Lol, I honestly don't mind stupid bumps. I hope the guy enjoys his evo.

 

seems he didn't know

 

Anndddd that's why you bumped a thread from '13.

 

I'm thinking of switching to an Evo.

The sound and looks were the only deciding factor I chose a WRX over an Evo. Oh and I didn't have enough for an Evo at the time, but now I do.

 

I know a few people who went from UL to EL headers. Some were the same brand and had the same tube diameters. Not one of them wanted to go back, not even the ones that had been fans of the blub-blub sound. A header is a performance modification. Last time I checked, UL were not any cheaper, or longer-lasting than EL headers. If you're more interested in sound than performance, just keep the stock manifolds.

 

There was a big ULH comparison thread on nasioc.. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're running a larger than VF turbo. From what I remember, they all spooled slower than stock, some were near equal to stock in top end, and some had decent gains from 5000rpm up. But if you're stage two and are looking for more power turbo upgrade will be the best bang for your buck.

 

That is true....but thermally they will be no worse off than ELH would be. I know that even with ceramic coating and heat wrapping it will not likely be as good with EGT as stock cast iron....I would just like aftermarket UELH considered in a header discussion, and what merits they might have for those of us that like the sound.

 

They're not going to retain heat near as well as cast iron manifolds either, which will also reduce exhaust velocity.

 

Aftermarket headers usually spool slower than stock. The idea is to maximize the kinetic energy of the exhaust gases. When you put headers on that flow better, they usually are a larger diameter. Larger diameter means larger volume and slower gas speeds, thus lower KE (for a given RPM).

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

Aftermarket headers usually spool slower than stock. The idea is to maximize the kinetic energy of the exhaust gases. When you put headers on that flow better, they usually are a larger diameter. Larger diameter means larger volume and slower gas speeds, thus lower KE (for a given RPM).

More flow usually means slower spool, not faster.. unless you're running a massive turbo.

Yes, I realize slower spool comes from larger tubing.....the Borla I was mentioning has 1.625" (outside diameter) primaries and 2.25" (outside diameter) collectors... which if I am not mistaken, are just about the same as stock cast dimensions. The increased flow coming from smooth bends and transitions rather than larger tubing.

 

Anyone know what kind of gains you can realistically get from like Borla UEL headers? They flow more than stock, so they should gain some power, and should gain some spool time too....they sound different from stock as well (deeper thump).

It seems most of the time when comparing EL vs UEL, it is done stock vs aftermarket.....I would like to know aftermarket vs aftermarket personally

Ignition timing would likely have to be retarded a bit; maybe 1-2° vs 2-3°.

 

Anyone know what kind of gains you can realistically get from like Borla UEL headers? They flow more than stock, so they should gain some power, and should gain some spool time too....they sound different from stock as well (deeper thump).

It seems most of the time when comparing EL vs UEL, it is done stock vs aftermarket.....I would like to know aftermarket vs aftermarket personally

 

More flow usually means slower spool, not faster.. unless you're running a massive turbo.

 

I think everyone should realize that you bought a WRX instead of an STI. I love my WRX and I think it performs rather well in stock form, but obviously not as well as the STI. If you were concerned about maximum performance, you would have chosen an STI.

That's all you have to say.

In stock form, on the street, you will be hard-pressed to find yourself in a situation where the '08+ STI really outshines the '09+ WRX. You need to get into heavy modifications (where the transmission becomes a potential liability), or be pushing the car hard enough to be unsafe on public roadways.

Back to the UEL vs EL debate, TopSpeed did a nice review of a header/uppipe combo from Invidia on the GR body style:

Source: Link

 

In stock form, on the street, you will be hard-pressed to find yourself in a situation where the '08+ STI really outshines the '09+ WRX. You need to get into heavy modifications (where the transmission becomes a potential liability), or be pushing the car hard enough to be unsafe on public roadways.

I agree. I should have clarified.. only meant that the STI is simply a better platform for those that want to mod furiously.

