Exhaust setup (Raptor headers, Xforce catback)

[Daytona]

Heya,

First post on here, trying to sort out an exhaust system for my 2007 Legacy/Liberty 3.0R manual. In New Zealand.
I've already sussed out the Raptor headers and the Xforce catback, but thought I'd make a post to see what people have done in the middle.

What I'm planning is from front to back:

- Raptor headers
- High flow cats (100cel)
- Y pipe
- Delete third cat, replace with muffler (or put the stock resonator in it's place if possible)
- Xforce catback

The reason for the highflow cats is that a super charger will be going in nearer the end of the year.
I have searched the forums and just wanting to confirm what people have done in the middle.

Has anyone done a similar setup?

[(sic)]

I did SS raptor extractors > straight SS pipe > Y pipe > single 100 cell cat > xforce centre/Y 2.25" > Ultrex quads.
Its pretty damn raspy, if i did it again i might do dual 100 cells but most ppl seem to do dual 200 cells and I havnt heard anyone complain about rasp.
However its racecar above 3000rpm which has its pros and cons. I dont daily mine so I can get away with a stupid loud car.

[Daytona]

Cheers for that - since I'm in NZ and awaiting the catback, I'm going to stick in the headers, 100 high flow cats, y pipe first.
Stock from resonator back, see how that goes first anyways, can only imagine the catback will make it really loud!

[Tradewind]

The XFORCE catback can really bring some drone into the Liberty

The muffler upfront tho will stop that occurring tho, it stops drone dead

[Tradewind]

The XFORCE catback can really bring some drone into the Liberty

The muffler upfront tho will stop that occurring tho, it stops drone dead

[Hewy317]

Are the raptor headers a good tune for n/a? The s/c obv has alot more flow but im lookin for a set of headers to suit a stock tune for now til i sort my turbo kit bits. I dnt know if the raptor set will give the right tune or should i go for a custom set?

[Swan_Liberty]

to get the most out of the raptor headers you need to tune it, Matt's Kido tune is the way to go, from what i hear you can get some pretty nice gains with the headers

[(sic)]

Are the raptor headers a good tune for n/a? The s/c obv has alot more flow but im lookin for a set of headers to suit a stock tune for now til i sort my turbo kit bits. I dnt know if the raptor set will give the right tune or should i go for a custom set?

Wait, why would you get extractors just before getting a turbo? You will need to redo all the exhaust manifold once you fit the turbo..
By tune you mean audible exhaust note or ECU tune?

[vertix]

I did SS raptor extractors > straight SS pipe > Y pipe > single 100 cell cat > xforce centre/Y 2.25" > Ultrex quads.
Its pretty damn raspy, if i did it again i might do dual 100 cells but most ppl seem to do dual 200 cells and I havnt heard anyone complain about rasp.
However its racecar above 3000rpm which has its pros and cons. I dont daily mine so I can get away with a stupid loud car.

I have a similar setup: SS raptor extractors > SS pipes with 100 cell cat each side > y pipe > xfore centre/y 2.25" > quads.
It's loud as fuck, droney and a bit raspy. I'm about to swap out the xforce centre resonator for a muffler as people suggest to make it more bearable as I drive the car daily.
For what it's worth it's also supercharged. If anyone is looking into my current setup and wants any info/advice/recording just let me know. Might make a before and after centre muffler sound clip for the sake of it.

Also agree with the guy above, if you plan on eventually going turbo I wouldn't bother getting better NA/SC headers just to replace them later for the turbo setup. May as well just put the $400 towards your end goal.

[paulie3.0]

Maybe he'd like to see progression of power to the car... Plus it would be easy to offload a set of used headers

Anyone got a set of used headers for sale?

[paulie3.0]

Btw he said hes supercharging not turbo charging his ez so therefore the headers are still a worthy investment

[Daytona]

Just posting an update here.

Have got the headers installed, with two 100 cats, y pipe and stock to the mufflers at the moment.
As soon as the custom work up the front was done - car sounded really crap. Ended up taking the car to another shop and they stuck in two resonators - one in each branch of the Y pipe. Car sounds wayyy better.

