Had this email from Anthony at Riss

After 58 different designs, 4 months of testing, thousands of miles, and
countless hours, we are excited to finally present the release of the
R56 MINI Cooper S 02 Simulator! . This product has not been made by
any company in a few years, and we know why! Thanks to your friends
here at Riss Racing you will be able to drive CEL FREE!!!! This is the
code you get when removing the OEM Downpipe for a Catless Downpipe or
High Flow Catted Downpipe. When running your car with this CEL it is
not only annoying to see in your dash, it is also a contributer to power
loss, and poor gas mileage. The sensor is very easy to install, and DIY
instructions will be provided upon shipment of the product.
This email is being sent directly to you to own the unit first. Since
you are on the first batch of email list, you will get the product
before anybody else on the waiting list. We will be sending out an
invoice directly to you for the amount of $299.00 + $5 shipping (if you
do not get the invoice please check your bulk/spam mail). Your shipping
address must match your billing address or the order will not be able to
be processed. If you need the sim shipped to a different address please
email customerservice@rissracing.com with your order number and address
you want the product shipped or you may place your order by phone (714)
850-0139. You have 48 hours from the time the invoice is sent to make
payment before the invoice expires and is sent to the next person in
line. If you have not made payment we will be releasing this to the
forum public, and our vendors. We will continue to develop 50 units per
month. After that we anticipate a back order due to the volume of
orders. Depending on the amount of orders place shipment of the product
will take between 7 - 60 days. This is a group buy item.

THERE ARE NO REFUNDS on group buy orders. Please make sure you want
this product before ordering. Everybody on the Riss Racing Catless
Downpipe Group buy will receive an additional 20% discount off the total
cost of the sim. If your invoice does not reflect the 20% discount,
please pay the invoice and send your order number for the sim/downpipe
and we will make sure the deduction is there before charging your order.
DISCLAIMER:
By purchasing this item you agree and approve of everything stated in
this disclaimer. This product is intended for TRACK/OFF ROAD USE ONLY!
By purchasing this product you agree you will NOT be using this on
public streets/highways. Riss Racing Inc. is not responsible for any
damages caused by or wrongful use of this product. This product is
designed to clear P0420 with your post cat sensor.

Thank you all for your support, and let us know if there is anything
else you need!

 

299.00 is pretty expensive. I had one for my spec wish I never got rid of it and it only cost 60 and it was universal.

 

your spec o2sim would not work on the mini .

the o2sim is priced according to market demand,if your gonna play you got to pay.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Only one way to find out.

 

if it was as easy as a generic o2sim alta would still be selling downpipes to happy customers.

 

Ya they discontinued it like 4 years ago so it might not have worked for the r56 but it was also pretty rare too. I wish I could remember the company name.

 

Jarid,

So if Can get Riss to send you a O2 sim, you'll pay to fix the problem ALTA down pipe is causing on my mini?

David
"Bought ALTA crap and I can not get it fixed" DON"T BUY ALTA!

 

To add a bit more to the CEL thread and discussion of vendors, below is a snip of the marketing text alta used to sell their downpipe before admitting to the CEL problem. It was only by seeing this thread that I knew I was not the only one with the CEL caused by the alta downpipe. alta never volunteered the information to me.

"The ALTA R56 Downpipes utilize 2 catalytic converters, just like the OEM parts. This makes for a 49 state legal exhaust system. The cats are a high quality 300 cell per inch, metallic core. One item that sets us above the rest is we use a special cat. The front catalytic converter has 2 times the amount of coating on the substrate to combat any possible CEL. While adding significant cost to our system, this ensures that the check engine light will not ever come on.
[FONT=&quot]A 5 year/50,000 mile warranty, which follows the needs of aftermarket replacement converters is included."[/FONT]

After talking with Jeff to double check that the downpipe would not cause a CEL, I felt alta could be trusted to back up their product and I purchased the dp, with purchases of more than 4k in total from alta. A year after the CEL appeared, here is the culmination of trying to get alta to address the problem:
"Thank you for contacting Better Business Bureau regarding your complaint. We have attempted to contact the business and asked that they respond. We are disappointed to report that we have not received a response from the company.
We have closed this case as unanswered and it will be reflected in the company's public BBB Reliability Report."

 

@Kirkland -

I, as many others here, were duped by Alta's product marketing. I appreciate that someone went through the trouble of at least getting a BBB complaint submitted. In the long run I'm confident Alta will see the negative impact of the decisions they made in an effort to make a buck without having to support their products.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

funny how alta suddenly stopped responding j/k lol

 

Funny that this is a "premium" cat as posted by ALTA on the first page...
Dont get me wrong, Ive had great customer service from them...but then again I havent attempted to return my defective DP to them (purchased this year after they "fixed" them).

Mine intermittently decides to throw a CEL, mostly when I put it into sport mode and romp on it a little. P0420. We obviously cant excuse the fact that a minute amount of people experience this, seeing as nearly everyone on here complains about it.