I think I have dropped alot of dough on the max in the past month. I added a stainless budget Y-pipe ($170), Addco RSB ($115), Apex'i WS catback ($425), Paintscratch.com paint+clearcoat for altezza mod ($35), Maxspeeds are in the mail ($119), Brake caliper paint and high temp clearcoat ($35).

The installation for the exhaust was fun. I installed the y-pipe first at Tech Auto sound. They had to blowtorch the pipe off the cat because the damn nuts rusted and fused together. Anyway they charged me $139 to install it along with the RSB (>2hrs of labor)~ what a ripoff. My thoughts on the y-pipe - yea, it was a descent improvement especially in the upper range. You could feel the power kick in twice in the upper rpm's instead of just once when you're stock. Even so, the exhaust still felt a little chocked.
A week later I got this big@$$ box with my Apex'i catback. It looked so good, I almost nutted myself. I was a little dissapointed that the diameter of the catback was only 2 1/4, because i thought it was 2 1/2. Well I found this place - Phantom Roadworks in Binghamton, NY. These people did their homework on modding cars. The custombuild turbos and do prettymuch anything you want. (The owner Bruce was a hell of a nice guy.)
So it took about 4 hrs of work to put the catback in, again the exhaust had to be sawed off due to rusty bolts...Damn NY snow! There was no hole for the 2nd o2 sensor so he had to drill one. Also some hangars had to be bent because the exhaust tip wasn't centered right. This also dissapointed me cuz i thought it was supposed to be a bolt on for the max. Maybe not for 97-99? Anywayz, Bruce charged me 55 friggin dollars for putting in a 3 piece exhaust!! He hooked me up lovely.
My thoughts on the catback - this thing kicks @$$. Great sound(no ricey honda) Gives you a much deeper, louder than stock (not too loud tho). As the car winds down you get that nice gurgling sound coming from your tailpipe. My car is much faster now with this setup. It actually feels as if I gained more than I did from the Y-pipe alone. For everyone out there who has a y-pipe: CHANGE YOUR B-PIPE AS WELL. The stock b-pipe is crimped down to about a 1 1/4 inch gap near the muffler that completely screws up your exhaust flow. Like they say, one's exhaust is only as wide as its smallest part.
Well I still got more mods to go that should keep me busy though the month. I'll take some digital pics and post them up when i'm done. Sorry about the long post...