Sportex manifold.... what a heap of shit

[AlexB]

Heads up on this one to not buy these if your low
You wont fit a lamda in it due to the boss being hugely wonky in the bottom section

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx238/penis4000/20130424_195115_zps1221296d.jpg

As you can see the lamda aims down hanging below the sump and basically becoming the lowest point on the car by 10mm ish which is enough to rip it off on a speed bump quite happily

But never fear sportex in their wisdom fitted a front lamda boss like supersprint ect do

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx238/penis4000/20130424_195105_zps3686d792.jpg

Oh wait its the wrong side of the manifold so the wiring doesnt reach and its also aimed directly at the oil filter so if the oe water heat exchanger is fitted youll have no chance of using it....

Awesome design there lol

Ive contacted sportex themselves about this as i got it off there ebay store but im not overly impressed by simple fuck ups like this
Even something as simple as turning the Y peice the front lamda is i would solve the issue sobwe shall see their reply

Also
You cant use a slim line fan with it
I have a 12" one and its literally 2 or 3mm from touching so thatll just melt within 10 minutes


All in
Basically i would say not to buy them guys
Its not safe how the lamda hangs down like that and is just asking for trouble then pile on a simple design error with the front one and the fact it sits close to the rad warming that up aswell its never going to be a decent bit of kit for the money..

[Gandi699]

to be fair that is bizarre considering the lambda wires come over the gearbox end for the upper most lambda

[AlexB]

Vts doesnt have an upper lamda gandi

Some aftermarket manis have a hole for it but at least in a useable place...

[Gandi699]

I didnt know that mate, are they both further down? assumed it would be the same a mk1 vtr setup
even so daft positioning, why even bother welding the boss in there

[AlexB]

Single plug cars have 1 pre cat below the gear linkages
3 plug one pre cat below linkages one post cat halfway down the car in the centre pipe

As said some have it higher up to stop it getting damaged in rallying ect thats why the options there
But on this its totally useless....

[Gandi699]

Do you think this is just a poorly made item?

[AlexB]

Yes...

[Gandi699]

Reckon they'll refund you for it (if it was a new item). Technically theres nothing wrong with it but I guess you could say its not fit for purpose

[m4tt274]

Interesting as the toyosports for the VTRs are built using the sportex design and though some argue they arent made from the best stainless they always fit bang on!

No real way out of that though, that is a shit lambda plug. The front lambda boss could be made to work i suppose if you were to extend, but sod that.

[monka]

poorly made? its a sportex, of course it is.

[AlexB]

Reckon they'll refund you for it (if it was a new item). Technically theres nothing wrong with it but I guess you could say its not fit for purpose

Well ive emailed them so will see

Interesting as the toyosports for the VTRs are built using the sportex design and though some argue they arent made from the best stainless they always fit bang on!

No real way out of that though, that is a shit lambda plug. The front lambda boss could be made to work i suppose if you were to extend, but sod that.

Front would only work if you have the filter direct onto the block no cooler which is oe l
If you have any sort of sandwich plate ect it wont fit cause of the oil filter

[jeffchiz]

would fitting a 90degree adapter work?

[yr51ocw]

lambda sensors should never hang down, condensation will collect in the tip of the sensor and destroy them prematurly

[axsaxoman]

having the lambda pointing down is as big a fuck -up as you can make
when car is cold all the water droplets will run inot the lambda probe and damage it very quickly ,even if it was high enough to give clearance it is still totally wrong
i think the old saying --"if you pay peanuts you monkeys" says it all

[AlexB]

Had a phonecall off sportex today

They are sending a courier on friday (at my convenience) to collect this manifold and asses

They seem to think its been incorrectly assembled and welded

[jpsaxo]

lol nice

[martin1985]

my sportex went on my car fine :S

[AlexB]

Hence them sending a courier
The think a batch of them got fucked up so we shall see whats said when they get it

[Paul]

Atleast they haven't fobbed you off completely, there is some customer service there.

Keep us all updated mate.

[AlexB]

Yea they seem pretty concerned about it and getting it right

[jones91]

Nice to see that the customer service is there tbh, when I had my sportex mani I had the same issue of the one lambda hole being in the way of the oil filter, but the one at the bottom was fine and didn't make the lambda sit low

[AlexB]

They think theres a whole batch with the y piece backwards from what they said

I think its a rather silly error to of got past them completely tbh which is pretty shocking
Im thinking the jig they have (im assuming on a production item they will use a jig to weld it) for making them on is in need of some fool proofing if thats possible
Same with the lower being wonky 2 simple pegs to locate the lamda bosses and no more issue

[blackie_2k5]

Never seen you as a sportex type of person tbh alex

[AlexB]

Tbh i just got a cheapish mani thought "ill get a named one to avoid issues" and yea.....

I dont need an amazing one for the yellow gti
Just got what i could find

[craigbarley]

Tbh i just got a cheapish mani thought "ill get a named one to avoid issues" and yea.....

I dont need an amazing one for the yellow gti
Just got what i could find

they sorted this issue for u yet alex? or have u heard off them?

[Reecesaxo]

I would lay it on thick saying you have paid a garage for there time to fit etc and woud like compensation!

[KamRacing]

having the lambda pointing down is as big a fuck -up as you can make
when car is cold all the water droplets will run inot the lambda probe and damage it very quickly ,even if it was high enough to give clearance it is still totally wrong
i think the old saying --"if you pay peanuts you monkeys" says it all

Thats the first thing I noticed when looking at the pictures! Its pretty sloppy design..

