JamJay's 290bhp Ovni Yellow LCR - Latest: SOLD & Replaced With A BMW 335i Cabrio

[K1Shane]

Thanks Shane, she's coming along well now. Thanks for the review of the custom exhaust too, if they can competently make one for an engine transplant then I have confidence. I also asked some local lads that I used to know about my Local RSR and the recommendations were good so on that note everyone...the car is booked in to have the system fitted on 19th Feb, the day before the AMD RR day. I hope it sounds nice or you'll all laugh but it'll be a few months before it soots up any how.

As for my brake issue, it has everyone stumped so this weekend I will be pulling things apart while also, hopefully, fitting the ARB bushes and TIP if it arrives

You only need to ask them to sit in on one of their jobs. I'm sure, like me they would oblige as it would potentially lead to good business for them. As everyone knows, business grows a lot faster by word of mouth than by advertising!

Theres hundreds of options to choose from as well so you'll be spoilt for choice. They build the exhaust on the car, so everytime its a perfect match. And obviously they can customise the shape, where it exits (i know someone who got a side exit exhaust in the shape of a letterbox ie long and thin) the sounds (raspy, jap style, deep, burbly, tinny, metallic etc etc)

Its a full on custom job, and from my experience worth the money. As you chose absolutely everything, the finished product should be perfect also as most of it is welded together theres less risks of it blowing, like a comparative system which is entirely clamped together

every car is different and obviously sound different with certain diameter bores/lengths/silencers etc etc but I just went in, described what kind of sound I wanted (a nice bassy tone but not so that it drones for motorways) and I pretty much got what I asked for. It was obviously a little droney as it was 4-2-1 mani, then 2.5" (iirc) straight to backbox lol but it didnt sound like a fake scooby, or a 1.2 with a 6" slash cut backbox hehehe

You in blighty for a lil while now then? Gotta get some snaps soon

 

[JamJay]

Well I have no idea what sound to ask for, I want it to sound like any other LCR with an exhaust but louder pretty much, free flowing to get some 'motorsport' pops. I want it to sound racey but not like I have a bucket on the back and I certainly don't want people at the other end of the high street knowing i'm coming when i'm cruising at 30mph. The problem I have with off the shelf systems for these cars is that they are engineered to be almost silent/OE at idle and town driving but hit the accelerator and they make a noise, kind of the same concept at NA induction noise and if that's what I wanted then I'd have VTEC and a cone filter. It works for some but not me, just my taste I guess. I know that I will get some drone but I honestly don't mind, as lomg as it sounds good.

Yup I'm here for a good while now so I'll be around fo some pics very soon. Are you going to the AMD RR day?

 

[t0m]

What the LCR needs is a system similar in noise to the Remus turbo back systems for the Astra VXR. They sound awesome.

The pop, bang and burble at just the right time. And it stays fairly conservative when your just pootling along.

 

[Willie]

Well I have no idea what sound to ask for, I want it to sound like any other LCR with an exhaust but louder pretty much, free flowing to get some 'motorsport' pops. I want it to sound racey but not like I have a bucket on the back and I certainly don't want people at the other end of the high street knowing i'm coming when i'm cruising at 30mph. The problem I have with off the shelf systems for these cars is that they are engineered to be almost silent/OE at idle and town driving but hit the accelerator and they make a noise, kind of the same concept at NA induction noise and if that's what I wanted then I'd have VTEC and a cone filter. It works for some but not me, just my taste I guess. I know that I will get some drone but I honestly don't mind, as lomg as it sounds good.

Yup I'm here for a good while now so I'll be around fo some pics very soon. Are you going to the AMD RR day?

A few months back Redline did a feature comparing custom exhaust to off the shelf designed for the car items and OEM systems.
This was done on a Scooby which has a notorisly rubbish OEM system.
Come to think about it I'm sure it was Longlife that did the Custom system.
So long story short, car was fitted with various systems and RR'd.
This was only taking into account how it drove and the figures.
Not surprisingly the OEM was last, then Longlife custom then the designed for the specific model off the shelf jobbie was first.

Take from this what you want, but if your going for a AMD map and the Milltek was specific designed for an AMD mapped car, this could be the correct route for power and if the noises are correct you could be onto a winner.

You will never get a NA type sound out of a Turbod car.
The intake has such a long route that the sound is baffled so much, same with the exhaust roar, its dampened by the Turbo.

 

[JamJay]

What the LCR needs is a system similar in noise to the Remus turbo back systems for the Astra VXR. They sound awesome.

The pop, bang and burble at just the right time. And it stays fairly conservative when your just pootling along.

Nail & Head spring to mind

A few months back Redline did a feature comparing custom exhaust to off the shelf designed for the car items and OEM systems.
This was done on a Scooby which has a notorisly rubbish OEM system.
Come to think about it I'm sure it was Longlife that did the Custom system.
So long story short, car was fitted with various systems and RR'd.
This was only taking into account how it drove and the figures.
Not surprisingly the OEM was last, then Longlife custom then the designed for the specific model off the shelf jobbie was first.

