This is just an FYI thread for those who care. Figured I could help others keep from wasting time and money trying this.
I bought an 02 2.5RS a few weeks ago, all stock besides a cold air intake. I love the exhaust note of the boxer engines with a nice exhaust, and my intake screams at high RPM so I'd like to balance it out with aftermarket exhaust. My last RS had a Stromung catback and sounded amazing, but I didn't want to spend that much money if I could help it. The car came with an STi catback ready to be installed but I expect that to still be pretty quiet. It's my daily driver so I want something mild but audible and throaty.
I did a bunch of research, listened to a bunch of sound clips, read a bunch of forum reviews, and eventually made my decision. I chose to go with the cheap M2 Performance WRX/STi catback that's commonly sold on ebay for around $180 shipped. Obviously not the best quality, but I do a lot of fabrication work so if a weld cracks or something needs repair or modification I can handle it. I ended up finding the kit for $160 shipped from www.jonmotoring.com. It showed up in less than a week, the box was beat to hell, but I can't blame them for that. Everything was there and undamaged, the price was great, and the service was quick so I give Jon Motoring a thumbs up. I also ordered a set of Kartboy XL hangers after reading that the exhaust tends to sit very high with factory hangers. I was in for about $200 all said and done.
Here's the new exhaust next to the factory catback I removed:
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I did have to notch the bottom side of the midpipe about 1/4" to change the angle of the flange to help the axleback and midpipe mate up better.
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I of course fully welded it after this pic.
I had to use all 4 Kartboy XL hangers and made the standard conversion flange setup that anybody running WRX/STi exhaust on an RS needs. I didn't take any pics of that but can get some if anybody wants it.
So here's the actual review:
I hate it. The reviews and videos on WRXs were very promising, noting a mild tone, louder than stock but far from obnoxious, even in some cases with hi-flow downpipes, and a nice deep Subaru rumble. I know the turbo acts as somewhat of a muffler, but I figured with my fairly restrictive factory exhaust and dual cats I'd still be alright....I was wrong. It's loud as hell. Idle isn't terrible but anything above that is obnoxious. Highway cruising is downright unpleasant. It's loud, it drones, and the tone leaves a lot to be desired. Under light acceleration there's a little bit of that nice boxer rumble, but not much. Under heavy acceleration or high RPM it's all but gone. It sounds like a ricer.
It's a full 3" system, which I know is overkill for a NA motor, but I figured since I still have the stock manifold and 2 cats it'd still have enough restriction to not be hurt much by the larger pipe later in the system. I haven't noticed a real difference in performance so far so I'll call it a wash. Kinda tough to tell though because we all know volume changes can sometimes make things feel different.
I'm not saying it's a bad exhaust, the quality seems pretty good for the price, it looks good, and would probably still have bolted up alright without my modification, but I'm picky about that stuff. I'm just saying it sounds bad on an NA car like mine. It may sound great on a turbo car, but I have no evidence one way or the other. I put it on last night and will be removing it tonight. I've got a factory STi catback that I plan to experiment with. I'll try putting the STi 2.5" resonated midpipe in place of the open 3" from this kit and see if that tones it down a bit. If that doesn't do it, maybe I'll try the 3" open midpipe with the 2.5" STi axleback. I've read that can be a bit raspy, but I'll find that out for myself. If neither of those work I'll try the stock STi catback and see if I like that, and throw this kit up on craigslist. If the stock STi setup is too mild maybe I'll try modifying the STi muffler to open it up a bit.
....Or maybe I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a used Stromung setup for a good price, like I should've done in the first place!
I bought an 02 2.5RS a few weeks ago, all stock besides a cold air intake. I love the exhaust note of the boxer engines with a nice exhaust, and my intake screams at high RPM so I'd like to balance it out with aftermarket exhaust. My last RS had a Stromung catback and sounded amazing, but I didn't want to spend that much money if I could help it. The car came with an STi catback ready to be installed but I expect that to still be pretty quiet. It's my daily driver so I want something mild but audible and throaty.
I did a bunch of research, listened to a bunch of sound clips, read a bunch of forum reviews, and eventually made my decision. I chose to go with the cheap M2 Performance WRX/STi catback that's commonly sold on ebay for around $180 shipped. Obviously not the best quality, but I do a lot of fabrication work so if a weld cracks or something needs repair or modification I can handle it. I ended up finding the kit for $160 shipped from www.jonmotoring.com. It showed up in less than a week, the box was beat to hell, but I can't blame them for that. Everything was there and undamaged, the price was great, and the service was quick so I give Jon Motoring a thumbs up. I also ordered a set of Kartboy XL hangers after reading that the exhaust tends to sit very high with factory hangers. I was in for about $200 all said and done.
Here's the new exhaust next to the factory catback I removed:
I did have to notch the bottom side of the midpipe about 1/4" to change the angle of the flange to help the axleback and midpipe mate up better.
I of course fully welded it after this pic.
I had to use all 4 Kartboy XL hangers and made the standard conversion flange setup that anybody running WRX/STi exhaust on an RS needs. I didn't take any pics of that but can get some if anybody wants it.
So here's the actual review:
I hate it. The reviews and videos on WRXs were very promising, noting a mild tone, louder than stock but far from obnoxious, even in some cases with hi-flow downpipes, and a nice deep Subaru rumble. I know the turbo acts as somewhat of a muffler, but I figured with my fairly restrictive factory exhaust and dual cats I'd still be alright....I was wrong. It's loud as hell. Idle isn't terrible but anything above that is obnoxious. Highway cruising is downright unpleasant. It's loud, it drones, and the tone leaves a lot to be desired. Under light acceleration there's a little bit of that nice boxer rumble, but not much. Under heavy acceleration or high RPM it's all but gone. It sounds like a ricer.
It's a full 3" system, which I know is overkill for a NA motor, but I figured since I still have the stock manifold and 2 cats it'd still have enough restriction to not be hurt much by the larger pipe later in the system. I haven't noticed a real difference in performance so far so I'll call it a wash. Kinda tough to tell though because we all know volume changes can sometimes make things feel different.
I'm not saying it's a bad exhaust, the quality seems pretty good for the price, it looks good, and would probably still have bolted up alright without my modification, but I'm picky about that stuff. I'm just saying it sounds bad on an NA car like mine. It may sound great on a turbo car, but I have no evidence one way or the other. I put it on last night and will be removing it tonight. I've got a factory STi catback that I plan to experiment with. I'll try putting the STi 2.5" resonated midpipe in place of the open 3" from this kit and see if that tones it down a bit. If that doesn't do it, maybe I'll try the 3" open midpipe with the 2.5" STi axleback. I've read that can be a bit raspy, but I'll find that out for myself. If neither of those work I'll try the stock STi catback and see if I like that, and throw this kit up on craigslist. If the stock STi setup is too mild maybe I'll try modifying the STi muffler to open it up a bit.
....Or maybe I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a used Stromung setup for a good price, like I should've done in the first place!