Anyone thinking of buying SRS full exhaust? Don't do it!

[Ju-STI-n-721]

So I picked up my 1g Talon TSI a couple weeks ago. The car is clean as a whistle and had been sitting in a garage for several years before I got a hold of it. Of course I could not resist doing a few upgrades after I got most of the basic maintenance out of the way. In the past I've ran SRS exhaust on a few wrx's and an SRT4 with no issues. Therefore I thought I would stick with the inexpensive exhaust company and order a full turboback for my TSI. When I got the parts in the mail and opened everything up the welds seemed to be of good quality and the finish looked great. I was excited to hear this system on my car. When I attempted to install the exhaust system, it was a whole different story. Where the downpipe connects to the cat back the flanges were not only the wrong size, but the flanges were completely unconnectable. Attached is what I had to deal with..... also attached is what I had to cut and weld to make things work....... bottom line, you get what you pay for. If you think that you are going to buy a full SRS exhaust system and bolt it right up to your dsm, think again. A couple hours and some welding was not worth saving a hundred bucks in my opinion. Not to mention I had to spend about twenty bucks on hangers and broke two nice saw zaw blades when cuting and repositioning the flanges in order to make this exhaust work.

 

[synthetek]

That adapter is to reduce it to bolt up to a stock cat.

 

[jimsgsx]

Oh snap!

 

[Silver gryffon]

Thanks for the warning.

 

[FalleN4ng31]

Interesting. I have the e-Bay special SRS catback on my 2G GST, and had no fitment issues. I suppose like anything aftermarket on e-Bay, it's hit and miss.

 

[Ju-STI-n-721]

That adapter is to reduce it to bolt up to a stock cat.

That's what I thought as well. Even though the piping reduces to the correct size for the stock cat, the flanges still would not line up correctly. Just bolted it up like as pictured at first to get it to the shop. Regardless, you think that when you order a full bolt on exhaust, you should be able to actually bolt it on to your car in my opinion

 

[thomcasey]

I have bought two of the systems, they work flawlessly. both are 2 years old and still look and perform perfect. I avoided the cat issue and purchased megan racing "resonators" and a proper downpipe. all bolted up direct with no leaks or rattles. Both are 1g's.

 

[98 Eclipse GS]

Weird, I ran one in my old 98GST and everything fit perfect! Sounds beautiful imo...

 

[Ju-STI-n-721]

Interesting. As previously stated, I've ran their exhaust systems on several cars in the past, I know that ebay parts can be very inconsistent though. As far as quality goes, the piping and welds looked very nice, just wasn't able to bolt parts up like I should have. It's almost as if the flanges got welded at the wrong angles. The car sounds great after going through the hassle of the install. Needless to say, that will be my last time buying any of their products.

 

[maddogxx]

I have had the SRS 3" on my 2G 97 GSX went on perfect no issues and sounds great...maybe its different for the 1G, bummer.

 

[nathan_spindler55]

meghan downpipe, srs cat back fits perfect. cant go wrong imo.

 

[apckofllamas]

I have the exact SRS catback on my 1g and when i installed it i didn't run into a single problem, every hanger matched up perfectly. the only thing i made was a test pipe to go between my megan racing downpipe and the SRS exhuast because i didn't wanna spend the money on one. Still no issues and not even the slightest rattle. i personally would recommend it.

 

[jbeaton9292]

did you maybe buy the wrong one maybe for a fwd not awd or viseversa

 

[TehRiceBandit]

Yep my SRS fit perfectly as well. Had to loosen the rear cross member to fit the piping but that's about it.

 

[crimsondragon]

Interesting. As previously stated, I've ran their exhaust systems on several cars in the past, I know that ebay parts can be very inconsistent though. As far as quality goes, the piping and welds looked very nice, just wasn't able to bolt parts up like I should have. It's almost as if the flanges got welded at the wrong angles. The car sounds great after going through the hassle of the install. Needless to say, that will be my last time buying any of their products.

So you've ran several of their pipes before and never had an issue. You have one supposedly bad one and now you won't ever run their parts again? Yet you accept the fact that ebay parts can be inconsistent. You also make no mention of contacting their customer service. Did you make this post just to cry about it? Somebody call the whambulance. Feel free to spend your money elsewhere but I can almost guarantee you'll end up back on ebay again and probably have history repeat itself.

 

[enriquez2000]

when you guys are buying megan down pipes and srs catback are you adding test pipes or leaving the stock cat in place? Just curious as I will be doing my exhaust in the near future and want to get it right. Test pipe is not an option for this car though.

