I bought my 97 GXE a few months back and things have been running smoothly. However I knew from day one the exhaust system was in pretty bad shape and rusted (the car was originally from the east coast, so it wasn't a surprise). Finally today the muffler began to give off a horrible coffeecan sound, signaling it's time to stop procrastinating.

Since the rust has done some damage my plan is to swap out all the parts. So my question is whether it'd be good to buy the system part by part or to buy a full system. Does anyone have experience with warpspeeds 2.5" system (priced at $590 plus shipping)? Unfortunately I just spent a good deal of money on suspension so my budget isn't too much.. so buying the WS system seems to be my first option. Any help/words of advice are appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: BTW, today I actually noticed the noise was actually stemming from the old, beaten Y-Pipe... not the muffler. So I guess my search for a complete exhaust setup or atleast a new y-pipe begins now.

 

Alot of members are very satisfied with the GReddy SP2. That system is more around $500. I have been doing my exhaust by section. Oddly enough both my y-pipe and muffler are from Warpspeed. I am currently looking for the right b-pipe to complete my conversion to 2.5in

All in all, depending on how much I spend on the b-pipe it will probably be between $300 and $350 all said and done.

 

So you'd suggest going the part by part route, rather than purchasing a full exhaust system?

 

If money was no object I would have probably bought the GReddy SP2, but I just didn't want to use up that much money all at once and ended up going by the part.

What do you want out of this exhaust system?

You are in CA so rust isn't very much of an issue, the Pacesetter exhaust may be a possibility for you and that whole system is in the $250 range.

I would think (though I don't have 1st hand experience) that the GReddy or Cattman would be the best exhaust systems.

If performance and looks is not the most important have you thought about just an OEM equivilant replacement?

 

Basically what I'm looking for is to not only replace the muffler, but also replace the y-pipe, b-pipe, and cat. converter as all of the parts are fairly rusted. I've given thought to the OEM replacments (as I'm only really interested in an aftermarket exhaust and y-pipe) however I felt it would be more convenient to purchase a complete setup (such as the WS) rather than buying individual OEM parts. Thanks for the help Fr33way, it's appreciated.

 

No problem.

With an aftermarket y you will see gains from 10-15hp to the wheels at least. If you decide to go 2.5 the rest of the way back (stock cat is 2.5) you will probably notice no more than 3-5hp. The y-pipe will have SOME increase in noise but with an otherwise stock exhaust not be very noticable.

When a y-pipe is paired with a 2.5 cat-back the noise will increase. Check the stickies (exhaust clips) to see what I mean.

If it wasn't for a broken bracket on my b-pipe I probably wouldn't be replacing mine for a good while.