Looking to get a catted downpipe for my 06 WRX and found a really decent price on the Invidia downpipe on Amazon. Ive already got the Borla Hush cat-back and would prefer to stay on the quieter side of things. Any comments on quality/fitment/loudness or alternate products? Thanks!
My set up; Perrin divorced wastegate catted down pipe, turbo xs 3" mid pipe (no resonator), and Apexi N1 axle back. the catted downpipe lowers the noise level a bit, but the main difference is with the catless set up i had prior you hear the turbo spool through the exhaust more. Performance wise it may be dyno noticeable but on the street you wouldn't know the difference between a high flow cat and catless.
Very nice. Would having the resonator affect sound level? I would still prefer a little more subdued if i can.
Yeah if you want it quieter then keep a resonator. The more restriction there is generally means the quieter the exhaust.
Just making sure you know you will need a tune for the dp. There isn't a whole lot of difference between the Bellmouth dp's just make sure it will mate with your mid pipe. Some dp's are made to go with a 3" mid pipe and some for the stock size. Your exhaust noise level is pretty much just determined with your catback so don't put too much thought into the dp. Invidia is a good brand.
Yes I have a straight pipe, without my resonator and with my resonator there is a huge difference! If your going quiet definitely have a resonator.
I looked for a turboxs midpipe WITH a resonator and did not see one. Any chance im just not looking in the right place?
I haven't seen any either perrin makes one I believe but they're spendy, you could just buy the resonator itself and cut and weld it on to one that doesn't have one.
How soon do you need one? I have an Apexi midpipe with resonator (I used Turbo XS because they don't have the resonator). I don't know what these things go for but $80 sound fair? I'm located in Winona but make travels up to the cities pretty frequently.
I have a invidia hi flow catted dp. makes a bit of a difference when you compare my n1 vs a catless dp with a n1. one of the other members has a catless with an n1 and ive noticed it is significantly louder. high flow cat does it for me.
Thankfully mine doesn't drone enough for me to get annoyed. I have contemplated just doing straight pipes.
my honda shadow 1100 has straight pipes on it already. technically ive been a member for a couple years now
Haven't decided yet. I have more important things that take priority over it at the moment. See the above image for response
Thanks for all the replies and thanks for not bbq'ing me for wanting to keep the noise levels down. Its my old age showing One of the main reasons im considering the exhaust is because I f'd up installing my borla catback. I ditched the spring bolts and now Ive got a rattle or vibration somewhere everytime I shift. There is a purpose for those bolts and I knew better... I figured if im going to take everything off and do gaskets, I may as well put something a little cooler back on
I forgot to mention, I have grimmspeed gaskets; turbo to downpipe and downpipe to 3"mid pipe I can throw in for a little more if you need them. Both are brand new in the bag and just extras I had in case one were to ever go out on me....hasn't happened yet nor do I think it will (Grimmspeed metal gaskets are awesome!)
I'm happy I went the quiet route - Turboxs catted DP w/ Turboxs midpipe (can't remember if it's resonated) with a Stromung traditional style axleback.
Yes, a chatted dp will be much quieter. I had catted and catless on my 05 and it was a very noticeable difference. Which borla do you have? If it's the hush, it should stay pretty quiet. And I hate those damn spring bolts, esp when they rust. Use some quality grade 8 steel bolts and a **** ton of anti seeze. Don't forget the tune, and you'll be good to go.
Would the bolts between dp and cat back cause rattling? My exhaust has been rattling lately and I actually thought I had a clunky strut until lately.. Been meaning to ask about how to get rid of the clunkyness/ rattling from under the car?
If they're loose, that might be the culprit. Get your car in the air, and just go from front to rear checking suspenion, exhaust, etc. Make sure everything is nice and tight. Replace rusty bolts, use anti-sieze, that should keep things nice and tight.
I'll have to so that while I'm getting my next set of parts installed! I've been meaning to get a real gasket in there anyways.
Less likely to be loose bolts, and more likely that the noise (if it is in fact coming from the exhaust) is the exhaust hitting your heat shields, drive shaft, rear diff, etc. As derp mentioned, its best to get your car in the air (safely, on jack stands or ramps) and shake the piss out of the exhaust and see if it hits anything. You'd be surprised how much the exhaust can move around. If you can't recreate the clunking with your exhaust, I would inspect your suspension as well. Its a little bit harder to recreate clunks in the suspension by hand, and is almost easier to diagnosis while driving and listening...good luck!
Check your transmission mount as well. I thought I had problem with my exhaust rattling and clunking with my old WRX but when I looked into it a little closer I found that I had torn my transmission mount rubber piece that holds it together in half. Replaced it with the STI group N 5mt mount along with some kartboy trans mount bushings and problem solved.
Since there isnt a flex section anywhere those spring bolt give a little flex to (hopefully) relieve any pressure on the manifold-to-head studs. After replacing the muffler on the gf's sentra it was quite obvious how much give they have. Its also the purpose of that joint to be able to move and still seal. I would prefer a flex pipe and flat flanges but it is what it is. Im looking at the invidia pipe again and considering welding an OBX 13.25" resonator. The logical approach is probably to install the dp and see what the volume is woth tue Borla Hush before I spend another $100 or so to get the resonator welded in. Again, lots of great infor guys and I really appreciate it. I will update as soon as I can.
My 05 had an aftermarket dp with no flex section, an aftermarket catback with no flex section, and kartboy stiff exhaust hangers. You could try to shake the exhaust and it would shake the whole car before moving the exhaust LOL. Anyway, I understand the purpose of the spring bolts, and I'm sure they serve their purpose over time. At the same time, lots of people run aftermarket exhausts with no flex sections or spring bolts, and tend not to have issues. Take that for what its worth though...I did read that on the internet lol. I vote trying the invidia dp with your borla and see how it sounds before welding in a resonator. Let us know how it turns out!
Just put some Kartboy hangers in my wagon last week. After switching to the aftermarket catback, the fitment wasn't perfect anymore (way to close to the bumper). Holy **** are those Kartboy ones stiff. Was quite the job getting them all to slide into place, but once in, they're not going anywhere. All exhaust rattles/movement solved.
If you're in the NW Metro area, you could have a listen to mine. I'm 99% sure my midpipe doesn't have a resonator on it, but everything else is the quiet route.
I think I'm going to buy the downpipe and go from there. If its too loud I can take it further with the resonator. It would probably be better for adding the resonator if the dp was already installed on the car. I just need to put a few items on CL this weekend to round up enough funds
I got a bosal divorce dp using the stock cat and a perrin twin tip tbe. Nice rumble to it and I think it's not that loud at all. It's not as loud as my cousins wrx which is catless with a n1 type tbe. That thing is loud and smelly. But it is louder than my buddy's NA rs with a magnaflow pipe and muffler.
