Okay,,,,since I have so thoroughly described my ineptitude as a mechanic, here is what my first modifcation is going to be. It's the exhaust/intake. Now,,,,,I am not going to do this until January, but I would like for someone to help guide me. First of all, I am NOT going to be the one doing it. It is going to the dealer.

I have been doing research and let me discuss what it is that I know thus far. I know that a downpipe is important. Real important. From what I can tell, a 3 inch one is the type that I need. Does mopar make this? I am going with the genuine mopar exhaust system. From what I can tell, this system will support any other modifications that I may someday do. I'm "guessing" that the full mopar system would be good???

Everything will still be stock, just the exhaust/intake will be changed. I don't really understand what a downpipe is, and I definitely do not know what a cut out is. Is the cut out on the down pipe? Do I want a cut out? What is a cat delete? Do I want/need that?

I just want the car to sound better and run faster. I think this would be the easiest thing to do. What do you all think about this modification? What kind of horsepower gains would I expect?

Also,,,,what about this idea? Should I go to my local muffler place and have them do a system instead? The mopar exhaust thing sounds like the smart play.

Thanks in advance to those who respond to this.

 

The mopar exhaust system is a 2.5" system, which is what is required for the use of the Stage3R upgrade from Mopar inclusive of a larger turbo. A downpipe is what goes from the flex pipe to the midsection. Your stock exhaust goes like this, in this order from the engine back:

Exhaust Manifold (connected to the turbo)
O2 housing ( where your upstream 02 sensor lies)
Flex joint (not really a pipe but a short joint that allows flexibility in the pipes)
Catalytic converter (what makes you pass emissions)
Downstream 02 (screwed into the bottom half of the cat)
Midsection, including two resonators (quiet the exhaust down while fixing the tone)
Rear section (a bunch of twists and turns that rise up over your control arms and suspension on the drivers side, again, something to adjust sound)
Tailpipes (a given)

Now.....without your catalytic converter your check engine light will remain on, and throw you a p0420 Catalytic Converter Inefficiency code. Without one you will not be able to pass emissions, and the tone of your exhaust will become louder....much louder.

The mopar system is a 2.5" system which comes in two options, one with a cat, and one with a cat-delete option. Now unless your running the Stage 1 or ever intend to run Stage 1 the cat-delete option is NOT for you. Any other mods you do, while minimal will be handled with this exhaust system unless you intend on going to the extreme which it doesn't appear that you are. So your set with the Mopar system, which runs around $350.00 for the entire system with Cat.

Its slightly louder and deeper than the stock tone, but its not enough to get you pulled over. Which is another plus.

Intakes, go with the Mopar if your having your dealer do it. If its not a mopar part its very very unlikely that they would be willing to install it for you.

Any other questions feel free to ask and I shall tell

 

First LSP,,,,,thank you sooo much for responding to my question in such depth.

Okay,,,,,think you are off scott free, don't you? What you have done is to leave yourself open to a couple of more questions..smiles.

And awayyyyyy we go:

First of all,,,,your description of the exhaust from the engine back blew me away. I thought there was like a manifold and then a long pipe/s and that was about it. In your description, is the down pipe in there? Which one of those things is the down pipe?

As far as the engine mods go and the stages, here's my thinking. First of all,,,DON'T LAUGH. I'm almost embarassed to type this. Okay,,,I know what to do:

Uhhhh,,,,I have this "friend," and he loves cars and he really wants to have a great fast one, but this "friend" doesn't know anything about cars. Now,,,,,he would someday like to have a stage 3, because he feels that is the safest way to go, because he doesn't know anything about cars and the dealer could install it. Now,,,if this friend ever gets the courage and goes that route, do you think he should have the cat delete thingie on his exhaust? What if,,,,,before he someday got stage 3, he had stage one? You see,,,,my friend is not loaded or anything. If he had stage one installed, would that keep the code light from going off? I am pretty sure that he would hate that.

I really don't need an intake modification, do I?

Does the mopar exhaust system have the down pipe included with it?

Thanks for answering all my other questions so well!!!

 

Wordslayer, NEVER be embarassed to type anything here on DodgeForums. The only stupid questions are the ones you never ask.

The downpipe on the stock system is actually considered the catalytic converter. The Mopar system can come one of two ways.
A) with the downpipe as a catalytic converter
B) OR for an additional charge a "test" pipe which is just a straight pipe with a bung for your downstream 02 sensor, but you wont have a catalytic converter and this increases the sound of your exhaust quite alot.

Stage 3 calls for the 2.5" Mopar Borla system according to Mopar's performance website, running anything larger isnt necessary by Mopar's means.

If you have Stage 1, you are allowed to run without a catalytic converter, and no the check engine light will not throw the P0420 code at you. With any of the stages you are allowed to run catless. Now with stage 3, you absolutely can run that way. Our turbo doesnt like the backpressure our catalytic converter creates. Our turbo is MUCH happier without this cat. Hence: our turbo doesnt like *****. [sm=confused06.gif]

No you don't NEED an intake. BUT...for the price, and the difference it makes slightly in fuel economy, horsepower and torque, its well worth it. Plus it makes the "horse laugh" much louder than with the stock airbox.

