What did you do to your 5th gen today?? -V4

[Falcor]

So, I have good news…..and some bad news

On a good note, I didn’t snap any bolts. I had to remove all the studs since that stock cat will not come out if they are still in there. Also, that stock cat was shot. The rear honeycomb was broken. 
 

Now I get to deal with the great customer service of Hot Exhaust. Hopefully it will not be an issue since it is not their house brand. 

[NVAKeith]

Ugh!  Had a similar fitment experience with an aftermarket cat on an Audi I had loooong ago.   Luckily that one had more space between the cat and the flange.  The shop that was installing gave me two options: send it back and hope the next one fits or we’ll charge you ~1 hour to cut off the flange and reweld it, I chose the latter. 

[Falcor]

Currently working with the customer service rep for Hot Exhaust. He is working with Magnaflow to get a RMA and a warranty replacement. He has actually been pretty helpful. Thankfully my wife and I work like 7-8 blocks away from each other and can share a car.

[lagwagon]

Installed the Michelin PS AS4s last night, nice to have an accurate speedo again. So far they are noticeably more comfortable, and quieter than the Conti ExtremeContact DWS 06, with no discernable difference in cornering performance. They definitely fit the character of the car better. Hopefully they are as good, or better, than the Contis in the rain, which I think was the major change from the AS3 to the AS4, more siping and smaller shoulder tread block width, that should also be contributing to the comfort and noise level.

No pics, both sets of tires are mounted on the same BBS wheel model, although the condition is better on the wheels with the Michelins.

 

[Falcor]

Bit of an update on the converter. Hot Exhaust has now decided to discontinue their in-house converter. So, as far as I can tell, the only place to get an OEM style cat for our cars is either Subaru, or Magnaflow. 

Hot Exhaust is working with Magnaflow still to get the current bad one returned and get another sent out. I do have a bit of a fear that the current run may all be welded wrong, but we will see. The guy @ Hot Exhaust is trying to get Magnaflow to pull down the jig to test fit the cat before they sent it.