Right boys and girls, after much debate about all the tips available. Heres the score.
I have used all three large bore TIPS currently on the market (4/7/2012)
Before i start i must point out that im not loyal to any of the providers of any of the tips.
I have no moral issues with buying the cms tip over b5 v2, because quite simply, i would much rather the £80 in my pocket than Bills. I am not one of Bills loyal followers that people seem to hate on when it comes to review on his tip. However i do appreciate his knowledge and commitment to the scene (if thats what you want to call it) I am not a silicone engineer or what ever, so things will be refereed to as squidgy and hard lol
All have been fitted to my car whilst it has been the same spec with out any other mods ATALL.
Cant comment on the increase over standard tip only VS each other. Dont have logs saved on computer so cant post them but this is my opinion.
SFS 3" tip
The first tip i changed to was the sfs tip, which i bought as part of the amd group buy, so had it pretty much as soon as it came out.
this felt good. it made a VERY healthy stage 1 figure of 272 ftlbs/bhp and pulled very hard. Held power well threw the rev range, and never felt starved of air atall.
SFS tip fitted like a glove I had 3 in total (LOL!!) just threw changing colours as couldnt make my mind up. and each one fitted spot on and req no cutting atall with my heatshield and filter set up. as you can see in the above photo and when compared to the rest, the angles are different to the other two.
The quality of the tip felt good. it was very rigid and well supported. one of my mate commented that parts of it looked "messy" but who cares once its fitted and none of it is noticed. Worth noting the sfs tip doesnt/didnt come with jubliess to fit. So once youve added some good high grip ones it bumps the price up a tad. this wasnt a worry as i already had some. worth noting that the sfs tip comes in well, pretty much any colour as opposed to competitors blue red or black.
the scoring is in comparison to each other
the prices i will list are RRP.
Verdict
Instantly you could feel the quality of this tip was not up to that of the SFS tip. it felt "squidgy" and very soft. was IMHO not even close to the quality of the sfs tip.
this didnt put me off so i decided to fit it. Sh!t the bed. No chance of it fitting.
The angles were wrong, lengths wrong, and ports for n75 etc in the wrong places.
The billet adapter was simply to tight to fit on the turbo with out persuasion which i wasnt a fan of, so it went on as far as i could push it by hand.
the issues i had were that the tip wanted to come up at the wrong angle, and as the adapter wouldnt fit, and the wrong angles both led to the tip simply not fitting. the port for the dv etc was too far away, and had to bend the pipe back on itself to make it connect. which in turn put a big kink in it. I didnt want to cut it encase i wanted to send it back. (which i am/have) at this pointi was pi$$ed off and just wanted it on so i could drive my car.
Performance wise it felt, in fairness, the same as the sfs tip, given its increase in size and billet adapter i was expecting at least a noticeable increase in performance. there was none. dont get me wrong, didnt make the car slow, just wasnt right, to end of rpm did feel starved compared to the sfs tip
the tip does come with jubilees to fit with (sh!t ones but its the thought that counts)
although the product was abit of a fail in fairness CM customer services on the other hand are not. They are top notch guys/gals who answer any questions you have, email you back fast, and offered to fit it for me, but i know how to fit a tip, and this didnt fit. again the CM team are top notch customer service wise, and i will try more of their hoses. they also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so its worth a shot .
Verdict
Badger 5 V2 tip
right. first things first. the cm tip is a blatant copy of bills tip. ports are the same, shame is ALMOST identical. but the thing that differs the most and makes it fit right is the adapter to the turbo.
instantly this product is superior quality to the cm tip. the billet piece is a smoother transition and feels better quality. the tip itself is sturdy as a house, extremely rigid and supported.
ill start with comparison pictures of the two tips
b5 on the left
b5 right
b5 at bottom
b5 left
as you can see the b5 adapter fits like a glooooooove. there is a seamless transition from the adapter to turbo, where the cm one was meh at best.
badger 5 right
b5 top
b5 right
ok b5 v2. The adapter fits flawlessly, it is simply awesome. The tip is a sod to fit at best, any one who says it fits straight is a liar. thing is though, unlike the cm, it does fit.
