Hi. Just got a 05 wagon. I dig it. Got a question. What would be a better upgrade: 1. Up and down pipes or 2. Cat-back exhaust Don't think I can afford both right now. But would eventually end up with all of it. Maybe some more. Thanks! Gary
Welcome to the boards! For power, go with a downpipe. Since you drive an 05 I'm pretty sure you uppipe is already cat-free so an aftermarket one won't really do much. But yeah, between a downpipe and catback, downpipe should yeild a better gain. Or you could always do engine management.
welcome! the 05s uppipes are not catless. The 06+ are. up and downpipes would give you better performance gain vs catback. I would do em both at the same time since you have to take the downpipe off to get to the uppipe anyway
Not sure about the uppipe, but I think it's stock. With the up and down pipes, would any tuning be needed?
I'd say go with a downpipe, there's a noticable improvement and tuning isnt necessary esp. with the Cobb OTS mapping. What else did you have in mind for the car, perhaps there is something else you could throw your UP fund at. Oh, and welcome to the site!
Re: Exhaust Thanks and probably not much more than the uppipe and turbo back. I still need to learn to drive the car. I'm coming from a modified 94 civic hatch. I came out to Turner Field to see Superdude race and to check out the cars. So I'm still new at the game. Just want to do a little at a time.
If you want to race like Superdude did, you may want to look into something more along the lines of sway bars. Otherwise, Welcome to the site!
If you do up&downpipes, you will need some form of engine management, especially on an 04+ to fix the OL/CL delay
20mm front sway bar from an 02/03 wagon and 20mm rear swaybar from an 02/03 sedan would be a noticeable increase over the 17mm bars on the car right now. Most guys sell their stock sway bars for pretty cheap. Welcome!