[Dr.Naren]

I have S-Cross 1.6 running with a brilliant map from Tune O Tronics. I wanted to do some more minor engine mods and improve the performance further. I was exploring various options. I finally decided to do exhaust mods. I wanted better performance and not sound. So the obvious choice was to do a decat.

I had 2 options.

1. Poor man's decat : This is just hollowing the stock cat con / putting a straight pipe inside. If done properly, even this would give good results. But the main drawback is it's not reversible. I would need to buy a new stock Cat Con which would cost more than 50K.

2. Custom SS Decat Downpipe : This mod is reversible if flanges are done properly and installed as direct replacement of stock cat con.

I was doing research about the same for few days. Big thanks to my Mod Guruji aka Sankar (D bhpian) for all the advice and helping me take a good decision

Sankar had installed decat downpipe on his cars. He explained to me about all the advantages and disadvantages of this mod. The main point to be noted is if stock exhaust system is tampered, it becomes an expensive affair to revert back. So we need to build a bolt on downpipe which is reversible anytime. Also he warned me that there might be drop in low end for few cars. Advantages are turbo would spool faster and engine would revv more freely. After sharing numerous what's app messages with Sankar, I decided to go for it.

Now the biggest question : Who would do it for me?

I checked if anything is available as bolt on for 1.6 multijet. JTD performance Europe had a bolt on downpipe for 1.6. But it's designed for European cars with DPF. Yes, it would have worked. But I did not want to take a risk and burn cash.

I contacted few guys and everybody told me it would take around 2-3 days. Also nobody had done it for 1.6 S cross before. Naresh Virkar / TTS Auto China told me that I would lose power for sure with decat and he advised me to go for TTS Race Cat 300 cel. I found that option little expensive and also it's one headache if it gets stuck at customs.

I wanted to know if Blackworks would do it. I have heard lot of good reviews about them. But I was not sure if they would do a simple mod like downpipe. I contacted Venkat and he was willing to help me out. He was busy with other builds and agreed to do when he was free.

After few days, Venkat asked me to get the car and I was super excited. I took the car to his place and had a brief discussion with him. He told me that stock exhaust won't be touched and everything would be bolt on and reversible. Also he would use the best quality material for downpipe. I have read about the workmanship of Blackworks by Nikil and I knew my car was in safe hands. Also Venkat would use high quality SS 316L material on Flanges and welding points. This contains little molybdenum and resists corrosion better which would be ideal for coastal climate.

The work was started immediately and the stock cat con was out in no time. As expected there was no O2 sensor post CAT and we are good to go. If there is sensor post CAT, there are chances of getting Check Engine Light post decat. AFR sensor is present before CAT and it would be retained on new downpipe.

Stock Catalytic Converter : FPT


O2 Sensor : Bosch Germany


Turbo Charger


Venkat found the design simple and he said it could be done in a day. I left the car at Blackworks. I was thinking full night about losing power in low end. I had almost made up my mind that I would lose power at low end

I called Venkat next day and was happy to hear that the car would be delivered on same day. Venkat and his helper were working full time on it.

Blackworks Downpipe :



New Downpipe vs Stock Cat con


Stock exhaust pipes not tampered, direct bolt on fit with flanges



Finally it's the time to test my car. I was still worried about losing low end. I started the car and there were no errors or CEL. I revved up till 2000 RPM and engine sounded sweet. We decided to go for a short drive.

Now this was shocking and I have no words to describe the feeling. There was no loss at low end and it felt better. Also there was a sweet sound, louder turbo whistle. I slotted into 2nd gear and floored the throttle. You won't believe what happened, turbo spooled up pretty fast, very strong turbo kick and I was losing traction. I shifted to higher gears and there was good improvement across the revv band. It felt like the car had totally transformed. Power delivery was just brilliant. Car is a different animal if I floor the throttle. After driving for few KM, I felt totally home and loved this mod.

Below 1000 RPM : No Difference!!

1000 to 2000 RPM : Turbo lag has reduced. I did not expect this to happen.

2000 to 3000 RPM : This is pure fun. Turbo boost is stronger and holding for longer. Also the engine is lot more free revving.

Above 3000 RPM : I like the engine note and it's just sweet. There is improvement which is noticeable.

City driving has become effortless now and 3rd gear is very much helpful even in Bangalore traffic. Also the MID is showing good FE figures. I will confirm this with tankfull method soon.

Tune O Tronics remap + Blackworks Downpipe = Sweet combination!!! I am just loving it.

