XS-Power Group Buys

[Jimbob]

Hi John,

Jason may well have not been the one who left me feedback, but I was hoping as the UK salesperson he could help?

Thanks,

James

[TomThumb]

My downpipe from xs power hasent broken yet.

but it took me months to figure out why the wastegate was getting stuck. i payed alot of money to have a new actuator installed when the problem all along was the wastegate getting stuck on first the aftermarket gasket, and second the actuall downpipe itself.

initially the wastegate couldent open properpley so i was running stupid boost (thinking it was just the unrestricted downpipe!) for 2 days before the wastegate finally push through and got stuck open not giving me any boost till 5k. If that dident happen i would of probably of blown up my engine so it was luckey it pushed through when it did.

now i have had the grind the downpipe down quite a bit and use the original gasket. and from the gasket you can see how out of shape it kinda was.

all in all buying the downpipe cost me countless weeks of stress, days of physical labour taking it on and off again (8 times in total) and about 350 quid. so if i was asked would i buy another XS power product i would most likley decline. I think hicks and I will be keeping away from your downpipes for the time being.

this also happend to my mate who got a XS downpipe on the forum Raygunn.

XS i know you guys are doing the best you can but for god sakes get a decent jig thing setup to see for the movement of the wastegate to make sure this doesant happen again.

I think a refund for the trouble iv been through is unlikley but learn from our experiences we do..

Regards, Tom.

[Driftlimits Performance]

You get what you pay for.

[scoops]

My experience with xs power.
I was aware that jason was developing an exhaust for the st205 celica and from the pictures that got posted up it looked the b0ll0cks, i wanted one. One was made and fitted to a gt4oc members car and he has had no probs with it what so ever, however due to supplier problems Jason was unable to get any more across from the states. After a couple of months of waiting I gave up as i really needed an exhaust for my car and went to blue flame, however i did order a downpipe from Jason and to be fair for the price its a good bit of kit.
I was actually quite amazed that it lined up perfectly with the blueflame exhaust and fitted fine. the downpipe came straight from the states within about 3 days, I couldnt fault the service. Jay also responded to all my emails that i sent and I harassed him quite a bit while i was waiting for him to get the exhaust in. On the whole a good person to deal with. The internet is a great place for rumours and hearsay no wonder a lot of tuners stay off the forums as like in this case there was a lot of peoples minds made up before they knew the truth.
I'll be using Jay again in the future i'm sure.

[scoops]

You get what you pay for.

For some things you do, for others you get ripped. If you want to pay 540 quid for a blitz exhaust for example then go ahead, you pay for the name make no mistake.

[Driftlimits Performance]

Sorry. The quality of the welding on the blitz nur spec really is artwork. The built quality is second to none. No XS power, SSautochrome whatever, blueflame, or powerflow are going to TOUCH it.


We pay these prices for a reason.

£540 for a new nur spec, delivered, is good for the time, and testing it's gone through!

Wonder why nearly everybody has them Ahhhh yes, because they're one of the best if not THE best made aftermarket pipe for the MR2.

[TBDevelopments]

don't mean to cause any trouble as i seemed to get blamed for everything these days

But the blitz welds and quality are top notch, easily on par with my downpipes and stainless work, and i stock those because its the best i've ever seen.

I'm with you on this one luke.

Tim
xxxx

[Driftlimits Performance]

Why thank you kind sir

It is all your fault though Tim

[TBDevelopments]

lol everything else seems to be bud, Hope the taliban don't attack as it'll be tim's fault

[scoops]

Sorry. The quality of the welding on the blitz nur spec really is artwork. The built quality is second to none. No XS power, SSautochrome whatever, blueflame, or powerflow are going to TOUCH it.


We pay these prices for a reason.

£540 for a new nur spec, delivered, is good for the time, and testing it's gone through!

Wonder why nearly everybody has them Ahhhh yes, because they're one of the best if not THE best made aftermarket pipe for the MR2.

Ahh right then.. so no one had ever bought a dodgy CD/dvd or downloaded an MP3?
Yes you may have downloaded the album off the net for nowt, but hang on the songs on the original cd must be better cos its in a nice looking cd box with a nice inlay and its got pictures of the band and everything.

