Review: Ebay N1 Dual Knockoff (SSAC)

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KA24Power
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Hello everyone! Like many s13 owners and enthusiasts, I am poor. But like most other owners, the stock exhaust system just won't cut it - especially when you have a softball sized hole in your muffler and rusted out piping.

In the never ending search for the cheap, quality, badass sounding exhaust I turned to Ebay.

Most would cringe at the thought, much like I did at first. I didn't want a huge 3" catback with a massive coffee can on the end, and I didn't want to be brutally loud, so I opted for the A'PEXi N1 Dual knockoff. This system is still made by SS Autochrome (XS Power), even though it is not listed under that name anymore.

The system itself consists of a 3" pipe that splits into two 2.5" pipes, then goes through a pre-muffler. After the pre-muffler the dual 2.5" pipes run side by side all the way to the back of the car, where there are dual mufflers with 3" tips.

The catback is made of T304 polished stainless, and looks rather nice. I'm no welding expert, but to me the welds look nice and clean, not too sloppy and not too cheap.

I have yet to mount the exaust, but so far I'm very impressed with the quality for what I paid. ($230~ shipped to Canada)

Also, the shipping was very quick. I ordered on Tuesday night, and the exhaust arrived today.

Now I'll post up some pictures, and you Niconauts can take a look and realize not all ebay exhausts are crap.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I know when I was trying to find info on this exhaust there was none really to be found so I wanted to give some good solid info.

Hope this helps some people choose on an exhaust piece!

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way advertising for SSAC/XS Power, just giving a review.

Label on the box

well packaged

The two pieces

All assembled

welds on the splitter

welds on the flange

Shot of the tips

XS POWER!

Here are some fitment pics for all those who say its gonna be too low.



Engine is apart right now so I won't get a sound clip up for a bit, but go on youtube and search around, there are 2 or 3 good clips.

-Andrew


Modified by KA24Power at 3:42 PM 2/19/2008


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Slappy
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Well , it looks good. It'll be fine as long as it doesnt pit/rust , leak , or the welds give. Alot people wont like it because its not JDM TyTe.

Not to sound dumb , but do you know how much it weighs? I know my Megan Racing 2.5" is super duper light.

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Brandon93240
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I have one on my s14. Fitment was excellent on my car. I had to tweak it a little after getting the jdm kouki bumper though, but no big deal. It sounds as good now as when I purchased it 3 years ago. I paid 150 for mine, a real steal. Even at 230 dollars its just as nice quality, fitment and better sound than most systems in the 500 and up range. If your low on funds or just want a pretty quite exhaust this is the one.

white90esex
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I think that exhaust is a good looking unit but the fact that its made cheaply leads me to belive that it will rust out and its fitment might be alittle off. Another thing is cheaply made mufflers are good at first but after time start to sound terrible. I have that exact issue with my haggard exhaust I boult.

Its a good alternative if you are in DESPERATE need of on exhaust. I would rather just save a few hundo more to get a real good quality unit. Thats just me though.

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punkeds14
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I bought that exact same exhaust about a year ago. to put it simple....GARBAGE! two of the hangers ripped off and cost me 100 dollars to get it fixed. I guess the material they used to build it is very thin. its all good now though works fine, just save your money for when the time comes

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aaronscomp
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punkeds14 wrote:I bought that exact same exhaust about a year ago. to put it simple....GARBAGE! two of the hangers ripped off and cost me 100 dollars to get it fixed. I guess the material they used to build it is very thin. its all good now though works fine, just save your money for when the time comes
Ya same with my brothers exhaust 2 of the hangers broke off so he re welded them back on

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KA24Power
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Well i just mounted it up.. looks good and fit great. I don't have a manifold on my engine right now so I don't know how it will fit up by the cat.. but Like I said it fits great and looks badass.

I don't see the need to buy a $500 exhaust that will look a bit better and sound a bit better... I'm still in highschool and I'm trying to get this project done before winter is over so this fit the budget perfect.

As for pitting/rusting.. the piping is aluminum so I've only got to worry about welds rusting.. which is a common thing in the great white north. My dad just had the exhaust redone on his s13 from the axle back, and at the cheapest place in town it cost around $150... that is with pinch-seams on the muffler and clamps holding it together not welds and flanges, not to mention its only steel, so it WILL rust again. This is much better quality, and a whole cat-back

I'm happy with it, haters can hate, I just wanted to give my $0.02 on it.

-Installed pictures will be up later tonight or tomorrow

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Charlie240sxt
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I had a HKS hanger break on me 2 reallly thin walled pipe also i welded it

sommmatt
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I personally plan on going with this route provided KA24Power's experience with the exhaust is good. It looks solid so far and you can't beat that price.

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Riubens
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well ive got that same exhaust for the past 3years when it first came out the only thing bad was that 1 hanger broke which a muffler shop fixed for $20 since then no probs ,can beat that! I bought if for $160 shipped to my house

got chub
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looks good what the name of the ebay seller?

mirochuki13
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Hey. Thanks for the review. It makes it a lot less stressful buying things off ebay when there is some feedback on the products like this.

ghx407
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I've had that same exhaust for more than 2 years with zero problems.

