[BroDoze]

Active Autowerke also makes a high-quality CEL-free catted DP..

Of course, the price also reflects it.

[GreyLady]

I have the AA catted, it's their cat and not the one that is EPA approved, and my shop followed the break in procedure, so I have no CEL or smell. It makes the exhaust sound much throatier, but that's with the Dinen exhaust. Anyway, I glad I got it.

[Kramers oddly shaped hair]

Originally Posted by IanH

Quality's CEL free downpipe for ea888 cost $2k also...
Its the cost of a quality metallic catalyst.

If you're buying an $800 mqb downpipe you are buying literal trash ceramic cats.

Going on 12 years with my APR hi-flo catted DP on stage 3 power pushing 460whp and not a single issue, rust out, broken weld, or cat degradation and I've had it off and inspected it a few times. They don't sell DPs anymore but original retail was $800. You can get quality for under $1k, but like I said, most of your dollar is likely going to the ability for AA and others to effectively defeat the CEL. If several companies had success with less expensive cats or materials, the prices would fall.

[Mech Spec]

Originally Posted by Kramers oddly shaped hair

Going on 12 years with my APR hi-flo catted DP on stage 3 power pushing 460whp and not a single issue, rust out, broken weld, or cat degradation and I've had it off and inspected it a few times. They don't sell DPs anymore but original retail was $800. You can get quality for under $1k, but like I said, most of your dollar is likely going to the ability for AA and others to effectively defeat the CEL. If several companies had success with less expensive cats or materials, the prices would fall.

I also had that downpipe on my golf R, I was one of the first buyers.

It was $900 in 2017, which is 1200 in today's money.

That downpipe had a GESI cat, like the cat in the active autowerke pipe. The APR pipe also threw a CEL 100% of the time without an ECU flash. I have heard multiple people tell me that the AA pipe can still throw CEL and they will replace it, but then you have to swap out the downpipes. Not worth my time!

The HJS cats in the fabspeed wont throw a CEL which is the same kind of cat AWE was using in their CEL free MQB downpipe, which is was around the same price as fabspeed when adjusted for inflation before it was also pulled from the market.

Theres no magic sauce or price gouging going on here. If you want a good downpipe that actually does what its supposed to from emissions and performance standpoint, you have to pay. But dont act like the different tiers are equivalent because they most definitely are not.