Review: Alpha AMS Catless Downpipes & Installer Malek@MRF Engineering

[AlphaAlpineM6]

Hello fellow forum members,

Welcome to todays two part series. A review of the Alpha AMS downpipes, and the installer. Malek@ MRF Engineering. This is not a fan boy review, I tell it like it is. Good or bad so here I go;

The Alpha AMS downpipes; My initial goals were to amplify the sound of the waste-gates, BOV, and V8 burble without drone or an aftermarket aesthetic.

After lurking on the board and doing my research it seemed the downpipes were a no-brainer. I chose AMS because of their history with turbocharged motors.
They seem to have an outstanding reputation in the GT-R community. Saw a few of them do work at the ShiftS3ctor Airstrip-Attack, was very impressed.
Wanted to go with something that would be super reliable. Headache free. It seemed they fit the bill.

I contacted a very reputable installer I was familiar with when I was modding my M3, MRF Engineering.
The head engineer Malek, who has installed more ESS supercharges than I can count was more than qualified for what he referred to as an easy install.
Malek and I briefly spoke over the phone about the advantaged of catless downpipes on a turbocharged car, I was convinced.

A week later I had the downpipes. I'm going to be a tough critic and say the craftsmanship is by no means amazing.

Things like the o2 sensor banks were roughly sheared on the inside and welds weren't perfect, and not what I was expecting for almost 2 grand.
The secondary o2 sensors were relocated further down the pipe, which means you have to unclip the wire from the harness. The harness sits on top of the engine.
I would say this makes it pretty easy for the stealership to tell something has been touched, even if you're there for your routine service. Hopefully AMS will either relocate the secondary o2 sensors to match the factory location or provide a longer cable.

I've always been a fan of oem fitment. It was hard to get them to fit perfect. MRF was great at working around fitment issues. The biggest challenge was pulling out the stock downpipes.
Almost like pooling wisdom teeth, oversized and in a challenging spot to get full access to, at least from what I saw. Malek took his time and was patient with the install, making sure he wouldn't leave any scratches or scuffs.

Once the downpipes were installed it took some adjustment to get the rest of the exhaust system to clamp onto the downpipes.
The gasket was the trouble. AMS has addressed this issue and are now supplying fresh gaskets to their customers with the downpipes.
With shops installing this system all around the world I would suggest they include some instructions on the install.
With of a few examples of gaskets being installed incorrectly and causing excessive rattling noises and leaving their customers in the dark to figure things out, I can only imagine its a bit of a nightmare. Lucky for me, my installer knows his stuff.

Install done - fire the car up for the first time with a fully catless exhaust and WOW. So much louder, once the car was done idling it was a clean almost OEM sound, zero drone, no rattling.
Drove the car for a few miles let her warm up and then ripped it. Automatically blown away, much louder. My initial goals to amplify the sound of the waste-gate, BOV, and V8 burble without drone or an aftermarket aesthetic, met.
With the stock exhaust still intact it was very easy to moderate sound levels. Quiet when I need it, loud when I want it. It's worth mentioning you do smell gas. Auto-stop-start helps with that.

AMS thanks for designing these downpipes. I am happy with the them and I'm looking forward to installing your upcoming products. Three things to work on;
1. Install tutorial or even brief instructions. 2. Longer o2 cable. 3. The downpipes are $1,800 lets step up the craft. Otherwise like I said good product, happy with the result.

Another big thanks to Malek@MRF Engineering for a flawless install, and a reasonable install price.

[Hunter5179]

Nice review and I agree with everything. I posted a fix for the longer wires on the O2 sensors.

Hey guys, for those running downpipes Forum member Noushy and I have a better option for the O2 sensors. The stock ones are to short for the AMS downpipes. They will work but they will not clip in their factory clip locations which are the ideal places to run the wires because it's OE placement. Below I have a pic of 2 options. I went with the one on the left because it has insulation. The lines are long enough(approximately 6inches or so longer than our stock ones) to fit into the stock clipping locations so everything fits perfect. However the connectors aren't the same as the connectors on the sensors that come with our car so all you have to do is get a pin removal tool so you can easily remove and swap the connectors with the stock O2 sensors then just install. The downpipe area gets pretty hot so you want to run the lines in the stock clipping locations just to be safe and have an OE Type Fitment. Here is a pic with 2 options. I chose the one on the left and forum member Noushy is running the one on the right (he had installed his before the discovery of the one I am using) they both work fine and so far we both have no CEL.. so here you go:



Left: Bosch 16795
Right: Bosch 15167

[AlphaAlpineM6]

Thank you for this information Hunter - I'm still a bit curious if the relocation of the secondary O2 sensors were necessary.

[Tom C]

Nice review but the S63TU does not use a BOV. In the engine technical overview (Section 5.2.3.) they said " Valvetronic and special tuning rendered it unnecessary".

[Hunter5179]

Originally Posted by AlphaAlpineM6

Thank you for this information Hunter - I'm still a bit curious if the relocation of the secondary O2 sensors were necessary.

I'm headed to AMS next week.. I can ask them.

[Used2be]

Originally Posted by AlphaAlpineM6

Thank you for this information Hunter - I'm still a bit curious if the relocation of the secondary O2 sensors were necessary.

I was told by IND that the fitting and welding of the secondary O2 bung on a curved portion of the downpipe was difficult for AMS, so they moved it to an easier to build location on the DP. To my thinking, for the money they charge, deal with the difficulty and make a jig to accommodate the awkward build/fitment and give us a product that fits the existing wire loom properly. Once the build procedure is designed correctly it shouldn't be any more time consuming for AMS than it is currently.

[noushy]

Let me add a tiny bit to this review. I ordered mine with the full ceramic coating and let me say this, the craftsmanship was amazing and up to but not quite the level of Akrapovic. It was jewel like in appearance and had everyone in the shop coming to check them out. Second my tech is one of the best, former Nascar mechanic who has expertise fabing custom exhausts and he fit mine perfectly the first time with no rattle using stock gaskets. Finally with a little help from the Bosch website I was able to find a comparable O2 sensor and swap the connectors for a perfect factory fit albeit one that cost me $400 with installation.

Noushy

[greentrbo95gst]

I just finished doing my install and I was not excited about the fitment.
The bracket on the side of the right AMS downpipe did not line up perfectly and I had to get creative. The sound with oem exhaust is great.

[AlphaAlpineM6]

updated with some additional photos & a short video clip.

[Used2be]

Originally Posted by AlphaAlpineM6

updated with some additional photos & a short video clip.

Those extra photos are appreciated, thank you. Helps the words make more sense.