Exhaust for my DD WRX

I just picked up a 2003 WRX (170k miles) for a commuter car to enjoy he drive to work and drop off the kids. The prior owner removed the muffler (axle back) for “better flow”. 

I am torn between having the local exhaust shop put on a “stock” muffler for  $150 or an aftermarket (borla or flowmaster) muffler for $200.  Driving i to today wasn’t totally unbearable without the muffler as the turbo deadens the noise but that is based on 1 day of driving and it will get old I am sure. 

Being a GRM guy I have dreams of modding the WRX but it is a daily driver that’s fuel economy matters so anything major is unlikely for the foreseeable future. 

If I eventually do a light tune, up pipe and down pipe will the “stock” muffler be much of a limiting factor? I am hoping some people on here have done similar with a WRX and can share their experience.

thanks

Honestly, i bought an ebay stainless cat back with muffler for my last one and it was a nice piece.  Never got to put it on though.  My current 02 has the factory muffler and it’s too quiet but I don’t have it in me to molest an original bugeye when every other one out there is hacked up

Sedan or wagon? The sound seems to reverberate more in the wagons, making them louder inside. 

I had a 2002 wagon - 

First: stock with eBay 3" cat back. Loud enough, but not bad. Exhaust took a LOT of work to go on the car at all, let alone fit decently. 

Second: JDM catless uppipe, Invidia catless 3" downpipe, Invidia Q300 3" cat back. LOUD.  The novelty wore off real quick. 

Third: JDM catless uppipe, Invidia catless 3" downpipe, OEM STi cat back. 90% of the performance benefits, but quiet enough for pedestrians to not give it a second glance. 

People will say: you have to put an exhaust on to make any power.

These people are wrong. Perrin Performance made something like 300 wheel horse power with a 2L car with the whole stock exhaust in place.

That being said, I have a catless uppipe (removes the possibility of the pre-cat exploding and lunching the turbo), a 3 inch PDE (ancient Subaru brand, pretty comparable to any still existing brand) catted downpipe, and a stock STI catback. Just my two cents, use a factory catback as the mufflers are all usually very well designed to eliminate drone. A catless uppipe and a bigger downpipe will give you a nice sound.

Another two cents? I would never modify the powertrain of another Subaru. I did and I regret the reliability problems that brought every day.

Thanks for the input

In reply to tripp :

Can we get some sick wagon pics?!

Sedan sorry I can try to get some pics up though

being an exhaust fabricator for a living & I get a lot of work from the Scooby crowd, and often when they go against my suggestion...they end up coming back for what I suggested.  

Id say if you can get you hands on a genuine oe take off or replacement muffler, go that route for ultimate fit and quiet, aftermarket "stock" replacements are usually pretty much junk and often flow less then stock and not last more then a couple years.  If not, a Borla ProXS ($90~) will work great, be mellow, not overbearing & smooth.  Next Id suggest a Vibrant oval muffler($105~)...they have similar characteristics and a few different appearences that may suit you style, polished or black.

Flowmasters are droney, especially in a rear position with no real length to the tailpipe.  MagnaFlow and DynoMax are ok mufflers...less refiined and louder then the Borla and Vibrant counterparts.

Your stock tubing is around 2 1/8" so a 2.25" muffler would be easy to fit up.

I had an invidia on my Forester XT. It was way to loud. I had to yell (politely) to my kids in the back. I traded that off for a maddad whisper 3”. That was great. livened up when you stepped on it and smooth while cruising. It had a grimspeed catless uppipe and a invidious catted down pipe because a clean car was more important to me. 

I have a fujitsubo exhaust on my 02 wagon with an injin  catless up and downpipe and it is a perfect compromise in sound and performance, zero drone and only slightly loader than stock. There not a cheap exhaust and if it hadn’t come on the car I would have just went oem sti 

Thanks for all the input. I know I can always count on fellow GRM folks for advice 

I have an 09 WRX with a modded exhaust. Mods are limited to free flowing downpipe with cat and  larger midpipe but retaining factory over the axle pipe but with magnaflow mufflers. Sounds like an odd combo but it works, car makes roughly 100 hp over stock (with intake and intercooler upgrade) and the noise level allows conversation at only slightly louder than normal levels...but when you get on it there is enough exhaust noise that its noticeable inside the cabin. At cruise, you can just hear the car at a steady cruise and it immediately gets louder when you roll into it. Its a perfect daily driver solution for me...your mileage may vary.