Uel header ground clearance?

[4eat05]

Hey guys, Ive been wanting to put uel headers on my na 04 forester (just for sound) but always heard they require putting spacers for skidplate, in turn losing ground clearance.

Does anyone know for sure how much ground clearance would be lost? If more than 1/2" i will stick to oem exhaust manifold

 

[scalman]

i think couple cm maybe not more. depends who made them they might be some different. look online how UELs look on cars and you will see. they not much lower just some .

 

[Lockheed]

Are you looking tubular headers such as Invidia ?

 

[4eat05]

Was looking at Borla replicas or Tsudo for my na 04 Foz but really dont want to lower skidplate and lose ground clearance just for sound.

Though i really love the uel sound from my Wrx.

If any of you know of any uel headers that wont cause me to lose clearance, or know anyone that made diy uel headers to keep their ground clearance pleeeease let me know

 

[scalman]

you think couple cm clearance will change much ? well then whats more important for you. when i made uel's myself i made them so they dont hang down anymore then needed.

 

[Lockheed]

the tubular headers are lower down ill take some pics of mine and you will see this will make a big difference on heavily rutted trails and only your tyre profile will help grounding issues .
Why don't you get a used set of wrx headers that you like the sound of, however I think the noise mainly comes from the exhaust and are non turbo headers not un equal?

 

[Ben Up North]

Non-turbo headers are equal, which is why they don't burble (it's not the exhaust)

 

[scalman]

Sure exhaust then plays some tune too in the end, so for best result people do uel and rear mufler or delete it

 

[Lockheed]

Non-turbo headers are equal, which is why they don't burble (it's not the exhaust)

Sorry I didn't make myself clear , the louder the exhaust the bigger the burble on unequal headers .

 

[Ben Up North]

Fairy 'nuff.

 

[Lockheed]

This what you have to do to the standard plastic under tray regarding uel headers ,they melt the plastic

Ive often thought about getting an Ali one , what are you guys using on your sg9's

 

[Kevin]

I have aluminium. I have a SubaXtreme cast version that unfortunately cracks too easily so is sitting in the garage damaged and then a home made plate version that cost me a case of beer on the car.

 

[Lockheed]

@Kevin pics..... or its not true.... well that's what the cool kids say ?

 

[Kevin]

@Lockheed the "kool" kids actually say:



Your wish is my command





I'll get a current pic of the SubaXtreme guard and add it here
Here is the SubaXtreme guard; current state and previously repaired damage highlighted

 

[Lockheed]

Looks like it did its job for a while I had a similar one on my Land Rover 90 ( which I had for 17 odd years) but mine creased in the middle after hitting concealed tree stump which then jammed the steering box arm.
suffice to say it made a difficult drive home .

 

[Kevin]

Looks like it did its job for a while

Those pics are when I first installed the homemade version; the damage was from the previous owner ;-)

Damaged SubaXtreme guard pics added to my previous post.

 

[ABFoz]

I have the genuine skid plate that was an option in Japan for the GC/GF Imprezas and BD/BG Legacies. It covers the centre part of the engine only so I have to make my own splash guard. This one came from somebody who owned a Gravel Express.

The splash guard has a provision for the header like the stock one.

It is stamped alloy for extra rigidity. Cheers.

 

[Lockheed]

Very nice!

 

[ABFoz]

Since that one is from the 90's, it is easier to mount on those with UEL headers.

 

[4eat05]

I have a Primitive Racing 3/16" alu skid plate. Ive always heard i would need spacers to fit uel headers, but noone mentions how big of spacers....