[PunksSTi]

Well I received my new Harman Motive turboback exhaust system on Friday and did the install on Saturday.

The good:

Beautiful craftsmanship on the materials and welds. The tips are indeed beautiful.

The exhaust was carefully wrapped and packaged so the finishes were perfect.

It does sound good on the car - a bit louder than I expected after having a custom Magnaflow catback on my Legacy GT. It's got a nice rumble at idle and it full throttle it's pretty agressive sounding. I'm expecting it to quiet down a bit as it carbons up with use. It does not drone at highway speeds (confimed by an 125 mile trip to Denver and back). I'm very happy with the sound on the highway.

The exhaust fits the car with not hitting or rattling on the heat shields, rear differential or rear suspension although it is a very tight fit! Don't plan on using a differential protector with this exhaust. The pipe seems huge compared to the stock pipe.

The not so good:

The driver side exhaust tips sit noticibly higher than the passenger side tips. I've probably got at most 1/4" between the top of the tip and the facia on the driver side and 1/2" to 3/4" on the passenger side. I checked all the muffler and mid-pipe hangars and everything is installed and hanging correctly. I can't tell if the hangar is too short on one side or the exit pipe from the muffler is slightly out of alignment. The angles on both tips look the same so it could be the hangar. I'm taking pics and sending them to Harman. I'm very picky on this especially with the price of this system and expect perfect fit.

No installation instructions were included

It is physically impossible to get a socket or a box-wrench on the lower downpipe bellmouth nut to torque it. I used the factory nut and had to use an open ended 14 mm to tighten it. The clearance between the bellmouth and the nut are too close. I seem to remember this being an issue on my Cobb downpipe also.

I'll try and get some pics up as soon as I can.

Paul

[JuniorRSX]

pics?

[RFFG]

Thanks for the write up, in for pics...

[GilMikalian]

I know it's not the most elegant fix but you can use a hose clamp around the hanger and screw in the clamp until the side's that's too low is even with the other.

[PunksSTi]

Originally Posted by GilMikalian

I know it's not the most elegant fix but you can use a hose clamp around the hanger and screw in the clamp until the side's that's too low is even with the other.

Never thought of that GilMikalian! Thanks I might just give it a try. I really think for this kind of money it should fit like a glove though (not an O.J. glove ). By the time I purchased the exhaust, a Cobb turbo heatshield, adding an AFR bung and shipping I had nearly $1800 invested to Harman Motive.

I am loving the sound though! It was warm here today so I had the windows down and it sounds so throaty and when you step deep into the throttle my STi sounds like it's all business! Awesome.

I sent the following pics to Harman so they could check it out.







Paul

[GilMikalian]

Paul, now that I see it, FORGET what I said. The driver's side seems to be too high, that's your problem. My (crude) fix would work if the pass side was too low, but it's not. The pass looks good, the driver's looks to high.

[onlytakes4]

Nice write up. And I agree, for the money you spent on that exhaust, it should fit perfectly.

[STI 08]

yea i think it should fit better. what about bending the hanger or getting one that is longer?

[PunksSTi]

Guys,

Brett at Harman sent this issue to Dan and I've already heard back from Dan. He has made some suggestions about adjusting the fitment of the exhaust. Great customer service from this company.

Adjustment procedure per Harman:

"There is some up/down and side-to-side play built into the exhaust. I’d suggest you do the following:

1)Loosen the four bolts located in the front and rear flange of the catback. Don’t take them off, just make it so you can move the flange around.
2)Loosen the two bolts on the 3” clamp (this is where most of the adjustment is). You should be able to twist the two pieces of the midpipe slightly.
3)Go to the tips and position them straight. You may need to make adjustments under the car and check.
4)Tighten everything in order from front of the car to back.

You may find that corrects your problem entirely. The 3” clamp makes it so you can adjust the angle of the muffler (and level the tips). There is enough give in the rubber hangers that these adjustments generally correct any issues.

As a final step, you can also loosen the bolt holding the downpipe to the transmission bracket. Although, with your fitment issues the catback is likely the cause."


I'll try adjusting tomorrow and let you all know if this works out!

Paul

[bklynpanman]

I had this problem but fixed by loosening bolts. Holding up the tips so they are even while my tech friend tightened the bolts

[chmura]

What is a AFR Bung?

Why do some people want it and some don't?

What exactly is it?

[bklynpanman]

basically a threaded piece that's welded onto the downpipe for an aftermarket o2 sensor to screw into. Which hooks into an air/fuel wideband gauge. Example. Aem uego

[Vampyre]

woot no drone on the hwy. SOLD!

[bklynpanman]

No drone. But let's jet say you can hear the exhaust. Probably due to the hatch. Its not quiet.

[HASTIhatch]

Is it catless/hiflow?