Food for thought, heres the intake system I have:
http://www.modernperformance.com/dcx...m_intake.shtml

And here's what they found at Modern Performance:


Now in that graph off of a dyno, the SRT-4 tested had Stage 1 but it was an 03 car. 04s have a higher stock rated horsepower due to larger injectors which the 03s didnt have. Some more food for thought Expect slightly higher numbers with an 04/05 car.

Anything else, NEVER be afraid to ask. We're all here to help.

 

argh you 04 owners. when you install s1 on either a 03 or 04, you end up with EXACTLY the same numbers (within a range of course). why? because it's the same ecu (with the same maps) and injectors. sure 03's don't come with the injectors, but the s1 upgrade does for 03. so you end up with the exact same numbers on either year. check one off the list of the "advantages" of an 04. don't even get me started on 05's.......

as for the mopar cat-back. first, i would really like to know where you came up with this figure of $750 for a mopar cat-back? $350 and you're done. if i paid $750 for a cat back i think i would shoot myself. even though i ended up with like a 1k custom job, but that's besides the point oh wait, are you talking about the maxxfab modified borla catback maybe?

if s3 is in the plans, get a 3" turboback. the mopar catback is just not worth it. a 2.5" system is still restrictive and you'll end up wanting to upgrade later. believe me, i know. i've been there done that. i originally had a 3" o2 housing, 3" interchangable dp to the 2.5" borla (mopar) cat-back. after upgrading to s3 we discovered that there was still back pressure and a problem with turbulance in the output. i have since upgraded the 2.5" cat-back to a custom full 3" set up with mufflers. it was way more expensive to do it this way than it would have been to just get a 3" turboback from the start.

some advice that i always give people who are just starting to modify their cars - be smart. modify the car to achieve an end goal, not to provide immediate gains. you'll end up with a nicer set up and it will cost less money to do it this way.

 

why aren't you going there with the 05's anything i need to no since i own an 05

 

I paid $520 for my custom one....."cat" back.

 

custom is different than a borla. i have a custom job, and if i had paid full price for all the components it would have been well over $1500 for my turbo-back. custom is always more expensive, but it's a better route for most if you can afford it as it allows you to fine tune the system to work with your car.

 

I agree with PSI Chick.

I currently am running a maxxfab 3" downpipe with no cat connected to the mopar borla catback exhaust. The setup is nice and the maxxfab is a great peice, but if I were to do it again I would do a 3" turbo back with a muffler. There are a couple of reasons:

A) While I love the power and performance with the current setup, I must say that I wouldn't mind occasionally being able to go stealth, which I currently just cannot do. When I want to romp, it is perfect; it sounds like a racecar and feels like one at times, too, but the pops and afterfires and audible/visible explosions can become tiresome sometimes. With a 3" and a muffler, I would probably lose no power, and sound great on acceleration. I would enjoy the side benefit of cruising down the highway with no exhaust drone.

B) When you start modding this car, it is hard to stop. You may end up taking it further than you expected. At Stage 2 with toys and a number of choice modifications, I am right where I planned to end up. The car is a scream and can beat most cars on the road. But - Now that I am used to it, I want more. S3r is in my near future as soon as I have spare coin for it, now, and who knows where it will end.

Stage one is a great starting point, and on a budget will make a signficant difference, and keep you from throwing codes. I would get that along with the intake/exhaust. It will also have an easier time learning how to run with a freer flowing intake and exhaust than a stock computer.

 

Alright,,,,,I've been thinking over and over about the exhaust that I should get and frankly, I am exhausted. Confused.

By the way, having a tuner car and not being a "tuner," is like being a life guard and not being able to swim.

Sooooo,,,,here is what my plans are. I have a completely stock 05. The only thing that has been done to it is lowering springs.

My long term goals are as follows:

Have sex with a beautiful woman someday.....wait,,,that's for a different thread.

Ugraded exhaust then to stage one. Stay at this setup until I someday have enough money for stage three. Stage three may come sooner if I have sex with the beautiful woman and she is filthy rich.

Anyhow, since I don't see myself having sex with a beautiful, rich woman anytime soon, I will be at stage one with the ugraded exhaust for a while. When I get to stage three, I, more than likely won't have the toys. That's because I am not like a real hot rodder. I just want someting pretty darned street fast.

That is the goal. Now,,,I have kind of ruled out going with the mopar exhaust now, because of some of the things that you all have told me. Soooooooooo,,,,,,,,,I am planning on, within the next couple of months, going to a muffler shop???and telling them that I want to order a __________________________________________________ ________________________________???

What is it that I need to order? I want it to sound really good when throttling up, but I don't want it to do REAL loud when just tooling around. What do I tell the muffler shop that I need to order and have put on?

Disclaimer:

Whatever you all advise me to get, I will NOT hold you accountable for if I hate it. That's the price of ignorance.