I can tell you the n1 on anything sounds like poverty. Its got the cut off muffler glass pack sound.

Of those choices the r400 is the superior choice.

In the future you should be going catted, there is zero reason to go catless as the gains from it are only slight. The fa20f responds better to changes on the cold side of the turbo with egr and tgvs making a good impact to the car.

 

This is a personal choice. NO ONE ELSE can make the decision for you.

Do you like the stock exhaust? I do. See?

 

Yeah cheers for stating what is blatantly obvious mate.

I’m trying to get real life perspectives on the differences between the two, since I can’t find direct comparisons online and I don’t have the luxury of hearing both in person - so that I can then make that decision myself.

I didn’t ask for someone to make a choice for me, I’m asking for help making my own choice. Thought that was pretty self explanatory. Congrats on liking the stock exhaust. Now, got any perspective / advice to offer on the differences of the N1 vs R400 in terms of tone/loudness (like I originally requested in the OP) specifically on the FA20, or you just here to waste my time?

 

What do you want? Loud and obnoxious? The N1 is not deep, in fact the louder the exhaust the less deep the tone usually.

The N1 will sound like a glass pack on a Honda.

If you want low low you will want more displacement, say a 7l engine and a baffled muffler like a flowmaster. Otherwise you are not getting any lower than stock. Just louder and a ton of drone.

 

What do you want? Loud and obnoxious? The N1 is not deep, in fact the louder the exhaust the less deep the tone usually.

The N1 will sound like a glass pack on a Honda.

If you want low low you will want more displacement, say a 7l engine and a baffled muffler like a flowmaster. Otherwise you are not getting any lower than stock. Just louder and a ton of drone.

I would not say I’m after ‘obnoxious’ but I definitely want loud. Or at least much louder than what is currently the stock exhaust.

In saying that, the most important attribute to me would be the deeper tone, providing an overall beefier aggressive tone to the exhaust.

This is where I’d be willing to compromise on loudness a bit, though because I’m after the tone I mentioned above, I still want it to be loud enough to be able to enjoy say inside of the cabin.

So far opinions of the N1 are not great. How does the R400 compare?

 

Hey man, (first post)

Im building my Stage 2 and opted for the N1 myself. I cant tell you how many videos I watched from Cobb, Tomei, Maperformance, Grimmspeed, etc searching for the right “tone”. With the FA20’s we’ll never have that true rumble so my thing was how close can I get? Its my dd, wont be tracked and I feel like the N1 has the deepest tone at low rpms and opens up in the higher range.

This is the tone Im going for. By far one of the best/deepest tones Ive heard but maybe my ears are shot? I did spend weeks scouring youtube lmao

If I dont like the N1, Ill pry sell it and get the R400. I know the dual cannon look of the N1 isnt favorable among most, but I like the sound, dont mind the look as I wanted to be a bit different than other WRX’s, and thats all that matters. The best part about modding is the ability to change it. Do the best research you can and pull the trigger. If it doesnt work, sell what you gave and level up.

Good luck man!

 

Hey man, (first post)

Im building my Stage 2 and opted for the N1 myself. I cant tell you how many videos I watched from Cobb, Tomei, Maperformance, Grimmspeed, etc searching for the right “tone”. With the FA20’s we’ll never have that true rumble so my thing was how close can I get? Its my dd, wont be tracked and I feel like the N1 has the deepest tone at low rpms and opens up in the higher range.

This is the tone Im going for. By far one of the best/deepest tones Ive heard but maybe my ears are shot? I did spend weeks scouring youtube lmao

If I dont like the N1, Ill pry sell it and get the R400. I know the dual cannon look of the N1 isnt favorable among most, but I like the sound, dont mind the look as I wanted to be a bit different than other WRX’s, and thats all that matters. The best part about modding is the ability to change it. Do the best research you can and pull the trigger. If it doesnt work, sell what you gave and level up.

Good luck man!

hey man! It sounds like we are after the the same thing here!

ive just found a ton of videos on YouTube with the N1 and the WRX and I gotta say, to me it sounds way better than the R400. It seems to sound more aggressive and even in some videos brings back a slight classic subie rumble.

I am almost sold on the N1 I reckon!

here’s a couple decent video examples I found:

I think unfortunately though, the FA is just really not a good sounding engine. I feel like I’m gonna be disappointed with any exhaust on this engine

 

The Subaru rumble was one of the worst things because of the uneven exhaust scavenging that can lead to uneven cylinder temps. I believe it's a solid reason why everyone has failures on the same cylinder.

 

Yea, theres all sorts of issues with that platform schematically. I was strictly speaking on the sound. You can always tell the EJ motors, much like you can tell a nice exhaust on a Mustang GT, Dodge Challenger, etc.

 

In my opinion, they are extremely similar in tone however the dual tip is slightly “louder” than the quad-tip exhaust.

 

Totally agree

 

I don't have any sound clips but I can tell you the R400 is amazing, it's much deeper than stock but not obnoxious, and it'll still scream if you want it too. It's not even summer where I am and I'm already driving windows down because I love the sound😍, to be fair tho, I've never heard a dual exit N1, it's always been a single exit in my cases.