More money than I care to admit to spending later,

Magnaflow muffler, 2.5" stainless pipe, side exhaust. Wow! What a difference! It's a bit noisier than before, but could also be because the pipe is a lot closer. You can hear the turbo wind up nicely!
Here's another shot

they added a heat shield to the muffler and shot some high heat paint on the welds to help protect them.