u/Ok_Fishing_7901

This watch gets so much right. Makes it very tough to want a collection, when one watch does so much.

Polaris 40. Initial review:

What let me down:

-Gear lash in the cal. 899. Not what I expect at this level.

-Brushing on the case sides is fine, but the tops of the lugs are visibly pot-marked. Not horrible, but not the finishing I expected. For comparison, my Glashutte Original Panoreserve is roughly the same price with far superior finishing. The transitions from brushed to polished surfaces are crisper, and the brushing itself is far less course.

-The crystal sits about a millimeter too tall for my eye. In profile, it stands proud of the dial and hands by a real margin.

What won me over:

-The dial. The light play is just stellar.

-Accuracy. Running +0 after 24 hours.

-The case shape and proportions melt into the wrist. Wears far thinner than 12.9 sounds.

It’s definitely imperfect, but in a charming kind of way. Feels like a hand made good, rather than mass produced, if that makes sense.

Some watches are divers. Some are dress pieces. The Sinn 104 in white never got the memo.

200m of water resistance and low pressure resistance give it real tool watch credentials, while the white dial and day/date keep it sharp enough for a suit.

Add the on the fly micro adjust clasp and it stays dialed in from boat to boardroom. If I weren't so watch obsessed, this could genuinely be my one and done.

Disclaimer: Exhausts are super subjective. For transparency, I definitely prefer a quieter exhaust. My style is always OEM+. I take long trips often, and cannot stand drone. I care about tone, some fun at WOT, improved cosmetics (e.g. bigger tips, good fitment), and really dislike any resonance, boominess or persistent drone.

Lachute Catback, VB WRX (2022+) Initial Review

Fitment is a 10/10. It doesn't hang too low the way the Invidia Q300 does, at least to my eye, and the tips fill the bumper opening perfectly. They look meaty, too. Quality, welds, and packaging were all great. No dings or dents anywhere.

Set your expectations aside on sound, because it's nothing like the Lachute video on the product page. It's about as much rumble as an ELH car can have. Cold start is the quietest of any aftermarket exhaust I've run on this platform, the Q300 included. One neighbor actually thanked me for quieting down the cold start!

Interior cabin volume is the odd one. It's boomiest around town, below 2000 RPM, and there's some drone in that range. But in 6th, roughly between 72 and 80 mph, the resonator is clearly tuned to catch that frequency range, and the exhaust drops to near silence in that window. I love it, since that's exactly the range I find most annoying on road trips.

I'm waiting to borrow some mics from a friend to capture proper high quality audio. I'll update this post once I have clips.

I'll add in that I've also had the following exhausts for this platform, and am happy to make the direct comparison for anybody interested:

1. Remark catback muffled, unresonated > I had this before the resonator was available and didn't care for the tone or the drone I heard.
2. AWE touring catback > I had a very poor experience. I could not get the slip-fit joints to seal, and consequently experienced a very loud, boomy exhaust. Great, raspy sound, but way too loud for me.
3. Cobb SS catback > Beautifully made, but lack of resonator killed it for me.
4. Cobb Ti catback > Beautifully made and light! But again, no resonator.
5. Invidia Q300 catback > This is my second favorite exhaust for this platform. As close to drone free in all frequency ranges as you're going to get. My only gripe is how low the mufflers hang, and how they are visible from the side profile of the car, even with shorter hangers.

EDIT: For anyone wondering, though this exhaust is quiet for aftermarket, it is definitely noticeable in all ranges. You aren't going to think that you're driving around with a stock exhaust. You KNOW that there's something done, both around town and WOT. It's just quietest cruising on the highway.