I ordered an HKS downpipe for $340 shipped and received it on Wednesday. As for the HKS catback, I ordered it for $490 shipped and received it on Tuesday. I installed the catback first and test drove it. It was amazing. It pulls much harder and gave it a deeper tone. When I put the silencer on, it's as quiet as stock. When I installed the downpipe, I was unscrewing the bolts and the blazing hot catalytic converter dropped on my arm and burned me up. I kept the stock cat since it do believe it's high enough of a flow anyway. The two combination is just amazing and not too loud. I had an O2 sensor bung welded onto my catback right before I installed it. My total costs for the whole exhaust system was a decent amount.

HKS Downpipe: $340
HKS Catback: $490
O2 bung welded: $30
Total Costs: $860

Installation is quite easy and it's only jacking the car up, loosen some bolts, and install new ones. If you can rotate your wheels, you can do this. If anyone needs help installing these, PM me and I can help you.

My butt dyno felt at least a total of 10hp increase.

Current Mods: Custom Ground Kit, HKS Racing Suction Kit, HKS Downpipe, HKS cat-back exhaust, Cusco Oil Catch Can, and other non-performance/engine-related mods.

EDIT: And would anyone like a pic of a catalytic converter burned on an arm pic??

 

not as much as I'd like a pic of the exhaust as well as some sound files.

 

where did u score those parts for that cheap?

 

Pic of burned arm and video & audio of exhaust look/sound!

 

Thats all your butt felt is 10HP. You need to get it recalibrated!

 

Where did you get the parts from, becuase you have the same
setup I would like get, possibly Ti version. Pics and sounds. Appreciate it.

 

Gimme a couple days. I'll need to get my friend to take some pix. I cant find my digital camera!

I bought my parts off ebay from Promax and the guy that imports Skylines. They're pretty cool. Nice guys to deal with.

 

Buschur 3in of pure straight stainless steel. Its the only way to fly. Although some of the N1 design mufflers have a higher-pitch tone which sounds great (similar to a motorcycle sound), they tend to drone at highspeed with straight piping.

 

isn't the downpipe alone suppose to give u mad hp? more like 20+?

 

The downpipe really opens things up. Since it's been acknowledged that the intake doesn't add much on its own, my downpipe made for a good 25+ hp increase (dyno-proven). RMR 3" downpipe and intake (just the cone) added 30hp from a base of 222whp.

 

yea that's sounds right for those kinda of mods. i read in import tuner about a wrx. with just downpipe it went from 170 whp to 201 whp

http://www.importtuner.com/tech/0305it_ppwrx/

 

Actually, I have to tell you that the stock cat is VERY restrictive -- MOST likely MUCH more restrictive then u think (or have been told maybe). Basically, your system (everything before the cat) is being choked off by your stock cat! I can send you dyno sheets to prove it if you insist.

I have a similar set-up to u (see sig below), and just for kicks since I too wondered the same thing, I swapped a 3" RMR test pipe in with the stock cat to see once & for all how bad the stock cat really is. With my Thermal cat-back, stock cat, HKS dp, and EVC set at 19.5 psi, I put down 235 whp. Then, with the same set-up and my RMR 3" test pipe in place of the stock cat .... I put down 247.4 whp! I would have gone agaon but I had bigger things to do in my next 3 runs .... like tune my SAFC.

The best thing is that you can REALLY feel the difference .... the car just pulls like a beast once u get the cat outta there. Everything improves -- mid range, top end -- u name it! I could swear that it feels more like a 20 hp and TQ gain! , which is I why IMHO a test pipe is more like a 15-20 whp gain ... or maybe just a BIG TORQUE gain and that's why it's so easy to feel the difference. The only possible downfall is that it will make the car a bit louder; however, you will hear your turbo spooling up allot more and it just sounds so much better! It actually helped my exhaust tone allot by making it a bit deeper, and more throaty. My Thermal is fairly quiet (very close to stock but a deeper, basey tone).

Bottom line: Dude, take my advice seriously and don't kid youself ...... the stock cat is a piece of restrictive ****. Sure it may not be as bad as an 'old school' cat but it's heavy and restrictive .... and if you choose to leave it on there, then you are most likely not experiencing much of the gains from your new HKS dp either. Go on ... swap in a test pipe and you'll see what I mean.

If you are fully against using an off road pipe, then at least install a true 3" high flow race cat -- there is a big difference between the evo cat and a true high flow design .... a true high flow is always lighter, and the restrictive part is much shorter. If you can't find one at a decent price, then pm me because one my local shops here sells a nice & light a high low 3" cat at a reasonable price.

Congrats on your new set-up, and sorry if I'm raining on your parade a bit, but trust me .... u will thank me later because it is truly a 'night and day' difference! .... or I would not be replying to this post a 2am when I have to be up for work in 5 hours. But I know one thing 4 sure: this is what your face is going to look like after u install your test pipe = ! And then do us all a favor .... give us a review and then chuck your stock cat to the weeds!

 

i agree the test pipe kicks ***.. diffinately pulls like a mother on high RPMS.. and it revs faster so it seems

 

Great news, but we don't all live in Florida...you need a cat to be street legal in most states...

 

Keep us posted on those sounds and pics. I would very much like to see these as well.