Last, but not the least : This place, Highly Recommended!!


Please don't miss out to watch this video. Notice the turbo whistle and free revving engine post downpipe

https://youtu.be/3Ms4A6o_Qio

[Sankar]

Awesome! Well made pipe! One suggestion, use a distorted lock nut for the connection at the bottom where it joins exhaust system. Lag reduced as it spools faster now. If you dont go pedal to metal you can expect slightly increased fuel efficiency also.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Awesome! Well made pipe! One suggestion, use a distorted lock nut for the connection at the bottom where it joins exhaust system. Lag reduced as it spools faster now. If you dont go pedal to metal you can expect slightly increased fuel efficiency also.

Yes, will do

As I said Blackworks have done a neat job. Turbo is spooling early, strongly and for longer too. I too feel that FE would be more with normal driving.

Also, would be bugging you more and the mods never stop

[Akshay1234]

That's a neat job done by blackworks. You can expect a healthy increase in power now that the cat is deleted, in some cases even up to 10%. I would suggest you get a map updated by TOT to take advantage of the cat delete. Also I'm guessing there would be a bit more black smoke now.

[Altocumulus]

This is awesome ! There are subtle mods on stock internals, however with great rewards am sure.

I echo what may be a lot would say in contradicting your statements. The difference in emissions with the cat removed is not much and will still pass the emission tests easily. I am not sure if you have checked the difference. I have and it is near negligible thanks to the efficient modern engines.

There are numerous cars with FFE featured here which not only 'increase emission' but also 'sound'. That way super cars should be banned for sound pollution, all drag races and supervised events should be banned, and the 'Modifying your car' thread should be deleted.

Also people should scrap their pre BS, BSI, BSII, BSIII cars because they pollute more than the BSIV ones. Would any of us do that?

[karan561]

Well Done Dr.Naren,

The downpipe looks of good finish, also going by your video the car now sounds 'not stock' which is always a great feeling

All the best

[dailydriver]

Dr, I am amazed at the level of modification you are willing to do to a brand new car. Fiddling around with the internals of a vehicle that you truly love requires a lot of courage. Its like saying "I am ready to kill you because I love you"!

I have been following most of your threads. You are willing to take risks in anticipation of added performance. While the performance aspect remains a private experience, posting about it on the forum exposes you to both bouquets and brickbats.

We know that you are very fond of your 1.6 and drive it extensively. Each of the kilometers that you drive without your cat con adds a bit more pollutant to our already polluted air. Moreover, there is the insignificant matter of passing the PUC test. How would you manage that?

I know 'to each his own', but removing the cat con is one thing you could have done without-keeping larger interests in mind. Most of us are not fortunate enough to be able to plant as many trees as we would have liked. Your efforts in this regard are indeed commendable and hence, may be, you could claim exemption from being criticized .

Please keep sharing.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Akshay1234

That's a neat job done by blackworks. You can expect a healthy increase in power now that the cat is deleted, in some cases even up to 10%. I would suggest you get a map updated by TOT to take advantage of the cat delete. Also I'm guessing there would be a bit more black smoke now.

Yes, there is significant gains. I can't wait to do V Box runs and check the improvement. Yes, I hope TOT could give me little more extra juice considering the downpipe mod. Also the ECU has adapted very well and there is no loss of power anywhere.

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

...

Seconded this. You should revisit the map to take advantage of the increased exhaust flow.

Yes, let's hope a tweaked map can exploit this fully!!

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

This is awesome ! There are subtle mods on stock internals, however with great rewards am sure.

I echo what may be a lot would say in contradicting your statements. The difference in emissions with the cat removed is not much and will still pass the emission tests easily. I am not sure if you have checked the difference. I have and it is near negligible thanks to the efficient modern engines.

There are numerous cars with FFE featured here which not only 'increase emission' but also 'sound'. That way super cars should be banned for sound pollution, all drag races and supervised events should be banned, and the 'Modifying your car' thread should be deleted.

Also people should scrap their pre BS, BSI, BSII, BSIII cars because they pollute more than the BSIV ones. Would any of us do that?

I second that. You have put it down very well. Much appreciated.

Originally Posted by karan561

Well Done Dr.Naren,

The downpipe looks of good finish, also going by your video the car now sounds 'not stock' which is always a great feeling

All the best

Thank Karan Yes, the engine sounds sweet with significant improvement in performance.


