Mike Shields is doing his best to dissuade me from buying Borlas. I am aware of his reputation among Suby enthusiasts, and in all other matters I have always whole-heartedly agreed. But, I am conflicted- do I trust his advice enough to listen, even though he seems to stand alone here? By the way, it is a matter of record that he is actually the individual most responsible for the existence of the headers, but he walked away from an exclusive distribution deal in '99 because he felt the quality wasn't up to his standards. He also tells me that he firmly believes that Borlas will need to be re-welded or replaced no less than every 2 years. When I asked him for non-equal-length alternatives (I plan to go turbo SOMEDAY.......), he told me I should just stick with stock, because they can handle upwards of 370 hp. Fine with me, but at the current price, I would say the sound and 6-8 hp we get from them is worth it, but maybe not every 2 years or so.

So my question is, who has had 2+ years of experience with them? More importantly, what experiences have you had with the gen IV's? I know that the first Borlas were the only thing on the car weaker than the 5MT case, but most of what I have heard lately says they are fine. What's the deal?

 

I think they are the least performance orientated of all the header options for N/A impreza's myself. They are only good because now they are innexpensive and stainless steel and maintain the stock cat locations. I am not that big of a fan either in terms of quality (nearly every one installed has had to have been tweeked to get it to fit right).