Hey, i am in the process of completing the exhaust on my my06 wrx. Currently i have an xforce cat back system only. Now i got a quote today for a stainless steel dump pipe and cat but the guy said not to get the headers as it takes the wrx growl away and makes it sound like a lancer (heaven forbid) . Anyone confirm this?
Also whilst on the subject i had a choice of dump pipe; either wide mouth to turbo or split waste gate that plumb back in further down the pipe. Any benefits or losses from either? They were same price.
Thanks in advance.

U/L headers will give you boxer rumble and low end...

E/L will make it sound like a VTEC and give you more top end.

see here;

Equal Length vs. Unequal Length - NASIOC

for pros and cons, ^^

...and someone with more knowledge on turbos than me can advise on that question, or do a quick forum search, I am sure it would have been covered....

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2005 WRX STI

The stock headers are of an unequal length design, if you replace them for another UEL header there shouldn't be a loss of the Boxer rumber.
If you changed to equal length headers then yes your car will sound more like a Honda than a WRX.

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2015 Forester XT Premium
2020 VW Tiguan Allspace
teejay: If I wanted a comeback Id wank in front of a fan

On the manifold thing its pretty interesting if you can find a picture of the stock design UEL and consider that the exhaust gasses from cylinders on the passenger side of the engine have about 4 or 5 times the length to travel than the drivers side making it less efficient. I had EL on my 06 wrx and the earlier spool was definately noticeable imo but obivously loss of rumble sound.

Also factor in that the MY06-07 wrx oil cooler sits on an angled sandwhich plate of sorts which angles back into the runners of EL headers and makes it impossible to fit without changing the oil cooler. Perrin put together a kit of oem parts thats gets around it but cost me an additional $400.

I could be wrong but i don't think the aftermarket UEL would be worth the $5-700, probably better mods to be had for that sort of money. A catless up pipe that bolts into stock manifold could be a go for a bit less restriction.

And can remember reading that the split dump pipe is the way to go, somthing about the turbine and wastegate gasses combining together in the bell mouth not being good for x reason.

Also, Dump a shitload of money into an engine build and bigger cams like below and this will change the way you think about the sound of EL headers

Crower 272 Cammed Subaru WRX STI - YouTube

ahhh, excellent thanks for all the info. My next question was going to be the difference between UL and EL headers. Thanks heaps for educating a noobie scoobie. Think i will just finish it to turbo for now. $900 for dump (seperate waste) and cat all stainless steel including fitting. NOt sure if its cheap but i trust the companies workmanship (prestige exhaust malaga)