Update

The custom 2.5" catback is all made up and fitted thanks to Hakkan at Performance Exhaust Centre once again. The system runs 2.5" the whole way from the cat, through 1 Berklee resonator and into the Kakimoto Race muffler. About 25 minutes into the intall we realised the Kakimoto muffler had started tearing away from the inside and was rusting through the back, as we didn't have another muffler there to fit we decided to put it on anyway.

The whole install went smoothly the exhaust looks mean. It also weighs about 8-10kg with muffler, compared to the stock exhaust which is about 20-25kg with mufflers. So with that drop, plus the estimated drop in weight of the headers and cat, I should have saved anywhere from around 15-20kg just on the exhaust.

Initial reaction: LOUD. The car is very loud now, I don't know if it's the design of the exhaust or the fact that the muffler isn't properly working but at the droning range uphill even the steering wheel shudders from the bass. The car instantly picked up torque down low and mid-range, filling in a large chunk of the down low loss that the RBC caused. The car just pulls a bit easier from the lower rpm and overall just feels like a lighter, more agile car when cruising.

At high rpm there is really no difference. I think this is because of the stock, slightly crushed intake pipe sucking in hot air. This will obviously be fixed by the intake and throttle body. I can feel the car wanting to make so much more power but being held back, urgh!

And thanks to some terrible carpark design in Chatswood the car now has a very scratched driver's door. LUCKILY the scratch starts literally at the front of the door and ends about 3cm from the back of it. So it's contained to the one door. The scratches are all in basically a straight line on the door, so would they possibly be able to not have to sand and repaint the whole door?

I'll get a soundclip and post it up with pictures tomorrow.