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#1 |
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Borla Unequal Length Header Review and DIY
Borla Unequal Length Header Review and DIY
I will start off this post with a question: Am I the first supercharged car with a header? Maybe, probably, who knows! Exciting nonetheless! Today I'm here to talk about the newly released Borla Unequal Length Header. First I want to thank Jeremy at @FT-86 SpeedFactory for his high definition service. His organization is quality. He's straight with you and that's all I can ask. Another big thanks to @Chris@Phastek for allowing me to use his facilities for the install and dynoing the car. @post_break and @Pete also came out to assist and check out the noises Lola was making. I appreciate them helping and @post_break making that awesome video. Here we go: Full header shots. It's not a very complicated part. Half the pipes are longer than the other and it merges in a 4-1 style. There are flex pipes that account for movement and vibration. The different in lengths is why everyone refers to this as unequal length. Since the exhaust gases in half the cylinders has to travel further than the other, it makes a rumble exhaust note. The "Boxer Rumble" as everyone calls it. It is a marvelous sound. ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeaderTeaser-047 by VictorN07, on Flickr ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeaderTeaser-048 by VictorN07, on Flickr ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-028 by VictorN07, on Flickr Front O2 Sensor Bung ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-022 by VictorN07, on Flickr 4-1 Collector ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-023 by VictorN07, on Flickr This is how the header would be oriented if you were looking at it from the front of the car ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-025 by VictorN07, on Flickr Aft O2 Sensor bung and rear flange. ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-026 by VictorN07, on Flickr Front O2 Sensor bung and flex pipes ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-027 by VictorN07, on Flickr Close up of Flex pipes. They really do give some room for wiggle ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-029 by VictorN07, on Flickr Some weld shots ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-030 by VictorN07, on Flickr Inside of the collector ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-033 by VictorN07, on Flickr Flange that connects to the block. The flange is welded the pipe from the inside. Very interesting ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-037 by VictorN07, on Flickr ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-040 by VictorN07, on Flickr The outside of the pipes that connect to the flanges. Note ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-038 by VictorN07, on Flickr ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-043 by VictorN07, on Flickr ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-049 by VictorN07, on Flickr ![]() 20130322-BorlaHeader-050 by VictorN07, on Flickr
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#2 |
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Feedback
It's late but I'll try to write up something. -Choosing The moment I knew I had to have a header came when I saw some early dyno graphs of P&L's header eliminating the torque dip. I absolutely hate the torque dip, it simply makes the car feel slow when you realize you have all this power kick in around 4.5K. Mind you I made this decision before I installed the Vortech Supercharger. In terms of power I didn't really care since the Vortech was handling that. I kept hearing about this Boxer Rumble. I think my exhaust sounded great but I felt like it the catback / resonated Perrin Headerback exhaust was starting to be *too* quiet. I knew a freer flowing exhaust would make things louder, but hopefully not too loud. So my priorities became - Must get rid of torque dip - Unequal length to get the boxer rumbles - Must come from a company with a good reputation/service I kept reading about many headers, however everything was really a secret when it came to power. :/ Borla came out, sorta first eh?. Although I didn't have too much power reference, it made sense a freer flowing exhaust would help, and the other two priorities were checked. I asked Jeremy at @FT-86 SpeedFactory and he was able to help with all my concerns about emissions and what not. Borla is a big company with overall good reputation. They also have a flex pipe which made sense and appealed to me, and the million mile warranty. I felt good so here we go. -In hand The wait was kind of painful. Borla delayed shipment because of a design issue. This resulted in a month wait. In the meantime I got the vortech system installed. This made installing the header much more exciting since there wasn't much out there about the Vortech with an full exhaust. The unit came injection foam packed from borla. When I picked it up I noticed it was very light. Jeremy listed the unit at 11lbs. Since I already had a heavy ass battery and supercharger kit, I knew removing header weight would raise the center of gravity!!! The build was.....decent. I've seen good welds and this wasn't it. However it wasn't the worst welds I've seen. Borla mass produces their items which means the parts are consistent, but the quality of the welds may not be the best since that takes time. As the pictures show, things look to be put together well. Even if the welds fail we have that warranty from Borla. I thought it was interesting the flanges that connect to the engine were welded from the inside. The kit came instructions and two bolts to connect the header to the overpipe. That's it. The thing that would have been nice to have were gaskets. The gaskets weren't hard to source, they are the same as other Subaru engines so the dealer has piles of them laying around. Despite the above I was still excited to get this part up. -Retrospective Later on Jeremy posted this awesome header compilation thread: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31555 The one thing I noticed was that all the other headers were going for a grand, when the Borla was going for 650ish. Of course the other headers (P&L, Nameless, FA20Club) were different designs and hand made. Most of the pictures I've seen show top notch welding. I'll advocate those products all day; I got Borla because I was impatient and they did come early to market. One thing to think about though, do any of the other headers offer that much extra performance to warrant the extra $3-400 dollars. Wasn't sure. I hope others can do their independent tests and find out. -Emissions concern The car has two Oxygen sensors in the header to measure Oxygen content of the exhaust (first O2 sensor) and measure catalytic converter efficiency (second O2 sensor). The Borla header does not have a catalytic converter so it's pretty much a free flowing exhaust. Without a cat, the second O2 sensor pretty much tells the computer the Cat is bad