Review - Scorpion Exhaust.
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:37 pm
I promised Scorpion I would do a small write up on my thoughts of the system they supplied, So here it is!
Initial thoughts
Upon unpacking the exhaust, I was pretty chuffed. The quality of the welds looked good and the system felt quite substantial.
The tail pipes were the main thing I was keen to see, They supplied the system with STW trims, but rather than the usual 1.5mm wall thickness these had 3mm walls.
This is how it looks against the Magnex system it has now replaced.
A great improvement imo.
Parts required for fitting
I thought there was no point in fitting a new system using old nasty hardware, So a nice long list of parts was taken to my local dealership.
I purchased the following:
Downpipe gasket,
Olives for downpipe to centre section
Sliding flange,
Nuts for manifold-downipe joint
Nuts & bolts for downpipe-centre section
Downpipe bracket that bolts to gear box & all associate hardware,
Rubbers.
I was quite suprised that the system didn't come with the sliding flange for the downpipe. I guess that most people have this on their original system, but as mine had been butchered at some point by powerflow it was absent.
All those bits plus a few odds and sods for the gear linkage & a rad cap came to over £60. I have tried not to cut corners with this, I didn't want an old component causing problems on the new systems fit.
Installation
As many of you know by now, I'm no spanner monkey. So for the task of fitting the system I booked the car in with resident hero Ant @ Atech.
Old system was removed and we started to put the new one on, Almost instantly we hit a problem.
The downpipes were not the correct shape, The longer pipe was twisted and sitting very low. It looked to me that the bend was not the correct angle. Ant said he thought the pipe was approx 25mm too long.
(Sump gasket needs doing too
)
Ant heated the pipe and tweaked it back into line
It was still not perfect but it was as good as we wished to push it. Ant told me when the rest of the system was on it should pull it into line.
Gearbox bracket bolted up, Required the pipes to be pulled across a bit but wasn't a bad fit.
Onto the back box, This is where we had a big problem. The brackets they had sent were wrong. One required bending and the other required cutting into three bits and rewelding. Quite a large mistake for scorpion to make imo, It seems like quality checks are skipped and you end up with a bit more work than you would anticipate.
Furthest one was the one that needed bending
After a little modification from Ant.
Then the back box was put into position
It sat very low and not really in the cutout in the bumper.
After about half an hour and several adjustments, Ant (& Fowler who had turned up by then) managed to persuade the box to sit in the correct position.
Verdict
Overall I am very happy with the exhaust, Sounds good and still needs to get some miles on it to fully settle in.
The day was slightly tainted by the need to make adjustments to the system. After all it's not a cheap Peco or anything of that nature.
I think Scorpion have a good product here but there are a few adjustments that would make it a lot better.
The problems we suffered and other observations from today.
1. Downpipe too long and wrong angle (Quality control issue, Removed from jig before it had cooled?)
2. Rear box brackets were incorrect (another qc issue? or a genuine mistake)
3. Position of the tailpipes on the rear box, It almost looks as if the box is upside down It would be a more straightforward fit with the tailpipes mounted centrally, making it easier to get the pipes central in the cutout.
I can't thank the contact at scorpion enough for his help, I am very happy with the end result. Just a couple of niggles that may be worth addressing in future. I would highly reccomend the exhaust, but it would be advisable to get it fitted by someone with prior knowledge of them as they will know the best way to sort any issues that arise.
Also I'd like to say a massive thanks to Ant & Fowler for todays efforts, they are legends and have done a fantastic job.
Initial thoughts
Upon unpacking the exhaust, I was pretty chuffed. The quality of the welds looked good and the system felt quite substantial.
The tail pipes were the main thing I was keen to see, They supplied the system with STW trims, but rather than the usual 1.5mm wall thickness these had 3mm walls.
This is how it looks against the Magnex system it has now replaced.
A great improvement imo.
Parts required for fitting
I thought there was no point in fitting a new system using old nasty hardware, So a nice long list of parts was taken to my local dealership.
I purchased the following:
Downpipe gasket,
Olives for downpipe to centre section
Sliding flange,
Nuts for manifold-downipe joint
Nuts & bolts for downpipe-centre section
Downpipe bracket that bolts to gear box & all associate hardware,
Rubbers.
I was quite suprised that the system didn't come with the sliding flange for the downpipe. I guess that most people have this on their original system, but as mine had been butchered at some point by powerflow it was absent.
All those bits plus a few odds and sods for the gear linkage & a rad cap came to over £60. I have tried not to cut corners with this, I didn't want an old component causing problems on the new systems fit.
Installation
As many of you know by now, I'm no spanner monkey. So for the task of fitting the system I booked the car in with resident hero Ant @ Atech.
Old system was removed and we started to put the new one on, Almost instantly we hit a problem.
The downpipes were not the correct shape, The longer pipe was twisted and sitting very low. It looked to me that the bend was not the correct angle. Ant said he thought the pipe was approx 25mm too long.
(Sump gasket needs doing too
)Ant heated the pipe and tweaked it back into line
It was still not perfect but it was as good as we wished to push it. Ant told me when the rest of the system was on it should pull it into line.
Gearbox bracket bolted up, Required the pipes to be pulled across a bit but wasn't a bad fit.
Onto the back box, This is where we had a big problem. The brackets they had sent were wrong. One required bending and the other required cutting into three bits and rewelding. Quite a large mistake for scorpion to make imo, It seems like quality checks are skipped and you end up with a bit more work than you would anticipate.
Furthest one was the one that needed bending
After a little modification from Ant.
Then the back box was put into position
It sat very low and not really in the cutout in the bumper.
After about half an hour and several adjustments, Ant (& Fowler who had turned up by then) managed to persuade the box to sit in the correct position.
Verdict
Overall I am very happy with the exhaust, Sounds good and still needs to get some miles on it to fully settle in.
The day was slightly tainted by the need to make adjustments to the system. After all it's not a cheap Peco or anything of that nature.
I think Scorpion have a good product here but there are a few adjustments that would make it a lot better.
The problems we suffered and other observations from today.
1. Downpipe too long and wrong angle (Quality control issue, Removed from jig before it had cooled?)
2. Rear box brackets were incorrect (another qc issue? or a genuine mistake)
3. Position of the tailpipes on the rear box, It almost looks as if the box is upside down It would be a more straightforward fit with the tailpipes mounted centrally, making it easier to get the pipes central in the cutout.
I can't thank the contact at scorpion enough for his help, I am very happy with the end result. Just a couple of niggles that may be worth addressing in future. I would highly reccomend the exhaust, but it would be advisable to get it fitted by someone with prior knowledge of them as they will know the best way to sort any issues that arise.
Also I'd like to say a massive thanks to Ant & Fowler for todays efforts, they are legends and have done a fantastic job.
