after exhaust + tune diffence

by **Spiez** » Fri May 23, 2014 7:47 pm

So all of you that have had a full exhaust and tune

how much of an improvement did it make? Did it blow your mind or just excite a little? I have done lots of reading from tuners but of course they will say how good the tunes are would like some more unbiased opinions.

looking at a tune shortly for mine (liberty spec b my08 manual) just wondering what to expect such as:

throttle response
turbo spool up
drivablity
noise turbo and exhaust
how much faster are in gear pulls overtaking etc
and the big one for me, torque how much and where is it added most
not to fussed about the top kw figure
was it all worth it?

cheers

by **Sean82** » Fri May 23, 2014 8:15 pm

throttle response This is almost infinitely adjustable throughout drive-by-wire tables to basically cater for what you want

turbo spool up 3-port will definitely help, but yeah, you will find it spools quicker than stock
drivablity can be a pig or awesome or the same but with more power than stock; linked to DBW thing
noise turbo and exhaust HUGE difference for me

Much angrier under WOT and so much more grin on my face
how much faster are in gear pulls overtaking etc depends on the tune a bit but generally should be much better
and the big one for me, torque how much and where is it added most Lots can be added. Lots.
not to fussed about the top kw figure
was it all worth it? Without a doubt IMO.

Note that I make these claims on my experiences in my Forester which had VF52 (compared to 46, what, bee's dick difference, really?) and the 5EAT.

Here's a dyno plot of one of my tunes:

Notice the big increase in raging wasps from 3,000 RPM - 4,000 RPM? Remember power is basically (torque*revs)/black magic number.
Torque increase was...noticeable :bb2:

by **Spiez** » Sun May 25, 2014 10:32 am

Thanks,
Even just a tune seems to make a fair amount more torque from what i am reading around the web.

Also thinking of just doing dump pipe mufflers and tune that seems to get good results with the factory mid section

by **Manaz** » Mon May 26, 2014 10:16 am

Spiez wrote:Thanks,
Even just a tune seems to make a fair amount more torque from what i am reading around the web.

Also thinking of just doing dump pipe mufflers and tune that seems to get good results with the factory mid section

You'd be better to dump and 3" midsection, and leave the stock mufflers if it's performance you're after. Leaving a restrictive mid-pipe in place will almost entirely wipe out any performance benefit you'd get from better mufflers.

by **shav** » Mon May 26, 2014 12:26 pm

I concur with everything Sean82 and Manaz says. I too was sceptical like you Spiez. Wasnt expecting the response like everyone else's reports.

Im still yet to receive my proper tune (will happen with Matt this week) but even after the dump was fitted to the CBE, I noticed the car just breathed a hell of a lot better than before. The turbo wanted to spool a bit faster. Torque was increased noticeably. I can only imagine the feeling once Matt has tinkered with the tune.

Overall I love the sound of the boxer note as well as looks from the back, and thats the reason I went full TBE. If increased note is not your game, do as Manaz says and go the dump and mid pipe. The few extra kw the mufflers makes is little for the cost and you get all the low-mid range benefits still.

I believe it's probably the BFYB thing you can do to your car (performance wise) and it will be heaps quicker in traffic.

by **Spiez** » Mon May 26, 2014 6:21 pm

Cheers guys

Was looking at the mufflers mainly for that boxer note, but dont want drone or to load so was thinking that the stock mid section may help keep the drone away

cheers!

by **shav** » Mon May 26, 2014 8:11 pm

You could still choose a nice muffler with some internal baffling to give a slightly sportier note and keep the noise down.

Frankly speaking though, my Ultrex note is great. Yes you can hear it, but it doesnt drone. Often I get asked if I have a WRX because of it. You get a lot of looks when you rock up with the lib and it's not what they are expecting.

by **Manaz** » Tue May 27, 2014 7:17 am

Spiez wrote:Cheers guys

Was looking at the mufflers mainly for that boxer note, but dont want drone or to load so was thinking that the stock mid section may help keep the drone away

cheers!

If there's a resonator on the mid-pipe, you'll keep the drone down. But if you stick with the stock mid-pipe, you'll not only keep noise down, you'll keep power down as well, as it will become the bottleneck in the system.

by **kiahatsiu** » Tue May 27, 2014 8:58 am

Remember if yours is a wagon it will naturally have more of a drone.

by **Manaz** » Tue May 27, 2014 1:16 pm

kiahatsiu wrote:Remember if yours is a wagon it will naturally have more of a drone.

Yep, that's largely caused by the different size/shape of the body cavity (a big box, basically, vs smaller boxes for a sedan). Can be dealt with with appropriate resonators/mufflers in the centre pipe section.

by **Spiez** » Tue May 27, 2014 5:38 pm

Mine is a sedan, one I've got a few other things sorted (dirt bike rebuild) then I will start shopping

Cheers

by **bigBADbenny** » Tue May 27, 2014 10:35 pm

Tune is a must, and a 3" tbe is the icing on the cake.
Sedans are more forgiving than wags as regards droney zorsts.
It's fun to play with different configs, my faves are mufflered mid w/ noisy muffs or quieter muffs w/ hotdogged mid

by **iGBH** » Wed May 28, 2014 10:57 am

Manaz wrote:You'd be better to dump and 3" midsection, and leave the stock mufflers if it's performance you're after. Leaving a restrictive mid-pipe in place will almost entirely wipe out any performance benefit you'd get from better mufflers.

I was under the impression that the mid pipe was not actually all that restrictive. Was talking to the owner of Best Mufflers when i was looking at adding cat back after adding dump pipe and he suggested that for the money it was really not worth it. He mentioned some kw numbers between with and without which i cant remember but it was bugger all and his suggestion was to not even bother changing out the mid pipe.

by **alexeiwoody** » Wed May 28, 2014 11:46 am

iGBH wrote:
Manaz wrote:You'd be better to dump and 3" midsection, and leave the stock mufflers if it's performance you're after. Leaving a restrictive mid-pipe in place will almost entirely wipe out any performance benefit you'd get from better mufflers.

I was under the impression that the mid pipe was not actually all that restrictive. Was talking to the owner of Best Mufflers when i was looking at adding cat back after adding dump pipe and he suggested that for the money it was really not worth it. He mentioned some kw numbers between with and without which i cant remember but it was bugger all and his suggestion was to not even bother changing out the mid pipe.

Just having a resonator on a 3" system does nothing on our cars.

Keeping the stock mid may lose you some power gains, but it will depend on what turbo, intake, downpipe, level boost and what fuel you're running.

On the stock vf46 with a 3" dump, 16-17ish psi boost and on petrol - very small gains.

Of course a freer system will help torque and top end, but on a stockish car - it would be pretty hard to tell the difference.