As you said, on the street there is not much difference between the WRX and STI. That's why I chose to save money and buy a WRX for my daily.

 

EL all day long.

 

FWIW, you couldn't PAY me to run EL headers on my car. I'm probably losing 40 or so with my setup. The only way I would ever run EL headers is if I ever build my dream twin turbo setup.

 

After listening to that video, unequal gets my vote for better sound any day.

 

I think everyone should realize that you bought a WRX instead of an STI. I love my WRX and I think it performs rather well in stock form, but obviously not as well as the STI. If you were concerned about maximum performance, you would have chosen an STI.

That's all you have to say.

 

I think everyone should realize that you bought a WRX instead of an STI. I love my WRX and I think it performs rather well in stock form, but obviously not as well as the STI. If you were concerned about maximum performance, you would have chosen an STI.

I couldn't say the above and believe it. I love my modded bugeye wagon. 61 cubic feet of cargo space, 300awhp, sounds awesome, and handles decently for what it is. (No Impreza is really a balanced handler, IMO) Purchased used, plus mods, I'm still in for less than what I would have paid for a new STI.

 

they both sound equally cool to me, but one of them makes about 20whp more on a given setup than the other. or so ive heard. so i know what ill be getting when one out of warranty day i man up and buy a rotated kit.

 

Yep. I picked up right around 20whp/20wtq going to an EL header. That's all I care about. The blub-blub sound is overrated.

I'd be willing to bet the next generation WRX/STi will have the turbo in the same front location as the latest FA20 DIT Legacy GT they have in Japan.

 

Why are you assuming the new 2.0 WRX will have EL headers? The BRZ does not have a turbo which means the headers don't have to run up one side of the engine to the turbo. That's the main reason for the UEL headers. This isn't the first time we had a 2.0 in an STi or WRX and in Japan they still have 2.0 engine. While the majority of the engine might be the same, they are two different cars, one with a turbo one not. The piping, cooling will make the overall engine bay different. An example of this would be the old late 90's DSMs (GST, GSX, TSI, TSI AWD) and the EVO...

What i'm trying to say is we don't know yet.

 

Wow, that's a mammoth difference. Great video.

 

 

Also... worth mentioning on this note... I think EL headers are much harder to accurately represent in a youtube video as compared to UEL. I haven't really heard an exhaust video that I like, but the EL ones always get the short end of the stick when run through a microphone.

 

I agree with what everyone else here said. Your car, your money, your happiness. Do as you please. I'm not sure if an aftermarket UEL would be worth it or not, I've never looked into the gains. I don't like the ELH sound and I've heard plenty of videos and headers. Doesn't do it for me. I can see the advantages though. If you are trying to squeeze every bit of power out of the engine it's definitely necessary. It also makes the sound much smoother and quieter, which some people may desire.

Knowing that the new 2.0 will likely have EL headers is a big turn off to me.

How do you know this? Nobody here knows this. Sure the brz has EL headers, but that's because it doesn't have a turbo... If anything I'd bet that we will continue to get UEL headers on our turbo engines, the JDM STI stopped using them, yet we still get them, and people still buy it. People here must really like the sound or something

 

I'd love to do a "sound check" on this at CF, if we can get two cars with similar exhaust systems, one with ELH, the other with UEL. I don't know that I've ever paid attention to the difference.

 

Bruce and I have a similar system. His has a resonator in the midpipe and a cat in the down pipe. Otherwise, we both have the Nameless Performance catback. I have the Invidia EL exhaust.

Standing outside the car, I'd probably give the nod to the UEL at idle or with a light rev. The EL headers are surprisingly quieter at idle as well. Either way, the performance benefits when I put them on really trump the difference.

 

I personally feel that well designed ELH sounds MUCH better than UEL. That brappy burbly "Subaru" sound really annoys the hell out of me these days, especially when paired with a fhart can, which seems to be the popular choice these days.

 

At this point I still much prefer the sound of inefficiency too. Do ELH produce more power? Sure! But on MY car I like the rumble. There are others who don't, and bully for them! To each their own.