Diamond

So I know RPI exhaust is quickly becoming very popular and spurred on by myself as well as a couple others who have posted pics and comments that perhaps sometimes RPI exhaust hangs a little bit low and sometimes not. In my case it hung too low for me and sagged in the middle. So I already commented on how I installed my own middle hanger which only applies to the 530's and not the V8's. Now I believe for the v8 models as well, you can do a quick trick if you have OEM rubber hangers, atleast if you have the same ones as I do and thta is shown in the picture below in order to bring up the muffler a bit higher to the perfect height and fitment.

On the hanger shown below, used as stock, you clearly as shown put the metal hanger from the frame through the top hole and the muffler hanger through the bottom hole. However if you rotate the rubber hanger clockwise 45 degrees or so, you put the exhaust metal hanger through that space which has its own nice little area it slides in and stays nice and sturdy. This snugs it up and yanks it about 1/2 inch higher or so and makes the fitment just right.

On your second hanger, which is is labeled in my horrendous sketch below. You do the same thing however. V8 guys may have slightly different places for their hangers but same concept applies by quarter turning the hanger and using the different location you can get it up where it belongs.

Maybe this is blatently obvious to RPI and all of you but to me I initially installed it as my stock one was, using each of the 2 holes. When I used the new placement , however, it worsened the bend at the joining location of the clamp of rpi-stock pipe as it pulled up the rear mufler and that left more of a downslope in the piping and than a a bigger bend. When I put my hanger, I used the new hanging location of the muffler to run the pipe straight back to OEM pipe-and then made the hanger length so it would keep the pipe running straight back and hold up the oem piping as well. This led to straight back flow. The sag was so prominent after I adjusted the rubber hangers that I had questions about how that was flowing and possibly hurting performance so to me I had no choice but to install a hanger if I wanted to keep the muffler positioned where I believe it looks good.
Unfortunately I took 3 videos on my cell phone which is so badly beaten down it hardly works, but got to my computer and uploaded them however they produced no sound so will try again later!

Included one picture to show you position of my tips v. you can see others on many other threads hang much lower. In this pic it is slightly to the left, before i made final adjustments which that is anotherh point-you have to play with how far in you slide the hangers into the rubber to center the muffler exactly where you want it and then secure the rubber when you find that via the method of your choice-I chose to get a really tight rubber piece to slide on beside the rubber hanger to secure it and keep it exactly where I wanted. You can also use duct tape to put on each side of the hanger to secure the rubber centered on the hanger.

rogerj

Diamond,

John has informed me that Pepboys carries a smaller rubber hanger that RPI uses to lift the exhaust into PROPER position. I share your frustration that this has not been addressed by RPI and we have to share info back and forth than go to Pepboys to make your $1000 exhaust, designed specifically for your car..., to fit properly.

Krozi

That's very weird, on my car the exhaust sat perfectly flush and in line...

rogerj

I am out of town and my laptop is at home. If I can post pics from my iPhone I will, but I don't think I can. If not I will post pics early next week. John informed me that length of install, position of cut, may affect hanger height, but this sounds like a common problem, and not a unique situation.

Krozi

Huh I guess I was lucky then.

Diamond

Well imagine my frustration where atleast the 545 exhaust was properly designed to include a new hanger for the middle section, whereas I am told it is "not needed" since my exhaust is lighter. This being true however, the weight loss is at the muffler area and that did not address that the middle hanger is used to support the entire middle section of the exhaust. This is true on both 545's and 530's.

I really believe everyone has given an over amount of praise to RPI for results that they have gotten to an overly cocky state that they refuse to listen to any feedback and chalk us up as outliers that are not the norm. Fact is I have seen a number that fit way too low and if RPI uses a different than stock rubber hanger than either include those or let us know in advance to get them before we hang them and are unhappy with fitment.

On top of that I had to shell out an additional 30 bucks to pay for a U-clamp and have a hanger welded on so mine hung properly. It was so saggy in the middle after the RPI was one that I had so much vibration in both the cabin and when outside the car I could hear the metal vibrating against the shield. I put my hanger on and voila-completely gone, no more vibration heard and very little felt in the cabin.

The fact is RPI needs to address
1.you NEED a hanger for the 530 exhaust-they should be revising their design and including this.
2.YOu need to include different hangers. There is no problem with the exhaust itself or revise the hangers if you are going to tell people to use their OEM rubber hangers OR atleasat provide instruction that I just did on how to properly use the OEM rubber hangers to position it correctly.

There is no variation in how you install these. It is pretty standard. You make the cut and bolt it on. There is not much room for variation so it is not your fault if it hangs too low, you simply put it on where it fits-there is only one way to hang it providing you cut it in the right spot. I had mine up on a lift today and saw it in detail and there is nothing else I could have done in the install to make it sit higher at the end. It is simply a design flaw and part faw using the rubber hanger.

But bro you do not need new hangers even though I got new ones, it does work with the info I gave to adjust the height.

Diamond

This is true if the length was WAY off but providing you cut even within an inch of the required cut place-it would not effect the height to this degree.

May be unpopular but I really fear too many people jumping on the bandwagon, too much support and companies get sloppy. Human nature when we get overconfident, we make more mistakes and listen to feedback less. I think RPI makes some great products, atleast I have put my trust in them for no other reason other than happy customers. However you start not listening to your customers and voila-business success goes away.

I personally brought up these issues to Eloy before I even got the exhaust just because I know enough to imagine a problem from the design I saw, yet I was ignored and even after I got it and let him know, it was a "I am right, you are wrong" attitude.

Time will tell. Not everyone notices but I would like to see a vote of how many people with RPI and STOCK hangers since that is what is told to use, have a properly fit exhaust that does not hang too low?

I would also like to see a 530 exhaust sample that has pictures to show there is not issue with the middle section sagging. Why would my car be any different, or why would I lie and bring these issues up-no worries man atleast it is an easy fix with the hangers and until you get new ones just flip em around like I showed

rogerj

I bought my RPI used, but it was only 3 mos old. I called RPI about the clamp to connect the exhaust to the OEM pipe and they were very helpful. I LOVE my RPI exhaust, but there are too many fitment issues for the $$$. At this price point, there should not be fitment issues. I would still recommend the RPI based on sound and performance. If I were to buy this new, I would demand a fitment guarantee or demand a discount for all the BS fitment issues

Diamond

Well considering Remus at 700 bucks and supersprint at 1100 bucks which are both right at that same price point, fit PERFECTLY without any mods, I agreee. Performance is not there with the other two, and the sound is quieter, but if you are RPI and have the power and performance to back it up, why not make the fitment perfect as well ya know

rogerj

+1

I think the RPI is fantastic for sound and performance. The fitment is tricky. The purpose of this community is to share info. Anyone considering an RPI exhaust should be aware of this. This is a minor problem with an easy fix. The disturbing thing is that this info is not available from RPI, only available here on E60