FINALLY, pics of my 2.5" exhaust...
 

After much stalling, cutting, and welding the exhaust is complete. Here's a couple of pics of the muffler in and out of the car.

If you're at work and cannot see the pics, it's because the server I'm hosted from isn't the most work friendly server. Not a porn server or anything.

I intentionally made it a bit longer than stock, but I think I need to trim another inch or so off.

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/DSCF0003.JPG

And here it be outside the car.

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/DSCF0002.JPG

I'll post more tomorrow since I just bolted everything up about an hour ago. I'll also be posting a video hopefully with a short run down the block so you can get an idea of what it sounds like. Tomorrow night that is.

And no make-a-da-fun of my messy garage!

Nice...I see bounty...paper plates...forks...where is the microwave...its obvious you live out there now heh.

I like it, I'd trim an inch...inch and a half...MAYBE 2. But it looks good...can't wait to see how it sounds :D

Sweetness. Did you fab a catback or just the "axleback?" Looks good to me, like you said a little trim and it'll be good to go.

I'll be watching for the vids.

It's from the downpipe back. I was totally slacking when it came to the picture documentation when we were fabbing it up! I'll take pics of the WHOLE shebang asap, but check back later tonight for the other pics and video/sounds!

sweet, whats the total cost of materials?

About the same as if I had bought from Enthuza, but I also got a cat, so for the cat back probably about $100 or so less than the Enthuza. I didn't have the exhaust routed out the rear at first, melted a side marker housing to pay for it. It's pretty loud, possibly not within the 95db spec. It's also really burly sounding, like a big 6.

Nice! This would help me much. :bigtu:

uh oh...where did you have it dump at first? When I get the turbo on I'm thinking about just letting it dump right behind the rear axle where the pipe connects to my muffler...bad idea?

Nail on the head. It's a HORRIBLE idea. I ran that way for a couple of days, then put the muffler on, then routed it back out the rear of the car. It sucks mufflerless, it's embarassingly loud. With just the muffler on it's still loud as hell because the sound resonates from under the car and right to your brain. With the routing back out the rear it's damn near stock, but kind of like stock with pubes.

My digital camera only does video, no audio, how lame is that? I'll see what I can get done soon enough. Anyways, here's another angle.

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/DSCF0006.JPG


Also, here's a couple of shots of my modified FM heatshield.

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/DSCF0008.JPG

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/DSCF0009.JPG

Yes, I welded a fitting into the O2 sensor bung and put my EGT probe in there. I relocated the O2 sensor further downstream, well, my friend Ted did. :) Anyways, on the heatshield, I figured I spent the money on the damn thing, might as well modify it to fit with everything on it. I simply drilled out the spot welds on the rear part and the panel dropped out. No muss, no fuss... except the bit I used was a tad dull. Fits like it was born there now. I'm going to put some temperature resistant material on the hood too, it still gets hot enough to cook on. More detailed pics to come.

That sounds..great :ugh2: ...:rofl:

Yeah an exhaust vid with no audio would suck. Thanks for the pics though, post as many as you'd like please. Keep em coming bro...:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axVBGNTo1Ww

Mine is an N/A 1.8L with the same magnaflow muffler but the addition of a flowmaster hushpower 2 muffler as resonator. I know what you mean about the obnoxiously loud thing... the flowmaster really helped that out a lot. If it starts to bother you ya might consider adding a similar resonator.

Shouldn't your EGT be pre-turbo?

Have you run the car with the insulating material zip-tied to the heat shield? I'd be surprised if it didn't melt, mine get's hot enough to fry and egg from just normal driving.

I think you're right. The turbo is obviously a large heat sink.

It looks like the manifold is tapped for an EGT probe too???

The zip ties are actually stainless steel from Thermotec, like 18 to a pack or so and I had only used two up until that point. I have the first two holding the 3500*F aerospace quality thermowrap on to the downpipe. Supposedly the manifold only eats up about 100*F, so my EGT readings of 950 should not (supposedly) be that far from the mark. The sound level is very easy to live with now since I routed it out the back like it's supposed to be.

In Firedog's defense, I'll chime in and say that my EGT probe is also post turbo, in nearly the same spot as his. (Mine's turned between the DP and the head, but same proximity to the turbo).

Yes, the turbo itself is a huge heat sink, so technically, we are reading low. But with EGT measurements, we're not so much interested in exact readings so much as relative ones.

The reason I stuck mine where I did is that I've heard horror stories about the tip of the probe weakening and ultimately breaking off, and then subsequently passing through the turbine. How likely is that to happen? Probably not very. But I decided not to chance it.

That is exactly why I put mine where it is. I'm still kind of pissed at Subaru for putting a cat pre-turbo.

Good points. And that would sucketh.

Up pipe. Still have two (?) cats left. The cat light-off crap is such garbage.

Yep, I'm not sure about the current models which use a 2.5 liter, but the 2.0 liter WRX's have three cats, one pre-turbo and two post.

Update!

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/MVI_1766.AVI

http://flamevault.com/~firedog25/mia...t/MVI_1767.AVI

Now instead of all the business coming from the front of the car, noises come out equally front and rear. Before this exhaust, all the noise came from under the hood. Especially since I lost two fasteners on the downpipe to the midpipe. It was downright flatulent at wide open throttle and all you heard was the turbo spooling (not bad), the exhaust leak (farty), and the chatter when I shifted (not bad). Hopefully this is a decent enough recording for you all!