Do all catless header sound like complete garbage? - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

Wil · 01-31-2020, 06:36 PM

Hi everyone,
I recently installed an OFH 2 UEL catless header on my 2013 GT86 and it sounds like crap.
I mean, almost like there's a leak. Except there's none! It sounds like my exhaust is made of coke cans. Sounds like a helicopter, almost. Do you see what I mean?

Here's what I've done:

1. I installed the header with 3 new gaskets - sounded bad
2. I retorqued everything to be absolutely sure everything was perfectly installed - still sounded bad
3. I unmounted the header, noticed a very very small crack (it's second hand) - rewelded it and rebolted the header after polishing the block, header and overpipe flanges and applied some Holts Firegum on the header to overpipe section - still, no improvement
4. Retorqued everything again after driving just to be sure.
Still bad

I already had that problem with a gutted stock header but assumed it was the empty cat that was creating some resonance.

So, simple question:
Do all catless header sound "tiny" like described above?
Can't even say it's because of the thinner stainless steel, it does it with a the gutted stock header as well.

Thank you for your inputs

86MLR · 01-31-2020, 06:52 PM

Personally I found a catless UEL header to be obnoxiously loud on a NA car with a 2.5" XForce or decated OEM header back exhaust.

So much so I removed the Tomei UEL header within 2 weeks of installing it and replaced it with a decated OEM header.

I never found the OEM decated system tinny. And I decated both the hesder and front pipe.

I currently have an UEL header with my AVO turbo setup, but the turbo does an excellent job at muffling the noise.

PulsarBeeerz · 01-31-2020, 07:04 PM

I have a catless HKS header, resonated front pipe and resonated Perrin exhaust. I have zero raspiness. I could see the oem exhaust not being able to tone it down.

weederr33 · 01-31-2020, 07:26 PM

I have catless HKS headers and their R-Spec front pipe and find the tone just fine.

Lantanafrs2 · 01-31-2020, 09:16 PM

No drone or raspiness with my ofh. Completley stock from header back

Breadman · 01-31-2020, 09:34 PM

you have uel they are designed intentionally to sound like trash.

i have ace headers and as of right now stock everything behind the merge and think it sounds fine. i will be pick up a 60s tomorrow so its probably going to sound like shit. ill probably get a custom straight through on the end or something

jflogerzi · 01-31-2020, 10:35 PM

My catless JDL 4-2-1 EL sounds great with a stock FP with stock resonator removed and a nice vibrant resonator added in place and a mxp SP catback

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

DarkPira7e · 01-31-2020, 10:42 PM

Unequal length is literally the sound of poor design. With that said, a catted UEL header gets the lumpiness without the bark

Ultramaroon · 01-31-2020, 10:48 PM

Nothing says performance like the sound of a dead cylinder.

Wil · 02-01-2020, 03:10 AM

I don't think the problem is EL/UEL.
It sounds like there's a leak. You see what I mean when I say the "helicopter sound", on throttle? Like pulses are resonating against thin metal. I don't have the problem with a catted stock header.

Had the problem with a gutted stock header that had the heat shield removed. Might try putting it back on and see what develops.

DarkPira7e · 02-01-2020, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil

I don't think the problem is EL/UEL.
It sounds like there's a leak. You see what I mean when I say the "helicopter sound", on throttle? Like pulses are resonating against thin metal. I don't have the problem with a catted stock header.

Had the problem with a gutted stock header that had the heat shield removed. Might try putting it back on and see what develops.

Why not pay a shop the labor to put it on the lift and find out if there's a leak? It's take them 2 minutes to diagnose

snuff58 · 02-01-2020, 08:03 AM

I was never happy with the quietness of the stock exhaust. (MY14) Did some reading and decided to keep stock EL header. Although I replaced the CAT with a straight section of stainless and replaced the O2 sensor bungs. It still didn't really sound like a sports car. Next I removed the muffler unit and replaced it with a single pipe to the left exit. I love it! No rasp! Very little cost! ( I intend to replace my muffler delete with a nice one, though.)

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Wil · 02-01-2020, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkPira7e

Why not pay a shop the labor to put it on the lift and find out if there's a leak? It's take them 2 minutes to diagnose

done and rewelded in the process.
At low rev, the car just farts out that's embarassing.

jflogerzi · 02-01-2020, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil

done and rewelded in the process.

At low rev, the car just farts out that's embarassing.

Video... Not used to UEL sounds?

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

01-31-2020, 06:36 PM	#1
Wil Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Drives: Drives like a crab. Location: Belgium Posts: 101 Thanks: 2 Thanked 42 Times in 14 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Do all catless header sound like complete garbage? Hi everyone, I recently installed an OFH 2 UEL catless header on my 2013 GT86 and it sounds like crap. I mean, almost like there's a leak. Except there's none! It sounds like my exhaust is made of coke cans. Sounds like a helicopter, almost. Do you see what I mean? Here's what I've done: 1. I installed the header with 3 new gaskets - sounded bad 2. I retorqued everything to be absolutely sure everything was perfectly installed - still sounded bad 3. I unmounted the header, noticed a very very small crack (it's second hand) - rewelded it and rebolted the header after polishing the block, header and overpipe flanges and applied some Holts Firegum on the header to overpipe section - still, no improvement 4. Retorqued everything again after driving just to be sure. Still bad I already had that problem with a gutted stock header but assumed it was the empty cat that was creating some resonance. So, simple question: Do all catless header sound "tiny" like described above? Can't even say it's because of the thinner stainless steel, it does it with a the gutted stock header as well. Thank you for your inputs

