to midpipe or not to midpipe?
 

i'm thinking about buying a RB DR midpipe but i want to know if it's worth it.

I know my car will stink(bad thing :()
I know i will get CEL but will do a defouler to prevent it
I know i'll get some HP (good thing!)
I know i'll do back fires (very good thing!)

What i want to know is, I have a rx7store catback now and it's loud enough when i cruise, even a bit too much for high way driving...will it be louder with this midpipe?? and also, i dont want to sound like shit, Ive heard a turbo xs midpipe with stock catback and oh my god it was awful, dont want something like that! I dont mind being louder at WOT but dont want to be louder when cruising around than now.

it won't stink unless you're stopped and the wind is blowing from behind you while stopped at a light with the windows down

defouler isn't 100 percent cure for everyone

you will see minor if any HP gains

yes, you will shoot flames

I would suggest the black halo midpipe above RB. I've heard both and like the BHR more. I do own a BHR midpipe, but even if i did not i would like it more.

im interested in getting a BHR midpipe in the future. And i see alot of people in the US who have a mid pipe, how does it work with emissions test. Here in canada, a midpipe will fail the emissions test. Do you guys put your stock cat back on when it comes time to test :dunno:

Yes, keep the cat for the green-test.

Most midpipes are very loud, the BHR has an awesome resonator, so it's deep and low....

you'll instana-fail any sniffer test with a midpipe. My stock cat is sitting in my garage for the day i need to have it smogged.

The Racing Beat DR will not be too loud.

In Oklahoma we don't have emissions testing because we like to pollute.

So no getting in trouble if no one is checking in the first place.

When it's time for emission testing, put the stock cat back for it to pass. As far as i know, the state of California has the most strictest emission testing in the nation. Here in Nevada, they just plugged the cable to the ecu and if it doesn't have any error codes, then you'll good to go. They don't even put that emission metal stick inside your cars tailpipe either.

I have the RB midpipe on my 05 rx8 with 2K miles on the pipe and I still dont have a CEL

Kind of bummed...
 

Did you not pick up much from yours? I thought a midpipe provided the biggest gain you could pick up without FI. This is based solely on reading posts though. I have a TurboXS pipe in my closet, but I refuse to bolt it on until i find a decent cat-back. It was cheap, so I picked it up thinkingthat, if nothing else, I'll buy a new TurboXS system and cut the resonator out of this one and have it welded into the new one to tame the sound a bit...

If anybody's interested, I work for a guy that's building a rx8 road race car and we have a aftermarket mid pipe we'll sell dirt cheap. It's all stainless steel but I don't know who manufactured it. I also have the doughnut exhaust gasket for one end. Email me and I'll send you pictures. kndotter@gmail.com

the 8's intake and exhaust were built extremely well out of the factory. What most of us do is change the sound, nothing more.

Outside of a custom rebuilt motor any bolt on may net you anywhere from 10 to zero HP.

Every non-cosmetic mod i've done has been with the eventual goal of FI in mind so i'm fine with them basically getting me 5 extra ponies in total from my first ever dyno to my last dyno.

I knew that about the intake, and I know that the position of the exhaust ports are the MOST restrictive part of the exhaust, but I didnt realize that the cat on the RX8 flowed so well. The Sticky for the exhausts is somewhat misleading, if this is true. I continue to be impressed with the engineering that went into our cars.

Does a test pipe/mide pipe make the stock exhaust really sound like crap?

I really want to change the exhaust note but i am not very keen on spending $500 on a loud cat back. I have yet to find a RX8 going down the road with a after market exhaust and youtube videos make them sound horrible no matter what exhaust.

No testing here so I can just put stock cat in the shed until resale.

Midpipe should just make it louder, and eventually you may develop a rasp depending what one you choose.

the cat is restrictive but the biggest restriction would be that the exhaust isn't 3" diameter.

My cat was/is fine and I had a whooping 3hp difference between dyno pulls before and after.

Many people, much more well versed in the rx8 then I, have said time and time again the only way to get any real power gains out of the engine is:

1. Nitrous
2. Turbo
3. SC
4. Read Eric Myers threads and follow that to the letter

I've listed them in order of cost.