The Xforce catback isn't here yet, but I will hopefully be fitting that this weekend.
Tim's suggestion of the muffler up front would have been awesome, but the guy here could only fit the resonators - I'm not complaining though, sounds great! Not droany or raspy.

And yep - the only reason I remove the stock cats was because my intention is to get the supercharger as well. Otherwise would have left the stock cats in.

Also I had tuning done by Ed over at XRT (search Google for Ed XRT Tuning). He's really helpful, great with questions and he made a huge difference to my car. My progression was basically:

- Car was tuned
- After third revision I had the headers installed with front Y pipe to the stock resonator.
- Car was tuned with the headers

Performance is awesome - the headers from Tim are really great and Ed's tuning is basically a requirement - it changes the car that much.

Also - I was driving the car for a bit with the headers and without a tune specifically for the headers and although you could notice the performance increase, with the tune by Ed it made a dramatic difference. I'll post an update when I install the catback and what the sound is like along with pictures.

[McDoof]

Cheers for that - since I'm in NZ and awaiting the catback, I'm going to stick in the headers, 100 high flow cats, y pipe first.
Stock from resonator back, see how that goes first anyways, can only imagine the catback will make it really loud!

Redline Performance stocks the XFORCE catback system. They have it "on the shelf" apparently. (NZ$695) They only show the 2.0GT setup on trademe, but I emailed them for a price.
According to Matt (Kido_Tuning) this setup only drones on the Auto, so if you have manual then you won't have the drone

I'd be pretty keen to hear what the car sounds like once you have the whole system fitted. I'm considering the same sort of setup.

[Daytona]

Yeah, I got mine from Redline - I ended up getting the stainless steel one though.
Sorry, forgot to update this post, trying to find some time to get some good quality audio clips.

As Tim says, Xforce does bring drone in, even with a manual (I've got a manual as well). Matt would know a gigantic sh** tonne more than me though! I'm still learning a lot. My original goal was to get all the research done before the car was touched, but that kinda went out the window and I've found it's a lot of trial and error to get the sound you want.

My exhaust system is more or less done, not an ounce of the original exhaust in place:

- Raptor headers
- high flow cats
- 2 resonators (1 after each cat)
- y pipe
- custom center pipe
- another resonator
- Xforce rear y pipe
- Xforce mufflers

Sounds pretty awesome I think, there is a very slight amount of drone, but nothing major (around 2700ish RPM). Plus I'm finding it's getting less and less.
Piping is 2.5" all the way. Tuned by Ed (west_mins - XRT) - great dude.

From what I've found:
- The highflow cats bring in rasp (rasp removed by the front resonators)
- I'd probably leave the cats stock if you plan on staying NA
- The Xforce center pipe hangs really low - I didn't want an exhaust where I have to drive stupid slow over bumps, so removed that in favor of a custom center.
- Double check bolts on anything with the exhaust

My order of installation was:
1) headers + cats + front y pipe (done in Auckland)
2) front resonators (done in Tauranga)
3) installed catback (done by me)
4) replaced center pipe and different mid resonator (done in Tauranga)

Overall I'm pretty happy with the work so far, takes time and effort though researching everything. It's essentially straight through pipes all the way.

HUUUGGEEE thanks to Tim at Raptor and Ed at XRT for answering my inane questions!
Give me a couple weeks and I can take you for a spin if you like, depending on where you are in Auckland (flick me a PM).

With tuning - I've gone through 7 revisions (inclusive of two minor revisions). I had the base tuning done without any mods. Then the headers went in and then tuned again. Then catback went on. When the catback went on I noticed a decrease in performance, but got another update and that sorted out the performance issues I had. Performance issues were only when you were pushing the car, driving normal car was fine.

Fuel consumption is great.

If you get a catback from Xforce - push to get that center muffler in as Tim says. I've seen a photo where the muffler is a two into one and then that joins a resonator.
The muffler is nearly where the third cat is.

[McDoof]

That is a pretty intense setup. I was thinking something a little less extreme.
Although based on what you are saying, I think maybe sticking with a 2.25" system and the stock cats might be the best option with the Raptor headers. All in good time though.
Might have to see what is available.