Roared by an SVT Cobra on the way home tonight (red line in 2nd - man does the Borla make the rotary sing or what!). Two younger guys (you can imagine the stereotype) -- they were making a turn. Next thing I know they make a quick lane change and come up next to me at the light with big smiles on their faces and say "man that thing sounds sweet!" :D Well we took off at the light and he got about 1.5 car lengths on me but then couldn't pull away any further -- had fun for little while and then I had to turn. Can't wait for Canzoomers mod -- not expecting to be able to take the Cobra but it is fun to play now -- 35 more HP would be awesome -- probably suprise a few people -- 350Z cough cough.....

Anybody else with the Borla notice that the wheels are much easier to spin -- maybe its just me

I will say one thing -- I have had the Borla for 5 days now and have not turned on the stereo once -- I prefer the music I am making going down the road :D

 

RXhusker,
Sounds like your having fun with the new exhaust. Now the sound along with the car's looks are turning heads.

As the exhaust opens up it feels like it is putting out a little more power. I've recently seen the DSC light flashing as I shift into 3rd gear but that is more likely due to the new snow tires. Anyways, the recent abundence of throttle induced oversteer is fun at times. :p

 

I ordered the Borla exhaust last friday from VividRacing and it arrived yesterday. Everything that has been said on this thread is absolutely true. YOU HAVE TO BUY ONE!!!! This exhaust is the best out there. I have heard all of the sound bytes and didnt like them until I heard the Borla.

The horsepower increase is noticable above 5,500 I think. It's much more free revving like everyone has been saying. I think you can even notice some more torque as well.... What I like about this exhaust the best though is the sound. It's not overboard at all and the best thing is that it just accentuates the sound of the sweet rotary.. (what I was looking for) So all in all.. I would totally recommend this exhaust :D

 

omg......as if it wasnt hard enough to make my decision already all these rave reviews are driving me insane!

 

Ok, I have to play the evil advocate and explain a few things with warranty work.

1. The dealer can just refuse you work on your car at any point, it has nothing to do with warranty, as they are independent of Mazda.

2. Some manufacturers are denying warranty claims based on changing the drivability of the car (this is Subaru, with a court case to back their lame claims, I have yet to hear one from Mazda).

3. A dealer wants to make money with warranty work, but if there's high failures and Mazda USA steps in, then we could see similar issues. Let's just hope that your dealer works with ya

Mike is referring to the magnusson-moss act, but there are many many loopholes. You can't just come in with a blown engine with crazy aftermarket mods and DEMAND a new engine. But if a coil pack goes south, how can they prove that your new exhaust actually caused the problem?

Proceed carefully grasshopper!!

 

I have a question concerning the removal of the stock exhaust. Keep in mind that I am no mechanic, but the part of the exhaust that you have to remove, does that have to be cut or torched or is it clamped together? I guess what I'm trying to find out is if there is any cutting, torching or welding involved. I thought I read somewhere that there was no welding involved. It was all clamps and hangers.

 

The Borla exhaust bolts on directly behind the stock resonator, and no welding or cutting is needed. The only thing you might have to do is bend the hanger closest to the differential... one user reported that it was too close, and was rattling. But no one else has had that problem that I've heard about, so it's not likely that you'll have to do that either.

 

Just ordered the Borla exhaust from John @ socalmotorsports.. can't wait to get it.. hopefully i'll get to have fun with it before the dreadful snow season starts.. hehehe

so where's the flaming video clips? c'mon..

 

So far, has everyone installed their own exhaust? What would be the average cost to get someone to do it for you.

 

I'll see what I can do this weekend.

flames, Flames, FLAMES.... :D

 

I got a quote for $50 to have it done at a small shop close to my office. That said -- I decided to do it myself. I had never done any mechanical work on a car before -- bought a set of ramps at Wal-Mart grabbed a few wrenches and screwdrivers and off I went. Glad I did it myself -- it was a pain to remove the rubber hangers and I beat up my hands pretty good trying -- but now that people have disclosed the tip about using lubricant (duh -- why didn't I think of that -- a degree in Aerospace Eng. and an MBA down the drain right there ) this should be a very easy and fun process. There is a certain satisfaction gained by doing it yourself that I just don't think I would have if I had paid the $50 bucks. Lets see $50 for 3 hours of hard labor -- dang rubber hangers -- $50 is about 15 minutes of my billing rate at work so from an economic standpoint -- bad decision, but I would still do it myself again just for the personal satisfaction.

 

i realize that everyone is jumping on the borla bandwagon b/c it is cheap, adds performance, and looks/sound AWESOME.

however, remember that racing beat is working ferveriously on new, high performance products for the RX-8. i have their full exhaust system on my FC RX-7 TII, and i must say, it is one of the best exhaust systems money can buy. best performance, best looks, and nice mature sound.

i'm sure they will do the same for the RX-8. also, b/c racing beat has tuned several mazda vehicles in the past for mazda (mazdaspeed protege, miata), mazda sells the products FROM the dealer. as a result, your warrenty wont be voided.

i would guess the racing beat RX-8 muffler will be around $400-500, and sould great.

here is a link for their lastest update on tuning info: http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm

here is a pic of their prototype muffler for the 8:

 

The Racing Beat setup looks top notch and I'm sure that they will get some decent performance gains.

As more and more exhausts become available it would be cool to do a shoot out to see which provides the best: performance, sound, quality, and bang for the buck. Maybe VividRacing will do a little bit of this on their project car.

 

anyone know when racing beat will come out with that exhaust? if it's 400-500 bucks it's something to consider too

 

racing beat said at sevenstock the only one they had was prototype and maybe by mid nov

 

Welp, I ordered their front sway bar a couple days ago. Was hoping to get it before tomorrows autocross, but oh well. It'll be in for next time.

Maybe I'll even have enough for an exhaust when RB has theirs out :D

 

RXhusker, Thanks for the insight and info. $50 sounds extremely reasonable and if I could find someone at that price I probably would let them do it. I'm not setup and/or have the space to dismantle my 8.

2nd question: What did you guys do with the old exhaust (hang on to it)?

 

My old exhaust, and the original front sway bar are stacked next to the wheels/Hoosiers (soon to be two sets) in my garage. Didn't know what else to do with them.

 

Sell them on ebay. (I'm just joking) I think it is better to hang on to them. Right now no one knows if those mods will void the warranty or not. (sure, not the sway bar) If there's anything bad happened to your car, you can always install the factory parts back before you bring in to the dealer.

 

At the request of many I have gone out of my way to try to capture the flaming beast on camera. Let's just say that a picture doesn't do it justice and if someone is willing to host a 3.6 MB video file you can see what I mean.

 

You got to be joking, is that a flamethrower!! I'll host your video, I'll send you my email via PM.

 

jesus ***** that's a nice flame you got going there. what'd you do just ride it above 6k rpm until it shot or something?

 

WTF?!?!? that's a joke right??

 

My old exhaust is still sitting in the garage -- will probably keep it since I am a packrat.

All I needed was a set of ramps ($20 at WalMart) and about 6' of space behind the 8 to move around.

 

Speed Racer

You have to be pulling our leg with that shot

If not -- I am taking the camera out tonight and seeing if I can duplicate :D