OBX catback exhaust review and details with pics!

[ChiveOn]

I did a LOT of research before purchasing an exhaust for my 2006 wagon. There was a ton of info out there, but not a lot of reviews or details on the OBX exhaust. I'm on a fairly strict budget so I wanted the best bang for the buck I could get. I was going to go the no name ebay route until I read you had to modify the length of the tips as well as having the exhaust shop fix and fitment issues. So I scrapped that and went with the OBX.

 

First off, the quality of tubing, welding, and gaskets is very good. I was impressed. Definitely worth the extra money compared to the ebay crap. Also, there is no step down in tubing sizes at the Y pipe. Its a true 3" catback.

 

BUT!, it did not fit properly. They did sit nicely in the bumper cut outs side to side. They were near perfect centered. The tips themselves sat too high though. Too close, if not sitting on the bumper plastic. And the driver side tip was a good 3/4-1" out further than the other side. The passenger side was perfectly flush with the bumper cut outs. The driver side was obviously past the bumper.

 

So the exhaust shop took quite a bit more time to fix it as well as possible with what they had to work with. There is only so much you can do with the brackets and hangers. They made a couple spacers to pull the tips down away from the bumper itself and adjusted what they could to pull the driver side back. It still sticks out, but its only about a 1/4".

 

So for the sound! Its perfect for me. I do have an auto and am completely stock minus the new exhaust. It does not drone at higher speeds. It has a nice low grumble at idle and lower RPM's. It most definitely is not loud or raspy.

 

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for something middle of the road. I have not used any other exhaust but I think its a great deal for $500 and not having to spend additional money on lengthening the tips.

[ChiveOn]

Here's a pic of it on the ground too.

[TheMonaLisa]

Very nice

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chrish8r]

Since you said the car is stock minus the catback, I take it that the exhaust bolts right up to the stock exhaust without any modification? So no need for any downpipe adapters or anything?

[MoD_Scotty]

I have the same exhaust on my wagon. I used a stock downpipe-to-3" catback adapter (which I recently removed due to finally installing an aftermarket downpipe).

 

I also had a slight fitment issue. On mine, one tip seemed to be too high, and it had been really hard to get that side's exhaust hanger mount on. The solution was to cut one side of the rubber exh hanger, so that that side of the exh had a little more freedom to drop. Now the fitment looks perfect.

 

My only real complaint with the exhaust is the thickness of the tubing. It's really thin. So this means the exhaust is pretty loud. There is definitely drone on the highway. I used a sound meter on my phone and measured 87dB at 80mph. I recently upgraded to a Cobb catted downpipe, and repeated the test, still 87dB at 80mph.

 

It's not CRAZY loud, but it's a little loud for what I was going for with this car. So I'm going to be on the lookout for a quieter exhaust. 10 years ago I would probably have wanted it even louder, lol.

 

One last note: I get tons of compliments on both the sound and appearance of the exhaust.

 

Pics:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i95/avatargsr/LegacyGT/1381275_10151596625247315_147433407_n_zpsb89ca5ad-1.jpg

 

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i95/avatargsr/LegacyGT/1380300_10151596625262315_594523545_n_zpse4575ebd-1.jpg

[PNW-LGT]

I want to buy an OBX catback for a LGT wagon. they are backordered everywhere so im looking for used now. anyone know of someone who might want to sell theirs?