cold it will smell. The tune is much more EGT dependent if you're running cats than if not.
And there's also the bit about turbo's smoking if you go catless. But if they smoke that means all that was contaminating the cats too. Which could also be a reason for smell.

Hate to say it but sometimes to old adage of 'just cleaning the carbon out' is actually a solution. You need to get the EGT's up there for a good little while to burn the gunk out of the cats.


And to hell with your yuppie ass neighbor.

[________]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

I honestly don't get the smell thing. I ran E50 - E85 in mine for years with no issues of smell, full catless. Idling in traffic, etc. etc. Put tons of miles on it.

I think you guys who have smell issues need to have the tune looked at. If the cat isn't lighting off it will smell. If the cat is too cold it will smell. The tune is much more EGT dependent if you're running cats than if not.
And there's also the bit about turbo's smoking if you go catless. But if they smoke that means all that was contaminating the cats too. Which could also be a reason for smell.

Hate to say it but sometimes to old adage of 'just cleaning the carbon out' is actually a solution. You need to get the EGT's up there for a good little while to burn the gunk out of the cats.


And to hell with your yuppie ass neighbor.

You don’t get the smell issue exactly because you ran high ethanol content.
The more alcohol you burn the less you will smell anything. For us E0 it’s pretty bad like an old truck or Chevy… no way.

[iminhell1]

Originally Posted by Onesie

You don’t get the smell issue exactly because you ran high ethanol content.
The more alcohol you burn the less you will smell anything. For us E0 it’s pretty bad like an old truck or Chevy… no way.

LOL. Nope.
It's the quality of Ethanol we have here. Mine is made about 30 miles away from me. It's pretty fresh and doesn't have a bunch of BS added to it.
Elsewhere, who knows. Might be some antiwater additives, stabilizers, who knows what added.
Most of the Mid-West has Ethanol that's made fairly close to the point of sale. Elsewhere in the country that may not be the case.


I run E30 in my Tiguan. It has factory exhaust. If I let it idle for a while it'll smell some. But that's because of all the water cooling the cat down and killing it's efficacy. Beat on it and heat the cat up, problem solved.


Like I said, EGT's matter. Play with the tune and it'll get better.

[________]

We’ll agree to disagree. The smell is inherent to burning gasoline. That’s why catalytic converters exist. The smell we smell is of the pollutants the catalytic converter eliminates.
As long as there’s no cat, there’s going to be smell.
Not sure what the ethanol diatribe is about, that’s probably a topic for a different discussion. Much more so as ethanol origins (!!!) or what-have-you play no part in the smell burning gasoline that has 0 ethanol emits…

[CharsadehBEAST]

I agree tuning plays a part, I run OTS MHD and when I activate the burble tune even at its lowest setting, the smell gets worse. However even with the burble tune off the smell is too strong. More importantly, I went thru the whole cancer BS a few years back and don't want to breathe anymore cancer into my lungs