Exhaust decisions help

[Dirty Harry]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been researching exhausts extensively but I’m having trouble deciding.

I want to run catted headers for emissions purposes. I was looking at the HKS GT-Spec and phoned up a local tuner to discuss prices etc. he says I should replace the front pipe also as it’s quite restrictive, but that seems to contradict what a lot of people on here say, i.e. most gains are from replacing the header.

I then looked at the HKS R-Spec, which has the front pipe replaced too, but that is roughly $1000 more and is really starting to get out of my budget. Both exhausts can be ordered from japanparts, they seem to be the cheapest there.

Other option is to get a cheaper catted header and catted front pipe, from Ultrex which is a local Australian company, which solves the budget issue, but I’m not sure about the quality etc.

Questions:

Is replacing the Header and Front Pipe going to give that much of a gain over just the Header?

I’m thinking of using Revzone as the tuner, if anyone has used them before that would be great to hear feedback?

Are Ultrex products any good? I haven’t found much info on here about them.

Prices (AUD)

HKS GT-Spec: roughly $2000 including shipping.
HKS R-Spec: roughly $3000 including shipping.
Ultrex header/Front pipe: roughly $1000 including shipping.

Thanks, any advice/feedback would be really helpful.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

Hi everyone,

I’ve been researching exhausts extensively but I’m having trouble deciding.

I want to run catted headers for emissions purposes. I was looking at the HKS GT-Spec and phoned up a local tuner to discuss prices etc. he says I should replace the front pipe also as it’s quite restrictive, but that seems to contradict what a lot of people on here say, i.e. most gains are from replacing the header.

I then looked at the HKS R-Spec, which has the front pipe replaced too, but that is roughly $1000 more and is really starting to get out of my budget. Both exhausts can be ordered from japanparts, they seem to be the cheapest there.

Other option is to get a cheaper catted header and catted front pipe, from Ultrex which is a local Australian company, which solves the budget issue, but I’m not sure about the quality etc.

Questions:

Is replacing the Header and Front Pipe going to give that much of a gain over just the Header?

I’m thinking of using Revzone as the tuner, if anyone has used them before that would be great to hear feedback?

Are Ultrex products any good? I haven’t found much info on here about them.

Prices (AUD)

HKS GT-Spec: roughly $2000 including shipping.
HKS R-Spec: roughly $3000 including shipping.
Ultrex header/Front pipe: roughly $1000 including shipping.

Thanks, any advice/feedback would be really helpful.

The FP is just a nice, extra addition but you can skip it. Have you considered Spec-L from HKS. That is what I run and the sound is very exquisite with the catted headers and Double Res F.P. I can record some startup and rev if you'd like.

I haven't heard of Ultrex before but the only thing I'd recommend is to make sure they have a lifetime warranty in case stuff goes south.



You'll also want to replace your hangers to a JDM Spec ones which would greatly help reduce cabin vibration.

[Dirty Harry]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

The FP is just a nice, extra addition but you can skip it. Have you considered Spec-L from HKS. That is what I run and the sound is very exquisite with the catted headers and Double Res F.P. I can record some startup and rev if you'd like.

I haven't heard of Ultrex before but the only thing I'd recommend is to make sure they have a lifetime warranty in case stuff goes south.



You'll also want to replace your hangers to a JDM Spec ones which would greatly help reduce cabin vibration.

Thanks for the advice, I do currently have the STI axle back, so I’d have to get rid of that too and replace it with the Spec-L. I must admit it does look pretty cool though. I’m leaning towards the HKS GT-spec header, as a start anyway. How did you find the gains after a tune? I’m assuming I’d get similar results to you. Did you get a custom tune as well? So do you need to buy the hangers separately as part of the exhaust upgrade?

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

Thanks for the advice, I do currently have the STI axle back, so I’d have to get rid of that too and replace it with the Spec-L. I must admit it does look pretty cool though. I’m leaning towards the HKS GT-spec header, as a start anyway. How did you find the gains after a tune? I’m assuming I’d get similar results to you. Did you get a custom tune as well? So do you need to buy the hangers separately as part of the exhaust upgrade?

The car feels way smoother along the power line after the tune. I had OFT but decided to contact Steve99 and I couldn't have made a better choice. As as an specific HP number I couldn't tell you. I've never taken the car to the Dyno, so I could only guesstimate. I want to say around the 190 ish HP?



The hangers are purchased separately. I got mine from Nengun, took about a month.