I had to trim the turbo end, the maf end, and all ports, not an issues, just fiddly, and time consuming. once fitted there is no kinks, and the pipe is SOLID
the b5 tip also comes with high grip clips, which is what i use, so im glad i have some
spares. once finally fitted, and on road test, its clear this is the best performing tip out there. pulls like a train, sounds amazing, is so smooth and feels great even at the top of rpm range. the increase volume and billet adapter are a noticeable improvement over the sfs.
Dont get me wrong, this is the dearest tip, so you would expect it to be the best, and in fairness to Bill it is. in terms of quality and performance this tip is second to none.
Verdict
hope this helps you guys who want to buy a tip soon.
To summarise.
As it stands leave the CM tip alone. IMHO you cant go wrong with either the sfs or bills tip. Unless your after every ounce of power id get the sfs. if you want THE BEST its bills. I was more than happy with the sfs tip, but after the CM failure i had to upgrade, as im not loosing money to have the same as what i had before.
People complain about the cost of bills tip, but once you have that adapter and the hose in your hand you see where to costs are. It genuinley is worth the money, in fairness its rrp is only 20/30 more than the sfs. bills tip is the god of tips currently, and deserves its price tag
If the CM tip fitted it would be the best value for money, cheapest and would be as close to bills as a nats ****. but the quality simply isnt there. you can tell its just bills tip copied, and cheapend. (is that a word) ?
the sfs tip is a really good bit of kit. the quality of the hose is excellent and fitting it is a piece of cake, especially compared to that of bills. well worth the money, but let down by smaller volume and turbo / hose transition
Any one thinking of buying a tip ? DONT
i have it on good authority that bill is releasing 2 more tips. A v2.2 which is a remake of the v2 to ease fitment, and a v3, an all in one tip to reduce costs, like that of sfs offerings.
Also, CM are to release a new range of tips soon, specific to the s3, tt and lcr, and two different (large bore) versions of each.
If you can wait, wait and see what bill and cm offer in the future.
Much lovee
I have used all three large bore TIPS currently on the market (4/7/2012)
Before i start i must point out that im not loyal to any of the providers of any of the tips.
I have no moral issues with buying the cms tip over b5 v2, because quite simply, i would much rather the £80 in my pocket than Bills. I am not one of Bills loyal followers that people seem to hate on when it comes to review on his tip. However i do appreciate his knowledge and commitment to the scene (if thats what you want to call it) I am not a silicone engineer or what ever, so things will be refereed to as squidgy and hard lol
All have been fitted to my car whilst it has been the same spec with out any other mods ATALL.
Cant comment on the increase over standard tip only VS each other. Dont have logs saved on computer so cant post them but this is my opinion.
- Stage 1 custom remap by (are)tech.
- "welly" cooler FMIC
- bastadised miltek/custom cat back exhaust sytem
- pipercross cone filter with heat shield
- 007p and n249 bypass
SFS 3" tip
The first tip i changed to was the sfs tip, which i bought as part of the amd group buy, so had it pretty much as soon as it came out.
this felt good. it made a VERY healthy stage 1 figure of 272 ftlbs/bhp and pulled very hard. Held power well threw the rev range, and never felt starved of air atall.
SFS tip fitted like a glove I had 3 in total (LOL!!) just threw changing colours as couldnt make my mind up. and each one fitted spot on and req no cutting atall with my heatshield and filter set up. as you can see in the above photo and when compared to the rest, the angles are different to the other two.
The quality of the tip felt good. it was very rigid and well supported. one of my mate commented that parts of it looked "messy" but who cares once its fitted and none of it is noticed. Worth noting the sfs tip doesnt/didnt come with jubliess to fit. So once youve added some good high grip ones it bumps the price up a tad. this wasnt a worry as i already had some. worth noting that the sfs tip comes in well, pretty much any colour as opposed to competitors blue red or black.
the scoring is in comparison to each other
the prices i will list are RRP.
Verdict
- ease of fit 10/10
- quality/structure 7/10 (hose is spot on but cant compare to alloy adapters)
- value for money 7/10 (no clips etc no adapter [which would vastly increase costs]
- performance 8/10
Instantly you could feel the quality of this tip was not up to that of the SFS tip. it felt "squidgy" and very soft. was IMHO not even close to the quality of the sfs tip.
this didnt put me off so i decided to fit it. Sh!t the bed. No chance of it fitting.
The angles were wrong, lengths wrong, and ports for n75 etc in the wrong places.
