The difference is that suckers fall for the marketing hype and buy the EST.

 

The difference is welds cracking on a crappy OBX after some time.
I've had my EST exhaust for a few years now, driving through winters etc....never had any issues.

I know Connor is running an OBX dp and is now facing a dilema of having it replaced or re-welded since it's cracking at the welds.

There's a reason EST carries a premium

 

So aside from welds, they are all the exact same?

I'd like to hear Frank's opinion.

 

OBX stuff in general is made of that thin sheet metal like stuff, no? Where as the others are made in a first world country with real gauged(18g?) stainless piping ... Jetex is another trade name just like the BSR.

 

The big Volvo tuners seem to live by a very simple motto: "(Needlessly) increase the manufacturing cost by 20% and quadruple the price"

I suggest you have a look at the prices of different gauges/types of piping if you really do think a slightly thicker pipe is worth an extra $450 http://www.summitracing.com/search/department/exhaust/section/exhaust-pipes-flanges-and-turndowns

 

I had the OBX one and I didn't like it. I guess part of it can be blamed on a poor installation job (from a very very reputable shop), but it rattled, and it smelled pretty badly. I had it on for a few weeks then sold it.

I'm running stock right now.

 

The difference would be found in terms of material quality and level of craftsmanship that will impact the longevity and affect the ease of installation.

There are variances in routing/bends of the pipe and the design of the muffler/resonator that will change the way the exhaust sounds. Even the type metal the piping is made from can affect the sound.

 

OBX has been fine on both my cars and about 10 other installs I have used it on. The only problem I have ever had was with an 2012 GTI as the turbo flange was wrong but I just did some quick fabrication and welding and made it work.

OBX exhaust single tip is a fantastic fit and finish from front to back as good as any other aftermarket system I have ever installed. The steel they use is so-so but its certainly isn't "thin" the flanges are thicker then most aftermarket jobs 1/2" and the wall thickness will match anything on the market 16gauge. Also, really attacking the welds on OBX? Certainly Back Purged TIG welds that are done quite well are certainly not its weak spot. Also, depending on the weld spot usually 1 or 2 on the exhaust are done in micro weld/robot which is the best welds you can get period.

No, The main problem with OBX is the cleanup of the interior of the pipe. Its not a huge deal but your going to want to take some time to grind away excessive overhang/weld.

Also, on the flow bench it saw a nice gain over stock.

-Your Pal
Fishey

 

What most of you have been posting is correct! The OBX and EST exhaust appear to be the same when comparing pictures online and that is because I believe OBX purchased several of our exhausts and basically copied them. I have not seen a S60R/V70R OBX system up close but have seen and heard them installed on a few R cars. I have seen some of the OBX 850/S70/V70 pieces up close and they use thinner gauge tubing which typically can crack/split at the welds or where exhaust hangers welded on.

Sound - Sound is also a big determining factor when purchasing an exhaust. We have one customer with a S60R that had our down pipe and Touring exhaust installed and unfortunately got into a car accident and his car was written off. He found an other S60R which he purchased and it had the OBX exhaust system installed. The system was way to loud for him and was rattling on the body of the car. The drone and rattle was so loud that he had to stuff tissues in his ears. He brought the car to us because he thought it had our Sport system installed and want to purchase the front resonator from our Touring kit. We had a look at the car and told him that it was not one of our systems. He then took the car to an exhaust shop to have a third resonator installed to hopefully quite the system down and stop the rattle. Unfortunately after several attempts the exhaust shop could not fix the rattle or get the exhaust to sound the way he wanted and he ending up purchase a complete new kit from us. I have the Sport system with down pipe installed on my V70R and when comparing that to the OBX system he had installed they sound levels where close to the same but I found the EST system to have a much more refined deep tone where as the OBX system seem to have more of a tinny sound which could be caused by a thinner gauge of tubing.

Warranty – You also want to consider warranty when purchasing an exhaust. Our systems come with a 5 year warranty and since we have been selling the P2 systems we have had less then a hand full of warranty claims and each of those claims we sent the customer replacement parts at no cost.

Basically the old saying "you get what you pay for" I believe is true when comparing the EST and OBX exhaust.

