tommypenguin Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm currently looking into getting some EL headers for my car, I wouldn’t mind a little more low end and mid range power, more importantly I’m ready to part ways with the Subaru rumble. I don’t want to go with Perrin EL headers because I’ve read several people have had perrin’s slip joints leak significantly. Given the way my other perrin exhaust parts have fit I wouldn’t be surprised. I recently saw maddad came out with EL header and 3 bolt uppipe and wanted to know LGT’s members opinions/reviews of maddad headers, anyone running the EL version? What about Gruppe-S EL headers? If someone could recommend a good EL header for me to go with that isn’t Perrin or APS(Too expensive) I would appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I have the maddad 3bolt EL headders. It rocks.3-bolt UP flange FTMFW with no leaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Any fitment issues? How close do the headers run to the oil filter, did you have to trim your splash guard? What can you say about the performance gains after the install? Any chance you have some sound clips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb2spn Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I had the maddad ELH(stolen)love it,I now have the Gtspec ELH(same thing)love it also,so far no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim1969 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 how did someone steal your header? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJMC Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Jack up the front end and unbolt it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireB Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Jack up the front end and unbolt it That's freakin Crazy!! Well, thieves will take anything if they really want to I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevkel33leg05 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 OMG was it really stolen off the car??? What was your reaction kb2spn when you went to start it up the next morning? Or was it just still up in the air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb2spn Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sorry guys,STI was stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted March 27, 2009 Author Share Posted March 27, 2009 I ended up going with maddad EL headers as I thought I would, just placed my order, with any luck they will be on my car next weekend along with a new o2 sensor since mine just went bad. Good bye boxer rumbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotsugg Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Where did you order your headers? Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 On an a sti forum, I will try and get some sound clips up after I put on the headers. I will also get to see how much power they add after install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 I just got the stock headers and my bpm uppipe off the car. Really wasn't difficult at all and took me 3 hours to do so. I am calling it a day for now I will take some side by side pics of the new headers next to the stockers tomorrow and install the maddad's on thursday night after work since I have hockey practice tomorrow night. So far I'm very impressed with how thick the maddad headers are they look well made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubieBlkOut Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I can't believe you just pulled the UP out from the top with little effort after 20 minutes of trying to get it out the bottom! Classic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praedet Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Sounds good! Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 Sounds good! Good luck Thanks Ted, after helping doing your install over the weekend I figured I should get some stones and do this job in my garage. Glad I did, not hard at all and I noticed I have a new oil leak which I will post about in a separate thread later today or tomorrow when I have time to take pics and locate the leak. Possibly oil pump seal, maybe cam seal, crankshaft seal, in that region it appeared from first glance. I will make sure, not to install those headers with the exhaust wrapping on them while I am leaking oil, could make for quite the bon fire… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 I wanted to give an initial review so far of the headers now I that I found my boost leak and fixed it. ( Don't forget to tighten down o2 sensor in headers) So far I have turned down the boost by 2.33psi compared to what I was running before. I just got done doing a redline pull and plotting in airboy's spreadsheet. At 2.33psi less than I was running before the headers I made 20whp less than I was, which is understandable since I'm running less boost. But at 2.33psi less I have surpassed my old torque numbers by 18wtq with the headers. I would expect if I turn the boost back up to where I had it prior I should see slightly higher hp maybe an increase of 5 -10hp but there will be a very signifcant torque gain. Also my spool has been improved by what looks like 225rpm-250rpm. As for the fitment of the headers they fit like a glove, welds are quality, and the the headers appear to be thick, haven't heard about cracking on maddad headers. I had to take off my oil door since it was bowing in a little bit from the heat of the headers but other than that so far no further issues. As for the sound of my car now... before it was as loud as can be. It was mean it rumbled at idle, decel was a loud drown, of course