Modification plan for a non-charged H6/3.0R

[SegR]

So I've been thinking about what [second-hand] car I want to change to in a year or two and I've reached the conclusion that for the kind of money I'd be looking at (maybe 30k give or take) I'm not going to find a lot that's less than 4 years old and gives me much of an upgrade from my existing 3.0R in terms of interior, exterior design, handling or performance. A late model VW R36 is probably as close as I'd come but it's only a marginal improvement anyway.

Conclusion: I'm probably going to be keeping this car for a while.

Solution: mod this fucker

Restrictions: I can't supercharge/turbocharge the car as it creates a problem with people on their P's not being able to drive it (or removes the problem, depending on whose perspective you look at it from). I reserve the right to reneg on this decision at a random point in time.

Current setup: MY05 3.0R AUTO with STI quads, dixcel pads & rotors, tuned for 98RON and other minor changes.

Looking for:
* power increase especially in low & mid rev bands
* maintain some backpressure in exhaust to maintain low-end torque
* no drone
* slight sound increase OK but nothing significant
* minimal loss of ground clearance due to exhaust components

Considering:
* Raptor headers
* Replacement of front two cats with high flow (200/100cell) versions (one per bank) and join to centre pipe with new 2-1 collector [advice from Robbks]
* Removal of third cat in 2-1 pipe [advice from Robbks]
* Maintaining existing mufflers (STI quads)

Unsure about:
* Whether to keep centre pipe stock or not
* Whether a change to the resonator required to keep noise under control

Sure about: the fact that no matter what I do, I'll still want more.

LUVIT, BJ, bates91 and probably others are happy with the performance gains given by new headers combined with other various exhaust mods.

I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone who has gone down this path and can suggest what I should or shouldn't be considering. I'm hoping at the end of the process I can come up with the 'ideal' change package which others with the H6 can refer to when they have the desire for more power but don't want to go down the charged route.

[Robbks]

Drive to Noosa,
Leave car with AM Auto for a week while you have a holiday
get this done viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21509
Surely $10K should cover it... Al.?
drive home..

[SegR]

Drive to Noosa,
Leave car with AM Auto for a week while you have a holiday
get this done viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21509
Surely $10K should cover it... Al.?
drive home..

If only my constraints weren't my constraints

[alessandro132]

If you want more power but retain the most practicality and flexibility, just supercharge it.

SC kit is easily undoable and can be sold off when/if needed unlike a turbo which requires a heap of custom work (whole exhaust including fabricating new headers, up pipe, dump, plus you have to consider custom IC piping, all of which equals $$$).

Benefits of SC (and accompanying mods) is that it's flexible and modular. You can buy the same full headers back exhaust irrespective of whether you go SC or NA. Similarly you can either go non-cooled or water-cooled SC kits. You'll need to upgrade injectors and/or fuel pump but they're pretty minor mods and can also be easily undone.

Torque curves of SC vs turbo are quite different; SC will uniformly lift torque across the whole rev range plus has no lag. You'd get a damn solid increase in power too.

Food for thought

[SegR]

I would love to supercharge it, but as stated above, I am looking for the next best thing when supercharging & turbocharging is not possible.

[Robbks]

Forget the P-plater thing, start tapping girls older than 17,
restriction removed...

[alessandro132]

Forget the P-plater thing, start tapping girls older than 17,
restriction removed...

[Hotwire]

E85:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21043

[HoFF]

Surely an R36 is more than a marginal improvement.

[dawesy]

Bates91 didn't have raptors had k2 header which now sit nicely on my car
By the time you price up raptors headers cats and join pipe the k2 arnt to much more and give a differnt sound as well.

Really need an idea of what you realistically want to spend on a non boosted build there's a video of an imprezza running a na worked svx 3.3 h6 motor at like 250+atw

Headers and tune give a nice get up and go it's very noticeable after riding in Simon's car then back to mine .
But it's no turbo set up

Bang for buk would ve a sc kit as stated but all comes down to budget

[SegR]

Forget the P-plater thing, start tapping girls older than 17,
restriction removed...

Swap one blower for another huh...

E85

Love the idea, but there's one servo with 25 minutes' drive of home which has it and if I leave Brisbane I'm rooted. And I'm not willing to keep a drum of it sitting around. If only it were as available as 98.

Surely an R36 is more than a marginal improvement.

Yeah, it probably is a little better than I stated... 40kW but at the expense of 140kg extra weight... and I had been looking at wagons which have a further weight hit so not apples for apples. Either way an R36 is going to set me back at least $12k more than what I might sell the 3.0R for, minus rego transfer and other costs. I just don't think it's worth it for the expense. If I were starting from scratch, sure.

Bates91 didn't have raptors had k2 header which now sit nicely on my car
...
Really need an idea of what you realistically want to spend on a non boosted build there's a video of an imprezza running a na worked svx 3.3 h6 motor at like 250+atw

My mistake... OP updated.
Budget is $2k or maybe a little more. I'm looking at minor mods here not an all out engine build

[J0HNATH0N]

Thought I would check. Can anyone confirm an electric water pump, taking load off the engine would be viable for the h6? I don't know anything about them but apparently can give up to 10kw gain across rev range... That paired with raptor headers, X-force centre and y pipe and a retune should provide 200+hp to the treads.....would be lively no?

[Robbks]

Thought I would check. Can anyone confirm an electric water pump, taking load off the engine would be viable for the h6? I don't know anything about them but apparently can give up to 10kw gain across rev range... That paired with raptor headers, X-force centre and y pipe and a retune should provide 200+hp to the treads.....would be lively no?

Where does the electric water-pump get it's energy from..?
Battery.
Where is battery charged from?
Alternator.
What spins the alternator?
Engine.

Energy can not be created nor destroyed

BUT, a complete managed electric system that allows removal of thermostat and the pump impeller (restrictions) will operate more effeciently
10KW more effieciently, maybe not.

[KiDo_Tuning]

SegR: The E85 option allows for dual fuel on the same tune

[SH30RB]

Bang for buk would ve a sc kit as stated but all comes down to budget

Or a backyard turbo build