Exhaust Reviews

I'm looking for an exhaust, and I'm having a LOT of trouble deciding what to do. Money is a big factor, as in I don't want to spend like $600.

Basically I'm looking for your experiences with exhaust systems and how much they cost.

Are axle-back systems worth it?

Does anyone have any experiences with Vibrant or Bosal/Brospeed?

Also, if I wanted to go cat-back is it cheaper to have a shop weld me up a custom exhaust?

Thanks

i heard that bosal/brospeed systems suck and are basically like stock. Go pacesetter if you dont want to spend alot. Theyre really nice and sound pretty good, not too loud or rawnchy or anything. If you want it would probably be cheaper to get a universal muffler with a custom catback 2 1/4".

run from all those brands and pacesetter. Get a good muffer like N1 flowmaster or ES for example and weld up piping for awesome results cheap.

Axle backs are "worth it" only if you want some looks and some sound.
I had a Dynomax axle back system when I first bought my car.. It was okay, power gains were unnoticable. It had a decent sound, and looked nice. And it was super cheap.

I had 2.25" piping cat-back from a custom exhaust shop with an N1 style muffler with no resonator, and no cat. As could be imagined it was loud as hell. My friends told me that when I would shift, you could see fire pop in the muffler when they were driving behind me though. :) Thats about the only thing that was fun about that system.. Pretty cheap though again.

Now I have a 2.5" setup all the way from the exhaust manifold. I picked up a cheap universal 2.5" cat, a long resonator, and a dynomax Super Turbo muffer ($40) and just got an exhaust shop to bend it all up for me to look stock. Its by far my favorite system so far.. Nice and quiet unless I'm flooring it, its not flashy at all so it doesn't attract any attention (awesome), and it look stock so people don't know that I'm a ricer at heart. :D
This was also a very cheap setup, if you don't have a lot of money to spend I suggest just picking up a muffler and going to a custom exhaust shop.

no matter what brand exhaust you end up deciding on, get it straight-piped. as in have your exhaust comming out the passenger side instead of the drivers, it will make your exhuast sound deeper, and gets rid of exhaust particles quicker/cleaner

I personally think that it looks like shit and tacky if there is an exhaust cutout on the drivers side and the exhaust is coming out on the passenger side underneath the bumper. I got a 2.5" custom cat-back system without a resonator and a hi-flow muffler. It was loud as hell and I got a resonator and put in my silencer and it sounds badass. Nice and quiet for normal driving but when you gun it you hear a great combination of intake/exhaust.

All in all, an exhaust shop will be cheaper than buying a brand name.