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s13jus10
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same here. got mine for $173 shipped to my door. fitment is great, welds are nice little dime stacks, looks and sounds bad as all hell. has a real deep, throaty rumble at idle and opens up really nicely even up to redline. my engine is bone stock, and with the exhaust it sounds a lot like a wrx. not even the slightest hint of "rice"

but yeah, about 2 years on my car now and zero problems.

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KA24Power
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mirochuki13 wrote:Hey. Thanks for the review. It makes it a lot less stressful buying things off ebay when there is some feedback on the products like this.
This is mainly why I did this review. When I was going to buy no one had done any kind of review yet with solid evidence or experience. I took a bit of a risk, but I was totally impressed with the product.

And as for the name of the seller - discountzoompartsIf I'm breaking forum rules by posting seller name please let me know and I will take it down


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audtatious
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If you are concerned about the welds rusting, get some high-heat paint and shoot those areas. Might give you some additional protection.

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kornaz
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KA24Power wrote:
And as for the name of the seller - discountzoompartsIf I'm breaking forum rules by posting seller name please let me know and I will take it down
Don't worry about it - you are not advertising.

gumby74
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I had this same exhaust on my hatch for about 6 months. I paid a hair over $200 shipped. I had no qualms about the construction, I was satisfied with the welds, the piping and muffler cases were all stainless steel and the overall appearance on the car gave me the happy pants.In that time only the hanger that sticks out to the driver side seperated. The sound was a bit louder than I expected. My only real issue was the complete lack of ground clearance. I **** you not, at the lowest point (resonator) it sat a hair over 1" off the ground. I had hose clamps on the new rubber hangers as well as running a piece of steel strap from one of the differential mounting bolts to help bring up and level the exhaust a bit more.That was one of the main reasons I replaced it.That and one night I went to Wal Mart and I hear a terrible racket. I look around and what do I see? An older model Ford Taurus driven by a kid, primered black (poorly at that), lowered and badly cambered/aligned, kanji writen graphics across the windshield and assorted vinyl decals on the body, a monster tach on the dash, and lastly not 1 but 2 dual N1 mufflers poking out the back. I saw this, and realized the sad state of our affairs. A week later I ordered my Blitz Realize TT.Sorry for the long post. To the OP, congrats on your purchase.

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morbid
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mests13
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gumby74 wrote:In that time only the hanger that sticks out to the driver side seperated. The sound was a bit louder than I expected. My only real issue was the complete lack of ground clearance. I **** you not, at the lowest point (resonator) it sat a hair over 1" off the ground. I had hose clamps on the new rubber hangers as well as running a piece of steel strap from one of the differential mounting bolts to help bring up and level the exhaust a bit more.
I had this exhaust on my old 240 and had those same problems. I even used the hose clamps like gumby did.

Another problem I had was the positioning of the rear most hangers (right above the canisters. They were crooked and too close togeter so I rewelded one, and the other I just haeted then bent.

The ground clearance was still an issue so I just ditched the exhaust and got a quality HKS Hi-Power which fit perfectly. You truely do get what you pay for.

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janda240sx
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Another good ebay exhaust is the one you get from Dee Zee Outlet ebay store. Full stainless steel. Perfect fitment, and i mean perfect. Sounds really good. A little on the loud side w/o the silencer. I've got one on my car and my fiances car and had no problems whatsoever in the past year. they cost a little more though.

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smocan
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I use to have this on my car when i first bought it... Its a decent sound, a tad loud. But the thing hung way to low, the hangers weren't short enough to keep it tucked, so it bottomed out everywhere. But this was from 2 years ago, so maybe the design changed a tad.

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Brandon93240
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Must be an s13 thing, I have better clearance with mine than I did with my blitz nurspec I originally had on the s14. As far as construction goes they are all stainless steel just so people who thought they were aluminum would know. Also all exhaust systems will get louder over the years the packing material in the canister weather's and will eventually start breaking apart and over time will get louder. I've had mine for over 3 years with zero problems. Just because its expensive doesn't mean it fits well either. I've installed 3 other name brand systems in the past few years that didn't fit for ****. One fit so horribly that I actually couldn't install it and the customer had to send it back and get another one.

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Se7in
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morbid wrote:http://videos.streetfire.net/v...4.htm

I think this is it.
. that sounds great, I think I'll have to give one of these a try. +1 for decent discount performance parts. Does clearance look like an issue for you ka24power?

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biggie
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Just to add mine, had it on my Vert for about a year, no issues at all.

Stock intake with K&N drop in, stock exhaust mani and stock cat.Sound clip:http://fatboyrunning.org/chadsexhaust.zip


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KA24Power
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clearance does not appear to be an issue, I'm about to go snap a few quick fitment pics then I'll add them to the first post.


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KA24Power
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FITMENT PICS ADDED TO FIRST POST

sommmatt
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That's balla as hell!

Loving your rear suspension. mmmMMMMM RUST

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KA24Power
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sommmatt wrote:That's balla as hell!

Loving your rear suspension. mmmMMMMM RUST
ahah, don't worry its all coming out next year to get sand blasted and powder coated! I swear!

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ThuG LyFe
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i should've went with this...but i just bought a 3" cannister off ebay. it has a good sound but too loud so i run a silencer with it.

NOT all ebay exhausts are junk.


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