Take from this what you want, but if your going for a AMD map and the Milltek was specific designed for an AMD mapped car, this could be the correct route for power and if the noises are correct you could be onto a winner.

You will never get a NA type sound out of a Turbod car.
The intake has such a long route that the sound is baffled so much, same with the exhaust roar, its dampened by the Turbo.

I was lead to believe that a cat-back system for a turbo-charged car made no difference to the driveability or performance being that the turbocharger makes it's own back pressure and the downpipe design is the key to pushing the gasses from it the best.

I think the AMD Stage 2 map was set up/tested on an LCR with the new Milltek but that's not to say that it won't be as good on any other system. Any LCR can run a 3" DP & sports-cat and the designs all have to be the same due to the tight route that it runs. It's more than likely that AMD have tweaked their map to suit a larger DP as well as updates to their original code and unless a cat-back can produce any extra power/torque, I would't have thought that would make a difference. There are arguements that the new Milltek is 3" all the way through and also that it's a 2.75" system into 3" at the rear. if the latter is true then it would be interesting to know why they chose to mix up the piping diameters.

 

[8bit]

What the LCR needs is a system similar in noise to the Remus turbo back systems for the Astra VXR. They sound awesome.

The pop, bang and burble at just the right time. And it stays fairly conservative when your just pootling along.

I'm not a fan of those, I reckon VXRs (apart from the VXR8) sound rough as fcuk. Each to their own tho, I quite like the Blueflame sound on a LCR personally.

 

[Willie]

I fitted a CAT back to my OEM mapped LCR, I instantly felt the difference.
Car was much more lively on acceleration.
The CAT back is very important, it doesn't matter what size of DP and CAT section you have, if the CAT back is restrictive/convoluted routing/overly baffled this will make a difference to the overal performance of the car.
But how much difference would there be between then its very difficult to tell.
I have a 3" Blueflme deCAT DP mated to a 2.75" Powerflow CAT back with only the back box and I'm making 288 BHP and 300 ft-lbs so would argue that as long as its a decent sized CAT back you'll get all the performance you need. As for sound that will be a different matter.
How do the company's plan to help you develope the sound characteristics you want?
This will change over the life of the exhaust.
Will they allow you to go back after 6 months and get it adjusted to suit FOC?
If there offering this sort of service it would be well worth paying a wee bit extra. Then you'll 100% get the sound your wanting.
Low down the revs my system sounded loader with the OME DP and 2.75" CAT back than it does now with the 3" DP but higher up the revs the 3" DP is WAY louder

 

[jonjay]

I was lead to believe that a cat-back system for a turbo-charged car made no difference to the driveability or performance being that the turbocharger makes it's own back pressure and the downpipe design is the key to pushing the gasses from it the best.

I think the AMD Stage 2 map was set up/tested on an LCR with the new Milltek but that's not to say that it won't be as good on any other system. Any LCR can run a 3" DP & sports-cat and the designs all have to be the same due to the tight route that it runs. It's more than likely that AMD have tweaked their map to suit a larger DP as well as updates to their original code and unless a cat-back can produce any extra power/torque, I would't have thought that would make a difference. There are arguements that the new Milltek is 3" all the way through and also that it's a 2.75" system into 3" at the rear. if the latter is true then it would be interesting to know why they chose to mix up the piping diameters.

Remember they flow test the different setups to see which works best. Milltek are a very professional company with a lot of expensive equipment to ensure performance and quality. Bigger isnt always better in terms of flow.

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hayward+and+Scott+Exhaust&aq=f

Some nice examples on there.

 

[JamJay]

I fitted a CAT back to my OEM mapped LCR, I instantly felt the difference.
Car was much more lively on acceleration.
The CAT back is very important, it doesn't matter what size of DP and CAT section you have, if the CAT back is restrictive/convoluted routing/overly baffled this will make a difference to the overal performance of the car.
But how much difference would there be between then its very difficult to tell.
I have a 3" Blueflme deCAT DP mated to a 2.75" Powerflow CAT back with only the back box and I'm making 288 BHP and 300 ft-lbs so would argue that as long as its a decent sized CAT back you'll get all the performance you need. As for sound that will be a different matter.
How do the company's plan to help you develope the sound characteristics you want?
This will change over the life of the exhaust.
Will they allow you to go back after 6 months and get it adjusted to suit FOC?
If there offering this sort of service it would be well worth paying a wee bit extra. Then you'll 100% get the sound your wanting.
Low down the revs my system sounded loader with the OME DP and 2.75" CAT back than it does now with the 3" DP but higher up the revs the 3" DP is WAY louder

Thanks for the info, I didn't realise that the Cat-back would make a difference so it will be nice to feel that. The OE system is very baffled. I have a meeting with them next week to discuss what I want, it's hard to telll how it will sound in 2mths though when it soots upso I will ask about going back for tweeks. I have however never had an exhaust that sounds worse when it soots up, only better.

