exhaust advice

[RChampion]

hey guys, I know this has been done and asked before, but oh well. I think its time for me to get a complete and new header back system, and I'm not sure at all what to get.

Right now, I have a MS Stromung muffler with more leaks after 2 winters than a cloth water balloon. I also have borla headers, which ones I have no idea, because they were on the car when I bought it, as well as the rusty muffler.

I'm looking for performance (which is why I want to replace the headers as well), and have read alot of good things about the MRT setup. I'm still kind of fond of the stromung muffler, so i was thinking about MRT header/cat with stromung midpipe and SS muffler....

suggestions? advice? donations? (maybe not)

also, i hear ceramic coating is a must for MRT's these days, how much does that normally cost and how much of an ass pain is it? I wouldn't even know where to go around VT to have it done...

Robert

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[nySulli]

well if rust is a major concern you may just want to go with the full brullen setup, sure its costly, but the exhaust is very similar to the stromung, and its full stainless warr. for life i believe

[RChampion]

i'm not worried about rust anymore really, whatever i get won't rust. I have MS (mild steel) muffler, i'll be getting the stainless steel one as a replacement, so rust wise i'll have nothing to worry about... what i'm looking to figure out now is which exhaust setup is generally the best...

[nySulli]

well the twe, brullen and mrt headers all seem to be pretty much equal within 1-2 hp of each other, but the mrt has a huge price advantage

as far as ceramic coating, someone recently posted a price, but you have the cut the cat off the headers and have flanges welded on, but i think it was like 165 for the headers to be coated, maybe 60 for the midpipe, just get a different muffler with the system because the mrt one is junk, look into if you'll need to do anything special to make it work, i don't know if theres any issues since the mrt seems to be built to work as a whole setup

[jkyes]

from what i have heard, the MRT headers will probabably not rust much, it is the muffler that rusts bad... i am planning on getting the headers and MN is also called the "RUST belt"

for my legacy i was quoted 350 for the headers.

[RChampion]

yea, it think I am going to get the MRT's, i just need to find out where to get them the cheapest... and also where to get them coated around here...

rob

[nySulli]

well getting them the cheapest won't take long, not many people have them

try langston subaru, i think 7 or 800 for the whole setup, and vividracing used to carry them for less, i'd give them a call and see what they can do, and make sure you ask for the resonated version, apparently there are 2 diff midpipes, and the unresonated sounds raspy

[RChampion]

what if i wanted just the headers/cat? is that possible? I thought I've heard some people that do that.... I'd rather not waste my time with the potential rusting muffler

rob

[nySulli]

yeah, you can get the headers/cat, but it doesn't mount up with the stock midpipe, so i'd suggest going with the mrt midpipe, and that ends up at the stock muffler flange, i think people have said its ~200 cheaper without the muffler then the whole system

[p-car]

I have a Brullen header back for sale $750 plus whatever Mail Boxes Etc. charges me to pack and ship it.

It's ceramic coated, stainless headers, hi-flow cat and twin tip exhaust. It was on my my00 RS track car in So. Calif so it only got used for about 5000 miles.

[RChampion]

hmm... i might take you up on that, I'm still working on my financial situation, should have that worked out by tomorrow, because my muffler is really barely even connected right now, my sister that i was my dad's harley coming down the road....


Do you have any stats on what the brullen system does for performance? Also, would you be will to sell just the headers/cat? I still kinda want to go with the stromung muffler...

[p-car]

Originally posted by bigbobchamp
Do you have any stats on what the brullen system does for performance? Also, would you be will to sell just the headers/cat? I still kinda want to go with the stromung muffler...

I'm only selling it as a set - headers/cat/mid-pipe/muff.

I did b4 and after dyno tests on the same day without letting the ECU adjust for the new system and IIRC it was about 10 hp and 15 ft lbs increase at the wheels. The post should still be in the NA forum if you do a search and it had honest, no bs numbers from back to back dyno runs on a Dynojet awd dyno.

I really felt the difference in power when I recently bolted the stock system back on when I sold the car. Oh yeah, mine is the "quiet" exhaust/mid-pipe and resonator.

Larry Ganz has info regarding GTech measured hp increases (and photos) on his site here: http://imprezars.com/brullen.htm#brullen

[obyone]

Originally posted by nySulli
well the twe, brullen and mrt headers all seem to be pretty much equal within 1-2 hp of each other, but the mrt has a huge price advantage

as far as ceramic coating, someone recently posted a price, but you have the cut the cat off the headers and have flanges welded on, but i think it was like 165 for the headers to be coated, maybe 60 for the midpipe, just get a different muffler with the system because the mrt one is junk, look into if you'll need to do anything special to make it work, i don't know if theres any issues since the mrt seems to be built to work as a whole setup

I have pics.





As you can see, I'm using the SS dual tip stromung axle back. There are no issues with my setup....well, other than the CEL. Other than that one little drawback, this was probably the best purchase I've made yet.

I do have one bit of advice though, since you live in the rust belt (I'm in chicago where we get an 1/8" of snow but a 1/2" of salt.) you will want to buy a can of Black high temp paint. Every so often, when you are working on the underside of your car, you may want to give the headers/midpipe a quick coat of paint to keep them rust free.

My MRT is getting some surface rust around the welds, after 2 years of faithful service, so a quick touchup here and there will keep them looking like new for a long time to come.

[RChampion]

p-car... how quiet is "quiet"? Does it sound similar to the sound clips off of larry's site? Also, do you know how well the brullen setup will hold against rust? Pretty well i'm assuming if its coated, but still curious... for your price I might have no choice but to bail on the MRT setup and go with brullen's...

[p-car]

It's all stainless so rust should not be an issue. Even the bolts were stainless.

Quiet is a relative term I guess - it's a lot louder than stock, but I never had cops eyeballing me because of it. It can set off car alarms in parking garages, but I had no problems talking in the cab or listening to the radio. In comparison to other subies I've been around - a friend of mine had an MRT system and they were about the same noise level, it's a little louder than a Stromung cat-back and a little quieter than a Scoobysport cat-back.

Larry's clips - the neurev.wav sounds close. I got crappy speakers on the computer so none of the clips do it justice.

[RChampion]

think you could find out how much shipping will be and how long it would take to get to 05468? I think for the price, and the fact that i won't have to go have it coated is worth it...

rob