AWE Touring Exhaust Install on the Q5 3.0T (B8 BR)

We only put maybe 50miles on it, so this is just a short initial sample of how it sounds. For best results listen with headphones. 

​The last time I did a cat-back exhaust install was back in my MK3 Jetta VR6 days, 10+ years ago. I remember that being a extremely  frustrating experience with almost everything going wrong. Didn't have the right tools, clamps broke, saw blade respectively broke (this was a hand saw)... and worst, I was young and inexperienced. Thankfully this AWE Touring kit was a super easy to install, and I've gotten wiser with ago... maybe. I will say using some silicone spray with  exhaust hanger removal pliers made the process of removing stock exhaust stupid easy. The stock exhaust was off in less than 20mins. I did used penetrating oil on the down pipe clamps, waited 15mins and remove them no problem while the exhaust was still warm. Figured I could use the existing heat to my advantage to break them loose and it worked great. One thing to remember when removing the stock exhaust is to keep the stock down pipes from sagging if you plan on using them. I found using a floor jack and some wood keep them in place no issue. If the down pipes do sag they can tear and leak. 

Installing the actually AWE system was pretty easy. You don't want to fully tighten any of the clamps just enough to keep the pipes all loosely connected. From that point it was just about aligning everything. I likely spent about 50% of the time getting the rear mufflers to be parallel with the ground and all the upstream pipes aligned properly. I did run into one problem where I didn't have a deep 16mm impact socket for the clamps, but Harbor Freight saved me

Lastly, I had the wife decide how far out we wanted the exhaust tips to poke and we were all good to go. I think in total it about an 2.5-3hr job and this was just putting the rear end up on ramps to raise the car. I'm sure this would be even faster on a lift. More videos to come when the exhaust has at least 400-500 miles on it.