[spcmafia]

Bringing this thread back up because OPs description of the carbon tips also applies to the titanium tips. I can verify 100% that his description is accurate.

Installation was pretty straight forward, it came with all necessary gaskets so you don't need to purchase additional ones. I recommend assembling the midpipe section that's closer to the mufflers first. the only thing that becomes a little tricky is the same section, between the midpipe and muffler, one of the bolts is very close to the underbody so a 3/8 ratchet goes a long way, that's how tight it gets.

Cold Starts are very quiet, keep in mind that I'm running CATTED headers and a Double Resonated Front Pipe, I feel like the INVIDIA Q300 was a little louder on cold starts.

1K-4K RPM Driving is very throaty in this exhaust, is not loud, just deep, a way to describe it is driving with a big bass boom box, so it shares some similarities with the Q300 which I think was a bit louder than the HKS.

5-7K RPM Driving Gets a bit louder but just like the RPMs above, you can control this, and once you get to a desired speed, you can cruise without much noise.

Drone This is a very interesting part, it drones, yes, the bass boom box gets very real the more you put your foot down, but once you find a sweet spot while cruising it is absolutely quiet, there are some exhaust tones, but the drone is controllable at city / highway cruising. It will drone and absolutely wake you up once you decide to make it sing, and is a beautiful exhaust note. Is throaty, deep, but with a lot of bass.

Performance gains There's absolutely no way to tell if there's a measurable power increase, but I share OPs sentiment, the car does get up quicker. It develops lower speeds quicker and in a way, more fluidly. It feels like the car was almost lighter all of the sudden. I think the air flow in this exhaust is maybe better than the Q300, maybe, I'm not an expert.

Recommend? Absolutely, not only it is a very sexy looking exhaust, it is not a fart car, not a rice can, is not obnoxious like an N1, it has a very impressive exhaust note. You can make it quiet while driving in the city, highway, but you can also make it sing in a heartbeat the second you start putting your foot down. It is pricey, $800 range, I can't tell if you'll get 20HP, because you definitely will not, catbacks are mostly sound with very little power gains, it could maybe improve the back-pressure and help the vehicle develop lower speeds more easily. But don't expect shaving 1 second of your drag time.