SK8BOARD

Long Story less long, I ordered a XLR8 J Pipe on February 26th from XLR8 and they did not inform me that they were no longer in production. After 4 weeks of waiting (April 1st) I emailed XLR8 asking for a status update on my order and was told it would be another 3 or 4 weeks before it was fulfilled. And I was offered a refund or another J Pipe option if I did not want to wait for the XLR8 j pipe. I told them I could wait for their J Pipe. At this time I was unaware that this product was not being produced at the time. On April 26th I emailed the manufacturer Billy Boat to see what the production status was on this part.

The president of Billy Boat emailed me a response saying the j pipe was no longer in production through and they did not know if or when it would be back in production. I emailed Joey from XLR8 and asked again what was the deal with the J Pipe, I received no response even though I sent 2 emails that day. So frustrated, I called XLR8 and told them to cancel my order and refund me. I still am waiting for the refund to clear currently.

In the meantime I was on the lookout for another J Pipe and came across the PLM J Pipe which looks like a direct copy of the XLR8 J pipe at a few bucks cheaper $494 for XLR8 vs. $400 for PLM . I have had a PLM header on my S2000 for 6 years with no issues so I wasn't really concerned about the quality of it being up to standard compared to the other big names. On my previous TL build I had an ATLP V2-R J Pipe and I feel like the 3" section caused me to lose some valuable mid-range hp and tq which was in the range where my car lived 2k-4k rpms for a daily driver. So I decided before going with a J Pipe that I wanted to stay away from anything with a 3" section after the collector.

I haven't seen many reviews or threads on the PLM J Pipe but I will say it is a quality part. Here's some pics of it. I wasn't surprised at all at the quality of the piece, welds look okay, flanges mounted up great with no issue, the stainless piping was clean and felt solid, no dings or scratches on it from production. First drive after install I felt like the car accelerated a bit more willingly under partial throttle while merging onto the interstate. Driving around town it felt peppier than my last TL did after installing the J Pipe on it. Doesn't feel like I lost any motivation between 2k-4k while cruising, at highway speeds it feels like I don't have to try as hard to pass someone.

Other than this J Pipe my car is stock as far as power mods go, as time goes on I may go through with doing the RV6 PCD's again. Really wish I would have pulled them off my old TL when it got totaled out from flood damage, but it probably wouldn't have been worth the hassle. Not really sure if I want to do exhaust on this car yet as it's my daily and my weekend car is pretty damn loud already.

But overall I'm pretty happy with the piece, I will update on quality as time progresses to document how it holds up. I'll probably end up getting it on the lift for oil changes so I can get pictures of how the welds and flex pipe hold up to heat cycles and daily driving wear and tear.

twokexlv6coupe

I've had the PLM J-pipe and XLR8 cat-back for about 2 years/30K miles now, absolutely no issues with either of them. Was extremely pleased with the sound of both, aggressive and sporty. As of last week now I finished off the entire exhaust system with RV6 HFPC's and I think it's the perfect loudness for a daily driver. I've heard too many horror stories about the drone PCD's give with certain exhaust combo's, and never any complaints about HFPC's which is why I opted for them.
And considering my STi is completely cat-less putting out 133dB, by comparison the Acura is as quiet as a Bentley