I am looking into doing some light mods on my WRX. how is the titek up pipe compared to other brands i see out there, erz, etc. what about down pipes? difference witht he catted and catless down pipes? big diff? yes yes im a noob, but everyone's gotta start somewhere. =]

 

Personal preference really. ERZ works but does not have good fitment. Other brands such as Cobb, Perrin, Helix, Invidia, Crucial Racing, etc. cost a lot more depending which brand you go for. I would recommend Titek Up pipe/Downpipe. Depending on where your located and how strict emissions are for you I would get a catless downpipe if you don't have strict emissions. If you do have strict emissions go with a highflow cat. Supposedly the difference is that running catless you will have practically no restriction on your exhaust and turbo spool should be slightly faster compared to a catted downpipe and it will be louder. Good Luck.

 

I've never had one issue using the ERZ uppipe. Fitment was dead on, the quality is comparable to Titek and Helix, and the price makes them a no brainer. At one point I had an ERZ full turboback, no problems at all. Just because you pay more for something doesn't make it better. The only thing Helix, Titek, etc. have over ERZ is in the downpipe area. ERZ doesn't make a catted downpipe. Hope that somewhat helps.

 

Do they do an OBDII test in your area or the sniffer test? I'm guessing the sniffer or both since you live in Cali. Here in Missouri you can pass the test catless since they do the OBDII test and private shops do the safety inspections. I don't judge people for running catless but I chose to run a cat to be a little more eco friendly. According to what I've read a high flow cat will not make a very big difference when it comes to power.

I have no experience with the brands you listed but I've been very happy with my TXS DP and STI upipe. IMO different DP's won't make a huge difference so fitment is the most important thing. The upipe on the other hand is more important. I follow the school of thought that says to match the ID of the upipe with the turbo inlet and the STI fit the bill. The only bad thing about the STI upipe is that is has a flex section.

 

Make sure you have engine management like the cobb accessport or ecutek reflash to accomodate those new pipes. You can cause more harm than good if you only swap out the exhaust with no tuning of the ecu. Do more searches, the uppipe and downpipe mods are VERY common. As long as the fitment is good, a pipe is a pipe imo. Catless will be loud and more powerfull, catted will be more quiet with slightly less gains.

On my 02wrx I had a gutted oem uppipe and TurboXS tbe with hi flow cat, worked like a charm and sounded great.

 

I don't have an uppipe so I can't help you there, but I have the bosal divorced waste gate downpipe and it has worked fine with COBB stage 2. It does keep a cat in your exhaust so your not so harsh on the environnment. It was like $220 shipped, so it is pretty cheap compared to most.

 

2 words.......



.......PERRIN or COBB