- Frank

 

What most of you have been posting is correct! The OBX and EST exhaust appear to be the same when comparing pictures online and that is because I believe OBX purchased several of our exhausts and basically copied them. I have not seen a S60R/V70R OBX system up close but have seen and heard them installed on a few R cars. I have seen some of the OBX 850/S70/V70 pieces up close and they use thinner gauge tubing which typically can crack/split at the welds or where exhaust hangers welded on.

Sound - Sound is also a big determining factor when purchasing an exhaust. We have one customer with a S60R that had our down pipe and Touring exhaust installed and unfortunately got into a car accident and his car was written off. He found an other S60R which he purchased and it had the OBX exhaust system installed. The system was way to loud for him and was rattling on the body of the car. The drone and rattle was so loud that he had to stuff tissues in his ears. He brought the car to us because he thought it had our Sport system installed and want to purchase the front resonator from our Touring kit. We had a look at the car and told him that it was not one of our systems. He then took the car to an exhaust shop to have a third resonator installed to hopefully quite the system down and stop the rattle. Unfortunately after several attempts the exhaust shop could not fix the rattle or get the exhaust to sound the way he wanted and he ending up purchase a complete new kit from us. I have the Sport system with down pipe installed on my V70R and when comparing that to the OBX system he had installed they sound levels where close to the same but I found the EST system to have a much more refined deep tone where as the OBX system seem to have more of a tinny sound which could be caused by a thinner gauge of tubing.

Warranty - You also want to consider warranty when purchasing an exhaust. Our systems come with a 5 year warranty and since we have been selling the P2 systems we have had less then a hand full of warranty claims and each of those claims we sent the customer replacement parts at no cost.

Basically the old saying "you get what you pay for" I believe is true when comparing the EST and OBX exhaust.

- Frank

Something somethings..... Cough... Bull****..

 

As a mechanical engineer that knows quite a bit about material science, and having welded for more hours than I care to count, I know the difference first hand between quality stainless steel, proper weld preparation and technique, and the opposite. Yes, for the price of some of the DP and exhausts, you may think you got a very good deal and that others are suckers, but the proof is in the pudding. I have learned from enough experiences to know that you cannot shortcut quality.

That being said, if you go with products from EST, IPD, Elevate, Racecars60, gsxtodd, the vendors that have been making quality products for Volvos for many many years, you will probably be better off than going with anything from OBX, which by reputation, does not deliver quality products.

 

I always get the popcorn out when someone starts a post with "As a **insert irrelevant qualification here** " because I know what follows can only be believed by someone intimidated by the aforementioned qualification.

So, let me just state some rough numbers here, without stating my occupation, and I'll let you draw your own conclusion.

The EST downpipe is $600. The OBX downpipe is $150. The difference between material/labor costs in fabricating the EST and OBX downpipes is nowhere near $450. $45 maybe.

 

The sad fact is so many people have issues because they have no idea on how to work on a car or make small adjustments to fix the issues.

A Prime example is one of my customers bought a brand new rogue engineering exhaust for his E36M3 and it rattled and rubbed and just sounded like trash. He wanted to save some time and just had the local muffler shop near him install it. Well, to make a story short the $700 catback was destroyed by the shop with zero miles on it. Does that mean it was a bad exhaust? Hell no its simply retards installed it.

I Litterally install atleast one performance exhaust a week and there are always fitment issues. Generally, like the OBX stuff I have installed its extremely minor stuff that requires loosening of bolts and and some pushing while tightening to fix. I can only name one time when tweaking wasn't needed and that was on the most impressive exhaust I have ever seen. (which was the factory Nissan 370RC exhaust) that was installed on a customers car.

As far as quality goes its design and construction are very good from the welds to the thickness. The only thing some people might not like is the volume which is pretty damn quiet driving around town/highway and moderatly loud at WOT. I Guess I will Go-Pro it at some point but don't have time lately.

I have shown the OBX parts to some of the best car builders and fabricators in the world. Always impressed by the quality for the cost which is also my own opinion of OBX products. I mean I will always take the opinion of my friends and colleagues who specialise or know more about fabrication then I do in these areas when there accomplishments and reputations speak for themselves.

