Subtech Downpipe Review

[Scotte]

Had a tune done on my BP5 turbo legacy last week at Torque Performance.

I got in on the recent special they had which was really good value.

Really happy with the results, more power, much smoother power. Power and torque is available earlier and it just feels like the car is much more in sync than it was previously. Would highly recommend a tune to anyone with a turbo car, especially if you have done modifications.

Torque performance did a good job, they found a issue with the car while they were tuning it. Since having the downpipe fitted at Subtech i noticed when coasting downhill the rpm fluctuated between 1000-1500, kinda bouncing up and down. When i first noticed it i took it back to Subtech and Gareth came with me for a drive and i showed him the problem. He didn't look under the bonnet and was adamant that it was nothing they had done.

I decided to live with it as it was pretty minor. The technicians at Torque could tell it was getting bad readings on the dyno and fixed the problem. Turns out two hoses had been left unconnected to the intercooler. The intercooler is removed when fitting the Subtech downpipe. Hence Subtech had not re-fitted the intercooler properly. Even after i took it back to them and showed them the problem they weren't interested in looking at it.

So i am actually pretty disappointed in Subtech and their service. There are other things that disappointed me as well:

1. They sell a downpipe that does increase power, but they don't tell you it will make your car sound like s***. In my opinion it should come with a resonator or cat converter fitted to it.

2. They tell you don't need a tune with that downpipe, but if you want the best result you really do need a tune after.

3. They claim to do Tuning, although they road tune from an tuner overseas. Gareth told me "All a tune does it trick the computer to pump more fuel in" I'm sure most tuners would disagree with that completely and that a proper Dyno tune is far more involved than that and superior to a road tune.

4. When talking about the exhaust Gareth was adamant that the resonator in the rear of the legacy exhaust is a cat converter. I know for a fact its a straight through resonator and the two cats in the system are in the factory downpipe.

In future if i was looking for performance upgrades to my Subaru i would much prefer to use Torque Performance than Subtech who seem to try to get extra power without considering the overall driving experience.

[polyarkos]

Thread resurrection with a couple of questions......

1) did your downpipes come painted?

2) did you wrap/paint your DP?

3) what have you done to manage the heat from the DP?

4) did you get any CEL after installing?

Thanks in advance

[Phewsion]

 polyarkos said:

Thread resurrection with a couple of questions......

1) did your downpipes come painted?

2) did you wrap/paint your DP?

3) what have you done to manage the heat from the DP?

4) did you get any CEL after installing?

Thanks in advance

I can answer a couple of these questions, before I sold my BP 03 Legacy I had the same mods done, It comes already in black and no CEL.

My Legacy had STI Genomes so it sounded like a riced up honda, High revs it went snap crackle pop, went to Mr Muffler in Onehunga and got 2 coby resonators installed, after that it purrrrrrrrrrrrred like a rally car.

[paulngui]

 Phewsion']

[quote name='polyarkos said:

Thread resurrection with a couple of questions......

1) did your downpipes come painted?

2) did you wrap/paint your DP?

3) what have you done to manage the heat from the DP?

4) did you get any CEL after installing?

Thanks in advance

/quote]

I can answer a couple of these questions, before I sold my BP 03 Legacy I had the same mods done, It comes already in black and no CEL.

My Legacy had STI Genomes so it sounded like a riced up honda, High revs it went snap crackle pop, went to Mr Muffler in Onehunga and got 2 coby resonators installed, after that it purrrrrrrrrrrrred like a rally car.

Where in the system did they get installed? Would it be fair to say the resonators reduce the effectiveness of the down pipe a bit? Though i imagine it\'d still be an improvement over stock. How much was it?

[ADIKT]

 paulngui']

[quote name='polyarkos said:

Thread resurrection with a couple of questions......

1) did your downpipes come painted?

2) did you wrap/paint your DP?

3) what have you done to manage the heat from the DP?

4) did you get any CEL after installing?

Thanks in advance

/quote]

I can answer a couple of these questions, before I sold my BP 03 Legacy I had the same mods done, It comes already in black and no CEL.

My Legacy had STI Genomes so it sounded like a riced up honda, High revs it went snap crackle pop, went to Mr Muffler in Onehunga and got 2 coby resonators installed, after that it purrrrrrrrrrrrred like a rally car.

Where in the system did they get installed? Would it be fair to say the resonators reduce the effectiveness of the down pipe a bit? Though i imagine it\'d still be an improvement over stock. How much was it?

I doubt it mate, they will be \'free\' flowing. They simply reduce noise. not flow

[Phewsion]

 paulngui']

[quote name='polyarkos said:

Thread resurrection with a couple of questions......

1) did your downpipes come painted?

2) did you wrap/paint your DP?

3) what have you done to manage the heat from the DP?

4) did you get any CEL after installing?

Thanks in advance

/quote]

I can answer a couple of these questions, before I sold my BP 03 Legacy I had the same mods done, It comes already in black and no CEL.

My Legacy had STI Genomes so it sounded like a riced up honda, High revs it went snap crackle pop, went to Mr Muffler in Onehunga and got 2 coby resonators installed, after that it purrrrrrrrrrrrred like a rally car.

Where in the system did they get installed? Would it be fair to say the resonators reduce the effectiveness of the down pipe a bit? Though i imagine it\'d still be an improvement over stock. How much was it?

