X-Force catback exhaust review, '08 Legacy GT sedan

[fotofan]

Hi all, just thought I'd drop a short review of the X-Force exhaust setup here. I know a few other people have talked about it but I think it a little more talk about it might be helpful for potential buyers. I have mine fitted to an '08 spec.B (sedan of course), mostly stock motor, Cobb catted DP. TLDR: Fantastic exhaust for cheap-ish. Good quality, really great sound (very solid and bassy), minor fitment issues. 

I bought mine through Summit Racing. Probably an anomaly, but I didn't get the mufflers and they were just not very helpful about it, but after driving it with no mufflers (just the mid and Y pipes) for a loud few weeks, Summit eventually got the mufflers sent out and everything was hunky-dory. 

Build quality: A+; it's stainless steel, moderately heavy gauge tubing, nice stout flanges, great welds, nice bends, stout mufflers, and really nice gusseted hangers. Gaskets and rubber mounts seem good quality as well. Also, the tips seem really solid, and I like that they're removable and have at least some adjustment for length. 

Fitment: B; it all went on smoothly and for the most part lines up very well with the stock exhaust hangers and all the bends are in the right places. As others have mentioned, it's not quite symmetrical; the passenger's side is tucked nicely into the bumper cutout, while the driver's side isn't quite centered and hangs down a bit. Probably could be fixed with some violent massaging of hangers, but I'm just gonna leave it. The left muffler was very easy to bolt to the Y-pipe, though; I had a little difficulty with the right side. 

Sound quality: I love it! I haven't had stock exhaust on my car for a number of years, but it seems really quiet to me. I had the famous Hawgzaust for a while, and then I cut the mufflers out entirely and welded homemade deletes in, which was actually not tremendously loud with a catted downpipes and factory resonator. When that rusted out I got the X-Force, and I think it's quieter than any of the other non-factory exhausts I've had, even the Hawgzaust. Exterior at idle is a silky rumble, no rasp, lots of bass. Under throttle it sounds very nice, not really burbly, just a solid, clean tone. There's a lot more turbo whistle than I expected, certainly more than I've heard with my other exhausts. I have no sound deadening in my car anywhere, and I was really really surprised at how quiet it is inside. At idle it's bassy and audible but not loud. From inside, the exhaust is only just audible when cruising at any speed. It's there, but with the road noise you don't really think about it.  It's much more apparent under any acceleration at all; I don't notice a lot of difference between WOT and mild acceleration. It sounds nice and clean, not too loud, but definitely there. 

Drone: I haven't experienced anything I would qualify as drone, although it does get a little louder during deceleration/engine braking. Not uncomfortably so, however, and not really louder than WOT. Sound volume and quality seems really consistent through the RPM range. I have cruised at a wide variety of speeds and revs, and it's generally just a nice background level of noise. 

Overall I'm very satisfied. Significantly less money than the bigger name exhausts, and quieter than most. Sounds fantastic, doesn't break the bank, fits fine.