TTP (Turner Test Pipes) Review

[swamp2]

OK short(ish) and sweet, no dyno testing. Nothing really novel to share - this is pretty much along the lines of what prior posters have stated.

I got a set from Turner (in their latest group buy). Unfortunately they came with bad threads on the sensor bungs. They promptly replaced the bad set with a new one but would not advance ship the replacements and had to charge me for the 2nd set, to be refunded upon return shipment of the first set. New ones looked a lot better but still not quite "grade A" machining. Sensors mounted fine though.

I decided to have the system welded together rather than clamped. I have an entire OEM midsection for when I am not using the car on the track and for any potential inspection issues.

I used a nice exhaust shop up in Oceanside, CA who more or less did the install while I waited and charged a very fair and even low price. I can provide the shop name by PM. The guys also caught a small repairable leak from me slightly botching my cat back install and fixed that for free!

Power:
The power from this mod is clearly noticeable from a butt dyno. I ain't bothering with a "real" dyno. Most folks, including Turner, are claiming from dyno work about 30 hp and I believe that figure. It is about a 7% decrease in weight/hp ratio. I firmly believe you can't really feel a couple percent (and there certainly many posts here stating "I have" or you can...) but this for sure you can feel. The traction control hits sooner and more often for sure. That might be the most significant change I've noticed.

Sound:
Definitely different and an improvement. Shifts sound quite different. I hear more engine and exhaust "activity" during the shifts themselves. They sound a bit more gradual "slur" between them and they sound even slower than before the mod (of course I know they are not actually slower). Not a bad thing just an observation. Not a tremendous difference in loudness or sound quality at low to mid rpm. Yes you notice you've modded the exhaust but neither significant nor annoying. There is also a very very small bit of added drone at some rpms. A small downside IMHO. However, when you open her up the result is great - significantly louder. I have the Vorsteiner catback as well and I would not call the sound quality significantly altered but it is certainly changed. Without spectral measurements this quality change is tough for me to describe. I would describe the change as about the same as the catback itself but probably even a bit more at high rpm+load.

Smell:
A very very slightly noticeable change with some more smell. Only noticeable at start up and say when backing into your own plume. Perhaps its the colder weather, or perhaps the effect is real, but I think I see more visible exhaust when the car is warming up. But because I know that is almost all CO2 and water vapor, I kind of think this one might be more the weather than any real effect.

Pollution:
Obviously this mod is not CA smog legal and will make a bit more pollution especially during warm up. I know most wont care. I obviously care enough to simply mention it. Maybe that's even more hypocritical... No such thing as a free lunch on this point.

Overall I rate this mod very highly and it is very likely the single biggest gain per dollar mod you can do for this car. I can't wait to combine this with pulleys, a BPM tune and some race gas! I think that is all that is required to get to the 400 whp mark.

By the way 100 octane race gas is available at Crown Point Gas on Ingraham south of Pacific Beach here in San Diego. That too is fun stuff.

[DansM]

grear reveiw. thanks for sharing. i cant wait to install mine. I have a pulley that hasent evn been insalled yet. In do time. Have fun with yours!

[maesd74]

I just recently had the turners installed (welded) myself. It just opens up the car nicely. Enjoy!

[Munit]

I have HFC/aa xpipe, green filter, ESS tune and mix 95 octane which seems just perfect and it is absolutely incredible. The power is absolutely on a different level from stock and I did it in steps so would have been fun to make all changes at once-that would have reallly felt crazy!

Some 95 octane to make sure to hit the timing targets and ability to get the most aggressive tune from whoever you so choose will allow you to hit the peak numbers!

[W Cole]

I just received mine in the mail and am a bit disappointed in the build quality as well, especially for the price. Theres quite a bit of welding splatter around and inside of the bung holes that has been ground down. Hopefully the sensors will thread in smoothly..

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by W Cole

I just received mine in the mail and am a bit disappointed in the build quality as well, especially for the price. Theres quite a bit of welding splatter around and inside of the bung holes that has been ground down. Hopefully the sensors will thread in smoothly..

Yes, totally agree - all the same on mine. On the phone they were great and understood that even if you never see the part again, most M3 owners expect top notch fabrication on mods. Their QA/QC slipped on this batch a bit. They also told me they would seek to not just get me new parts but to correct the problem at its root. I'm sure they will swap for you. But the weld clean up on the inside was not really any better on my 2nd set.

[Dave07997S]

Originally Posted by Munit

I have HFC/aa xpipe, green filter, ESS tune and mix 95 octane which seems just perfect and it is absolutely incredible. The power is absolutely on a different level from stock and I did it in steps so would have been fun to make all changes at once-that would have reallly felt crazy!

