I'm doing some research on downpipes and noticed that zzp requires you to have a solid engine/trans mount when using their downpipe otherwise the warranty on the flex section is voided. Not to sound ignorant, but has anyone had problems with their flex section that hasn't used a solid engine mount?

 

yup, its a very common problem for ZZP the flex section is crap ... i have the ZZP and frankly unless u are getting SS (edit: Stainless Steel b4someone says something )its garbage... i got mine used at what i thought was a good price... the flange to teh DP warped in a few months.... but yeah the flex section is going on mine now to it has about ... 30k on it i would guess... if you are going to drop money on a header and DP get CIA or something other than ZZP... flame away thats just my 2 cents + ZZP customer service was absolute **** for me as well ... again others may have different experiences...

 

dang, well i guess that clears that up. i was comparing pictures of the stock dp and the zzp dp and couldn't see the difference in the flex sections.... i'll definitely check out those brands you meantioned tho. thanks

 

My zzp d/p is great. Granted I had solid trans mounts but i have never had a problem. IIrc zzp uses the "Better" flex pipes on the dps now. One thing I know is that there midlength header/dp is crap though because of the flange on it. But I think that would be overkill for a na engine.

 

Yep, very common problem. I went through 2 of them..

 

i thought that zzp was top of the line. shows how much i know. this is my first car that i've begun to get into performance with though so live and learn i guess. hahn will definitely be my choice for turbo in a couple years.

 

ZZP is more for budget minded people. I wouldn't put them in the top of the line for some of there products.

 

ZZP uses the best flex sections available. We have been using them for years.

In some aspects we are budget minded. We have to be- Cobalts are inexpensive cars. Either way, we offer dozens of the highest quailty parts available in our markets.

 

95% of the performance modifiers fit in this category here.

 

Just for curiosity sake, anyone have flex pipe issues with other manufacturer downpipes?

 

well i've got 25k+ on my 08' Cobalt Sport and never had any problems with my stock dp.

kinda sucks that to get "better" performance parts you have to sacrafice quality and longetivity of the part. i guess since my car only cost 21k the parts i wanna buy for it have to be low end. guess i'll have to wait till i graduate in a year to get my evo x to get serious about performance.... even though a 2.4l vvt I4 can get some sick gains from a turbo. along with a transmission upgrade since the 2.4l transmission only supports slightly more torque than the engine can put out.

anyway, getting off subject. if the zzp dp's flex section can't handle an engine with 171hp and 163 ft*lb of torque there's no way I'd spend 200+ dollars on it when the stock dp does it.

 

LOL then how come I went through so many?

 

I don't know, but I would guess that there is something with your car or setup that could be addressed. If you want to discuss over email, it's stattama@aol.com. We have had 0 issues with the interlock flex on any of our cars making the most power and racing on a regular basis.

 

interesting

 

but are those using upgraded engine/trans mounts?

 

My car has all stock mounts, although I think the LNF mounts are a little better than LSJ.

Yes.

 

This is true. You guys have much better parts for your other supported cars. When I had my Grand Prix I bought one of their turbo kit's for it. I could'nt have been happier with it until I blew 3'rd out of my trans ................but it was a 10 year old trans with 145,000 so its all good.


Btw.......I have a TTR solid upper engine mount for the 2.2L/2.4L Auto for sale. If your interested, click on the link in my sig.

 

CTI. Stay away from their downpipe. It's complete garbage, and uses a shitty flex coupler.

ZZP uses interlocking flex couplers on their downpipes now. Much stronger, and much better quality.

They feel a good deal better than the stock LSJ mounts. I noticed a nice improvement with them

 

Im confused by that "now" statement, zzp says they have used them for years.

Yeah the lnf's are a decent upgrade (they are in the gmpp wheel hop kit for the lsj).

 

I put 25 k on my down pipe on stock mounts goin to the track almost every weekend just took it off 2 months ago cus I went turbo and it was perfect still it's acually on my buddys ion redline now and he loves it

 

Well, I think they switched over to them a year or so ago. I should have made that more clear They used to use the same crappy flex coupler as CTI. That's how ZZP ended up getting the reputation for crappy flex joints.

 

ahhh makes sense then because I remember hearing about those issues, which is a reason why I didnt look into that part for my lnf from them.

 

We have used interlock flexes for 5 years but 2.5 years ago we did some cobalt DP's and one of our welders only welded to the outside of the flex where there is a trim ring. This allowed the flex to separate. We corrected the issue, extended all warrantees from 1 to 2 years and paid for return shipping on customers affected.

there are no more flex related issues, you don't need to change mounts and no one uses a better flex. interlock is the best.

 

When mine snapped, I just bought one of their interlocking flex sections from their website and had a local fabricator swap them out.

It's been cash ever since, and that was like 5000 miles and 1 winter ago. ha

 

Truth !