I've seen tons of threads on this before, but if all I am doing are bolt ons, such as Intake, UICP, HFC, Catback, and 3 port, do I really need an O2 downpipe?

I don't anticipate going past bolt-ons, I have an MR and would prefer to be able to drive the car without worrying about parts falling off.

Will it provide enough noticeable power to buy? I could care less about squeezing every bit of power out. Notice that I am not getting an intercooler!

Thanks, and I know this has been asked a bunch, but I'm still on the fence about picking one up and would love to have a few educated individuals give me some good personalized info .

 

I think if you aren't interested in squeezing every bit of HP out of the car then no. But that's sort of a trick statement. What's considered "every bit"? Because anything you add you are adding to get "some bits" of HP, right? I guess you have to figure out your HP to & spent ratio that makes you happy. Me, I'm trying to get every bit I can. I get use to the HP quick and it starts to seem slow to me.

Really, from what I have read, just get a tune with no bolt ons and it makes a difference. I'm not tuned yet so I can't speak from experience.

 

I already have an ETS UICP, Intake, HFC, and Catback. I haven't installed the intake/intercooler parts yet until I am ready to get my tune. I just haven't decided if it is necessary to get a downpipe for my DD build.

 

O2 elim dp, no, but a shorty stock replacement downpipe would be good to go along with the HFC.

Think of an intercooler as a safety margin part, not a power adder (even though it will).

 

Kracka, a TurboXS shorty downpipe is for sale for $100. Worthwhile to get, or should I opt for a better quality piece?

 

I personally would spend a little more for a quality one.

 

This is the best way to look at it. And most of the time it is always better to spend a little more and you will have less issues later down the road. Most of the time.

 

ETS open dump!!

 

I would get the intercooler over the downpipe to be honest. The gains on the downpipe are not near what is with the intercooler, plus if the factory intercooler is heat soaking your going to lose all your newly found gains anyways. The intercooler is one of the best bang for the buck mods in my opinion.

Michael

 

Ah I see. I was leaning towards open dump downpipe instead of intercooler because of the vicious sound it makes . I don't plan on tracking it. It will only be used for driving to and from work! Sometimes, I like to give it a little spirit .

Also, I don't have a wideband bung yet Wish I got one on my ETS High flow cat.

 

I'm kind of in the same situation, mods in my sig. Thinking of an AMS widemouth DP, heard nothing but good things.

 

I would agree with Kracka on at least getting a shorty. This will help in the transition of going to a 3" exhaust / HFC with out having to worry about exhaust leaks at the flang. I believe Cobb makes a pretty good one. Install on the shorty's are pretty easy and the O2 routes right behind the carpet under the passenger front floor board and to the center consel. Depending on were you live I would also consider a intercooler.

 

I have the exact same parts as you so of course no downpipe or intercooler. A bunch of the local guys and me all installed the bolt ons and got tuned the same weekend at the same dyno with the same tuner and about the same weather conditions. I made 291whp and 327wtq on a dynodynamics. So no dynojet super high numbers. The guys with downpipes (short and full down pipe) and intercoolers made around 312-317whp and remember, same dyno, tuner, gas, etc. I was just like you and wanted to keep my car simple but when I saw their numbers I almost cried lol So yeah, dont believe everything you read like downpipes on stock turbo only add like 3-4whp lol They do add decent amounts of power. For the intercooler, you will avoid heat soak for a little longer and if you get a bigger than stock intercooler you can get more airflow as well.

Hope it gives you an idea of what the parts do !

 

Thanks, I'll look at getting a downpipe at least for now so that I can stick in a wideband.