Remember they flow test the different setups to see which works best. Milltek are a very professional company with a lot of expensive equipment to ensure performance and quality. Bigger isnt always better in terms of flow.

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hayward+and+Scott+Exhaust&aq=f

Some nice examples on there.

I agree, bigger is not always better but in this case I am limited to 2.5" or 3". I would like 2.75" but the option just isn't there around this way.

Thanks for the link

 

[JamJay]

3" TIP Arrived

I headed back home at lunch to find a 3" TIP waiting for me. I quickly unpacked it like a kid at Christmas and mocked all the parts up. It look huge in comparison to the OE TIP I have sitting in the garage and even dwarfs the silicone TIP on the car now.

The build quality looks very good & I looking very forward to fitting it.

 

[Willie]

Have you spoken to your chosen mapper about having this fitted?
this is a very new addition to the 1.8T and would doubt it has been taken into consideration on any of the generic stage 1 and 2 maps.
worth checking, you never know you might get a cheaper map for being the first

 

[JamJay]

Have you spoken to your chosen mapper about having this fitted?
this is a very new addition to the 1.8T and would doubt it has been taken into consideration on any of the generic stage 1 and 2 maps.
worth checking, you never know you might get a cheaper map for being the first

t0m & Coops already have this fitted but they're at Stage 2 AMD where as I am Stage 1. I guess I could ask them if they'd fancy tweeking my current map to suit the TIP but without going to Stage 2, I want to wait until I have a FMIC before I go there.

 

[t0m]

I would wait for a tweak or potential stage 2 upgrade until both the TIP, Cat-back and the inevitable FMIC are on to be quite honest. Surely this way it's easier for the map to adapt to the whole lot, rather than bit by bit tweaks with each change.

Mine was mapped with a Forge TIP which is now off and 3" Badger5 on. I will report how the car feels on Friday as I'm going to get my stage 2 tweaked due to the cold start issues myself, coops and brad have found on very cold mornings. Brad says his is ok now so I'm looking forward to getting the adjustment to the map done for sure.

 

[JamJay]

I would wait for a tweak or potential stage 2 upgrade until both the TIP, Cat-back and the inevitable FMIC are on to be quite honest. Surely this way it's easier for the map to adapt to the whole lot, rather than bit by bit tweaks with each change.

Mine was mapped with a Forge TIP which is now off and 3" Badger5 on. I will report how the car feels on Friday as I'm going to get my stage 2 tweaked due to the cold start issues myself, coops and brad have found on very cold mornings. Brad says his is ok now so I'm looking forward to getting the adjustment to the map done for sure.

I am thinking the same to be honest but it would be interesting to see how Stage 1 code adapts to these mods. It's already had to adapt to the Jetex, air feed & DP, all of which it has done very well and the car feels noticably better for it. I have sent a message to AMD about possible adjustments so we will see what they say.

Sorry to hear about the problems with the map but i'll be interested to know how you get on. I hope that after this they will adjust their file to stop future cars having the issue.

 

[t0m]

I am thinking the same to be honest but it would be interesting to see how Stage 1 code adapts to these mods. It's already had to adapt to the Jetex, air feed & DP, all of which it has done very well and the car feels noticably better for it. I have sent a message to AMD about possible adjustments so we will see what they say.

Sorry to hear about the problems with the map but i'll be interested to know how you get on. I hope that after this they will adjust their file to stop future cars having the issue.

Very true, forgot you had the uprated DP aswell as the induction setup.. Let us know what they say about tweaking it to suit. I think DK's is still a stage 1 AmD map. I've been in his car and it sure pulls well, feels just as quick as my stage 2 really.

I'll update my RR with how Friday goes.. I'm sure Shaun there would have rectified all future LCR maps, poss more than just the LCR though, more like all 1.8 T's as this is where they have made developments recently. Fingers crossed it'll all go swimmingly as Brad's has done..

 

[JamJay]

I think DK's is still a stage 1 AmD map. I've been in his car and it sure pulls well, feels just as quick as my stage 2 really.

The difference between mine and Darren's in this case will be that he has a FMIC and I'll have the TIP.

 

[t0m]

The difference between mine and Darren's in this case will be that he has a FMIC and I'll have the TIP.

Will be more gains from the TIP over the FMIC I would have thought especially how cold it is. The SMIC's are fine in this weather.

Let me know if you can hear a vocal difference in induction/DV noise when you fit your 3" TIP. Mine changed alot over the Forge.

