So I figured there's some people out there browsing through ebay looking at all the different exhaust options for their cars and obviously there are some really cheap options. And when I say cheap, we are talking $200 bucks cheap. Well I figured I would guinea pig myself since I'm sure there's a lot of people out there wondering what it sounds like, what's the fitment like, etc. So I purchased this set for a little over $200 shipped. Its advertised as a N1 style cat back system.

So here are the results:

1. Looks - fitment overall was not what was expected, even after purchasing an extension, the tips never even reached the bumper, so I got tip extensions that slid over to extend them out, even with that, they hit the bumper, so a little dremel action took place, and I ended up trimming a bit of the bottom inside of the bumper to make it fit, or else I would have had a melted bumper. But after everything was put on, if you have any self respect, the exhaust doesn't look at all good, it sticks to side to much, the y connector the used to make the split looks tacky, and the steel used is definitely cheap looking.

2. Sounds - ahhh the most important aspect, initial start up is ok..., sorry I didn't make time to make a vid, but you can pretty much youtube any non-branded aftermarket exhaust and you'll get the idea, its raspy, its not consistent, and by far sounds horrible. The drone from 2500-3500 RPMs on the highway or city is annoying, even at that it fluctuates, you can hear it going through the mufflers and the sounds is not smooth at all. My teenage son obviously thinks its sounds cool, but who cares about his opinion its my car.

3. Fitment - So even after adding on the extension and getting the mufflers on the hangers, there was still a lot of work to do before I was able to get everything bolted up and tightened down. For instance, after my first test of getting fitted, the passenger side muffler was hitting the cover of evap canister area. So a little modification took place, which required some cutting to the metal cover, then the resonator pipe ended up hitting the sway bar, so a nice clamp was used to tighten it up since the hanger didn't quite meet up correctly.

In conclusion, this exhaust system (if it even is that) will be coming back off this weekend. Like I said, it was fun driving around for a bit so that my son could look cool getting picked up at school, and I really wanted to waste my money a bit to "test" out what these systems are really all about for the guys/gals out that are wondering. So if you have the intuition to go out and spend some money on a cat-back system, and you don't quite have the funds, I really suggest you wait, there's always craigslist deals for decent priced systems, and just having that better sound and performance really ends up paying for itself. I did forget to note, once you hit 4500-5500 rpms, the pressure just isn't there. Good luck to you all. I'll also be posting about some replica rays that I tried. Yes, you will wonder why I put myself through this, but I really enjoy the learning experience that nobody has gone through yet, curiosity you might say.

 

Damn dude. Anyone coulda told you it was a chit system without you playing researcher and wasting your money...

 

Have you ever found anything that was actually a good deal

 

Actually there's a couple of systems that's been on craigslist, arks for 4-500, nismo for 600. Greddy has their axle backs running everyday for 600 or so shipped. But Like the posts said, its not about wasting the money, or to get bashed on, just haven't seen an actual post about this exact system, and I'd rather would have went this route, than the guys that run around with no muffler and just the resonator pipe hanging.