The billet adapter was simply to tight to fit on the turbo with out persuasion which i wasnt a fan of, so it went on as far as i could push it by hand.
the issues i had were that the tip wanted to come up at the wrong angle, and as the adapter wouldnt fit, and the wrong angles both led to the tip simply not fitting. the port for the dv etc was too far away, and had to bend the pipe back on itself to make it connect. which in turn put a big kink in it. I didnt want to cut it encase i wanted to send it back. (which i am/have) at this pointi was pi$$ed off and just wanted it on so i could drive my car.
Performance wise it felt, in fairness, the same as the sfs tip, given its increase in size and billet adapter i was expecting at least a noticeable increase in performance. there was none. dont get me wrong, didnt make the car slow, just wasnt right, to end of rpm did feel starved compared to the sfs tip
the tip does come with jubilees to fit with (sh!t ones but its the thought that counts)
although the product was abit of a fail in fairness CM customer services on the other hand are not. They are top notch guys/gals who answer any questions you have, email you back fast, and offered to fit it for me, but i know how to fit a tip, and this didnt fit. again the CM team are top notch customer service wise, and i will try more of their hoses. they also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so its worth a shot .
Verdict
- ease of fit 0/10
- quality/structure 4/10 (hose is weak/shat and adapter is [compared to bills] shat)
- value for money 4/10 (if it fitted would have been an 10)
- performance 5/10
Badger 5 V2 tip
right. first things first. the cm tip is a blatant copy of bills tip. ports are the same, shame is ALMOST identical. but the thing that differs the most and makes it fit right is the adapter to the turbo.
instantly this product is superior quality to the cm tip. the billet piece is a smoother transition and feels better quality. the tip itself is sturdy as a house, extremely rigid and supported.
ill start with comparison pictures of the two tips
b5 on the left
b5 right
b5 at bottom
b5 left
as you can see the b5 adapter fits like a glooooooove. there is a seamless transition from the adapter to turbo, where the cm one was meh at best.
badger 5 right
b5 top
b5 right
ok b5 v2. The adapter fits flawlessly, it is simply awesome. The tip is a sod to fit at best, any one who says it fits straight is a liar. thing is though, unlike the cm, it does fit.
I had to trim the turbo end, the maf end, and all ports, not an issues, just fiddly, and time consuming. once fitted there is no kinks, and the pipe is SOLID
the b5 tip also comes with high grip clips, which is what i use, so im glad i have some
spares. once finally fitted, and on road test, its clear this is the best performing tip out there. pulls like a train, sounds amazing, is so smooth and feels great even at the top of rpm range. the increase volume and billet adapter are a noticeable improvement over the sfs.
Dont get me wrong, this is the dearest tip, so you would expect it to be the best, and in fairness to Bill it is. in terms of quality and performance this tip is second to none.
Verdict
- ease of fit 5/10
- quality/structure 10/10
- value for money 9/10 (it is dearer but the quality is there) clips provided are of high quality etc
- performance 10/10
hope this helps you guys who want to buy a tip soon.
To summarise.
As it stands leave the CM tip alone. IMHO you cant go wrong with either the sfs or bills tip. Unless your after every ounce of power id get the sfs. if you want THE BEST its bills. I was more than happy with the sfs tip, but after the CM failure i had to upgrade, as im not loosing money to have the same as what i had before.
People complain about the cost of bills tip, but once you have that adapter and the hose in your hand you see where to costs are. It genuinley is worth the money, in fairness its rrp is only 20/30 more than the sfs. bills tip is the god of tips currently, and deserves its price tag
If the CM tip fitted it would be the best value for money, cheapest and would be as close to bills as a nats ****. but the quality simply isnt there. you can tell its just bills tip copied, and cheapend. (is that a word) ?
the sfs tip is a really good bit of kit. the quality of the hose is excellent and fitting it is a piece of cake, especially compared to that of bills. well worth the money, but let down by smaller volume and turbo / hose transition
Any one thinking of buying a tip ? DONT
i have it on good authority that bill is releasing 2 more tips. A v2.2 which is a remake of the v2 to ease fitment, and a v3, an all in one tip to reduce costs, like that of sfs offerings.
Also, CM are to release a new range of tips soon, specific to the s3, tt and lcr, and two different (large bore) versions of each.
If you can wait, wait and see what bill and cm offer in the future.
Much lovee
Last edited:
