ok well i first ordered the header/up-pipe combo package. I had ordered it on a friday it got to me by tuesday the service was excellent and they were very responsive to all of my e-mails.


installation took sometime because had to remove TMIC DP and old headers/up-pipe and all the heat shields plus the passenger side plastic fender cover to get to the O2 sensor. (about 3 hours i would say if you have the EGT sensor or the bolt. it took me 5 because didn't have a EGT sensor and had to search for a bolt to fit the up-pipe(later found out the bolt size is 12x1.25)once i found the bolt it was too long and had to be shortend once installed i started my car up and check to see if there were any leaks i didn't find any which was a good thing) this was a medium installation difficulty it just took time to make sure everything was done and hooked back up right.

i changed my headers/up-pipe and Down pipe with a high flow cat

turbo spools a hell of alot quicker noticed no spikes IE:boost creep. also the thing i liked was afte running it awhile i noticed that no CELS were thrown in the installation process. there was a definate change to the boxer rumble sound it sounds hella mean now and can hear turbo spool up a lot louder. i noticed no low end lag from these headers it actually feels like my cars lag is all gone just with these three pieces


ALL in all since this was my first mod a great improvement with performance and sound i give this a 10 out of 10 installation would have been 3 hours for me had i known what size bolt the up-pipe need for the EGT bung (bolt size 12x1.25)

great expierence and a great company to deal with.

thanks
Kyle

Thanks for sharing :D

~v6

no prob hope this is helpful to anyone wanting to purchase these

Thanks for the review.

Interesting I order mine on Friday as well. I sent a couple emails requesting status no response. The deal was too good to pass. Hopefuly I will get mine soon. Did you have to trim the front part of the car right?

By the way now you have a stealth back or a TBE?

Regards

Nick

it was just a few millameters from the frame but bolts were tightend a lot and i so far haven't heard any hitting or rubbing so i left it untrimmed

well i just replaced the stock Down pipe/ up-pipe and headers

but the DP i got has a high flow cat in it

this is a big improvement over stock i noticed around 5500 RPM that the car pulled like hell from about 60 to 80 and the headers amplify the boxer rumble as they get hot cold they are not real noticable but once the car is hot you can hear the headers rumble from inside the cabin.

for the 800 dollars i spent on all of this stuff id have to say it was well worth it they are a very well made piece and especially for 450 shipped don't pass it up

Does the plastic splash guard still fit? Thanks for keeping us posted on these. It's nice to know what I have to look forward to. How is your low end? I know you said that it wasn't affected, but that it was raining or something. Now that you've had it out a few days, any changes?

low end is definatly improved and plastic splash gaurd still fits fine with no melting or anything nothing in my car has melted and i don't have the headers coated because XX tunning said it would void warranty plus they said they didn't have a noticable increase in performance and the dyno graph they use on there site is with them not being coated stock heat shields won't fit but it rained yesterday and no rain got to the headers so im happy with that definatly noticed a great deal of torque WOT from about 50 to 80 at about 5500 RPM really pulled me to my seat hard.

im really happy with the improvement i notice almost no turbo lag and once i get my cat-back on im sure all that is left will be gone.

plus i can now hear my turbo spool loud and the boxer rumble that these headers give the car make me want to Cream My Panties everytime i drive it just can't wait for the cat-back cause i know it's going to be loud

nice, bump for great review and service, nothing but positive words for these headers, im stuck between these, gp moto, and possibly groupe s

I've got 'em on my STi for almost 10k now. Initial install was a catted PDE downpipe with the XX header/uppipe combo - gave great gains, a really nice sound at WOT, and damned close to stock at anything other than WOT. Approx. 3 weeks ago I installed the STi Sport muffler and it's 100% louder, but in a very "rumbly" pleasing kinda way. With the stock axleback on I never threw a CEL, last weekend as I was cruising very spiritedly I saw the cursed flashing "cruise" and CEL lit up. Cleared the ECU and it hasn't come back.....I'm chalking it up to a bad batch of gas or a fluke in the ECU, as the car's running fine. UTEC will be going in within a month. And yes, XX are great folks.

