UEL header
 

Hey guys, i just wanted to see what other peoples opinions were on the UEL header and oft stage 2+ was.
Today i installed my tomei uel header along with the stage 2+ tune and i wasn't impressed. I currently have a injen intake aswell and i feel like the header was probably a waste of money. Please let me know what your thoughts are. Do you guys think getting an exhaust would make a change?

I found a decated OEM header performed better than my Tomei UEL (now sold), plus it was balls loud.

As for you tune, I don't hold much stock in flash tunes.

Finding someone who can edit your tune is a option, be wary though, I would hazard to guess that for every 100 people who say they can tune, you might be lucky to find the one who actually knows what they are doing.

Or, sell OFT, sell Tomei and don't buy a catback, with that money get a "pro" (see tuner disclaimer) to tune that puppy up with Ecutek and racerom.

Replacing the cat in the front pipe with a resonator frees up the exhaust for some gains, tuned of course.

The rest of the exhaust is only for noise really.

Removing all cats and adding a resonator will increase the exhaust volume a bit, but nothing extreme or obnoxious.

You might even be able to pick up a OEM header and front pipe for free, knock out them cats then see if you like the sound.

If you were near me I've got a header and frontpipe of a 2017 already punched out, it would cost you a six pack, or the resonator of your OEM airbox.

The OEM airbox on my 2017 isn't a restriction either, I'm even FI now as well, I did play with the resonator for the intake a while ago, I think I threw the big resonator away by accident...dooh.

Have fun playing, good luck, and always shop smart.

By decatted do you mean you chiselled out the material or you cut out the cat and welded in pipe in its place?

Do you know how an unequal length header works? It's exhaust fighting for real estate to make it sound "cool".

Thanks guys for your inputs. I guess im just gonna have to save up and go FI. When i was researching and watching youtube videos, everyone seems to all like the "gains" and i was like... wth.. if i could give an advice, it would be to buy used header. Dont buy brand new cause its not really worth it, imo.

How many miles since you flashed the tune? It takes awhile for the car to fully realize the pep in it's step. Reserve judgement until you've got a hundred miles on the setup imho.

Took a fishing trip this morning to the hills and back, its over 100 miles now. I love this car, its not that im wanting a new fast car. Just wanting to know others opinions.

Hammer and big screwdriver

I have stage 2 tune with JDL catless header UEL, JDL high flow cat on front pipe with resonator, q300 exhaust and high flow air filter, Perrin intake hose. Car runs pretty good, only missing low end torque. Pulls well when moving and if you get it to 4-5k. The torque dip is flattened so better than stock, but still slow compared to my 04 WRX stage 2.

But in the twisties she’s a blast. Steering is great.

Get rid of the airbox and go back to stock. My guess is your AFR is all over the place. Remember this a NA 2.0L car. Don't except huge numbers but you should notice a big difference in valley and it should run much smoother. What is your STFT and LTFTs look like as well?

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

Reinstall the OEM air box and give the tune about 200 miles to settle in. If you have access to E85, best bang for buck. Also search wayne roms here, you'll learn a bunch and have a source of better OTF tunes for cheap.

So exactly like my car with just a tune and stock I/H/E.
Only have an axelback.

Ops car has injen intake. Probably throwing everything off.

Definitely better with header and tune than stock. I did stage 1 tune before and header is worth it. But nothing like upgrades on a turbo car like my WRX.