exhaust problem

[soxfan019]

I bought a 2004 wrx about a month ago and the other day the middle piece of my exhaust which is about 2 feet long fell off. When i brought it to the shop and had the car lifted, there were exhaust leaks on top of the pipes from rust. right now, there is like a 4 foot long pipe coming from the cad converter and then the middle 2 foot piece is gone and then the tip is just attached in the back connected to nothing. I ordered a borla catback exhaust early yesterday that is 2.5 inches in diameter. i got overnight shipping but now i got an email saying it wont be in till next week. Is it safe to drive my car still if i keep the RPM's low so the turbo wont kick in? I also installed the stage 2 map from the perrin accessport and i can tell that i was not getting the 285 whp that i was supposed to get...prob because of back pressure problems, so will this new exhaust be a big difference in power? Ill note that there were a good amount of exhaust leaks.

Thanks,

Jon

[CJ05]

A catback doesn't net you that much power. It will though help with reaching full potential of the perrin map reflash. Are you sure it is 285whp or just 285hp (at the crank)?

Does the car have the stock exhaust on it or is it an aftermarket system. Kinda having trouble following which pipes you are referring to. Sounds like the 3rd cat pipe and intermediate pipe (contains resonator) are th epipes you are having issues with.

Are you talking about running stright off the downpipe? Possible, but something i would not recommend.

[brfatal]

You cannot run a stage 2 tune with just a catback exhaust. You need to replace the downpipe as well. And it's 285 crank hp, not wheel hp.

[soxfan019]

yeah i was wrong it is hp to crank. the exhaust system from before is not stock so there is a down pipe and that is fine. i just needed everything from cad converter to the tip. the car actually sounds pretty nice right now, but that didnt convince me it was alright to drive so i just need to know if i am able to drive my car for important things (driving my car normal not fast). before i installed the map i had a guy at a shop take a look at it and he said i was all set to use the map.

[brfatal]

You original post is a bit confusing. Is the problem that you don't think you're making the power you're supposed to be cause of exhaust leaks and back pressure?

[soxfan019]

I didnt know what it was but once i found the exhaust leaks, i figured that was it. I am a new wrx owner, I dont know a lot about this stuff. I just went out to take some pics under the car so ill post them on photobucket. If something else is wrong that i dont see please let me know. i deff want to learn everything i need to know in order to get my car to its potential the safe way.

this post wont let me post pics cause u need 3 posts and i only have 2 since this is my first time using this forum

[soxfan019]

Here are the pics

Flickr: soxfan019's Photostream

[brfatal]

As long as the leaks are post-turbo, they shouldn't really affect power. If the leaks are pre-turbo (exhaust manifold or up-pipe), that's another matter and can actually cause damage if you continue to drive the car without addressing it.

[soxfan019]

ok. well what i will do when i get this exhaust system is go to the track and plug in my accessport and run some data logs and do a dyno run with it. after that ill post the numbers so i can find out how my car is running