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Cobalt Cat-Back Exhaust Review

26K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  Broketuner 
#1 · (Edited)
Here is my first product review, I'll try to be as thorough as possible. I've included photos of what I think was most important (sorry for low quality and not including more, I forget to take pictures).

EDIT: added a youtube sound clip, scroll down a bit!

For some background, I've installed many aftermarket exhausts on vehicles as a professional auto technician, everything from inexpensive eBay systems, to $1500+ "higher end" systems.

What I installed on my roadster:

Cobalt Cat-Back system ~$275 after shipping
eBay "test pipe" (high flow cat replacement) ~$75 shipped

other vehicle info: Stock 1992 1.6L with stock manifold and downpipe

First impressions:
Looks great! Very shiny and appears like it will resist rust, welds are even and look great, everything seems to be good quality, the exhaust tip is quite large and not really to my taste, will be replaced shortly.

Installation:

Straight forward, included all necessary gaskets and new bolts, cut off/remove old exhaust and bolt on the new pieces.

The bolt holes allow some adjustment, and it aligned pretty well underneath the car and easily reached all of the factory rubber hanger positions. I did run into 2 issues with rubbing and rattling against components. I'd first like to mention this could be an issue with using the test pipe, and not necessarily the Cobalt exhaust, but the test pipe was also of high quality and fit well.

Issues 1: Exhaust tip was rubbing against the factory tow hook support and rear bumper, I heated up the pipe at the curve post rear muffler, and bent it outward slightly.



Issue 2: Upon acceleration the exhaust would rub at the left rear axle drive flange, I first loosened the bolts and adjusted the system down as far as I could. I may have been able to do just this, but to be sure I heated the pipe around where it was rubbing and gently squeezed with the vice to crush the area a little flatter.

Clearance Before


Rubbed Spot


Clearance After


Sound:
This is probably most important to people, so I'll be as descriptive as possible, please keep in mind this is a 1.6 with factory manifold, downpipe, and aftermarket lightly muffled test pipe.

It's not quiet, but it is not really loud. I haven't noticed anyone turn to see "who has the loud exhaust". The tone is pretty low, it does not sound like a bunch of angry bees in a coffee can. I think it is pleasant and sporty, but it does drone slightly under partial load around 3-4k going up hills and such. With the top down on the highway it is noticeable but not overpowering. At idle it is quiet.

If you search Cobalt Exhaust Miata on youtube, the videos are pretty much what you can expect for sound.

Installed:


I hope someone will find this helpful, I will update in several months on durability, please ask any questions you might have.
 
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#6 ·
oddly I think it actually got a little quieter after a couple days, at least at idle

Where in ct are you? I'd love to hear this in person.. I need a new cat back for my na...
send me a pm im usually within 20 min East or North of Hartford

can we get a sound clip?
I'll try to in the next couple days!
 
#8 ·
As per requested a sound clip. I might add my wife commented that after a day of riding in the car with the exhaust her ears where "tired" of it, she didn't hate it, but would prefer it quieter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZRBx9ZiU-k&feature=plcp

start up, brief hold at 2krpm, rev up a few times, and then accelerate to nearly redline, you can't quite hear the low tone from the in car video
 
#9 ·
As per requested a sound clip. I might add my wife commented that after a day of riding in the car with the exhaust her ears where "tired" of it, she didn't hate it, but would prefer it quieter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZRBx9ZiU-k&feature=plcp

start up, brief hold at 2krpm, rev up a few times, and then accelerate to nearly redline, you can't quite hear the low tone from the in car video
Sounds great! Honestly, I think it's one of the best exhausts for a Miata out there right now for such a great price.
 
#11 ·
Update:

It's kind of loud with the top up, but if I wanted to drive something quiet I wouldn't have bought a roadster :D. It may be slightly louder than when I first bolted it on, but I haven't really noticed, I've driven well over 400 miles with this exhaust now.

The exhaust tip had to go, I just bought a cheap screw on turn down tip, cut the end to the angle I liked, and pointed it slightly to the side, much less *bling bling*!

The way Cobalt send it to you:


Mine now:
 
#12 ·
Good stuff. Since I just installed it, I'll C/P my impression of it here (that I posted on Mnet):

"
Today I swapped plugs and wires for the proper NGK ones. BKRE6-11 plugs and ZE21 wires. After that I swapped out the exhaust for a Cobalt stainless steel catback. All in all, it was a pretty simple job to do. Only one hanger was sort of finicky but I got it out. I sprayed the cat bolts with PB Blaster before I did the plugs and wires and they came right off once I turned my attention to the exhaust.

Now, for the Cobalt impressions: Extremely quiet at first go. If you hadn't been in the car before, you would wager it's stock. I took it for a short drive (with many high-RPM blasts) and it got slightly louder. After that I parked it for about 30 minutes and just came back from about an hour on the freeway. It definitely got louder now. It sounds wonderful, like an old British car. It is still a bit quiet compared to what I wanted, but the tone is great. If it goes one notch louder than it was before, I will be very happy.

One a scale of 1-10 of loudness with 1 being extremely quiet, and 10 being unbearably, deafeningly loud, I'd say the stock exhaust is at a 2.5-3, and the Cobalt right now is at about a 4.5-5. If it gets to about 5.5-6, I'll be extremely happy. Sound video to come soonish."
 
#21 ·
What I installed on my roadster:

Cobalt Cat-Back system ~$275 after shipping
Man, @ $249 though it seems like a freaking steal!
Where are you guys getting these prices???
The Cobalt exhaust system is currently +$350
Sorry for the old thread revive, just researching different exhausts
 
#22 ·
THE THREAD IS OVER 2 YEARS OLD. plus the place that sells this is infamous for increasing their prices fairly dramatically if an item becomes popular or has minimal changes made(75 TSI's orignally are now 110 for regular bulbs or 160 for LED...wonder if people realize the LED bulbs can be bought on ebay for about 10 shipped LOL)
 
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