I'm sorry but if it does what it says on the tin ( and mine is so far) then i'm happy. Who cares if the welds arent 'perfect' no one os going to see them anyway!!! You can spend 540 quid on a nurspec which on my car is cat back only, or you can pay 320 to the door for one which includes the flexi section which the nurspec doesnt and does the same job. Now tell me which one is best? Prove that the blitz is better that a nurspec. You can only go off what you have read on the net and i'm sorry but sometimes people get dazzled by bling. Ohh if its shiney and expensive then it must be good!!
The blizt nurspec may very well be the best exhaust you can buy, but i'm not convinces that its worth 200 extra quid of my hard earned, for less exhaust.
Are there any hard facts to prove that the nurspec is better?

[TBDevelopments]

sorry but have to correct you there.

The blitz nurspec goes to the bottom of the cat so does include the flex section.

Also its not a case of the welds looking good its the quality and penitration into the metal. This is where the cheaper brands fall down and eventually crack from the heat cycles put through them.

Tim
xxxx

[scoops]

sorry but have to correct you there.

The blitz nurspec goes to the bottom of the cat so does include the flex section.

Also its not a case of the welds looking good its the quality and penitration into the metal. This is where the cheaper brands fall down and eventually crack from the heat cycles put through them.

Tim
xxxx

yeah, sorry mate i was just using the example that i know of, my car isnt an mr2 its a gt4, i can only talk of what i now.
Appreciate what youre saying about the penetration too, however just cos it looks good doesnt neccissarily mean its a good weld. Also i think alot of problems are down to the fact that stainless steel is used. People think of stainless being the best , purely pased on the fact that it doesnt rust and polishes up nice. However stainless steel is infact a very brittle material, much more brittle than mild steel, hence probably why a lot crack.

[TBDevelopments]

ah ok,

Yes your very right on the stainless steel, but its not just that all stainless steel is brittle its down to the grade. We use 321 stainless for our pipes which is a very high grade, Most use 304.

I've even see some stainless rust, that must have been very low grade, don't know the number for that one.

Tim
xxxx

[Jimbob]

All stainless will oxidize. However ferritic stainless will show ferrous oxide due to the ferrite, or rust to me and you which is lovely and brown

My downpipe is 316 and is bluey brown after about 18months. Have a look under any bonnet at a car show on a properly used engine and the manifold or DP will be brown, not rusty but brown oxidization, accelerated by elevated temps.

IMHO Blitz welds are not that great. The tip is welded onto the muffler using Tig and is very nice, but the other 'real' (i.e load bearing) welds are mig, which if done correctly is ok.

321 is ok but a PITA as it has a higher titanium (or Niobium) content which makes welding tricky normally 347 rods would be used, but it's a tricky process and in my eyes on a DP plays not so significant advantage over 316. In fact it may even be worth considering 304, which although Ferretic has a greater resistance to stress corrosion cracking at elevated temps. 321 is good at preventing intergranular cracking but this is a little OTT for a DP as it won't become an issue.

TBH if the welds look good from inside the DP then the liklehood is they are. Remember full penetration is not possible on lap joints as featured on many downpipes due to joint fit up, but a root should be visible.

Anyway not trying to defend SS as I had a very poor service from them in buying bits for a mate. Just explaining a few mettalurgical facts.

Laterz

James

[TBDevelopments]

Ain't google great

Just kidding

Tim
xxxx

[Jimbob]

Or a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Working at a Power Station as an Engineer, and making a few exhausts as a sideline.

No one can learn without books or someone to teach them, keep reading them and someday you'll understand too.................

Only kidding

James

[TBDevelopments]

and making a few exhausts as a sideline

Might know stainless but keep reading the books on gas flow and exhaust design as it looks like a dogs hind leg.

Only kidding

Tim
xxxx

[Jimbob]

Don't need to mate got a flow bench. It's easy to believe what people tell you about HP gains until you actually try things out for real. The inlet Manifold seems to work rather nicely and a full custom one is on the way soon for my car, keep reading the books and i'll get welding

Only Kidding

Jim

[TBDevelopments]

The inlet Manifold seems to work rather nicely and a full custom one is on the way soon for my car

How do you know there is equalised flow?

standard one works real well but the rev 1/2 manifold is terrible for flow and equalisation.

Tim
xxxx

[70by]

i bought an xs power downpipe off ebay,£77. i was impressed when i got it out of the box but when i looked closely it seems it has been mig welded and ground down then tig over the top to look pretty with no filler! (i did work as a tig welder)then when i fitted it i found the bolts were metric 1.25, which is not the same as the studs. mind you, it hasn't cracked yet and it was cheap