Stu

I've got 'em on my STi for almost 10k now. Initial install was a catted PDE downpipe with the XX header/uppipe combo - gave great gains, a really nice sound at WOT, and damned close to stock at anything other than WOT. Approx. 3 weeks ago I installed the STi Sport muffler and it's 100% louder, but in a very "rumbly" pleasing kinda way. With the stock axleback on I never threw a CEL, last weekend as I was cruising very spiritedly I saw the cursed flashing "cruise" and CEL lit up. Cleared the ECU and it hasn't come back.....I'm chalking it up to a bad batch of gas or a fluke in the ECU, as the car's running fine. UTEC will be going in within a month. And yes, XX are great folks.

Stu
Or you floored it? Its boost cut weather. I bet thats what happened.

STi + full exhaust + stock ecu = :(

~v6

I run this header up-pipe set up as well, and have to agree with all thats been stated within this review. I have a txs tbe sitting in my house rigth now and i just cant wait to start throwing cells. Im trying to wait untill i get my wastegate ported to throw on the tbe. That and I need to hget my hands on some gagues.
Good review. Syntax

Or you floored it? Its boost cut weather. I bet thats what happened.

STi + full exhaust + stock ecu = :(

~v6

Didn't see this V6 - but no.....I don't believe it was. I've thrown the same CEL 5 or 6 times, always the P0139. Have since picked up an OBD II, so can now check at my leisure. I've not hit boost cut, fortunately, and my creeping seems very minimal, if at all. Not sure if it's the design of the mouth on the catted PDE I'm running, but creep hasn't been an issue yet, fortunately. But then again, I've only had it out w/this set-up at 35 or so, no lower yet. I'll be keeping a close eye on it, for sure.

Stu

I had to trim the sub frame a little infront of the headers. I noticed i had an exhaust leak and well it turned out the headers were hitting the frame when i was driving "spirited" and caused 1 bolt to come out of the up-pipe. Trimming the frame took about 10 minutes to fix so it wasn't too bad.

I still have these headers on my car and im at 20k miles and they are still performing great.

kyle

in combination with an APS 3.5" Race TBE system...and all I can say is that this thing screams! With the APS (I haven't heard the APS without the header), after 3K rpm's it just flat out starts wailing...it will surely scare the crud out of anyone next to you...this sound is very nice...like a rally car...AWESOME!

I have an 04 STI...running the Cobb AP. I've been very happy with the XXTuning Header...install was kind of long and drawn out...didn't have some of the difficulties some other did like: It is definitely a good thing to have two people to install...it made it much easier.

1. Did not have to remove the intercooler.
2. Did not have to remove the turbo (one person I know did)
3. Did not have to trim any metal.

What I did not do was intall new gaskets (remember to replace ALL)...the manifold gaskets were the main leaking culprits followed by the Up-pipe to turbo gasket...they leaked bad...this made it like I had to do two installs because I had to remove everything again...no leaks after replacing out the gaskets however...

One of the tough pieces to get to was the bolt/nut on the header to up-pipe connection. Since this header is basically the GT SpecII Header rebadged, it is the same 3 bolt flange (the 3 bolt flange took care of a leak previously associated with the two bolt flange on the original GT Spec Header v1) as that header...the inner most bolt/nut is difficult to get to. I would recommend purchasing a set of Craftman ratcheting wrenches...with this wrench, we were able to coax the nut on 1 ratchet click at a time...

Other than that, it just took patience to maneuver the up-pipe back into position...header fit was great...quality and craftsmanship was great...have over 10k miles on it with no leak or mechanical failure...highly recommend.

i like xxtuning, planning on goin to them guys for a protune pretty soon...good place