BR makes a V-band clamp exhaust because many people desire it for the purpose of easy-on/easy-off. That is why the sell both slip-fit and V-band. There is no "x%" chance of a slip-fit leaking. If its installed correctly it will be fine. If you're an idiot, you might have a 100% chance of it leaking. My brother has had a slip fit exhaust on his 1G DSM for 8 years now and its as good as it was the day he bought it back in the 90s.

 

You my friend, head stuck so far up, maybe you should back it out to see some light?

 

This has been quite a thread, interesting read for sure. My opinion, which is just that, my opinion, is this - When I got my car I went with dynoflash and was extremely happy with it, I then did more upgrades and decide to go with the Xede/SMART mainly because of the things Shiv mentioned above but the biggest reason was I wanted to be able to switch between 91, 93 or 100 octane maps depending on the situation, (I do a lot of road course events).

With that said, if I had to do it over, I would have saved the money I spent on the Xede/SMART and gotten a dynoflsh and called it a day.

It's really easy to make the choice:
Are you going to "track" your car? If you aren't then don't mod your car at all. It's pointless and a waste of money.
Are you looking for something that you can adjust on the fly and switch maps? Then go with Xede
Do you just want an affordable safe tune that gives you power and makes your car fast and safe and you don't have to mess with? Go with Dynoflash.

Pretty simple if you ask me. I think both options are great and can't see anything bad between either, it's just presonal preference and what you want to do tuning wise.

As far as the exhaust argument, again personal preference, they are all pretty much the same! Some are lighter, some are louder, (some melt your bumper). The slip fit design works great if installed correctly. I've had zero problems with my RnR TBE with slip fit, no leaks at all. Just get an exhaust that you like the looks of and that sounds good to you. If you have fittment issues, talk to the vendor you bought it from and resolve the issue.

And for my little rant on the whole thing: At the end of the day we're talking about a car that anyone with a decent job can afford, it's not some exotic sports car. And as I said before, if you aren't going to actually track your car, whether drag, autox or road course, then don't even mod it. I have a lot of friends that spend money and time modding their car and the poor car never sets a tire on a track. I don't understand that, it's sad and a waste. And the "I want to be able to smoke cars on the freeway" is stupid and asking for trouble! Take it to the freakin' track!

Ok, i'm done, continue with the arguments

 

I never thought this thread would get this big. Badog, I appreciate your unbiast opinion. I do plan on taking the car to the track. I live about 45 min. away from Thunderhill and I'd like to get in some of the time trials. My friend has an 04' WRX Sti nicely modded and he is out handling and over powering GT3's. This is why I would like the XEDE so that I can switch maps from garbage 91 OCT to 100 OCT. I've been listening to a lot of exhaust sound clips and I think I'm going to go with the Tanabe blue with downpipe. I just need to get a hold of Shiv so that he can possibly tune my car. I would never rule out any other parts like Buschur, WORKS, etc. This is only the first of many mods to come.

 

Sounds like you are making a good choice for you. If you do the research, know what you are wanting out of it, and are doing something because you want to and not because someone on the internet say's you should, then you can't go wrong, especially if you trust the vendor you are dealing with. Tuning and modding this car is new to me as well but I'm 41 and have been doing this stuff for a very long time and I've found it's all about the research and working with vendors/tuners to get what's right for you.

 

That is why I got the Xede as well. I love the fact that I can switch between maps. One thing to note though is this. If you can mix 100 octane with 91 octane to get 93 octane, then do so. Your car will love you for it. The Evo is supposed to run on 93 octane and it is the happiest when it does so.

I log my AFR almost daily and when I was running on 91 octane I was getting all sorts of spikes in the AFR. I tired tighter plug gaps, colder plugs, and an ignition booster to solve the problem, but nothing worked. It drove my nuts.

Since early June I have been using 93 octane that I mix and I have yet to see spikes in the AFR. The car runs better and smoother than ever. The extra cost is about $10 per tank but it is well worth it.

Good choice on the Tanabe Blue. It uses regular falanges and retains the use of the stock donut and sprung bolts from the pics that I saw.

http://www.tanabe-usa.com/exhausts/files/233_img1.jpg
http://www.tanabe-usa.com/exhausts/files/233_img2.jpg
http://www.tanabe-usa.com/exhausts/files/233_img3.jpg
http://www.tanabe-usa.com/exhausts/files/233_img4.jpg

The dp might not be a 3 inch one, but that is ok since 2.75 inch is said to take your car to 600 hp.

 

Hey man, I live in Brazil where the only good gas you can find is inside the city of Sao Paulo, so when I travel I have to be able to switch the car to pretty much the stock settings, otherwise you blow your engine up (I blew a Fiat Turbo engine up with a bad gasoline), so you need to get XEDE w/ SMART upgrade.

However, from what I read, Buschur offers a great exhaust system, so I ordered it and I am waiting for delivery (will post comments up once it is installed). Therefore it really comes down to what you want, if you just want WHP and will not need to switch maps, get a dynoflash, if you need something where you will need to switch maps, get a XEDE. The XEDE is working great down here and my car is a 2004 JDM EVO VIII (although I am still trying to figure out how to switch maps and leave the second map to stock mode).

So it really comes down to you. With your budget, I would go:

Drop In filter $50
XEDE from Vishnu (buy a used one - Laudikraut is selling his for US$550,00)
3" Full turbo back exhaust from Buschur US$800

And you still have US$200 left for other minor mods. Good luck!

 

Normally i would say yes I could have been an unlucky duck and got a freak part however havin installed BS parts on one other evo and 2 srt4s I can say that I am turned off to their stuff.

Crap fitment Crap mats

 

BUSCHUR ALL THE WAY!

 

Its hard to steer away from Buschur b/c of their top notch products and customer service. Im going to trust the man who has been working on the 4g63 from the begining

 

Nite rider, Robert Fuller can do the install for you. He is in Apple Valley. I can ship everything directly to him so you don't even have to transport it.

The flash we can do through the mail for you with the Stage 1 kit.

Any questions you can PM me or call the shop if you want. 440-839-1900.

 

Just a few things.

V-band exhaust. The reason we make them is there was a call from people who wanted a system that used them. Therefore we made them. Pretty simple there.

Next is the map switching. NOT A PROBLEM! We can do our mail in flash for you as always, also supply you with a race gas map on a disc and a cable. Anytime you want to change your tune you simply load in your new map from your laptop that is contained on the disc we will supply you if you want that type of set-up. Cost is $100 extra for this option.

Have a good day.

 

is this really even a question.. lol j/k buschur

 

I'm trying to decide who to go with as well. The Buschur Stage 1 mail-flash is done by Buschur not Dynoflash, right?

 

No. Dynoflash does the flashing for the Warr/BR packages.