Header without other exhaust mods?
 

Greetings everyone,

I just bought a 2019 Limited and am investigating doing some light bolt-on mods for the usual reasons (a bit more power and smooth out the 'torque dip'). I'm thinking of a header (ACE 350) and tune. From searching here, I'll probably keep the stock intake (maybe add a drop-in filter), and am debating the rest of the exhaust (I need to keep the cat for emissions compliance).

Has anyone added a header but kept the stock exhaust? Most posts are about experiences with both a header and a cat-back (or axle-back), but most other posts also suggest that aftermarket exhausts primarily add noise (which I don't care about).

Has anyone added just a header and a tune, but kept the rest of the OEM exhaust system? Are you happy with that?

Thank you!

The ACE gets rid of one of the cats just FYI.

There are a lot of people that just do the header / over pipe and retain the front pipe and catback. To me it sounds very "tinny" and not great, but it is quieter!

Header/tune with otherwise stock exhaust. Sounds stock to me. Rather have a quiet car than a loud wannabe

A lot of people have. You can keep the OEM main catalytic converter in the front pipe with just the header. It may of may not pass emission testing however.

I ran my UEL header and over-pipe with the rest of the exhaust stock for about a year with a tune, I wanted to clean up the sound because a catless header on the stock exhaust does not sound great. The only reason people say it sounds stock is because its not to loud, but around town it can be a bit loud in the low ranges. So I cut that small resonator in the front pipe out and welded in a Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator. It sounds better then stock and how the car should have sounded.

That Tinny sound is easily solved by cutting out the tiny front pipe resonator and replacing it with a quality resonator.

That's not what the OP is asking though.:iono:

i have a drop in filter, with ace headers and the rest stock. it sounds fine

Ive ran an uncatted UEL header with an otherwise stock exhaust system for a bit.

it gets slightly louder.. just a tiny bit. like.. miniscule.
youll notice more engine noise and harmonics from your footwell. but thats about it.

I had to run it after i went decatted as the combo header overpipe stock midpipe and catback i had was a bit obnoxious

current set up is the catleass gruppe S header and overpipe to stock midpipe and out to the HKS Hi po single tip v2.


the ace header is the best of the best, but you can get like JDL or gruppe s header for less than half the cost and youll get near the same performance. esp with the midpipe and axle back being OE.. the axle back on the stock cars is kinda wimpy..

Thank you for pointing out that there are two cats on the car. I didn't realize that (I should have done more research). That rules out the ACE header for me.

From some quick searching and education, it looks like the FT86 Speed Factory catted header might be the one for me. Anyone using that one with the rest of the exhaust system stock?

Thanks!

I run headers and a tune with an otherwise stock exhaust. Meh... The bump in power is noticeable, but only barely. The 2017+ cars got nicer headers so the difference is probably less noticeable than the earlier cars. Downside is there is much more tinny exhaust noise from under the car, and of course, emissions.

Do you have any pics and videos of it? How much did it cost you, and what specific Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator did you purchase? (what diameter in and out?)

I am about to install Gruppe-s UEL and would love to do this and pair it with a catback!

Unfortunately most of the gain from most non ACE headers is from removing the cat, especially in comparison to 2017+ header.
Also most of the catted headers use a high flow cat which helps a little, but most end up going bad in 2 years, and don't even guarantee you pass.

The simplest thing would be to just do a drop in filter with ots tune,
or go ace but swap back to stock come emission time. Its a pretty quick job once you've done it once or twice.

Check your local emission laws sometimes you can pass with 1 failed ready check If you have no CEL, and might still pass with just FP cat. Or could try a 02 spacer if they don't do visual check.

Any family or friends live in city/county that don’t require emissions? Could register car at their residence.

He asked if we were happy with just a Header on the stock exhaust system I gave him an explanation as to why I was not EG Header on a stock Exhaust exhaust sounds crap, I don't care what anyone says it does not sound "stock" Toyota and Subaru wouldn't let a vehicle leave the factory with it sounding like that, and you need to do some modifications if you want it to sound nice or OEM spec.