OK, yes this newb has searched but something still remains unclear. There seems to be a debate as to whether or not a downpipe will give any gains when used in conjunction with a header. Also, going along those lines who offers a down pipe that works with the rrm header (and i remember reading that Rock said they now offer a working fix for cel. any word on that?). I plan on doing the axleback magnaflow from rrm along with some custom 2.25 inch back to the cat. I'm gonna keep the second cat for sure for backpressure and rice. The reasons i'm bringing this old topic up is because it seems to be more a matter of opinion on these boards rather than fact. Basically I'm looking for anyone who has dealt with a similar setup and concerns. Also if the downpipe, even with second stock cat, is going to sound ricey then it will not happen cause 1-3 hp is totally not worth an abnoxious car. Thanks for the input everyone. Please be merciful

 

If you are planning on getting a lot of breather mods than make the down pipe your last mod. Otherwise it's not really worth it unless the header is design to provide a lot of low end torque like RPW's. That's my understanding.

 

I had the RRM axleback and header. DP did not make the setup ricey.

Downpipe gives decent gains, if you can get one. Buschur Racing WAS the only place to make them, but they stopped. So the only option is a header that includes the DP, or finding a used BR one.

Headers that have them include: Kamikaze, RPW, . . . yeah, just those two.

 

You might think you get better gains because you feel them on the top end but your low end is much lower + if you have a camshaft and cam gear your low end would be terrible.

 

agreed. i have a custom DP and i definately lost low end power (full exhaust: header,DP,gutted cat, cat back)

 

yup, no back pressure means no low-end torque but more on high-end. i rather have that low-end torque.

 

u are god ...

the quality of the Kamikaze header is pretty sketchy at best, plus when you have less lowend power your car may feel a lot faster since there will be a big jump from no power to the powerband. with lowend it feels smoother

 

Uh, OK . . .

All I know is that I've had two different downpipes with my Lancer, and an array of mods over the years I owned it.

I seem to be one of the few people who believe in the downpipe, and I'm the only one who speaks up about it. If that makes me crazy, then fine. You guys go believe whatever you want. I'm just trying to help out.

PS - that may be true, Greg. But I never had a cam or cam gears. I was just speaking from the experience I have, exhaust-wise. I've had a gutted stock header, an RRM header, a Buschur downpipe, a custom downpipe, and an RRM axleback through the years (in various combinations, depending on the timeframe). And he never even asked about the cam, so why throw that in? He wanted to know how it would be with the header and catback.

PPS - the gutted cat was probably part of the problem, comatose721.

 

Why sketchy? I've had mine for 2 years(baught them used on top of that) and they still look very decent, they're not leaking, and they're not to rusty either(I live in Canada so rust would have been a major issue if the quality was lower than average)

 

I guess you are right on that . Just wanted to cover the future problems with a downpipe if he would choose to go with camshaft, cam gear.

Best combo, RPW race header.

 

Hmm the debate continues. yeah i think the gutted cat would be the loss of back pressure comatose. Thanks for all the input. Blacksheep pmed me some very valuable info, thankyou. Anyone else with hands on experience?

 

i used to run the gutted cat and i lost a little bit of back pressure...well enough to make the car lag...later i had the stock flanges removed and installed a cat with larger flanges and the DP at the same time. this caused more of a lag than the one that previously existed, though i had a cat this time the high end gains were very nice IMO though.

but yes, the gutted cat was part of the problem....also when i swapped from the RRM header to the gutted/ported/polished stock mani i gained back a lot of that lost low end power and sacraficed very little on the high end (according to the butt dyno)....just my 2 cents. i hope this helps in some way.

 

You will in most cases lose torque with D.P. Downpipe is only needed when it is causing a hinderance of power. Even on turbo cars we use stock d.p. and EVEN or 12 second Lancer is still not limited with stock downpipe although now with bigger turbo I supect it is time to address the D.P. Up to now it has not been an issue.

ROAD/RACE

 

Thanks Rock and comatose. I'm gonna weigh my options and see. Seems like it's the same problem people worry about with a wider catback. More top end and less low end. Guess it depends what i'm trying to do (ok someone slap me for stating the obvious). Haha my friend just told me he put a 383 stroker in his 79 monte carlo. He really wants to race this summer. Now if i wanna beat him i've got to... thats it, change my degree to aeronautical engineering

 

^^ anytime. rock is a lancer god though so take his word over mine. my input is all on the butt dyno and personal experience. he's a professional.