Ok, I finally got to fit my NXT Step Cat back, so I thought I'd give some impressions / results. I'm not going to try to reproduce the excellent thread from patches on the fitment.

First, the packaging. Everything was wrapped in bubble wrap, etc, which I'd have thought would have protected adequately. It didn't. I had a small dent in one of the cannisters, and two of the pipe segments were "squished" slightly - not significantly, but enough to mean I had to correct them in order to insert the pipes into each other. Neither was a big deal, but certainly not what I would have expected.

Next fitment. In general the quality of the kit is good. However, some parts - for example where the tubes enter & are welded to the cannisters seemed inaccurate - certainly different between left & right. what that meant was that when fitted to the car, there were significant differences between the alignments of the parts, which made getting everything lined up *extremely* challenging. Moving parts around for several hours it was clear to me that there was a slight difference in the two over axle pipes, which meant that one end was slightly lower than the other. This effected the alignment of the mufflers & made it very hard to get everything lined up. Not impossible, but stressful!

When you start it up, the sound if definitely better than stock. Bassier and rounder. Its is not extremely loud though - which happens to suit my needs perfectly. The result is a more robust sounding exhaust without it being hard to live with, or being obnoxious. I haven't noticed any drone yet... I'll report back if I do.

Summary. Would I buy these again? Yes, I think I would. The price really is very good, and the results assuming you are prepared work on it and fiddle, are also very good. However I think there are definitely shortcomings. I have never had the experience of fitting a high-end system to a car like this (I have on bikes) - but I suspect this is a case of getting *slightly* more that you pay for - but this is definitely not a borla system with corsa tips in terms of quality !

Ultimately I'm happy - thought some feedback might be useful to the forum.

 

Too bad about the slight damage. Probably occured in shipping. You're absolutely correct on the fitment. It really takes some time and patience to get them right. I have to
re-align mine as soon as the weather breaks. They were perfect once but seem to have become mis-aligned somehow. Sure do like the sound of them!

 

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay and where did you get them from? I see them on ebay for $650. Also are you running an xpipe or just stock?

thanks for your feedback, the more i read about the exhaust the easier it is to decide.

 

Once you get them alighned put a light tack weld on the joints they will stay put then. If you want to take them off just hit the tacks with a grinder and they will come apart

 

Glad to hear you're happy with them - we certainly still are after almost two full winters of harsh salt and grime. They still polish up like new with no corrosion.

As far as installation - it really didn't take very long to get the alignment right, but then, I've done lots of different C5 exhaust installs over the years - plus I have a lift. With respect to the over-axle pipes - there is a left and a right side pipe so the system will never go together properly if they're assembled on the wrong sides. After all this time the original alignment I got is still there with no adjustments since. That may be due to the band clamps I like using on exhaust systems. Band clamps are great for keeping alignment plus, they look great. Also, I tighten them very tight.

 

Glad you like now enjoy

 

DDogg - I dont believe we're supposed to mention auction sites on here - but that is what I paid, yes. Definitely the only system I could justify the $ outlay on with the number of rug rats to be fed around here.

Patches - yes, I spotted the left right thing straight off, but still doubted myself & took it apart once or twice to be sure! I agree, experience would help a lot (funny how often we can say that in life eh?!) - and the clamps you used will definitely be an improvement. It took me several re-adjustments to really get the supplied clamps holding firm. btw - your install guide thread was a huge help.

One general question - is it worth listing the stock cat-backs (as a freebie) on this site, or even CL - or are there simply so many of them about that I just just bin them

 

Well, I have two almost brand new stock systems sitting in the basement if you want to list those for me at the same time. Seriously, every once in a while I see someone selling or looking for a stock exhaust system in the for-sale section here. Either someone is looking to replace a damaged stock system and doesn't want to lay out the scratch for an aftermarket system, they're wanting to keep it stock or they're putting it back to stock and selling the car.

Usually these systems are listed by the "seller" for free to anyone wanting to pick up locally.

 

Yep, that's what I thought - I'll see if I can find somewhere in the garage to store them, otherwise they're going in the thrash. No basements here in west ATX.

I'm still adjusting these damn things btw - mostly trying the degree to which they stick out of the rear... which I guess is about adjusting the small curved sections

 

They sound much better once they break-in. I can't wait to order headers and let her wail