 

[D.K]

I think DK's is still a stage 1 AmD map. I've been in his car and it sure pulls well, feels just as quick as my stage 2 really.

My map was tweaked to allow for the 3" DP and sports cat

 

[turbo009]

Well done,looks very tidy and well looked after

 

[JamJay]

3" TIP Fitted

Right all, Saturday saw the addition of Badger 5's 3" TIP. Here's a brief review that I posted up elsewhere:

Firstly, the difference between uprated silicone TIP (i.e. Forge) and this is night and day, the car feels like a complete animal and it pulls very very hard. People have reviewed that this TIP gives more power top end, I would like to disagree here and say that it gives more power from 0 - Red Line. The car is extremely eager to move and the turbo loves the extra air that it's allowed to breath. The DV sound has changed, I wouldnt say that is has become louder however the sound with open cone now makes the car sound more highly tuned. I've never driven anything like this and it's my car , acceleration is relentless, massive smiles!

This was about 30mins after my first drive. I took the car out again the next day and the ECU is adapting nicely, it feels quicker than it initially did and the car seems to have a lot more torque, I honestly have to fight the car . I was sceptical about this before fitting it and I honestly couldn't see it being much better than the THS pipe on there before which was fantastic but this really does open up a whole new door into the tuning of K04 powered 1.8T's and for those of us who want to take the car far. I would say however that a normal silicone TIP is sufficient for most people without a money pit.

Pics of it installed:

I took my time with this but it's a relatively simple job. Here's a little guide:

- Unplug the connector from the MAF meter housing and remove the air filter from it. Losen the TIP from the MAF meter housing and place the housing somewhere safe and dirt free.
- Undo all jubilee clips holding in the various components plumbed into the TIP and carefully pull them out one by one, placing them out of the way in the engine bay.
- You'll now have a lot more room to work in and should be able to get a hand down to the turbo inlet. Once you have located the jubilee clip holding the current TIP to the turbo, undo it with a stubby screwdriver or rachet (7mm). Now pull your 'old' TIP off of the turbo and out of the engine bay.
- Take the alloy turbo adapter out of its packaging and wind the grub screws out a little with an allen key (2mm). Wipe a small amount of silicone sealant around the inside of it where it will make contact with the turbo. Coat the threads of the grub screws in Loctite thread locker (Or another brand. Halfords sell Granville for half the price, it's just as strong yet easier to apply). Now reach down to the turbo and push the adapter on right back as far as it will go, give it a wiggle and a knock to make sure it's on. Try to put the adapter on in a way that you can reach both grub screws and then tighten them up. With a clean, fluff free cloth, wipe any excess silicone away.
- Take the smaller of the 90degree hoses and place it onto the adapter sitting on the turbo, making sure it is sat on there properly. Slide a jubilee clip over it and tighten, also slide a second jubilee clip over it to clamp the ported hose joiner.
- Take the ported alloy hose joiner and start attaching all of the the hose stubs and tightening with jubilee clips. I found all to be a good fit apart from the one which joins the hose coming from the charcoal canister which I trimmed circa 10mm from. Insert the ported hose joiner into the bottom hose but do no tighten it up at present.
- Start putting in the parts that plumb into the TIP and tighten up. You may find that the routes of the hoses need to change slightly to stop them tangling up and to give you some more flex.
- Now, this step I neglected to do and I ended up with a slightly downwards facing filter and the inability to refit the filter shield however, I recommend that you fit this hose first to see just how much you need to trim. The top 90degree bend (larger hose) is sent by Badger 5 purposely long to cater for all setups, those with a shield will most likely need to cut circa 1" from it at one end so that the MAF/filter sits horizontally and fits into the shield. This is of course at your discretion and every application will be different.
- So...slide the top 90degree bend onto the ported hose joiner and slide a jubilee clip over it, the reason for not tightening the bottom of the ported joiner is apparent now. You'll notice that the top hose points downwards so wiggle the bottom of the ported joiner so that it sits more vertical in the bottom 90degree bend, the top hose should now look more horizontal. If the top hose does not point horizontally then apply the same technique to this hose. Tighten both jubilee clips up so that the ported joiner is locked in.
- Take your MAF meter housing and insert it into the top hose and then if you have a shield, try to refit it however you will most likely see that the top hose is just too long and you cannot refit the shield. In this case the you will need to trim the top hose small bit by small bit until it all fits nicely.
- Once you are happy that everything lines up correctly, doesn't foul the bonnet etc then refit the filter and tighten up. Go over everything you have done and make sure that everything is tight, now fire the car up and let it idle. Once warm, give it a rev and see if there are are issues, if not then it's time for a drive. Providing everything is fitted correctly and you haven't smashed up any vital components then you'll notice the difference right away .

I hope this helps!

I am yet to trim my top hose but I will be shortening a section of it at the MAF end to allow the shield to push back far enough to meet its mountings.