Straight pipe my Loyale?

[Subarocket]

I live in the rust capital of the world, Golden, BC, and I'm sick of my exhaust rusting to all hell. I've had way too many issues and don't want to deal with it anymore. Between having to drive short distances and a 6 month winter with 3/4" crush and salt on the roads, I'm looking for solutions.

 

I am thinking of getting a stainless steel pipe and removing the cat and muffler for sake of simplicity and to sound neat. Would this affect the back pressure or performance? What would I expect from this and how obnoxiously loud would it be? Does it make sense removing the muffler and cat? All the rust issues seem to be at these points because of condensation or places for salt to sit.

[LoyaleSmith]

I have some experience with this.. enough to give ya some answers. My '90 loyale currently runs stock exhaust(with cat, and subaru factory resonator)right up to where the muffler ought to be. From that point back there is just some pipe(DIY) to get the end of the exhaust out from under the car. I personally think the throttle is noticeably more responsive, but then again, my muffler and the pipe near it were VERY leaky, and the muffler seemed pretty restrictive to me. As for sound, it will change your car's tone and volume quite a bit. My car isn't obnoxious(in my opinion the sound amazing), but it is far more audible now, and the boxer rumble is pretty thick. Inside  the car, the sound is very quiet to me. What's on the outside is pretty darned loud, but the trip isnt ruined because of all the screaming exhaust action. I will say, if you're gonna get into the 3500+ rpm range, most people in the neighborhood will know. Backpressure is decreased, my car "pops" nonstop during deceleration(in gear foot off gas pedal)If you're into pretty quiet cars, do not do this. I sometimes feel like people will wake up when I drive away in the late hours. I have seen loyales with the straight pipe you speak of, and i am not a fan. The backpressure issue is probably a negative effect at that point. The sound is incredibly raspy, and sort of puts off an "unmuffled ford ranger" vibe if you ask me. It's dumb. If you have to pass an inspection, or emissions test, it will fail. etc, etc, etc, the cons are pretty heavy with running just pipe. I think you would be pleased if you drove the car with stock exhaust and muffler deleted. As long as you're not afraid of a little subie rumble. Its a better place to start, is what i have to say. maybe find a non-rusty exhaust in a parts yard or here on the forum, and take some aggressive preventative measures for rust.

[Subarocket]

Thanks for the great response. On one side of the coin I would love an obnoxiously loud exhaust with a good rumble but I really do appreciate a silent car. My top priority is making it low maintenance though. In the 5 years I've owned my car I've had a new back half installed (after the cat), replaced (with a used part) pretty much the same length from rust taking out a weld near the flanges that connect by the cat (probably should have warranteed the original job), manifold gaskets (routine) and now rattling heat shields everywhere. It obviously wasn't down top to bottom brand new ever but it seems excessive to me.

 

What preventative measures do you recommend? No comment on stainless?

[Ibreakstuff]

I ran a muffler delete on my first loyale, just a 1' slip on pipe from napa. It ended up sounding great and wasn't too loud. I don't think noise will be much of a factor with the ea82 NA.

 

Not sure would delete the cat or go any larger on the header to Y pipe. But everything after the Y pipe is fair game. Heat shields are the first thing to go on any beater I own.

 

Stainless is nice, but expensive and harder to weld. Powder coating might be an option too.

[LoyaleSmith]

Yeah, im not 100% sure. The preventative measures would need to be looked into. You could probably spray the exhaust with some hefty coating/anti rust agent, but it'd need to be super heat resistant. Maybe see if you could wrap the exhaust..? I know there are wraps people use for headers, adn big intercooler piping, etc. You just need to to some good ol subie detective work. Worst case scenario your exhaust is about to fall apart from what it sounds like, and you should disconnect the exhaust at the rear side of the cat. Seems pretty sketch, some would probably turn purple at this suggestion. I drove with no exhaust after the cat for a few days once.. funny how 90 horsepower can sound like a race car. Hahahaha. Best of luck.