I just drove around 150 KM, Bangalore to Mysore. Oh boy, I love the car so much now. Even the FE is excellent. There is no drop and I could see improvement. Also the ECU feels adapted to the mod and that losing traction in 2nd gear has become milder now. But it was fun

[frankmehta]

Lovely, Naren. Enjoy!
Also, I don't know about the nature, but I would surely get a bolt on racecat somewhere in the equation. A high flow cat would make even more of a gain to the perceived, as well as actual performance.
A vBox run before and after, would be appreciated.
All in all, well done. You are driving one of the most under-rated and undersold cars in India with a gem of an engine!

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Lovely, Naren. Enjoy!
Also, I don't know about the nature, but I would surely get a bolt on racecat somewhere in the equation. A high flow cat would make even more of a gain to the perceived, as well as actual performance.
A vBox run before and after, would be appreciated.
All in all, well done. You are driving one of the most under-rated and undersold cars in India with a gem of an engine!

Thanks Frank

Stock Cat Con is the major restriction to flow of exhaust gases. I don't think a Race Cat could do much difference. I have read about this in various forums. There was one dyno camporo between decat downpipe vs race cat and the results were same. Blackworks has done an excellent job and I have no words to describe the change it has done. V Box runs would be done for sure

Car Tuning Tips took a Mitsubishi Evo IV onto a rolling road and the baseline power with the original catalyst was 295bhp. With the decat pipe this increased to 305 bhp and then when the sports catalyst was introduced power reached 304 bhp. So we have to conclude that there is very little performance difference between a sports cat and a decat.-- Read more at:
http://www.cartuningtips.com/94-spor...vs-de-cat-pipe - (c) CarTuningTips

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Lovely, Naren. Enjoy!
Also, I don't know about the nature, but I would surely get a bolt on racecat somewhere in the equation. A high flow cat would make even more of a gain to the perceived, as well as actual performance.
A vBox run before and after, would be appreciated.
All in all, well done. You are driving one of the most under-rated and undersold cars in India with a gem of an engine!

A high flow cat wouldn't give any more of a gain than a catless setup. A high flow cat is only for the more environmentally conscious or for countries which have strict emission norms and checking.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Dr, I am amazed at the level of modification you are willing to do to a brand new car. Fiddling around with the internals of a vehicle that you truly love requires a lot of courage. Its like saying "I am ready to kill you because I love you"!

Haha not really. I am not doing major experiments or anything new. Remap / downpipe is a well known mod. You just make sure that your car is in safe hands. Say TOT for remap and Blackworks for downpipe like in my case

Moreover, there is the insignificant matter of passing the PUC test. How would you manage that?

The car will pass Indian emissions tests for sure. Also decat downpipe is done even in Europe and those cars have also passed emission tests. But, recently in few countries they physically check for the stock cat con.

[vishy76]

An excellent mod naren sir. You have truly become an ace at mods.

Kudos to you and specifically that one person in the Maruti management who decided to get the 1.6 s-cross to India instead of those vanilla marutis we see otherwise.

Had it not been for them, we wouldn't have realised that marutis too have great potential when it comes to driving dynamics.

I am eagerly waiting for a new map to exploit the exhaust setup and a vbox run too

Regards,
Vishy76

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by vishy76

An excellent mod naren sir. You have truly become an ace at mods.

Kudos to you and specifically that one person in the Maruti management who decided to get the 1.6 s-cross to India instead of those vanilla marutis we see otherwise.

Had it not been for them, we wouldn't have realised that marutis too have great potential when it comes to driving dynamics.

I am eagerly waiting for a new map to exploit the exhaust setup and a vbox run too

Regards,
Vishy76

Yes, we should thank Suzuki for getting 1.6 Fiat engine in India even before Fiat India . Best part is Suzuki has not compromised anywhere and entire power train in imported. Catalytic converter is also made by Fiat power train. Only the muffler is made by Suzuki .

S-Cross 1.6 has very good dynamics and let down only by the stock Elanzo tyres. Before doing any more performance mods, I will change those tyres. I would try to do a V Box run sometime next week.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

S-Cross 1.6 has very good dynamics and let down only by the stock Elanzo tyres. Before doing any more performance mods, I will change those tyres. I would try to do a V Box run sometime next week.

I was just going to mention that.... You need proper tyres to keep up with this kind of power and torque.

Anyway, a good car made better! All the best!

Dont bother too much with numbers and all Naren... just enjoy the car for the sheer pleasure of driving it. It doesnt matter if your car can be 0.5 seconds faster or someone else's is 0.4 seconds faster.... As long as you enjoy your car, that's all that matters.