and to throw a code. It is also unlawful to run catless in many states. I had a high flow cat in my Perrin Front pipe so I was not worried about being unlawful. I was worried about throwing a code though. Talking to @PERRIN_Jeff, he indicated to me it is possible to turn off the code that is thrown when no Cats are detected. In my Vortech tune it was turned off. If you are curious about if your tune can go catless, please check with your tuner. -Installation This installation was very simple. Basically you drop the metal skidpan, unplug the O2 sensors from the car, PB Blaster the 6 header nuts and 2 overpipe nuts, wait, then remove it all, then bolt up the new one. I appreciate Jeremy telling me to unplug the O2 Sensors from the car then remove them from the header once the header is out of the car. Made swapping the O2 sensors easy There is where the simplicity stops. First the supercharger pipes made it difficult to unplug the two O2 sensors and unclip the wires from the engine. Not impossible but challenging The studs that join the header to the overpipe are welded into the header. This made bringing down the header difficult. We disconnected the front pipe/catback section so we can pull the overpipe away from the header to drop the part. The second O2 sensor bung was so close to the flange that it was we had to reverse the orientation of the bolts/nuts on the header to overpipe connection. The Bolra header pipes going to the driver side of the engine block, impede one of the nuts. This required us to concoct a ratchet made of u-joints to be able to torque down the nut. I will point this out later Even with the tight fitment of parts, the header is a very easy install. -Driving Hot damn. I'm going to post more tomorrow with video! Dyno I had a very small torque dip even with the supercharger. You can see that that little bump is smoothed out. 10 torques right there is healthy. A small amount of peak HP but that's fairly wash. I'm happy there is no more torque dip and there is a smallblock V8 sound. ![]() 20130323-BorlaUELHeaderInfo-006 by VictorN07, on Flickr Video Before I installed the Borla Exhaust manifold I had a @PERRIN Performance Overpipe Perrin Performance Catted Front Pipe Perrin Performance Resonated Catback Here is a sound clip of the before. Note the smooth note [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As1eP41biZs"]Pre Borla UEL Exhaust Manifold (Header) Sound - YouTube[/ame] This is what the car sounds like with the Borla Unequal Length Header. So much texture in the note [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olr3q_VuVro"]Post Borla UEL Exhaust Manifold (Header) Sound - YouTube[/ame] Drive by video 1 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPj9Vw1nGU"]Borla UEL Header (Exhaust Manifold) Drive by - YouTube[/ame] Drive by Video 2 [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH-LLMY66Qc"]Borla UEL Header (Exhaust Manifold) Drive by 2 - YouTube[/ame] This is a video Post_break did. He had better gear than I did for video. Good stuff [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj20JfV8MSI"]Scion FRS Borla UEL Header - YouTube[/ame] Some info, some old, some new. The Borla header weighs 11lbs and some change on the Phastek scale ![]() 20130323-BorlaUELHeaderInfo-001 by VictorN07, on Flickr The OEM header/exhaust manifold with its full clad is almost 21.5 lbs. ![]() 20130323-BorlaUELHeaderInfo-002 by VictorN07, on Flickr Here are the two headers side by side. The large bulge in the lower left of the OEM Exhaust manifold is the stock catalytic converter. I will take apart all the heat shielding and shoot some pics inside the cat to show everyone how bloody restrictive it is ![]() 20130323-BorlaUELHeaderInfo-003 by VictorN07, on Flickr Some goodies. Subaru Exhaust Manifold gaskets (top left), graphite gasket I had when I did my Perrin headerback (top right), Subaru exhaust crush gasket (bottom). The exhaust manifold gasket had two part numbers, I believe the top one is the new number. It is really a beefy part. about 2 mm thick. ![]() 20130323-BorlaUELHeaderInfo-004 by VictorN07, on Flickr
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#4 |
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do you know if the car goes into limp mode due to no cat?
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#5 |
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For an NA stock tuned car, I am not sure. I was already running a tuned supercharger setup and this header made more torque down low.
Hopefully someone knows the answer to that.
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#6 |
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I'm looking for clarification on the cats system on our cars; my RSX & most Honda's I know have just one main cat. From the different exhaust component threads on here I'm under the impression we have more than one (one in the header, one in the front pipe?)
I'm trying to remain complaint with SCCA Street Touring class which says I have to keep the OEM; no hi-flow or any replacements. would I be able to replace the Header with this UEL borla, while keeping the stock catted front pipe & still compete in ST class? Any chime in from SCCA members would be awesome; thanks ![]()
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#7 |
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#8 | |
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#9 | |
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After that I need an SCCA member knowledgeable with such gray area rulings to confirm if keeping at least the OEM cat in our front-pipe, while using this header, will pass inspection to stay within ST class.
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I'm sure I read in that class you can not run a header or front pipe.. Just a over pipe and cat back.. I'll do some digging and see if I can find the thread.. Due to the rules.. You must maintain the OEM cats.. Regardless of how many.. I'll try and find it
Also for what it's worth.. It is unlawful to remove this cat.. Even though we have a secondary cat. Technically you can't not remove this one and still be legal.. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/7522 |
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Looking forward to the install pics. I just ordered the FA20Club header. It looks pretty straight forward, but it's rare that things are as easy as they look. Thanks for posting!
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Good find, thank you!
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glad to see a header install post. I'm considering doing it on jack stands....Care to comment on the possibility of this?
I don't think having a secondary cat whilst removing the primary would make it legal in any state in which a cat is required. I'm pretty sure I'll fail in NJ without the secondary cat because my emissions shouldn't meet the requirements. I could be wrong though O_O |
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borla, header, unequal length |
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