Pre cat removal

[Amar]

Guys, I know I read of someone chopping their pre cats from the downpipes on this forum, gutting them and then welding them back on. I've heard removing the pre cats can be a nightmare, is this the better way to do it? How long should it take? I am going to the ring in April and wanted to find out the easiest/least costly way of going about it.

[4everRS]

Not really an easy way. The DPs need to come of the turbos. Then they can be gutted. To do so, the rear of the engine needs to be lowered out of the car a few inches to get access to the bolts. It's a good idea to let them soak in penetrating oil for a while. O2's need to come out to get access to the inside nuts on either side.

Then get a couple of air hammers and chop away at the stuff. Wear a mask. It can be messy.

[hahnmgh63]

It's not obvious when you lower it depending on the rust of the downpipe bolts and your lighting but don't bother with a 16mm socket as it can be tight between the nut & the downpipe, use a XZN or Triple square socket on the inside of the protruding nut, that is really the way they were meant to be removed. As 4everRS said, soak them good for a day to be sure and be prepared for some of the studs to most likely come out with the nuts. If you cut them from the bottom I don't see anyway to be able to weld them with the body/tranny in the way.
P.S. I know the XZN/Triple square is the way to go as I used the 16mm socket and broke a stud which led to my engine/tranny pull. The first one I removed broke partailly because I was putting some side Tq on it with a pinched socket, the Triple square I believe is the same size you use with your axle bolts. I have some new downpipe nuts in the shop if you want me to find out which size for sure if you don't have a complete set of the XZN's.

[Amar]

Thanks for the advice fellas. In the end, I just fitted full Milltek downpipes and got it remapped (engine and TCU) by MRC Tuning. It made 530 BHP and 844 NM on the dyno so I'm happy, well at least I think I am. Picking her up tomorrow.

[4everRS]

Is this converted to crank #'s?

[Amar]

That is at the crank, yes. If you follow MRC Tuning on Facebook, they have posted the plots.

[Amar]

Pre tuning it was 673nm at 2943 RPM, now I have 844 NM at 2997. Good luck gearbox. :harass:

I'm off to Germany on a trip to the Nurburgring and quattro GmbH on Monday to test it properly, 1400 miles in three days. :)

[4everRS]

'The Ring. My Precious'

http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab210/crocodile64/86755c72.jpg

[4everRS]

It would be nice to know 'at the wheel' numbers.

[kevin]

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/media/set/?set=a.360533717322222.76428.154822821226647&type=1

I do follow them. Awesome shop and veddy nice speed parts.

[ben916]

Pre tuning it was 673nm at 2943 RPM, now I have 844 NM at 2997. Good luck gearbox. :harass:

I'm off to Germany on a trip to the Nurburgring and quattro GmbH on Monday to test it properly, 1400 miles in three days. :)

I would laughing silly with those numbers! until the transmission went sideways...

[Amar]

I'll have to ask for an 'at the wheel' figure. If it helps, I know when it was standard on their dyno in April 2010 with two leaking intercoolers it made 472 at the engine and 395 at the wheels.
Gearbox is an intresting one. I know clever things have been done with the TCU so it can handle the power better, and on RS246.com we have 50ish cars that are tuned and standard and gearbox failures weren't anymore common on standard then non standard. Anyway, I'm fully prepared to have to rebuild my box and go or an ACE TC if it blows up.
MRC aren't some fly by night company, they have won Audi tuner of the year five years in a row in the UK. There were around 7 other RS6s there when I dropped mine off, including a 750ish BHP RS 6 they've built with manual transmission.

[mbagge01]

For those that have removed the downpipes by just lowering the subframe and engine, how many hours would you estimate to do this to replace both downpipes.

[Bigglezworth]

For those that have removed the downpipes by just lowering the subframe and engine, how many hours would you estimate to do this to replace both downpipes.Having removed a motor trans a trio of times and further dropped the hulk just enough to reach various odds and sods on the back of the engine, I put the time needed to raise and lower the subframe with powerplant still attached at a nominal 3 hours (includes unbolting of suspension, sways, exhaust, heat shield, etc). You can "just" manage to get to the bolts holding on the DP's without having to uncouple any of the hoses feeding the numerous cooling components on the front clip. This is where you can eat up a crapload of time though if the bolts are seized and difficult to loosen. Reasonable estimate is a full hour per side. Unreasonable can triple that easily. Really comes down to some other variables such as having a hoist or using axle stands, having a torch or cut off tool vs not having one, etc., condition of bolts themselves. The list goes on.

[ttboost]

To the OP, I see you have a newer RS6, not an 03 like most of us.... Are the transmissions in the newer cars weak too?