Well, I came in to work this morning and found a big box in the back from VRS exhaust It's my new 3" mandrel bent SS catback... I'll get it installed today and see how it works. So far it looks very good and it's supposed to bolt on directly. The can is pretty big and the tip looks really nice with the angle cut. There is a resonator built into the center pipe and a bung is welded to that pipe as well. I don't know the purpose of the bung yet.. I guess it's for the O2 sensor...

 

Toot toot!!!! Looks tight!! Put up more pix when its installed.. And i wanna see tha tip.. SO yeah.. How much was it too??.... And is VRS a japanese brand??

 

Well, my friends at work could not pass up a chance to tinker with the EVO In about 30 minutes they had it installed
I took the car out and we went to buy lunch (on me ). Anyway, the system is very quiet. From inside the car it rivals the stock system for overall noise. There is just a bit of rumble that was not there before and that raspy sound that the stock system mad is not present anymore. I think also that you hear the turbo spooling very well. The opinion of the people who heard it from outside as I went through the gears is very positive. I cannot trust my butt dyno, but the car seems to have waken up a bit. It runs particularly strong at higher rpms.
Over all I give it a big

 

Well, I have a minor adjustment to make... The tip is not centered in the opening, but it should not be too much of a hassle to correct.

VRS is a manufacturer based in Miami. I've had good experiences with them before. They've always done well with their stuff and they make quality products. The price was $480 plus shipping. Not bad for a mandrel bent 3" stainless steel system

BTW, I had a Mustang GT owner come out to check out the car after I did a drive test of the catback He heard to car from inside his place (we share a big parking lot/loading docks area with several other businesses). Anyway, he was very impressed with the EVO and the sound from the new exhaust!

 

more pics!!!

does VRS have a 3" downpipe?

 

It's rainig, I'll get more pics later. As I said , the tip is not centered in the cutout.... I'll see if I can get it done before I take more pics...

An update on the sound... Although the noise level is comparable with stock while idling and even during hard acceleration, I definitely can hear the exhaust more at cruising.... It's always been this way though, whenever I've changed the exhaust on any car, the cruising sound level has always gone up.

I would love to sit in another car and see how their up-graded exhaust sound like... I doubt that any "straight through" system will be as quiet as the stock one.... I hope I don't find the cruising sound level objectionable in the longer run.... It would be too bad, the power improvement is quite noticeable

 

That's awesome!

VRS built the X-pipe for my Mustang Cobra too. Great quality and it was dirt cheap.

I'm going to have to look into their cat-back as well. Keep us posted on your driving/SOTP/Sound impressions.

Their site is http://www.vrsexhaust.com for those interested.

 

Well, if you've done business with Miguel Villar you know he's pretty good and his prices are extremely competitive. Generally his quality of construction it quite good. When we got several of the Turbo back sysytems for the WRXs, he made good on all the minor problems involved in fitment, etc.

The construction is very solid and all the welds look nice. The whole thing is Stainless Steel except for the hangers (that should be quite allright). The Muffler is pretty big but looks very well sized in the car. The tip is angled cut and has "Magnaflow" engraved on it in small, subtle letters.

So far my SOTP impression is extremely favorable as far as the power output. The minuses are that the tip is not centered in the bumper opening (that might have been an installation issue, I'll see later). Also, the sound level at cruising speeds is noticeably higher than the stock cat back. Interestingly, during idle and hard acceleration, it compares very well with the stock system. It must be that valve thingy that has built into the stock muffler... Of course, the stock muffler is very restrictive... more noise is typically the price you pay for less restriction....Oh yeah, you can really hear the turbo spool up But there is no backfiring or popping

I'd say for $480 the VRS cat back is very hard to beat. They also offer it in mild steel and without the pre-muffler.. Those should cost even less I don't think anybody else's systems are going to be so much better than VRS to justify their much higher prices...

Just my $.02

This is a picture of their prototype

 

Is the EVO exhaust listed there? I can't find it.

 

Their WRX and EVO stuff might not be listed in their catalog. The EVO exhaust is brand new... Call Miguel or Jeff 305-971-0357 or 305-255-7704 and talk with them about the EVO cat back...
Miguel told me they were working on a DP, but there where some details about the flange which were taking more time to do.... I might get the DP from VRS too...

 

can you post a side pic so we can see the tip? thanks.

 

Nice write-up, Silver.

As far as I'm concerned, a 3" exhaust is a 3" exhaust. As long as the quality is good and there are no ridiculous bends or a restrictive muffler, I see no reason to spend more for similar products.

While I'm in love with the look of the angled JIC cat-back, I don't like the 700 dollar price tag without any O2 bung welds.

I'll probably be giving VRS a call as soon as I'm not so broke.

Edit: Check your installation for tip-centering. After installing a few cat-backs on different cars, I've found that centering is 99% fiddling until it sits "just right."

 

this is a very nice catback , but the only thing i do like about this catback is .............the catback is not 100% SS catback .......they only make the muffler and the cat w/ SS the piping is made by mid-steel ( u can tell from the pics) . BTW , the mid-steel piping will not last over 2-3 yrs

 

Sorry , i mean the only thing I don't like about this catback is not 100% SS catback

 

I don't know how you can tell such info from the pictures! The whole system is made from SS except the hangers. I trust their word but I also checked the whole thing with a magnet. If you don't like it for whatever reason, that's OK, but please do not put my word into question