So I was looking for something nice that would not break the bank, but had a reputation of being good. Then I came across these products through Amazon. Never heard of Depo, but after some research I saw people on here vouch for them. As for Magnaflow, most people can say they know them and have a good reputation for themselves. Note that I used the GST basemap tune for this. Thanks go to them

Installation
The exhaust is broken into three parts. Down pipe, the catalytic converter, and the cat back.
The cat.
Taking out the cat was fairly simple. Remove the NBO2 sensor (which was a pita for me), remove the two bolts forward, two nuts aft, and remove the cat from the hanger. The hanger is a rubber piece that holds the exhaust, but separates the exhaust from the body of the car. For the installation, you will need your own hardware as Depo does not provide mounting hardware. For this I bought bolts, nuts, washers, and lock washers from home depot. As for the installation, it's pretty much the reverse of the uninstall.
Cat back
With the cat back this one is very easy. Remove the bolts aft of the cat section then there are three hangers you have to remove with all three being around the rear muffler. The installation is just as easy. The Magnaflow exhaust is broken into three sections. A pipe that comes from the cat, a middle pipe, and the muffler with the tips. The order in which you put the exhaust is pretty much up too you. All I suggest is that you remove the rubber pieces to place on the exhaust before you put it on.

The sound.
On start up comes a sound I can best describe as being a deep but med type of tone being a mixture of a lite ricer, but a lot of muscle. After the engine start, idle being the sound I love, I can not stress enough the term purrs like a kitten. Just sitting there, all I can think of is a black cougar (I own a tarmac black sb btw). It's as if you have seen a prey and it's about time to strike. This happens every time I am on the line at a red light. For acceleration, the rump up is very mean sounding, but subtle in a way. It's not too loud, but it sounds as if you drive a car with some performance behind it. Cruising with windows down, the wind is louder than the exhaust. You can hear it, but does not stand out with what you hear from the rest of the car. With the windows up, you can hear the exhaust fairly easily. It's not over bearing, but I would suggest using the radio to drowned out the sound.

Performance
I haven't yet had the time to read through all of the tuning guides, so I just installed the base map with no tweaking. Versus stock I can really tell a difference. Throttle response is better, feel is better, and acceleration is way better. Going from 65 to 90, feels like passing like a boss compared to stock. I haven't got a chance to test the MPG with this setup, but over time I will post about it.

Conclusion
If you are looking for your first upgrade after the the boost pill, I will suggest this one. The depo cat can be had for 240, the exhaust kit from magnaflow for around 600, and the openport 2.0 cable for around 125. After some playing around with the ECU I am sure you can throw down some major pain.

Sound 8 Little loud with windows up cruising.
value 9 600 is a chunk of money, but not bad for an exhaust kit.
performance 9 You will see definite gains with this.
Installation 8 Really easy to install, but can be a pita pending on the car itself.
Recommendation: Buy this setup if you are looking for good performance with a nice mean sound.

 

As an informational addition here, you can get the depo racing pieces a bit cheaper on their website.

http://www.deporacing.us/

I bought several pieces at once (UICP, LICP, HFC, long downpipe) and asked for, and got an additional discount as well.

 

I know this is alittle "bringing the thread back from the dead" but I have the same HFC and catback, and it's a very nice combo for the total price.

 

Have any sound clips?