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This post has been a long time coming. I would’ve written it sooner if I had the time, but I digress.
I’d like to start by saying if you own a Full Race exhaust, DO NOT purchase this downpipe!! The downpipe WILL NOT reach the Full Race exhaust by a good half a foot or so. I ended up replacing the midpipe on the Full Race from the slip joint up to the PLM downpipe with a custom made one. It’s possible the downpipe will mate with other aftermarket exhausts without issue—it just didn’t happen to work out with the Full Race. With that out of the way, let’s review the PLM downpipe.
Fitment:
The 4.25” inlet is noticeably very large. So large in fact that the holes on the flange for the bolts didn’t line up quite perfectly but you should still be able to bolt it on. Once you get that hooked up, you’ll notice that the downpipe will sit against the heatshield on the passenger side and will not sit center like the Full Race. I had to remove the heatshield to avoid any unwanted rattles that would surely result. At this point if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said this downpipe is from an offbrand manufacturer.
Sound:
If you own a catless Full race downpipe then I’m sure you’re more than aware of that ‘lovely’ hissing sound you hear under certain throttle positions and RPMs. If you’re actually a fan of that noise then you’re in luck because the PLM hisses LOUDER and on a LARGER RANGE of throttle positions and RPMs than the Full Race. It's not so bad that it really bothers me all that much, but if you're against a more apparent and more frequent hiss than Full Race's, you won't enjoy this downpipe. As far as exhaust note goes, there’s no change there—still sounds 100% Full Race.
Performance:
The moment we were all waiting for. Does the PLM downpipe offer any performance gains over other 3” downpipes? Yes and no. Wait what? I’ll explain. As far as raw acceleration goes, I didn’t notice a difference from my all Full Race setup, but that's not really all that surprising. However, power delivery feels noticeably a bit smoother than it did before at approximately 4000 RPM up to redline, and I’d like to think that a small bump in mid-to-top end horsepower (maybe 2-3 whp untuned for this particular downpipe) is the reason (maybe the Venturi effect is at play here? who really knows).
Final Verdict:
Is the PLM downpipe worth it? In my opinion, if you already have an exhaust setup and are happy with it, don’t bother. The quality of the downpipe itself looks good but the fitment on this downpipe, as outlined above, makes this downpipe a questionable purchase, and I don’t think the horsepower gains outweigh it. It’s possible that mine could’ve just been a lemon and other customers’ downpipes fit better than mine. But, unless others who have this downpipe wanted to step up about it, we really don’t know and can only assume fitment in general is terrible.
Anyway, first product review. Probably pretty bad, but there it is. Sorry for any lack of pictures, didn’t occur to me to take any during install. I did take a couple pics of the downpipe out of the box, if anyone actually wanted to see those.
I’d like to start by saying if you own a Full Race exhaust, DO NOT purchase this downpipe!! The downpipe WILL NOT reach the Full Race exhaust by a good half a foot or so. I ended up replacing the midpipe on the Full Race from the slip joint up to the PLM downpipe with a custom made one. It’s possible the downpipe will mate with other aftermarket exhausts without issue—it just didn’t happen to work out with the Full Race. With that out of the way, let’s review the PLM downpipe.
Fitment:
The 4.25” inlet is noticeably very large. So large in fact that the holes on the flange for the bolts didn’t line up quite perfectly but you should still be able to bolt it on. Once you get that hooked up, you’ll notice that the downpipe will sit against the heatshield on the passenger side and will not sit center like the Full Race. I had to remove the heatshield to avoid any unwanted rattles that would surely result. At this point if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said this downpipe is from an offbrand manufacturer.
Sound:
If you own a catless Full race downpipe then I’m sure you’re more than aware of that ‘lovely’ hissing sound you hear under certain throttle positions and RPMs. If you’re actually a fan of that noise then you’re in luck because the PLM hisses LOUDER and on a LARGER RANGE of throttle positions and RPMs than the Full Race. It's not so bad that it really bothers me all that much, but if you're against a more apparent and more frequent hiss than Full Race's, you won't enjoy this downpipe. As far as exhaust note goes, there’s no change there—still sounds 100% Full Race.
Performance:
The moment we were all waiting for. Does the PLM downpipe offer any performance gains over other 3” downpipes? Yes and no. Wait what? I’ll explain. As far as raw acceleration goes, I didn’t notice a difference from my all Full Race setup, but that's not really all that surprising. However, power delivery feels noticeably a bit smoother than it did before at approximately 4000 RPM up to redline, and I’d like to think that a small bump in mid-to-top end horsepower (maybe 2-3 whp untuned for this particular downpipe) is the reason (maybe the Venturi effect is at play here? who really knows).
Final Verdict:
Is the PLM downpipe worth it? In my opinion, if you already have an exhaust setup and are happy with it, don’t bother. The quality of the downpipe itself looks good but the fitment on this downpipe, as outlined above, makes this downpipe a questionable purchase, and I don’t think the horsepower gains outweigh it. It’s possible that mine could’ve just been a lemon and other customers’ downpipes fit better than mine. But, unless others who have this downpipe wanted to step up about it, we really don’t know and can only assume fitment in general is terrible.
Anyway, first product review. Probably pretty bad, but there it is. Sorry for any lack of pictures, didn’t occur to me to take any during install. I did take a couple pics of the downpipe out of the box, if anyone actually wanted to see those.
