6 Branch stainless manifolds

[Jamie 1]

Anyone using one of these manifolds? http://bit.ly/16gTVEl £130 seems very, very cheap and I know the rule is usually you get what you pay for but it does look good in the pics...

[dragon 0]

It looks well made , but I'm pretty sure top company's put a fair bit of research into the way they flow so that might be it's down fall . Never know though could be a bargin

[science 0]

I've got one of these had it ceramic coated before fitting and IMHO;

 

Good points;

Midrange and top end improved,

Better throttle response,

Cheap,

Looks good.

 

Bad points

Cat pipe needed modifying to allow room for the two bolts from the manifold,

Needed heat resistant silicone to seal the flange properly,

Doesn't allow fitness of original heat shield (although I think the design could have changed),

Reduces the VR6 warble sound.

[p0l1wrath 10]

I have one of these but also have a few pointers;

make sure manifold to head plate is flat, i filed mine

make sure manifold to head plate is spaced correctly, i welded a little 2mm plate in between the two sets of three

check the joins for air tightness, i had to weld one up

 

i also cut the end off my old pipe and welded it to the end, to avoid having the nasty joint at the end.

 

so a fair bit of work went into mine before it worked well, but very pleased with the result!!

[Jamie 1]

Nice one cheers chaps. So basically they're decent enough for the money but a pig to fit? I think I'll wait til I get back from Austria then. What are the head studs like - notorious for snapping or generally ok?

[p0l1wrath 10]

Studs are alright, the nuts a fag, real soft, make sure your on good and proper before turning them

[Brunty's Dad 10]

Car: VR6

I have just bought a stainless 6 branch. Due to my advanced years I find it difficult to get under the car to check, is the lambda sensor located in the down pipe or in the cat housing? I spoke to the garage about fitting it and I was told that should it be the case that the sensor is in the down pipe and therefore should fit into the 6 branch which has no provision, the ECU can be programmed to enable the car to run without a lambda sensor. Does that make sense?

[p0l1wrath 10]

If i remember correctly the lambda is on the cat pipe and not on the manifold, the manifold may have 2 bungs nearer the top as well, These are for OBD-II so will need to be blanked off, unless your OBD-II of course!

[Brunty's Dad 10]

Thanks, OBD1 and blanked off after re-tapping threads to M12. Don't know what the original thread was but I went through all the usual suspects.

[Brunty's Dad 10]

Just getting round to fitting the 6 branch. It came with the manifold gaskets but looking at the manifold to cat it seems to me that another gasket/s needed. If anyone has a diagram/photo of the way the join is achieved it would help a confused mind. Thanks

[Brunty's Dad 10]

Corrado blowing like a tractor as of yesterday. Garage checked for me this morning and the 6 branch has split just forward of the connecting flange. Seems I have a choice between a new 6 branch or reverting to an original manifold but not sure whether the original downpipe uses a compatible fitting to cat pipe . Quite a few new 6 branch on ebay but all advertised for Golf 2.8 VR6, the Corrado is not listed among the compatible vehicles, and any that say for 2.9 VR6 are more expensive than I can justify. I would be interested to know if the 2.8 will fit.

[fendervg 33]

Surely you can get your money refunded? The OEM manifold will fit to the original cat pipe no problem unless anything's been changed there - what was wrong with the stock mani?

 

TBH, these aftermarket 6-branch ones result in only marginal improvements without a lot of other engine work and most of the differences tend to be negative. The factory system was built to a pretty high spec and is well matched to the engine, and you need to be very careful about an aftermarket down-pipe/manifold generating additional heat in what is already a pretty hot engine bay.

Edited November 6, 2019 by fendervg

[Keyo 47]

Horrible things those headers IMO, just took one off my Golf MK2, it was brand new, the last owner fitted it, had to fork out £300 for a new OE Manii KR 16v from Classics in Germany. I would try and source a VR OE Mani second hand unit with the down pipe personally.

[Geeba 0]

Ported and polished my OE manifolds, tig'd up the downpipe flange externally and gound and polished that as well. Not keen on ebay manifolds... you're going to be buying twice.

[Geeba 0]

there are some on ebay... unrealistic performance claims IMO...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-CORRADO-VR6-2-8-2-9-NEW-STAINLESS-STEEL-MANIFOLD/161347605422?epid=23015052890&hash=item25911113ae:g:cZUAAOSwVupTqX~x

[fendervg 33]

there are some on ebay... unrealistic performance claims IMO...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-CORRADO-VR6-2-8-2-9-NEW-STAINLESS-STEEL-MANIFOLD/161347605422?epid=23015052890&hash=item25911113ae:g:cZUAAOSwVupTqX~x

 

I'd agree there - claims of 10-20%, so that might be 210 horses bolting straight out of the stable with one of these on - you'd have to laugh - even the best modified naturally aspirated VRs with several thousands spent on them struggle to make 210-220. But you have to love a dreamer.

[Keyo 47]

My problem is the bloody drone they make. all most gives me headache , pretty much changes the whole character of the engine to the point where you couldn't even feel or listen if the engine is running smoothly, also as mentioned the potential heat damage to the engine bay and cabling.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Keyo

[Tigerfish 10]

You could get the split welded up. That should be cheaper than replacing it.

[1xshaunx1 27]

Turn the radio up. Hear less annoying noises that way

[Brunty's Dad 10]

Lack of space to store the original, had to go.

[Brunty's Dad 10]

Remember that it was a ******* ti fit. Can't afford £45 per hour garage costs so I think best course of action is to cut the six branch off and fit the original pattern.

[Tigerfish 10]

where exactly is the split, could be weldable without taking it off the car? Which was what was possible when mine split by the joint.

[swiftkid 1]

If it's a raceland or similar 6 branch you can take it off without taking half the car apart, I swapped mine in a carpark rather stupidly. The 6 branch tend to have an adapter flange but bolt up to the 3 bolt flange of the cat so unless it's been cut off and welded it should be a straight swap for the standard.

 

I do echo the statements about them being pointless unless you are running a supercharger, my old 1 just droned and increased the engine bay temps

[spen 0]

there are some on ebay... unrealistic performance claims IMO...

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-CORRADO-VR6-2-8-2-9-NEW-STAINLESS-STEEL-MANIFOLD/161347605422?epid=23015052890&hash=item25911113ae:g:cZUAAOSwVupTqX~x

 

10-20% if you add on a full stainless exhaust with sports CAT, uprated cams and a re-map!

[Geeba 0]

I'd agree there - claims of 10-20%, so that might be 210 horses bolting straight out of the stable with one of these on - you'd have to laugh - even the best modified naturally aspirated VRs with several thousands spent on them struggle to make 210-220. But you have to love a dreamer.

 

10-20% if you add on a full stainless exhaust with sports CAT, uprated cams and a re-map!

 

Exactly that - I've thrown in excess of £3k at my NA engine and if it makes 220bhp I'll be very happy.