Greetings,
Sorry for the necro post, but I though that I should continue the SR*S exhaust review here rather than create a new thread.
I've recently purchased an 04 WRX with 129k miles with an STi up pipe, Perrin down pipe and STi catback. The previous owner left the flange nearest to the muffler partly opened for the "Subie Rumble," but I wanted a daily driver and didn't want to induce hearing loss for my kids or wake the neighbors so installed a 2.5" gasket that quieted things down a bit. Tt still had a nice rumble, burble, but also some some annoying rattles with rev matched downshifts. And one more thing... the car came with a 91 octane Cobb access port tune, but after filling up with some quality Shell V-Power, I swapped it to the 93 octane tune with noticeable increase in boost response... however, after a day or so, it threw a CEL code.
I knew that I would modify the car with a bigger turbo/injector/fuel pump/TMIC, so I wanted a 3" flow throughout. But since this is my daily driver, I wanted a quieter exhaust. Interestingly, the quieter exhaust from Flomaster or Borla costs more than the louder ones so I searched NASIOC and found this useful post. Since the exhaust is not a high precision piece and for 40% of the cost of the name brand exhausts, I thought that I'd give SR*S from FleaBay a shot. I liked the fact that the pipes were fully stainless and the muffler seemed larger than the N1 cans.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SR-S-SUBARU-...RRyhYt&vxp=mtr
The SR*S Burnt Tip came the following week on a beautiful fall day. Even with significant rust, PB Blaster and a torque wrench made quick work of the old bolts. The downpipes had a 3" to 2.5" flange and conical gasket along with a resonator restricting flow. The SR*S Burnt Tip had minimal bends for optimized flow but medium quality welds and materials. Some machining marks and burrs, but this isn't a jeweled bolt off of a bolt action rifle and all of that will be covered by road grime or soot soon enough. One reservation I had with the Burnt Tip was that it did not have an exhaust tip plug to quiet thing up for longer road trips but I figured if it bothered me that much, I could get one for $20 and fabricate a solution.
Install took longer than expected because the 4.5" exhaust tip didn't fit on my WRX with a hitch. The hitch bolts were rust welded and I broke a cheap socket extension and roughed up an angled connector quite a bit while getting the 25 lb anchor off. The SR*S Burnt Tip fitment with the hitch off was perfect! I didn't need to bend the hangars and to my eyes, the pipe is level. The tight spot on the install occurs near the last flange and the rear differential. There is about 1/2" of clearance, but I could not move or shake the exhaust enough to make it touch.
With eager anticipation, I cold started the car. The initial rev up was more rapid and pronounced than the STi exhaust but within 10 seconds it settled into a nice rumble. When I placed my hands near the exhaust tip, I could definitely feel more air movement compared to the STi exhaust. I let her warm up for ~10 minutes to burn off any PB Blaster and manufacturing residue then took her for a spin. While backing up, there was a few puffs of white smoke, but it was gone before I reached the end of my 25 yard driveway. Even with the steep departure angle, the bottom of the can nor the tip scraped.
My observations:
1. Throttle response: not as crisp in the low end, improved from 2.5k up (possibly due to less back pressure initially, then better flow up top?)
2. Power: boost feels like being released from a compound bow with a short build up followed by hard acceleration once boost is on
3. Volume: idle ~10-15% louder, ~15-20% louder on full acceleration, SAME during cruise, QUIETER when rev matching since there is no rattle
4. Sound quality: more pronounced Subaru burble, NO RASP, NO DRONE, and I don't know how best to describe it, but NO CLIPPING (like the noise you get with poor sound sampling, especially with windows media files).
Overall, an excellent product at an excellent price. I realize that I've only driven it around for 1 night, but so far I am very happy with it. We'll see how it hold up with the salt and winter here in the Rust Belt.
11/06/2015: 4 of 5 stars.
BONUS: the CEL light for the Cobb access port Stage 2, 93 octane tune is gone!
Hope that helps someone out!
Cheers,
Max - GeWRX