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Perfect... stupid me I looked at the BHR and didn't see the cat option until I clicked on the listing. This is perfect. Changing the entire exhaust everything starting with headers is 2.75" except I found the Magnaflow cat I was looking at was only 2.5" and I didn't want to create a choke point by reducing the cat pipe. I think I'm good now thank you.
The BHR is a whopping 3" I'll gladly take that with the rest of the system going in being 2.75". Better to step up than down.
I purchased the T304 Racing header with 2.75" outlet...
And the MANZO catback system again with 2.75" inlet and outlet...
Then I was worried not being able to find a cat pipe that is at least 2.75" until a nice person pointed out the BHR
Yesthey said direct bolt on factory fitment. However as mentioned above there is a heat shield I neglected to consider... is this a mandatory piece when doing header exchange? Or is there going to be a factory heat shield on the stock exhaust that I can swap over?
I don't know about "mandatory," but I would say "definitely recommended." The battery is directly above the exhaust manifold, and this engine bay gets HOT. Batteries do not last long in this car as it is. Heat also degrades most plastic and rubber components under the hood. If it were me, I would absolutely install a heat shield with the header. Definitely do not use header wrap.
I have this one installed on my Miata. It works very well, and Gary is good people.
You have to love the Engrish in eBay ads for Chinese knock-off products.
Getting more air into your engine and more exhaust out is the key to a performance motor. That''s where exhaust headers is significant as the first revenue of an exhaust system. Exhaust performance headers manipulate the air flow with the performance robbing exhaust manifold that came with your car. Headers provide each cylinder with its own mini exhaust pipe, which means exhaust headers prevent interference among cylinders, thus, the backpressure that occurs in common exhaust manifolds. When cylinders don''t have to fight with each other to expel their exhaust, they can put more power through the wheels, Pushing the vehicle. Combining with a high performance cold air intake and a cat back exhaust system, a header system removes all restrictions of your engine, then, it is able to perform at its full potential.
I sure hate to be robbed of revenue, while being interfered with and manipulated into fighting.
These guys don't have any idea how exhaust exits an engine, do they?
It is your car and your money, OP, but I learned a long time ago to buy once and cry once. The real thing will fit properly, will perform as advertised, and the company making it will stand behind it. It costs more to buy quality up-front, but it is usually a once-and-done experience. I also like to support the people who design and build this stuff, so they can continue to design and build this stuff.
From what I have seen of eBay products such as this, only bar and plate intercoolers are worth buying. Everything else turns out to have fitment issues, quality issues, or does not last long.
I certainly do appreciate the sentiment... We shall see you may be correct. I will say though that I would fall short of saying they know nothing about exhaust exiting an engine simply because they are from a different part of the world and speak a different language and have issues translating. That is simply not fair. Furthermore... I don't see anywhere in the listing that it's a Chinese part I mean it probably is but it's shipping from the US. What if the bad translating your pointing out is Japanese? Frankly who knows and who cares translation is not a determining factor for me.
I have ordered alot of parts...many many parts from ebay for my trucks many made in China and I certainly have not had the bad experiences others have had maybe I have been lucky. I wouldn't say that in order with confidence exactly... but I have yet to have a swearing session because a crappy part didn't fit or work. Im sure that day will come eventually but not yet.
I don't care to belabor any of the points I made. But, I will add...
If you are lucky, they copied the Racing Beat header exactly, and you will receive a part that performs as well as it can, according to how well it is manufactured. You might even see a 2 to 5HP gain at 7500 RPM.
If you are unlucky, they bent and welded some tubes to more or less fit, you will only lose 10HP, and it will last 2 years before cracking, blowing out, melting the bottom of your battery, and starting a fire. The tubing is often too thin, the alloy is often not as described, and the welds are often suspect.
Headers are the number 1 eBay part I have seen fail (excepting ignition coils). Over the past 5 years, I have seen 8 or 9 of them let go on various cars.
If a catback rusts out, you can shrug and lament having wasted your money. If a header fails, things can get ugly fast. That is not a place I would skimp.
Sure you make great points... as I say we shall see. I'll know alot more when the part arrives I'll get a good idea of the workmanship that went into it. And I do appreciate your pointing out the heat shield that header will not go on the car until the heat shield arrives. When the header comes in a few days I'll try and take some detailed photos and for better or worse we can all see how it's put together. They claim it's made of stainless steel.
I don't know about "mandatory," but I would say "definitely recommended." The battery is directly above the exhaust manifold, and this engine bay gets HOT. Batteries do not last long in this car as it is. Heat also degrades most plastic and rubber components under the hood. If it were me, I would absolutely install a heat shield with the header. Definitely do not use header wrap.
I have this one installed on my Miata. It works very well, and Gary is good people.
Interesting product, thanks for sharing! Has anyone actually used this on an RX-8 yet? Will OP be the first one? I am curious about possible fitment issues. I may explore this as an alternative to ceramic coating for a RB header.
I couldn't find a heat shield on their site for rx8 only MX5 and Miata. So I just emailed them about an hour ago to see of they have an rx8 version or if it's the Miata shield that is to be used. I'll post answer here.
Interesting product, thanks for sharing! Has anyone actually used this on an RX-8 yet? Will OP be the first one? I am curious about possible fitment issues. I may explore this as an alternative to ceramic coating for a RB header.
Gary told me it has been successfully used on RX-8s, but I don't know which version of the shield you would want. Once you have one in hand, you will see how it works and how flexible it is. It is basically a thin sheet of pliable aluminum on the bottom, with an aluminized fabric on top, and layers of fiberglass in between. When you install it, you bend and fold it around the header and downpipe and wire it in place.
Originally Posted by ZumeZume
I couldn't find a heat shield on their site for rx8 only MX5 and Miata. So I just emailed them about an hour ago to see of they have an rx8 version or if it's the Miata shield that is to be used. I'll post answer here.
The Miata header is a top to bottom affair, whereas the RX-8 header is more of a left to right thing. You probably want the widest one. I'm sure Gary or someone from Track Dog will answer in short order.
I happen to have an extra Miata version I bought for the Miata I am planning to supercharge soon. Here are some photos of it. It is 21" x 15" (ignore the parallax, it really is 21x15).
Thanks for all the in depth info... the shield looks very well made. I will let you know what they say I'll order the one they suggest. You were mentioning the hit rx8 engines... this is probably a dumb question but would it be worth wrapping the header with hest tape and then installing the best shield? Just a thought...
We are often asked about "heat wrapping" a header as a method to reduce heat in the engine bay. We do not recommend wrapping the header. Even though RX8 exhaust temperatures are not as high as other rotary applications, wrapping a stainless steel header will accelerate fatigue in the metal. A better answer is to use heat shields that do not reduce airflow around the header.
04-11-2017, 06:52 AM