Some 95 octane to make sure to hit the timing targets and ability to get the most aggressive tune from whoever you so choose will allow you to hit the peak numbers!

"I love the smell of race gas in the morning...smells like victory".

[RogeM3]

Originally Posted by maesd74

I just recently had the turners installed (welded) myself. It just opens up the car nicely. Enjoy!

do you still have the oem exhaust?

Did you got the chip software tuned from Turner as well?

Thanks!

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Dave07997S

"I love the smell of race gas in the morning...smells like victory".

Yeah.... v v v

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by Dave07997S

"I love the smell of race gas in the morning...smells like victory".

Davey you never fail to make me laugh!

Good seeing you yesterday buddy. I had quite the conversation with Julio this morning about your O2 sensor... Call me and I'll tell you about it

The turner or ACM test pipes are my choice by far, glad you're enjoying it OP.

[Dave07997S]

Originally Posted by swamp2

OK short(ish) and sweet, no dyno testing. Nothing really novel to share - this is pretty much along the lines of what prior posters have stated.

I got a set from Turner (in their latest group buy). Unfortunately they came with bad threads on the sensor bungs. They promptly replaced the bad set with a new one but would not advance ship the replacements and had to charge me for the 2nd set, to be refunded upon return shipment of the first set. New ones looked a lot better but still not quite "grade A" machining. Sensors mounted fine though.

I decided to have the system welded together rather than clamped. I have an entire OEM midsection for when I am not using the car on the track and for any potential inspection issues.

I used a nice exhaust shop up in Oceanside, CA who more or less did the install while I waited and charged a very fair and even low price. I can provide the shop name by PM. The guys also caught a small repairable leak from me slightly botching my cat back install and fixed that for free!

Power:
The power from this mod is clearly noticeable from a butt dyno. I ain't bothering with a "real" dyno. Most folks, including Turner, are claiming from dyno work about 30 hp and I believe that figure. It is about a 7% decrease in weight/hp ratio. I firmly believe you can't really feel a couple percent (and there certainly many posts here stating "I have" or you can...) but this for sure you can feel. The traction control hits sooner and more often for sure. That might be the most significant change I've noticed.

Sound:
Definitely different and an improvement. Shifts sound quite different. I hear more engine and exhaust "activity" during the shifts themselves. They sound a bit more gradual "slur" between them and they sound even slower than before the mod (of course I know they are not actually slower). Not a bad thing just an observation. Not a tremendous difference in loudness or sound quality at low to mid rpm. Yes you notice you've modded the exhaust but neither significant nor annoying. There is also a very very small bit of added drone at some rpms. A small downside IMHO. However, when you open her up the result is great - significantly louder. I have the Vorsteiner catback as well and I would not call the sound quality significantly altered but it is certainly changed. Without spectral measurements this quality change is tough for me to describe. I would describe the change as about the same as the catback itself but probably even a bit more at high rpm+load.

Smell:
A very very slightly noticeable change with some more smell. Only noticeable at start up and say when backing into your own plume. Perhaps its the colder weather, or perhaps the effect is real, but I think I see more visible exhaust when the car is warming up. But because I know that is almost all CO2 and water vapor, I kind of think this one might be more the weather than any real effect.

Pollution:
Obviously this mod is not CA smog legal and will make a bit more pollution especially during warm up. I know most wont care. I obviously care enough to simply mention it. Maybe that's even more hypocritical... No such thing as a free lunch on this point.

Overall I rate this mod very highly and it is very likely the single biggest gain per dollar mod you can do for this car. I can't wait to combine this with pulleys, a BPM tune and some race gas! I think that is all that is required to get to the 400 whp mark.

By the way 100 octane race gas is available at Crown Point Gas on Ingraham south of Pacific Beach here in San Diego. That too is fun stuff.

Run some race gas through it..the smell is glorious... I run 4 gallons of 100 VP racing every tank full. Just found a source for Sunoco 104 in 5 gallon jugs.

Dave

[Dave07997S]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Davey you never fail to make me laugh!

Good seeing you yesterday buddy. I had quite the conversation with Julio this morning about your O2 sensor... Call me and I'll tell you about it

The turner or ACM test pipes are my choice by far, glad you're enjoying it OP.

Roger that...hit you up in a bit...



Dave

[lsmkr01]

I got mine in about 2 weeks ago and they look perfect. Glad to see that bad batch seemed to be an isolated thing and was delt with after members reported the quality issues.