So I went from a stock WRX at Cobb Stage 1 (which I really liked) to Stage 2 with a catless uppipe, 4" downpipe, and racepipe all connected to my stock axleback. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the car sounds really crazy. It backfires and growls and the turbo whines incessantly (I think because of the thin walls of the 4" downpipe). Surprisingly, it's not too much faster and it's not nearly as smooth. I actually feel kind of stupid driving the car around with it spitting and snarling like a freakin' racecar. I'm not the fast-n-furious type. I'm almost 35 and I'm a school teacher. All I wanted was more power but kind of on the low down.

Thankfully these are all just bolt on parts that can be changed. It's not like I painted the car pink or something ridiculous. I'm gonna change the downpipe and racepipe, but I was wondering if anyone else has ever modded and then regretted what they did.

Not me personally, but my brother got a 95 Legacy L that he wanted to make all racecar-ish. he threw on an Intake without really looking at what he was doing. Now the vaccuum stuff is screwed up and even the Subaru Dealer can't figure out what he did. Then he put a ScoobyWord Afterburner exhaust on, which was fart-cannon loud.
Then he made it worse by putting on a cat delete pipe. He got a ticket for that. CEL's started popping up and it spent about a month at the dealership. He got it back about a week ago and it broke down. He also ripped the black bump strips off the doors and filled them with bondo.. and then never did anything with it.

I would hope he regrets all of that

borla hush

Thankfully these are all just bolt on parts that can be changed. It's not like I painted the car pink or something ridiculous. I'm gonna change the downpipe and racepipe, but I was wondering if anyone else has ever modded and then regretted what they did.


Maybe you can try a different combination.
I'm running a TurboXS uppipe, tbe and a
Prodrive axleback w/Cobb stg2.

common setup that's not very loud
no spittin' and fartin'

...It backfires and growls and the turbo whines incessantly (I think because of the thin walls of the 4" downpipe).

...Surprisingly, it's not too much faster and it's not nearly as smooth. I actually feel kind of stupid driving the car around with it spitting and snarling like a freakin' racecar....


Your car sounds mean :lol: :banana:

I'm surprised because everyone says the stage 2 is a night and day difference over stage 1... try thicker 3" downpipe... what kinda dp you have on there now? I'm doing the same parts minus the race pipe plus a muffler..

Your car sounds mean :lol: :banana:

I'm surprised because everyone says the stage 2 is a night and day difference over stage 1... try thicker 3" downpipe... what kinda dp you have on there now? I'm doing the same parts minus the race pipe plus a muffler..

Yeah, I have no idea why Stage 2 is so choppy. Stage 1 was ultra smooth, but now the turbo feels more like stock with weird hesitation.

The 4" downpipe is a Turbo XS. I got a good deal on Ebay but didn't really buy the right exhaust. I should have gone with a 3" dp and a high flow cat instead of the 4" dp and racepipe.

I'm pretty shocked at how loud my car is even with the stock axleback. I guess the absence of cats will do that. While some people would love the sound and smell, I definitely don't. Plus I'm stuck with it until my friend is free to help me with another install :mad:

Well, I put my stock turboback exhaust back on. Now my only mods are a catless STI uppipe, Cobb Stage 1, and a Kartboy shifter. You know what? I'm happier than ever with my car. It's still faster than most cars on the road, it's fairly quiet, and I don't feel like some 18 year-old punk driving an Eclipse or a Civic.