I'd like to remove the heat shield from my exhaust headers and was planning to wrap them, but was advised by a Subaru specialist that the stock headers are susceptible to cracking when wrapped. It was suggested that I just remove the heat shields and run without them.

Has anyone ran their scoob without heat shields successfully, or suffered any ill effects?

 

You want to keep heat in the exhaust as hotter gases have more energy. Without the heat shields you'll lose heat out of the exhaust faster.

 

In theory I can believe that, in practical terms though is that likely to make a noticeable/significant difference?

 

Stainless steel manifolds are prone to cracking when wrapped. OEM are cast steel.