Bull's Jack-of-all-trades 2015 EB Premium PP

[Bull Run]

Lightweight exhaust mod

I'm now at a point where I'm willing to change the looks and sound to gain additional performance.

I used the Decibel X app on an iPhone to measure the noise difference between my current setup and the new setup. The first bump in the graph is for the noise inside the car, while the second bump is about 5 feet away from the rear bumper.

Corsa 3" catted DP -> Borla Pro XS (3" inlet, dual 2.25" outlets) -> 2.25" EB piping -> GT mufflers
Avg: 86.3
Min: 74.6
Max: 97.1
Peak: 99.9

Corsa 3" catted DP -> MangnaFlow XL (3" inlet, dual 2.5 " outlets) -> 2.5" dump pipes.
Avg: 99.4
Min: 73.6
Max: 111.5
Peak: 113.9

As expected, there was some noise increase over the original setup, but the exhaust sounded pretty good. Even my helper thought it sounded good for a four banger.

Weight savings:

GT muffler (18.975 lbs or 37.95 lbs/pair)

MagnaFlow XL muffler (9.75 lbs, shorter and about 2 lbs lighter than Borla Pro XS)

Weight savings vs. original: 39.95 lbs, more like around 55 lbs since mid-muffler back piping and tips are also gone.

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[Bull Run]

Steeda Ultralite Linear Springs Impression

I've been driving around with Steeda Ultralite Linear Springs for the last few days and I'll have to say they are definitely worth losing about 1" of ground clearance.

Pros:

Almost no nosedive on hard braking
Highway expansion joints have almost no effect on the car
Almost no rolls on hard turns
No front tire squeal on hard turns at the same speed compared to stock springs
Clears parking lot speed bumps and road speed dips without issues

Con:

Just one; I need to be extra slow when entering or exiting my driveway to avoid scraping the jacking rails.

 

[Bull Run]

I cheated a bit and dropped my car off at a shop to complete the upgrades I wasn't able to finish before heading out of the country for a vacation. They were:

Steeda bumpsteer kit,

Steeda lateral link,

Steeda rear adjustable camber arms, and

balance shaft delete.

I also had the alignment shop reclock the bushings before the alignment.

The steering feels more precise now and it feels like I can turn at higher speeds without the front outer tire losing traction. Now my limiting factor is the driver's seat as I'm struggling to remain upright to fully explore the turning capability.

As for the balance shaft delete, I felt a small improvement in the throttle response, about similar in level to the CF driveshaft update. Removing ~10 lbs from the front adds to the weight loss effort as well.

 

[prostovovatt]

As a new 18 ecoboost owner

You are officially going to be my new best friend :cheers:

 

[GuardEcoBeast]

Did you do the balance shaft delete yourself or have someone else do it?

 

[Blue Moon]

I can totally relate to the desirability of losing 10 pound off the nose, but I'm wondering about the effects of deleting the balance shaft. Anybody have any idea what the long-term effects might be? My first thought is that it could lead to more vibration, which won't do any good to mounts or bearings. Any change in NVH?

 

[Bull Run]

You are officially going to be my new best friend :cheers:

Ask away brother and good luck on your build!

 

[Bull Run]

Did you do the balance shaft delete yourself or have someone else do it?

I had a shop do it while I was on vacation. With daytime temps hitting over 110 degrees now, I'll be limiting any labor intensive mods, except when the back ordered CF hood comes in.

 

[Bull Run]

I can totally relate to the desirability of losing 10 pound off the nose, but I'm wondering about the effects of deleting the balance shaft. Anybody have any idea what the long-term effects might be? My first thought is that it could lead to more vibration, which won't do any good to mounts or bearings. Any change in NVH?

I haven't heard of any negative effects of BS delete from anyone else so far. As for the NVH, I haven't noticed any increase, BUT straps for my mocked up exhaust is bolted directly to the chassis and NVH from it may be masking any changes. I'm having the pipes welded on later this week and will let you know if I notice anything once the new exhaust is supported by the factory hangers.

 

[prostovovatt]

Ask away brother and good luck on your build!

First mod already on its way and I think I may have messed up already.

Picked up a new unopened mishimoto intercooler from a user on here, paid last week but have gotten no tracking information or shipment confirmation.

About to pick up a blemished large core cp-e intercooler from cp-e since they are local to me.

 

[prostovovatt]

I haven't heard of any negative effects of BS delete from anyone else so far. As for the NVH, I haven't noticed any increase, BUT straps for my mocked up exhaust is bolted directly to the chassis and NVH from it may be masking any changes. I'm having the pipes welded on later this week and will let you know if I notice anything once the new exhaust is supported by the factory hangers.

That said, Cobb is really disappointing me - I am eagerly waiting on them to release an accessport for the 18s, but no word on timelines or anything else thus far.

 

[Bull Run]

I haven't heard of any negative effects of BS delete from anyone else so far. As for the NVH, I haven't noticed any increase, BUT straps for my mocked up exhaust is bolted directly to the chassis and NVH from it may be masking any changes. I'm having the pipes welded on later this week and will let you know if I notice anything once the new exhaust is supported by the factory hangers.

Exhaust is completed and added vibration from it is now gone. I don't feel any difference in NVH while cruising, maybe slightly more when idling. While the weight savings itself may be only around 10 lbs, a local tuner thought the BS delete is worth around 10 HP. That sounds reasonable since the BS spins at twice the crankshaft RPM, so it spins much faster than a driveshaft.

As for the exhaust itself, I'm much happier with having tailpipes rather than dump pipes. Noise level is now close to same as the old setup during idle and cruising. It is noisier while on fast idle and acceleration, but not to the point of being obnoxious.

 

[Bull Run]

Picked up a new unopened mishimoto intercooler from a user on here, paid last week but have gotten no tracking information or shipment confirmation.

That's a bummer. Did you pay with PayPal so you can file a claim? Perhaps you should share the post if he still hasn't responded to you.

 

[roskorocker]

Exhaust is completed and added vibration from it is now gone. I don't feel any difference in NVH while cruising, maybe slightly more when idling. While the weight savings itself may be only around 10 lbs, a local tuner thought the BS delete is worth around 10 HP. That sounds reasonable since the BS spins at twice the crankshaft RPM, so it spins much faster than a driveshaft.

As for the exhaust itself, I'm much happier with having tailpipes rather than dump pipes. Noise level is now close to same as the old setup during idle and cruising. It is noisier while on fast idle and acceleration, but not to the point of being obnoxious.

Are you using said local tuner? If so are you happy with the tunes? dyno tuned?

 

[prostovovatt]

That's a bummer. Did you pay with PayPal so you can file a claim? Perhaps you should share the post if he still hasn't responded to you.

I did pay with PayPal and I filed a claim, and a dispute with my bank. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on another intercooloer ( a larger core from CP-e). PayPal came back with saying in an automated message to give it till Wednesday before proceeding to escalate with PayPal. The Bank proactively returned my money to me, and guess what happens - Wednesday afternoon I look at the PayPal case and see a tracking number and a PM in my inbox with a tracking number apologizing for the delay.


And now I'm not quite sure what to do, all of this could have been avoided with a simple message after I sent the money saying "hey can you give me like a week or two to ship" and I would've patiently waited. Now I will probably end up not accepting the shipment because I don't need it anymore.

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