[AlexB]

they sorted this issue for u yet alex? or have u heard off them?

Its getting collected tomorrow

I would lay it on thick saying you have paid a garage for there time to fit etc and woud like compensation!

Im not going to take the piss unless they get funny over it

Thats the first thing I noticed when looking at the pictures! Its pretty sloppy design..

That was my thoughts
If what they are saying is true and the fabricators put it together wrong then it wouldnt be bad normally

Just wondering how many are like this
Seems a tad unorganised
Especially if a fuck up like that makes it all the way to the customer

[KamRacing]

I would lay it on thick saying you have paid a garage for there time to fit etc and woud like compensation!

it would be rather nice but rare gesture of goodwill if they did give compensation. No warranty covers that.

[blackie_2k5]

Tbh Alex.. It's probably been a major fuck up that they've tried to brush under the mat, the cost of repairing or scrapping them would be huge loss

Better for them try and push them out the door and see how many come back.. Bad practice no doubts, but lots of companies are like this

[craigbarley]

But at least there willing to come pick it up and sort it, gotta give them some credit to do this with out giving a fight or hassle about it

[AlexB]

Yea no doubt theyre beeing good about sorting it so far
Shall see how far that goes lol

[craigbarley]

Yeah cz it's a shame, I nearly brought a full system off them for a tempory track day exghust for this year or so

[utothek]

So dont avoid these or avoid?

[Prickle]

They arnt that bad of a make. You get what you pay for but Sportex has obv made a mistake with a batch on manifolds. At least they're sorting it and not dishing Alex a load of bullshit

[AlexB]

Id still avoid as there will be more like this of they say they fucked up a batch

You have no idea if youll get a useable one

Pissed me off as bought in a rush to get the car going and 3 weeks later its still sat manifoldless

[craigbarley]

Who needs manifolds when ur in a rush ;) lol

[AlexB]

well im not in a rush anymore cause of it

the cars sat for 2 years whats a few more weeks...

[AlexB]

courier never came
email sent again

[craigbarley]

That's a shame! Really thought they would of jump on this one to hold on to there support side :/ keep us posted

[LSOfreak]

courier never came
email sent again

lol so useless when that happens...

just waiting around at home for the whole day like a lemon for a courier that never arrives :homme:

[AlexB]

Ive emailed obviously its bank holiday so i wont hear till tuesday soonest

[AlexB]

Still no reply off them about the courier not turning up

Going to phone next week as im on earlies

[craigbarley]

This is starting to become a joke, sounded like they were good at first, now it's taking the piss

[Simon]

If you don't get any joy soon, start an eBay/PayPal claim.
IIRC you have to start it within 45 days of purchase

[AlexB]

Ill be starting one soon simon

[craigbarley]

When u emailed them Alex did they email u bk ?

[AlexB]

The first time they phoned me back
This time no reply
I will phone them up later and see the score

[SNewham]

It's made by Sportex what do you expect..

[AlexB]

It to at least fit and not be at an angle that things will get damaged

[SNewham]

Of course it should fit and you definitely have a dispute with them if it doesn't but at £150 for a manifold you shouldn't really be expecting quality.

[craigbarley]

The price shouldn't matter too much, it should be angled correctly, if u saw the start thread, he said he wanted a cheap one for a tempory fix to get it on the road

[AlexB]

I wasnt expecting quality
I have a supersprint on my other gti for that
I just needed a mani to get the car finished and its now sat without cause sportex seem to have a fabricator issue

If its aparently fine thats when ill really kick off

[AlexB]

After much fucking about i went direct to sportex and they are only half an hour away so ive drove over here with the manifold

Lets see what they say haha

[AlexB]

Ok so the guys who actually make the mani were sound unlike the tards who sell them haha

Hes took it off me and is going to see about salvaging this one and redoing whats wrong
Otherwise they will just do me a full replacement

[AlexB]

Heading over shortly so will see whats been done to this one

[AlexB]

New manifold made yo how i said it needed to be both lamdas look better now
Still cheap build quality i knew that wouldnt change but it should at least work now lol

Not sure how seriously theyve taken all this wether its going to be kept as a change but we will see

[martin1985]

at least it has been sorted now

[AlexB]

New one for some reason now hits the alternator.....

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx238/penis4000/20130525_132939_zps50d588d0.jpg

Luckily i have an 8v setup i can put on but still rather annoying

[Jimmy-Boy]

Not good! Next time for less aggro get a better name I guess :p

[AlexB]

Next time id just get a raceland

[Prickle]

New one for some reason now hits the alternator.....

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx238/penis4000/20130525_132939_zps50d588d0.jpg

Luckily i have an 8v setup i can put on but still rather annoying

Mine was close to the wire so i broke the plastic abit and moved the wire around. Been fine since october

[AlexB]

Apart from this ones holding it up so i cant get the bolts in john....

[Bordtea]

Hmm these sorts of threads do make me wonder about sportex, might be worth forking out a little bit extra for a better quality brand...

[AlexB]

Id say so yes
Ive now swapped to the 8v alternator setup so ive got space lol
Its still annoying though lol

[martin1985]

Id say so yes
Ive now swapped to the 8v alternator setup so ive got space lol
Its still annoying though lol

since my car was a vtr to vts conversion this didn't affect me! but bad crack though mate!

[JacobLongman993]

Thanks for the heads up!