Just got this installed!!! Love it!! It gives character to the car and I notice an improvement on throttle response the car isn't lazy and sluggish as it was on the regular stuff. I also noticed my gas milage go up by 2 gallons when cruising on the highway. I did get the highflow cat with the exhaust, it made sense for the extra money. the hardest part of the job was uninstalling the old one everything else was smooth sailing. It gets loud but it's around the 3k rpm I can still hear my music on level 10 but I usually listen to music at level 20 so I think it's fine especially while cruising (I usually cruise at around 2.5kish rpm). I thought it was going to be worst than what it turned out to be.tbh I like to hear the sound it makes . It makes me want to keep throwing money into that pit lol

I've had this exhaust (racepipe option) on my Mazda 3 2010 2.5 sedan for around 4 months now (with a Corksport short ram intake).

INSTALLATION: By far the most difficult thing about install is removing the old exhaust. Being a 12 year old car, the old exhaust bolts were rounded and welded shut by rust on the bolts. We ended up having to cut a few areas of the old exhaust in order to remove it. If you are planning to install this yourself, get a good bolt lubrication to aid in removal. In addition to that, plan install to take a good few hours. Cutting will most likely be necessary even though the instructions say no cutting needed. Besides the old exhaust, everything went smoothly. I suggest getting tips as far as possible behind the bumper to minimize interior drone (more on that later).

PERFORMANCE: With this and the sri my Mazda 3 has gained a few hp. I have not dyno tested it, but overall response and pickup are good. As an indicator of power, a 3rd gear pull from 30-70 takes exactly 7 seconds. Do not expect insane amounts of power increase, but do expect just enough that you can feel the difference if you are looking for it. As far as mpg, I have not noticed a difference.

SOUND: This exhaust is LOUD!! Do not get this exhaust if you are looking for something that is only noticeable on acceleration. This exhaust will be noticed from startup to idle to acceleration to engine braking. At 2600-3200 rpm if you let off the gas you will notice some interior drone. All Mazda's I have owned in the past have this drone at this rpm range. It is not unbearable, but again, know that it is loud. I took a trip to a city recently and this exhaust echo's insanely loudly off of buildings and bridges. Through tunnels and windows open this exhaust will SCREAM. It is in no way a "ricer honda civic" sound. It is very deep sounding (almost too deep!) There are a few ways I found to make this exhaust pop. The first is at slow speeds in first gear. Using the clutch, allow the clutch to bite as the car begins moving around 1500-2250 rpm. Once the car begins moving and the clutch is near the point of disengagement, give the throttle a blip as you fully re-engage the clutch- this will produce a loud single gunshot sound 2/3 times. When driving and upshifting, to get it to pop simply engage the clutch as you give the car a blip of throttle before upshifting. When downshifting, pops will happen rarely and naturally. At night in the quiet this exhaust can be heard from miles away (tested). All in all, this exhaust is very loud when you want it to be. Do not expect this exhaust to be *mild* for that you can just replace the rear muffler with something smaller or do a muffler delete. On long trips this exhaust can get annoying. Before you get this exhaust you have to truly decide if you want a loud exhaust 24/7. If you are 100% sure you want a loud exhaust, then get this and you will not be disappointed. After a few months of use the exhaust gets even louder! Note- any exhaust videos you see on youtube will not do this justice. I took a video on my phone of this in a parking garage, and it sounded NOTHING like in real life. In real life this thing in a parking garage is mind blowing. The deepness of the exhaust resonates for literal seconds, the pops nicely ring through, and the symphony of the dual exhaust pipes come alive. This exhaust is best served in parking garages, tunnels, bridges, and in town.

DISCLAIMER: As a final warning I must say there are times I regret installing this exhaust. Sometimes I do miss it being quiet on a highway, or on a day that you have a headache or are not feeling good this exhaust can be quite annoying. If you are looking for something more mild then do a simple muffler delete/ muffler swap. If you are looking for something truly loud/aggressive then get this and you'll be happy!

Cheers

After having the CS exhaust now for a month I LOVE IT!!! It it loud but I really like the sound. Sounds raspy and not ricy. When on the highway and cruising at 3000 RPM there is cabin noise but you get used to it. Every now and then, when downshifting, it'll "pop" which sounds mean. The first few days of having it installed I thought it was almost too loud compared to the factory exhaust. But after a few times of driving I would not go back. I am very happy with the purchase and love the sound!!!