Best First STi Mods
Cat-back Exhaust System
The first thing that you might ask yourself is “What’s a cat-back exhaust exactly?” As you may or may not know, an exhaust system can be viewed as the “lungs” for your STi. A car’s engine is the air pump for the vehicle. As it takes in air from the cold air intake (will be discussed about momentarily), hot air is produced. This air needs to go somewhere else. This is where the cat-back exhaust comes into play. The term “cat-back” is derived from the pipes connecting to a portion of the catalytic converter.
The pressurized air travels through the pipes, which are connected from the catalytic converter to the muffler, and gets released through the mufflers. As this process takes places, sound is produced. The mufflers help suppress that sound. The larger the diameter of the pipes, the more air that’s allowed to pass through the exhaust pipes. Increased air flow means increased power and efficiency on your STi. It would be best that you get an aftermarket cat-back exhaust, due to cost and efficiency. They’re fairly easy to install and make your STi sound intimidating.
Air Intake
An air intake is responsible for the rate at which air travels to the combustion engine and is transformed into fuel. Like a majority of other parts of your STi, the air intake can be tuned to the point where turbulence and restriction of air flow are kept at a minimum. The better the air flow, the more efficient and powerful your STi will be. There are a few types of air intakes. You have the cold air intake, which is said to provide more efficiency and power to your engine as a result of cold air containing more oxygen.
If you feel that your STi has power to trade off, then you may consider a warm air intake for greater fuel efficiency. Then there’s the ram air intake. Motorcycles and high performance vehicles are commonly equipped with this type of air intake. This is because the ram air intake allows for a greater massflow of air. Thus, the engine’s power increases. Each air intake type has a con, so understand your STi and know what it needs. One thing’s certain; you may want to replace the stock air intake.