Before the resonators mine was waaaay louder than webups and way more raspy due to the STI Cannons, So I had no choice in the matter

He took out the factory resonator in the mid pipe and installed 1 16" and 1 14" Cost me about $150, but this was about a year ago or so, The guy at Mr Muffler now is an ex Winger Subaru mechanic as the normal guy (Dean?) got injured and is off work for a few months last I heard

[polyarkos]

Thanks, mine did not come painted. Have fitted an HKS ES Premium Cat-back as well - have also replaced the front 02 sensor but still have a CEL.

[Phewsion]

Mine looked exactly like the one they advertise on TradeMe, that\'s where I purchased it from

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/subaru/engines/auction-545174541.htm

This is the one I bought

Do u know what the code is thats bringing up the CEL? if not o2 sensor, could it be the thermostat one I forget the actual name, but I\'m pretty sure there is down near the bottom of the downpipe that measures the temperature of the exhaust gas

[polyarkos]

 Phewsion said:

Mine looked exactly like the one they advertise on TradeMe, that\'s where I purchased it from

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/subaru/engines/auction-545174541.htm

This is the one I bought

Do u know what the code is thats bringing up the CEL? if not o2 sensor, could it be the thermostat one I forget the actual name, but I\'m pretty sure there is down near the bottom of the downpipe that measures the temperature of the exhaust gas

Thats the same one that I bought - came unpainted but I have since heat wrapped

Haven\'t checked the CEL codes yet, but the 2nd sensor looked pretty bad when I swapped it into the new DP

[snowy]

Am looking at getting this downpipe fitted and a catback system to replace the stock one on my bp5 legacy. Anyone know where I can find a decent cat back system in NZ or recommend somewhere Christchurch based that can do the work for me?

[polyarkos]

The stock CB is already pretty good. As for fitting its a case of removing 2 bolts from the downpipe and removing the exhaust from the hangers - took me 20min to swap. Maybe keep the original CB and look for some Genome mufflers on TM.

For the downpipe, you can do this yourself but don\'t use US instructions - there are way more bolts and they are harder to reach on NZ/JDM cars.

[paulngui]

I\'ve got genome mufflers on mine, rest stock, and sounds OK. If I was to change the system I\'d probably go for an Xforce cat back system like the one in this vid:

Best sounding system I\'ve heard yet on a NZ/JDM LGT. Redline told me they had it for around $1000 when I asked sometime within the last 6 months.

[snowy]

Sounds like cheapest option would be downpipe and stick some bigger mufflers on the stock system then

[kiwisurf]

Have any of you guys that have changed your exhaust\'s still got the factory one?

I\'m after a standard exhaust for a turbo BP.

Cheers.

[polyarkos]

Yes, I still have the whole exhaust.

[paulngui]

Only the mufflers, but want to keep them in case I ever wna return it to factory. You wanted more than just the mufflers though aye?

[kiwisurf]

Yeah Mufflers and the centre section.

Let me know if you change your mind but really want something this week.

[syphe]

Bringing back an oldie, but got a couple questions. I\'ve got my pipe on the way, but on the advice of a few people here decided to pre-empt installation of a resonator to replace the factory unit.

The guy at the shop was a bit confused as to where I wanted it installed, and seemed to think replacing the large factory resonator with smaller aftermarket unit would lead to a more raspy noise rather than keep the tone deeper as is the result you guys seem to be getting.

He also mentioned I\'d struggle to get a warrant by removing the cat on a car that was imported since 2008, I can\'t find much information about the legality of removing the cat, does it apply to the individual car being imported after 2008, or is it the model year?

Have I picked the wrong shop, I\'m expecting the pipe to be here very soon and will be installing it sometime in the next couple weeks myself with some help, but will want to take it to a shop to get a resonator or cat converter fitted, obviously don\'t want to fit a res then have to get a cat instead when I get my next wof.

Cheers.

[syphe]

Just an update incase it helps anyone.

Installed mine on Anzac day with the help of a mate, took about 4 hours to do, a lot of that time spent getting off/on the bracket blocking some bolts for the heatshield, as well as fishing for said bolts as they inevitably fell into the depths of the engine bay after unbolting.

Installed it with some heatwrap from Redline performance, all went in well, no leaks and can\'t notice any change from stock from the engine bay.

I quite like the sound of it at the moment, not as raspy as I expected after some of the comments here, and the quietness when not gunning it will keep the girlfriend happy.

I must say though, I wasn\'t quite expecting this much of a difference in power, it\'s definitely given more usable power for regular driving, but at the same time makes you want to spend more time in peak boost.

thumbs up from me so far, next step is a tune

[KiwiJoe]

Has anyone installed the subtech downpipe on a rev D (06-08 facelift 2.0)? Looking at the (insanely expensive) front pipes available from various Japanese sites, it looks like the fitting may be different.

[KiwiJoe]

Never mind. Just decided to give this a go (post-08 import, so a catted version should save me some hassle, and the price is right): http://www.subaruspeed.co.nz/products/downpipe-3-hks-legacy-03-09

[Minaj]

fuck bitches get money

[Minaj]

im so sick of my life i need real help

[Minaj]

im gay and noone really knows it i pretend im a huge car fan to make mates but im actually in love with my best friend and noone knows.

[Roo]

uwot