I will be replacing my exhaust shortly (DP, Test Pipe, and Cat-Back) and figured, while I am in there I might as well replace the O2 housing as well if it is beneficial. I've searched, but have yet to find any definitive proof whether there is a benefit to replacing the stock o2 housing with a higher flowing aftermarket unit.

I'm leaning towards an inexpensive unit (e.g. TTP $99)

Thoughts/Suggestions?

 

Umm, search harder. Get the buschur ceramic coated SS o2 housing for $195, 15whp woot!

 

I've seen the numbers on the manufacturer and vendor websites, but I think we all know they can be a little biased. I was more interested in "real world" results with similar mods.

$200 is more than I am looking to spend.

 

I did ported/coated exhaust manifold, ported out my turbine housing, and the SS O2 housing all at the same time and numbers for this particular setup do not lie. Some of the other ones out there boast big numbers but don't walk the walk.

Case and point: my buddy recently picked up an IX. We did the same combo of ported exhaust mani, turbine housing, and SS o2 housing on his car on top of walbro 255, buschur TBE w/ testpipe, mbc, and br intake. He had the car at DB Performance here in MN who has a dyno dynamics dyno. My buddy Shane runs the place, and is an amazing tuner, very reputable. He said a typical IX with TBE, MBC, and intake that comes in for a tune puts down 275-290whp. Maybe 295 on a fluke run or two. Well this IX put down a solid 312whp, and a fluke run or two hit 318whp. That's a solid 20whp gain from a very reliable, consistent dyno and a reputable tuner, not to mention the countless tests on here showing similar gains.

The $200 is worth it to know you will get the right housing that will make good power, IMHO.

 

Id get the Buschur one too if I were you.

 

buschur and ttp both use ebay units. buschur's is just ceramic coated for 100 more.

 

I got the Tomei Expreme setup where it come with the Elbow and DP. You'll notice the boost builds up much quicker. Kinda like the whole power band shifted to the left.

However we must warned you that replacing the turbo elbow is not an easy task. If you're trying to do this with the turbo still on the engine, the bolt near the engine block is a pain in the @ss to get too. You'll have to remove radiator as well just to get some clearence but it doesn't help much.

The other way is to just take the whole turbo unit out (manifold as well).

Changing out the elbow or turbo outlet is a b!tch. If you have the slightest thought of ever getting a bigger turbo, I say that you just forget about it.

 

I've heard it's not a fun install as well. I may upgrade the turbo within the next couple of years, but no plans in the immediate future.

What are the gains of the o2 housing by itself? Worth the PITA install?

 

Something to be aware of is that the vast majority of aftermarket O2 housings do not have provision for the factory support brace that ties the stock O2 housing to the block. Same goes for the stock heat shield.

 

I wouldn't want to install the O2 housing again. It's really a PITA.

Well I did the housing and dp at the same time, plus I never got it dyno so I can't tell you what's the hp gain.

If you're going to take turbo out then accessing the bolts are much easier. But it's a lot of work just for a gain of maybe 10hp.

If you're attempting to change out housing while the turbo is still on the block. I say forget about it. It's not worth the PITA.

 

If you've had your car previously tuned with all bolt-ons and decide to put the O2 housing on the car, do you have to retune it? Or do you get the 10-15whp for free?

 

If you want to maximize your gains with any mod you'd want to re-tune after installing it, this is the case with any performance mod.

Thanks to everyone for the info, doesn't sound like an O2 housing is worth the effort.

 

I've tried the tubular O2 housings and gone back to stock. I noticed no gain with that housing at all. I did notice a couple negative side effects though.

I had a problem with boost creep and inconsistent boost levels when going WOT mid way through the RPM range. This made it next to impossible to tune for. I'm not the only one that's had the same issue. A quick search for housing + creep will turn up a crap load of hits. I also had a second problem. During lapping days when the car sees extreme temps and hours of hard shifting that darn O2 housing liked to loosen the bolts holding it to the turbo. I resolved this problem using studs instead of bolts but the boost creep issue was always present. I tried all the tricks from adjusting the actuator to porting what little material there was to port.

The only true before and after dyno results for this piece is from Dave Buschur. I think his results were truthful but I don't think people understand what really was posted.


Here is a post that says quite a bit:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...&postcount=180


If you read closely you will see that during the dyno of this part the boost went up. Lets remember that 1psi of boost is equal to about 11whp on a DSM and is probably worth more on an EVO.

It would have been nice to see a stock log manifold dyno with stock O2 at 23psi. Then swap in an EBAY unit and test again at 23psi. But that never happened or at least those results weren't published.

My honest opinion is that the O2 housing like the LICP pipe is simply a bragging rights mod. It doesn't do anything positive unless you are soo worried about weight that the 3lbs you save makes it worth the tuning problems it brings.

Stick with dyno proven mods and you'll see better returns. I would suggest sending the stock housing to PPI before tossing that SS POS on there. Stick some time or money into portmatching the exhaust manifold and turbo I'll bet you see better returns that way.

 

i run the invidia its a little pricy but its worth it i got big gains in spool and power. my .02

 

I just purchased a ported and swain tech coated exh. manifold, hotside, and 02 housing from PPI and i plan to install them all at once. From what everyone says I definitely didn't want to install the 02 housing only so i waited till i was able to purchase all the rest of the parts. Hopefully with everything port matched the way it will be i won't have a problem with boost creep. If i do i might end up looking into a Forge wastegate over the stock wastegate but that may have to wait a while till i get the cash saved up. But if you don't plan on upgrading the turbo for a while why not look into PPI's ported and coat exh. parts??