RS6 Exhaust HELP

[Bigswin]

New to the forum after selling my V and picking up an 03 RS6 as my commuter. It is currently at the stealership getting the suspension fixed and apparently there is an issue with a muffler clamp.

From the service guy: The clamps to secure the rear exhaust have separated, there is about a 1/4" gap, unable to weld price to fix is 399.00.

I haven't seen what this clamp is but it sure seems important if it costs that much haha.

Here's my question, I was planning on removing the secondary cats, and MAY replace the mufflers b/c I think I could do that for a little more than the price of the Audi dealership clamp.

Anyone have any advice on mufflers to use? ( magnaflow, borla, etc...)

Thanks!

[Bigglezworth]

1st. Welcome to Audi ownership. It will be memorable...
2nd. Your stealership is A$$ raping you. Go to an exhaust shop. Dealers are not equiped to repair anything. They merely replace with new. Exhaust shop will get you set straight in short order.

[lswing]

Don't screw up your nice exhaust....just my 2 cents.

Let me back up, try and find a good local Audi/VW experienced independent mechanic, your wallet and mind will thank you for it.

There are two types of exhaust these came with; standard has the chrome tips, and Sound Enhancing with matte black tips. The SE has an extra nice growl to it.

Welcome! How about some pics, car info, VIN#, and work done that you know of?

[DHall1]

^ +1

12yr old RS6 as a commuter. You need a good indy or you need to be $$ or master tech.

That said, welcome.

1st. Welcome to Audi ownership. It will be memorable...
2nd. Your stealership is A$$ raping you. Go to an exhaust shop. Dealers are not equiped to repair anything. They merely replace with new. Exhaust shop will get you set straight in short order.

[Bigswin]

Yeah, I've already spent more on it than I wanted to. However, I'll be riding the metro for work soon and couldn't justify paying for my CTS-V anymore. Mine has the black exhaust tips so I guess that's the sound enhancing one. I'll probably leave the mufflers alone and just delete the secondary cats. I had a muffler shop do the same thing to my C63 a couple of years ago and it sounded much better. I replace the radiator, just got 4 new tires, and the DRC had to get something done to it. Not cheap fixes but hope it lasts awhile. The timing chain was replaced about 15k ago according to the records. Old Beast and new Beast haha

[lswing]

Cough cough...the RS6 could cost you way more than the V...but at least you've got the better car now!

Two sets of cats, sounds like you know that. There is a current thread on the difficulty of getting to them. Top/first in line small cats can be cleared with no CEL or emissions issues. Large lower secondary cats will most likely flag emissions, and you will need a custom tune to clear the resulting CEL since the secondary O2 sensors won't be happy. All can be done, just a good chunk to deal with, but will sound great and make your turbos happy.

With any luck your VIN ends around or past 5500, or the TC and Trans are already replaced. Weak tc seal on earlier VINs caused many failures. Roughly a $10k bill...and if you're tuned take it easy shifting, the trans is a weak point.

[ilovegt100]

No doubt they are expensive to maintain but ya gotta pay to play. Since you're DC local like me consider Stan and Kevin at RPM in Newington. They are highly dependable, considerably cheaper than the stealership, and mostly work on Porsche and Audi...

[Bigswin]

It better not! haha. Thanks gt100, I'll check them out. So the secondary cats are hard to get to? I just want to cut them out.

[Bigswin]

RPM, super close to where I'm working right now so that's fantastic!

[lswing]

Check the picture here, guess you could just cut the out and weld in new straight pipes, dunno? You then need to contact your tuner to clear CEL.

http://audirssix.com/index.php/engine-trans

[Bigswin]

Mine ends in 4937, no tunes

[lswing]

Mine ends in 4937, no tunes

Typically TC would fail by 75k, but you never know. Maybe it's been replaced. A tune is amazing...until your trans blows

[Bigswin]

haha, well maybe it has b/c mine has 92k on it.

[Other_Erik]

Welcome to the new DC area Beast-tamers! Please stay active in the forum and look out for the yearly meetup at Katie's Cars & Coffee in Great Falls - at the rate our group is growing, we've got about 10 years until we can fill the lot like the GTR owners did a couple years back. Welcome aboard the crazy train, grease up your wallet because cash will leave it fast enough to catch fire with these cars, but it's just too much fun to justify stepping down to anything else!

OP: Seconding what others said above, indy shop is a MUST. If you're ever around the Herndon/Reston/Tyson's area, check out AutoScandia in Herndon - gotten more than a little work done there and has probably saved me ~$10k in repair (almost wrote that rape-air) bills.

[Bigswin]

I used to hit up Katies last year alot with the CTS V crowd. I always hated getting up that early on Satruday's! Hahaha. I'm in Arlington so that shop is pretty close.

[Bigswin]

Will the shops around here do a cat delete? I took my C63 to hiflow in Manassass and it wasn't a problem. If i can do it local I will. Thoughts?

[4everRS]

Ok. Not sure how the c63 exhaust is set up. On the rs6 both the pre cats and Main cats are in the down pipes. If your looking for better performance, the pre cats should be the first to go. To do that, the engine needs to be dropped out slightly, dp's removed, gutted, and reinstalled. Lots of work. And you'll have emissions problems, need a new tune, ect.

If your looking for better sound, delete the resonators. They are just in front of the rear axle. I did on my se exhaust, and I really like the tone and volume.

[Bigswin]

Yeah, the secondary cats on my 63 and E55 were really easy to get to, really close to the muffler. I'm not worried about the performance aspect as much as I think the car if far too quiet. Maybe I'll just do a muffler delete and see how that works. This may be my best option as the stealership said there is a gap at the muffler clamp and wanted to fix it for 400 bucks.