 

[92gsxbafaro]

my srs fit just fine when it comes to hangers and all that but i did take it to a muffler shop to have about 2' of pipe to the flange for the dp to get rid of the cat

 

[Insane20]

I have an srs on my talon, I have no idea how old it is but its rusting pretty bad due to the crappy Chinese stainless.

 

[bmxfelon420]

I have an srs on my talon, I have no idea how old it is but its rusting pretty bad due to the crappy Chinese stainless.

Wierd, mine sat in the snow under my car for a year (on the ground) and still looked brand new when I put it back on. It fit on my 2g TSI AWD perfectly with an OBX downpipe, on my GSX it was too short, but it was obvious that the downpipe was hacked to fit the shitty Pacesetter exhaust that was on it. No idea why they would have cut the nice expensive 3" stainless downpipe and NOT the crappy mild steel 2.5" catback.

The pictures the OP put up look exactly like what happens when you have an exhaust made to bolt up to either stock or one kind of downpipe, and a downpipe that isnt routed the same way as either of those. You run into this same issue running a Megan catback with a non Megan downpipe. When you run the two together they bolt up without the goofy little adapter.

 

[nathan_spindler55]

when you guys are buying megan down pipes and srs catback are you adding test pipes or leaving the stock cat in place? Just curious as I will be doing my exhaust in the near future and want to get it right. Test pipe is not an option for this car though.

the megan downpipe eliminates the cat. so then it bolts right up to a cat-back.

 

[Ju-STI-n-721]

So you've ran several of their pipes before and never had an issue. You have one supposedly bad one and now you won't ever run their parts again? Yet you accept the fact that ebay parts can be inconsistent. You also make no mention of contacting their customer service. Did you make this post just to cry about it? Somebody call the whambulance. Feel free to spend your money elsewhere but I can almost guarantee you'll end up back on ebay again and probably have history repeat itself.

Correct. I have run multiple SRS exhaust systems and have not had fitment issues such as the one I ran into on the talon. I have always been under the impression that a pipe is a pipe which was true in this instance, but flanges don't like to bolt together correctly when they are different sizes and forty five degrees apart. The exhaust pipes were not bad in the sense that they were blemish free and the welds were thick. The fact of the matter is that I ordered a full exhaust and it did not directly fit my car. My reason for creating this thread was to "be friendly and respectful" to fellow dsm owners and let them know of my poor experience with SRS exhaust. I did make an attempt to contact the ebay seller. His shop name is hidshop888. Im sure I will get some sort of response and resolution due to the fact that ebay sellers generally want to keep positive feedback ratings. As for shopping on eBay, I have purchased forced performance and AEM parts from there which do cost more, but I have never had fitment or quality issues with those brands. Although I did not have a worst case scenario problem such as a cheap turbo that wasn't flow balanced and hydrolocked my engine, I had an overall bad experience with this SRS exhaust system which will influence me to be more cautious and attempt to purchase parts from more reputable manufacturers in the future.

 

[synthetek]

It looks like the problem is not with the exhaust, its that the seller sold you a down pipe that doesn't fit correctly with it.

 

[crimsondragon]

Correct. I have run multiple SRS exhaust systems and have not had fitment issues such as the one I ran into on the talon. I have always been under the impression that a pipe is a pipe which was true in this instance, but flanges don't like to bolt together correctly when they are different sizes and forty five degrees apart. The exhaust pipes were not bad in the sense that they were blemish free and the welds were thick. The fact of the matter is that I ordered a full exhaust and it did not directly fit my car. My reason for creating this thread was to "be friendly and respectful" to fellow dsm owners and let them know of my poor experience with SRS exhaust. I did make an attempt to contact the ebay seller. His shop name is hidshop888. Im sure I will get some sort of response and resolution due to the fact that ebay sellers generally want to keep positive feedback ratings. As for shopping on eBay, I have purchased forced performance and AEM parts from there which do cost more, but I have never had fitment or quality issues with those brands. Although I did not have a worst case scenario problem such as a cheap turbo that wasn't flow balanced and hydrolocked my engine, I had an overall bad experience with this SRS exhaust system which will influence me to be more cautious and attempt to purchase parts from more reputable manufacturers in the future.

Since you already modified it, I highly doubt the seller would even give you a full resolution to the problem. Maybe a partial refund at best, a full refund if they deem it worth the time and money. If you didn't modify it, you probably could have had an exchange and would have saved yourself the trouble. But you badmouthing a company about a product that they didn't even directly sell to you is terrible. Don't be so quick to pull the trigger on the welder next time.

 

[Bob_Gobblin]

I know many folks running SRS and none have ever had a major issue.. Every once in a blue moon some one gets a box of lemons.

 

[Silver gryffon]

It does happen. Even the best manufactures have issues from time to time. Nice to see people defending a product.