you really dont lose that much power between the oem muffler and an aftermarket one. in fact, the oem muffler is a bit smoother on the throttle. more back pressure i guess. plus its sleeper style.

 

ummm...besides not getting the full power out of it, not really. you just dont get to hear that deep boxer rumble

 

I was running a catless uppipe/downpipe combo with the stock catback until I got sick of it being so quiet so I ripped off the axle back...ahh, much better! Been running like this for almost 4 months and never had any problems from the cops, despite being pulled over and given tickets for other things.

 

Oh, it's not as loud as running just from the DP is it?

 

Mine? IMO it's just as loud, minus the raspiness. I mean, the only difference this way versus the downpipe dump is that this retains one resonator, so it deepens the tone. Cruising on the freeway it will pretty much drown out any conversation going on inside the cabin. I think alot of it has to do with where it dumps, though. What I need to do is custom straight pipe it all the way to the back of the car so it doesn't end under the backseat, as soon as I find someone I trust.

 

daymn, you guys are crazy for running open dp . . . hahahha its too loud for me !

 

Couple weeks ago when I drove my RS down to Watsonville (while still NA) I ran it straight out of my Borla midpipe. It was pretty friggin loud! It was sort of raspy but also very deep. Drowned out all the other cars near me on hwy 17. Seemed just as loud or louder than a catless wrx since NA has no turbo for the exhaust to run through and quiet down the tone.

 

plus with the larger volume of the 2.5 engine it will be a bit deeper than the 2.0