 

From my own experiences on p80 vehicles: No issue with OBX since being installed in 2009. EST pipe on my other s70 rotted through since being installed in 2010.

 

Thanks for all the input. I can't deny that EST sells a quality product.

I have the OBX DP and the 1st Gen EST exhaust. The DP fits OK- for whatever reason, the flange touches the side of the Exhaust/Driveshaft tunnel only when it is bolted up to either the stock or EST catback. Doesn't rattle or cause me any worries though so I'm ok with it. The EST catback fits like a glove. It was simple to install and I love how adjustible it was. The tips are centered perfectly and they stick out however far as I want. And it feels SOLID. It will not move in place like my stock system did. It still looks completely brand new even though I bought it used. It could've never been installed and I wouldn't know the difference.

Another thing that I would still like to know (and maybe Frank or Humza could help me out here) is:

What is the difference between the current generation EST (Mototec) catback, and the previous generation EST (BSR or Jetex) system?

Aside from the tips, they look exactly the same to me. Why did EST opt for the Mototec version?

 

As I am not a materials engineer I can only tell you that my OBX DP has held up flawlessly for 3 years.

People told me I had to get a $600 DP as all others would fail.

It didn't and it hasn't.

 

As I am not a materials engineer I can only tell you that my OBX DP has held up flawlessly for 3 years.

People told me I had to get a $600 DP as all others would fail.

It didn't and it hasn't.

My OBX fit poorly so I "HAD" to send the car in to have the rest of the exhaust fabricated to pull the catback flange away from the shield....*wink* Wink*

In all seriousness though, the OBX is poorly made with poor products but....It cost $150 and has lasted me roughly 3 years at this point so I'm not complaining. I fear it may rust off this year though which will render another $150 replacement....which is still less for the cost of a single price gouging fabricated DP.

Let's have a little math lesson.

IPD Downpipe - $895.00 (Lasts presumably the life of the vehicle.)

Viva Downpipe - $639.99 (Lasts presumably the life of the vehicle.)

CNT Downpipe - $349 (Roughly 3-5 Years, various factors determine this because OBX + Cat)

OBX Downpipe - $150 (Roughly 3-5 Years, various factors determine this)

So I could buy 4 OBX Downpipes to compensate for a single viva down pipe for the cost of $649.99
Or roughly 6 OBX Downpipes to compensate for a single IPD down pipe for the cost of $895.00

Sounds like Gouging to me as I'm sure their products aren't made out of unicorn seman..... SS is SS and I hardly doubt that their integrity will prove to last NH winters longer than 6 OBX Pipes.

 

I wonder if you could have a shop mount an additional hanger near the DP/Catback flange to keep the flanges away from the shield. I'd imagine that it would still be a whole lot cheaper than getting a higher quality DP.

 

Shoot. That's a bargain. Mandrel bent stainless?

 

What about performance increase? No different between OBX, EST etc.? So I guess I will try OBX just because of the price.

 

Apparently they use a different muffler so they may have a slight difference performance. Either catback shouldn't really do a whole lot without a tune though.

I'd love to see some dyno comparisons though. I forgot what EST stated the HP gains to be vs. stock.

 

Just curious, I'm a new R owner and from what i read in this thread obx is an alright exhaust can anyone tell me if this is a good deal or not?
http://www.rsaperformance.com/obxtuex04vos.html

 

That's the average rate for them. The OBX DP is a good value at only $150. I haven't heard of many people who love the OBX catback exhaust. Check the classifieds and you may be able to find a much higher quality system in that price range or lower. Or even go custom.

Listen to as many videos as you can find on the different types of R aftermarket exhausts and choose whichever one you like the best. You usually get what you pay for. You may not be happy if you spend $450 for the OBX and then have to keep spending $100 here and there for a shop to adjust it to your liking because of poor fitment, sound, rattles, etc... Although I wouldn't know since I've never owned an OBX cat back.

I did however, buy one system that I thought I'd try just because it was cheap. I planned on modifying it to my own preference but I quickly discovered that the cost of doing so would come close to the cost of the exact brand new system that I wanted all along. I sold my old cat back and was fortunate enough to find a used exhaust that was exactly what I planned on buying new. My R now sounds exactly how I wanted it to and I am very happy.