01-31-2020, 06:52 PM	#2
86MLR Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2018 Drives: 2002 VX Commodore SS LS1 Auto Location: Sydney Posts: 2,203 Thanks: 500 Thanked 2,185 Times in 1,111 Posts Mentioned: 13 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Personally I found a catless UEL header to be obnoxiously loud on a NA car with a 2.5" XForce or decated OEM header back exhaust. So much so I removed the Tomei UEL header within 2 weeks of installing it and replaced it with a decated OEM header. I never found the OEM decated system tinny. And I decated both the hesder and front pipe. I currently have an UEL header with my AVO turbo setup, but the turbo does an excellent job at muffling the noise. __________________ Disclaimer: This post represents the official views of the voices in my head at the time of posting. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133311 I'm only here for the biscuits

01-31-2020, 07:26 PM	#4
weederr33 Airborne at your service Join Date: Sep 2014 Drives: '17 BRZ Series.Yellow Location: El Paso, Texas Posts: 6,326 Thanks: 4,529 Thanked 5,587 Times in 2,929 Posts Mentioned: 33 Post(s) Tagged: 2 Thread(s)	I have catless HKS headers and their R-Spec front pipe and find the tone just fine. __________________ Series.Yellowbird - http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122135 MS, CSCS, TSAC-F, CPT

01-31-2020, 10:48 PM	#9
Ultramaroon 義理チョコ Join Date: Sep 2014 Drives: a 13 e8h frs Location: vantucky, wa Posts: 31,868 Thanks: 52,132 Thanked 36,519 Times in 18,920 Posts Mentioned: 1106 Post(s) Tagged: 9 Thread(s)	Nothing says performance like the sound of a dead cylinder. __________________ service manuals

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Sound question : Catless header + HFC Fp and Catted headr + catted Fp ?	l3ooml3al2al3a	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	12	03-22-2019 10:22 AM
Sound Clip of Catted UEL Header with Catless Front Pipe	lc300	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	1	03-21-2019 05:24 AM
Catted Front Pipe w/ Catless Header sound difference?	HeresMyMind	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	6	09-19-2018 09:05 PM
catless header vs catless frontpipe	steveholt	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	30	10-10-2017 07:13 PM
Gutted cat stock header vs aftermarket catless header NA application	stevo585	Engine, Exhaust, Transmission	8	04-04-2014 04:12 PM

01-31-2020, 07:04 PM	#3
PulsarBeeerz Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Drives: JRSC BRZ SOLD Location: Ohio Posts: 934 Thanks: 676 Thanked 739 Times in 396 Posts Mentioned: 3 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I have a catless HKS header, resonated front pipe and resonated Perrin exhaust. I have zero raspiness. I could see the oem exhaust not being able to tone it down.

01-31-2020, 09:16 PM	#5
Lantanafrs2 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Drives: 2013 frs red Location: South Florida Posts: 3,517 Thanks: 2,520 Thanked 3,088 Times in 1,654 Posts Mentioned: 6 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	No drone or raspiness with my ofh. Completley stock from header back

01-31-2020, 09:34 PM	#6
Breadman Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2017 Drives: 2017 BRZ w/PP Location: Pa Posts: 1,027 Thanks: 51 Thanked 302 Times in 225 Posts Mentioned: 3 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	you have uel they are designed intentionally to sound like trash. i have ace headers and as of right now stock everything behind the merge and think it sounds fine. i will be pick up a 60s tomorrow so its probably going to sound like shit. ill probably get a custom straight through on the end or something

01-31-2020, 10:42 PM	#8
DarkPira7e Rust bucket enthusiast Join Date: Feb 2017 Drives: 2013 Turbo Firestorm FRS Location: Vermont Posts: 3,934 Thanks: 3,200 Thanked 4,095 Times in 2,045 Posts Mentioned: 31 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Unequal length is literally the sound of poor design. With that said, a catted UEL header gets the lumpiness without the bark

02-01-2020, 03:10 AM	#10
Wil Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Drives: Drives like a crab. Location: Belgium Posts: 101 Thanks: 2 Thanked 42 Times in 14 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I don't think the problem is EL/UEL. It sounds like there's a leak. You see what I mean when I say the "helicopter sound", on throttle? Like pulses are resonating against thin metal. I don't have the problem with a catted stock header. Had the problem with a gutted stock header that had the heat shield removed. Might try putting it back on and see what develops.

02-01-2020, 08:03 AM	#12
snuff58 Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Drives: 2014 Subaru BRZ Limited MTblue Location: Ohio Posts: 95 Thanks: 20 Thanked 34 Times in 21 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I was never happy with the quietness of the stock exhaust. (MY14) Did some reading and decided to keep stock EL header. Although I replaced the CAT with a straight section of stainless and replaced the O2 sensor bungs. It still didn't really sound like a sports car. Next I removed the muffler unit and replaced it with a single pipe to the left exit. I love it! No rasp! Very little cost! ( I intend to replace my muffler delete with a nice one, though.) Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

User Name		Remember Me?
Password