This escalated quickly – and gloriously. COBB, Borla, turbo, other shiny things

It all started with a cracked downpipe flange. Things changed, one rationalization/justification at a time. What is the point of an awesome downpipe if it still sounds roughly the same? Why would I take out a turbo w/ 120k miles and just put it back? Of course, I need to replace every damn heat shield too – it only makes sense.

Honestly I’m just excited, and also I have a problem knowing when to stop. In hindsight, with the amount of work I’ve put in I could have started to consider VF52, injectors, blah blah blah. But I don’t regret any of it. I’ve had this car for 12+ years and am really happy I can finally show it a bit of love.

Today I did a dry-fit in my living room just for fun. Everything should be buttoned up by the end of this coming weekend. Going to be zooming around with a big smile, and likely some ice cream in hand Saturday night. Woohoo!

1. “Newish” turbo. Scavenged parts from 3 old turbos. New Melett CHRA (1450-050-901). Built this with gf on Saturday night, was a good experience.

2. New heat shields for manifolds.

3. New “cross-over” pipe.

4. Catless uppipe (finally)

5. COBB catted down pipe.

6. Borla cat-back

7. Oil pan

8. Front engine mounts.

I would install the turbo and manifold first, b/c while I dont doubt your turbo building prowess, if it goes due to some odd reason, it could mean more $$$$.

Run the new turbo until you confirm its a keeper and since you have that DP youll need a tune anyway. That's a lot of changes to make prior to having a known good working baseline, purely to help you track down issues.

Borla is a nice choice for CBE that i what I bought recently after a bit of trial and error.

I would install the turbo and manifold first, b/c while I dont doubt your turbo building prowess, if it goes due to some odd reason, it could mean more $$$$.

 

Run the new turbo until you confirm its a keeper and since you have that DP youll need a tune anyway. That's a lot of changes to make prior to having a known good working baseline, purely to help you track down issues.

 

Borla is a nice choice for CBE that i what I bought recently after a bit of trial and error.

Thanks for response!

Well, my turbo building prowess is admittedly lacking. That's why I went with a Melett CHRA. From the reading I've done it seems they are a very trusted brand. I figured leaving the hard part (rotating assembly) to experts was probably the best idea. Figured I could handle bolting on housings.

As far as going in steps, I'm far too excited to just see it go. Besides, the OEM downpipe is the only part that was actually broken, everything else is just due to getting carried away. If I blow my turbo and take out my engine I am not toooo concerned. Honestly that's my plan. Run this hard until I break something then use it as an excuse to strip it down to nothing and go full bore, new engine, 6spd, etc.

I've got an accessport so I should just be able to run their Stg 2 OTB tune with this downpipe. Should work?

Regarding the Borla - I'm hoping it is everything I think it might be. I'm looking for something a bit understated with a nice low tone. I am not too crazy about crackle pops. I am hoping however I'll be able to hear a little bit of the turbo through it, not sure if that's going to happen.

With the Borla and that desired turbo whiz/spool youll hear it and you won't be noticed while grocery shopping but youll hear it while passing:)

The OTS Stage 2 will work until you go EBCS but with theri recent changes pertaining to emissions and parameters you might want to consult a tuner just to help you avoid any check engines lights and their OTS tunes are better they arent great.

With the Borla and that desired turbo whiz/spool youll hear it and you won't be noticed while grocery shopping but youll hear it while passing:)

 

The OTS Stage 2 will work until you go EBCS but with theri recent changes pertaining to emissions and parameters you might want to consult a tuner just to help you avoid any check engines lights and their OTS tunes are better they arent great.

Awesome news on the little bit of turbo spool! Happy to hear. On the youtube's I found with the Borla system I couldn't hear it but they're all taken with crappy mic's.

I know the COBB Stg 2 isn't the best, I will likely start getting more into finding a good tuner, but I figure this will hold me over for the nice weather we've got coming up. My daily is a 2017 impreza and it's borrrring. At least it has a manual trans but still boring. Need a little excitement in my driving routine.

Regarding the new tunes from COBB with the check-engine lights : This down-pipe *should* be able to pass those checks, per COBB. If not I have already downloaded the previous versions that don't have as stringent checks. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

Is your DP one of the newer Cobb GESI catted ones? How long did ordering/shipping take, assuming purchased new? Contemplating some stupid decisions based on market rate for my catted dp and I know they’re mostly listed as backorder rn.

Yep, the new GESI one. I ordered from COBB directly, about 3 weeks ago? Maybe 4. It arrived 2 days after I ordered.

Awesome on the anchorman video, that's exactly what I had going through my head when I posted! Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

Is your DP one of the newer Cobb GESI catted ones? How long did ordering/shipping take, assuming purchased new? Contemplating some stupid decisions based on market rate for my catted dp and I know they’re mostly listed as backorder rn.

If you do end up doing downpipe and don't already have a heatshield that will fit, I found this gem of a post below today (see link). I heard of a lot of people do it but not many pics to show where to cut.

https://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=711156&postcount=2