TAP urq downpipe update

[auditude at cox.net]

Hey all,

I thought y'all might want to know what happened with the TAP downpipe I got that made without an O2 sensor bung and other issues.

TAP refunded me $30 of the $145 the piece cost me, so that I can have a bung installed.  Even tho' I had it ceramic coated and will have to have it redone after correcting this and some other things, I am not overly upset about it anymore.

Ivor of TAP wrote that the downpipe is made by Scorpion.  So, I have a newfound underappreciation for Scorpion products, which pretty much was the only other one besides Stebro that had much Audi stuff.  I'm not crazy about Stebro either.

No offense to any fans of those brands.  I guess off-the-shelf setups have their place, and beggars, er older Audi owners, can't be choosers, but I think the homemade piece-it-together using mail order mandrel bends is the option I'm most likely going to go with.

I'm not paying to ship in some crazy B-N Pipes setup from Germany either, altho' that stuff looks like it ain't too shabby.  I imagine 2B has an offering as well.  (let me know of other mandrel options, in 3")

Ivor added that the urq downpipe was a quality product and they didn't use a torch to make the downpipe hole.  We're not on the same page on that idea, but I do think the downpipe is a good basis to apply some finish work to to get a nice piece.

For those just tuning in, here is the downpipe I'm writing about:
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/quattrophile/lst?.dir=/TAP+urq+downpipe

Ken