when I got on it you could probably hear me from a half mile away. Now my car is extremely quiet. You can barely even tell I have an upgraded exhaust at idle, low rpms and decel are quiet. And when I get on it, it sounds fast and clean. Completely different sound, IMO not much louder than stock. All of my friends thus far have been blown away with how quiet it is, I feel if you are looking to be incognito, these headers will help your cause. I have seen substantial gains without any tuning adjustments other than lowered boost and my car is zeroed out in learning view on fine learning knock. At least for my setup I didn't need to make any tuning changes to put these on and for my car to run safely and net gains.I've heard additional gains could be had if I made adjustments to the avcs tables, but probably won't find that necessary at my power level. I give these headers my recommendation especailly if you have a big turbo setup. I will try and take some exhaust clips this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Very nice, TP! Hmmm... I may have to consider this down the road. I'm jealous and trying to stay within 100whp of you. My '05 LGT My '07 Supercharged Shelby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTGT Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I still want to hear a boxer with EL Headers. Bump the boost up a little a report back What were the Airboy results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 I still want to hear a boxer with EL Headers. Bump the boost up a little a report back What were the Airboy results? Unfortunately I’m having am exhaust leak I believe… After I made my post earlier in this thread I went to go take a pull and couldn’t hit over 22.05psi in 3rd gear.. I was able to overboost in 5th to 23.16psi on the highway. I then thought I may need to adjust my mbc because the headers might be cooler than the stockers not allowing as much spool. I tried turning the boost up on the mbc a 1/2 turn and saw boost go down by a .1 of a psi. I have absolutely no fine learning knock, not even in the low end. My learning view looks good…. Numbers are as follows for fueling…. A B C D -4.70 2.7 0 2.7 I know for sure one time right after putting on the headers I was able to hit 23.76psi in 3rd gear, but I did not log it and I just saw the max value in romraider after doing the pull. Then after that boost went down even further to 20psi because of the o2 sensors not tightened down, oops. After retightening the o2 sensor boost went up to 22.05psi as logged. And I haven’t been able to get it higher than that since… I pressure tested my vacuum lines, and there are no leaks, everything is sealed up top. Not to mention fueling would be lean in Cell A and B for sure. I have tightened down header bolts a little more and nuts from uppipe to manfild connection a little bit, they are tight. I have checked uppipe bolts up top that I have access to without removing the downpipe and they are tight. The egt bolt I’m using maybe the culprit, it felt like it fit good and I used anti-seize on it to help it seal but perhaps it’s not the right size… Anyone know a good way to find an exhaust leak…I haven’t heard an audible leak. There are slip joints on the headers but I figure if those were leaking I wouldn’t have been able to hit 23.76psi ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommypenguin Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 I edited my last post for some clarity. I got a new bolt from pepboys yesterday that fit and used anti-seize and am still not able to run over 22 psi. I inspected gaskets yesterday and it appears my 3 bolt gasket maybe shot. All of the other gaskets from all sides still look brand new. But when I checked out the 3 bolt gasket on the two sides leading to the most difficult bolt to wrench down, the top and bottom layers out of the 5 layers of gasket look rusted already. They are not bright silver like all the other gaskets look. I wanted to try testing out the new bolt in egt bung first before taking apart that connection and looking at the gasket in hand but the bolt made no difference made no difference. I bought these headers used so I have the original sellers used 3 bolt gasket; I was thinking about trying to double it up if my gasket is reusable and use some sealant. I’ve heard liquid gasket won’t cut the mustard, any suggestions on what to use to help seal the connection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S0CalGT Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I still want to hear a boxer with EL Headers. Bump the boost up a little a report back What were the Airboy results? I'm currently in VA (Fort Lee), if you want to hear EL on a boxer, let me know! Extremely quiet as Tommy mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow05gtRI Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 i just heard a leggy with EL headers on youtube last night...i do NOT like that sound at all...but it's all personal preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 the sound really depends on muffler choice. some LGT catbacks/axlebacks dont suite the EL headder exhaust well. I have the same EL headders as tommypenguin with prodrive cans. The sound is the best ive ever heard any turbo H4 subaru make. I bet if i had a more open muffler like the perrin cans, it would sound like crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow05gtRI Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 ah true, didn't think of that. i'd love to hear your car if you've got some sounds clips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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