DIY X REVIEW: CNT UEL HEADER INSTALL

[adamg]

Hey guys this is a review and DIY on the New CNT Catless UEL Headers

These are the most affordable UEL headers on the market and surprising by a very reputable brand in the Subaru community. I ordered these directly through CNT and they were great to work with and shipped these out the next day via FedEx. Came very quick and packed perfectly. Came with new gaskets and hardware. Install went smoothly and took less than 2 hours by myself with simple hand tools.

Tools included

ratchet with

10mm, 12mm, 14mm, & 17mm

Flathead Screwdriver

7/8 Wrench







First remove the skid plate
remove the 7 clips, and 12 bolts



Then remove the 14mm bolt on the front pipe hanger


Then remove the 2 14mm bolts to the up pipe


Then remove the clips to the o2 sensors and the clips connecting the lines



Then remove the 6 bolts for the header

Now the tricky part is removing the header. This takes a little patience to get it out but its not bad.

Now that its out remove the o2 sensors from the OEM header with a 7/8 wrench and install into the new header.




Now repeat the steps in reverse. start with installing the new gaskets and bolt up the header and install the 6 bolts.

Then install the 2 bolts and gasket to the up pipe.

Then install the 14mm bolt to the front pipe hanger.

Then install the o2 sensor clips.



Finally install the skid plate with all the clips and bolts.

/FINISHED. Enjoy!


Before the install i have the Manzo M2 Catback.

Before
(PRESS TO WATCH)




After
(PRESS TO WATCH)






REVIEW

The exhaust sounds amazing. Combined with the cat back it has a great boxer rumble now. It surprising isn't much louder than it was before. The car feels much more powerful the torque dip feels gone. I haven't tuned it yet (OFT will be coming soon) and i also don't have a CEL light yet.

The headers felt awesome, especially for the price, $350 shipped to my door. Best bang for your buck exhaust piece. I will hopefully get dyno charts for you guys before and after OFT.

Feel free to ask questions about the product or installation.

Link to headers

https://www.cntracing.com/category-s/280.htm

[crash]

Thanks for this.
I hope there was more to that packaging than shown, not even a single piece of bubble wrap or packaging. Whats some plastic bag going to protect?

It does look and sound nice though.
Have you noticed any rattles or any other anomalies while driving with it?
Any problems with fitment?

[adamg]

Originally Posted by crash

Thanks for this.
I hope there was more to that packaging than shown, not even a single piece of bubble wrap or packaging. Whats some plastic bag going to protect?

It does look and sound nice though.
Have you noticed any rattles or any other anomalies while driving with it?
Any problems with fitment?

No rattles at all and fitment felt OEM. just bolted right up without any effort

[themadscientist]

Not digging the collector interior, but it's pleasing to the eye and it's great that it bolts up straightaway. A lot of budget parts need to be "massaged." You drop some pounds over the stock piece?

Yet another UEL header demonstrate Subaru didn't have to sell this car with a torque dip.

Thanks for the review!

[adamg]

Originally Posted by themadscientist

Not digging the collector interior, but it's pleasing to the eye and it's great that it bolts up straightaway. A lot of budget parts need to be "massaged." You drop some pounds over the stock piece?

Yet another UEL header demonstrate Subaru didn't have to sell this car with a torque dip.

Thanks for the review!

Yes the stock one is about 25 pounds and the new one is closer to 10 pounds. HUGE difference

[themadscientist]

It looks crazy heavy sitting on the floor there.

So are all you guys swapping in these aftermarket headers getting any crap from your dealers when you go in for warranty service?

I'm deathly afraid of the dealer screwing me on some failure on the car because I switched something. I only ditched the stock wheels, but I would really like an oil cooler at minimum and hearing these UEL headers and seeing the torque dip smooth out is really enticing.

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by themadscientist

It looks crazy heavy sitting on the floor there.

So are all you guys swapping in these aftermarket headers getting any crap from your dealers when you go in for warranty service?

I'm deathly afraid of the dealer screwing me on some failure on the car because I switched something. I only ditched the stock wheels, but I would really like an oil cooler at minimum and hearing these UEL headers and seeing the torque dip smooth out is really enticing.

no offense but we heard this kind of question so many times.
it all depends on dealer. I would switch to OEM for warranty services no matter what. it's annoying to switching back to back. don't worry about failure that did not happen yet. worry when it happened. you cannot mod anything if worry too much about some failure later

[zc06_kisstherain]

OP, nice review..i wish i could hear in person. CEL probably not on yet but probably will after driving for while (learning time!) try defouler or O2 eliminator adapter if that happens. OFT will clear it though if you get it later

[phobos512]

Looks good. Now, get their catted front pipe and tell me THAT doesn't make it louder

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by phobos512

Looks good. Now, get their catted front pipe and tell me THAT doesn't make it louder

it won't make much difference. maybe little reduced sound. how do i know?
because i got catless front pipe then catted one but i barely notice difference with my nameless axle back. i didnt bother switch back to catless due to my lazyness. lol

[phobos512]

Originally Posted by zc06_kisstherain

it won't make much difference. maybe little reduced sound. how do i know?
because i got catless front pipe then catted one but i barely notice difference with my nameless axle back. i didnt bother switch back to catless due to my lazyness. lol

You should really check out my build thread if you think it makes no difference. It made an enormous difference on my car. It is WAAAAY louder, easily 2x as loud swapping from stock front pipe to catted front pipe (in conjunction with PTuning EL header, Perrin overpipe and Berk single delete). I even have video.

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by phobos512

You should really check out my build thread if you think it makes no difference. It made an enormous difference on my car. It is WAAAAY louder, easily 2x as loud swapping from stock front pipe to catted front pipe (in conjunction with PTuning EL header, Perrin overpipe and Berk single delete). I even have video.

I didnt mention stock front pipe to aftermarket
i mentioned catless (motiv) to catted (berk)

yeah there is noticeable difference from stock to aftermarket

[Chad_W]

Originally Posted by phobos512

You should really check out my build thread if you think it makes no difference. It made an enormous difference on my car. It is WAAAAY louder, easily 2x as loud swapping from stock front pipe to catted front pipe (in conjunction with PTuning EL header, Perrin overpipe and Berk single delete). I even have video.

If that's the case, you may have an exhaust leak. While your set-up sounds like it's on the louder side to begin, removing a resonator and switching to higher flow cat is not typically going increase volume tremendously. I have a Tsudo cat-back and high flow non-resonated midpipe. I was barely louder than stock, except when it developed a leak between the midpipe and cat back

[phobos512]

Originally Posted by Chad_W

If that's the case, you may have an exhaust leak. While your set-up sounds like it's on the louder side to begin, removing a resonator and switching to higher flow cat is not typically going increase volume tremendously. I have a Tsudo cat-back and high flow non-resonated midpipe. I was barely louder than stock, except when it developed a leak between the midpipe and cat back

Yeah, nope. No leaks. I've checked exhaustively, believe me. The car is no louder at idle but during a cold start (prior to correcting for timing via OFT, and that vid in my build log both times was first start so I hadn't done anything other than drop in the OTS tunes...) and also at high RPM it is very much louder than it was with the stock cat.

The stock cat is a very different design than a high flow cat. Also, I have no muffler at all in my exhaust - just the resonator that's in the stock midpipe. We're comparing too many different variables.