FWIW, I have the BHR resonated midpipe with the stock exhaust. From inside the cabin, it's hard to tell the difference in sound between it and the OEM cat. Outside it sounds a little different but nothing drastic.

I just put a used Ap dual resinated mid pipe on and it has a rasp between 3800 and about 5500 rpm. is there a known cure for this, like welding inside the mid pipe, is there a known common break?

the drone, yeah for sure, but you get used to it. however he stated that they "develop" as they don't rasp to start with and when they get a few heat cycles the cheaper ones break down? and why would some models not rasp? i mean i understand you get what you pay for.. just trying to pin point what causes the rasp, as it sounds like what a muffler sounds like when the insides rust and come loose. muffflers are much easier to cut up weld here, weld there, and weld back up. :boring:

From what I have read here I think it is something to do with the packing inside resonators.

So in order to get an idea of ho loud it is inside the car, how much did you need to turn up the volume on your radio in order to hear it well after installing the midpipe??

with the bhr... not too much different than OEM cat. A little deeper.

Yeah. The BHR goes deep. Mine is only obnoxious because of the catback I have.

Well this is great news for me! I was really worried it'd be unbearably loud. What Catback do you have Pieper?

HKS Hi-Power. It's almost like a 3-inch straight pipe with a big shiny thing playing the part of a muffler for looks.

hahaha sounds LOUD! I have a RB catback and an AEM intake so i don't think it should be too crazy. I just want a nice deep tone that's slightly over stock in loudness.

Whatever you do, do NOT get the Agency Power midpipe. SO much rasp. Thankfully, i'll be purchasing a members BHR midpipe in a few weeks to replace it.

As for why to get one? My OEM cat had failed and was restricting my exhaust flow causing my car to not want to rev over 6k RPM... This could obviously eventually kill my motor so I needed it out ASAP and just picked up the AP midpipe with little to no research.

Bad move.

let me personally say that I've had the BHR mid pipe on for almost a year, i live in scarborough and drive my 8 year round.

the BHR mid pipe has exceeded all expectations.
i had it attached to the stock exhaust for 9 months. sounded amazing.
I've recently got ahold of a greedy sp2 cat back. sounds even better

BHR FTW

I just ordered a bhr mid pipe. Does your shoot flames? Just curious.

Any catless mid-pipe will.

This thread saved me, as I was about to buy the AP midpipe. I just bought new coils and plugs from BHR for my new engine, so Ill give them more business with the midpipe! Can't wait to hear how it sounds on my Exoticspeed

It is pretty loud but it sounds 10x better than a straight pipe. Right now I have an intermittent exhaust leak because my agency power midpipe doesn't always seal right at the header with the stock gasket. So sometimes I hear just the hks hi power and it sounds good and then sometimes I hear a leak at the header and it makes me appreciate how quiet and nice sounding the hks is compared to that lol.

For anyone who is getting a midpipe be sure to get a nice carbon crush gasket if the pipe doesn't come with one. That will make sure you will get a nice seal. There seem to be only a few places that carry them but I bought mine from race roots and hopefully it will be here soon. Don't try using a universal header gasket, I couldn't find one that fit perfectly and when I tried to make it work the exhaust killed that gasket in < 30 miles. It turned it completely brittle and of course gave me a bigger exhaust leak. Ended up wasting money trying not to buy the $25 carbon gasket.

My agency power midpipe had a nasty rasp/resonance with the stock exhaust but getting a aftermarket one removed most of it.

I know you can force the smog to pass (more specifically in Vegas), but how would one go about doing that?

Any idea on how hard it would be to actually do the midpipe yourself?? Seems like we could save a lot on the pipe if it was a simple switch.

A monkey could do it

gonna have to get me a midpipe then.

Swapping the midpipe and catback isn't that hard. Though it is a LOT easier to do when on a lift. If it comes down to it, pay a shop for ~1-2 hours of work (~$100) to swap them and then you know it is done right without any leaks or problems.

Like mentioned, get BHR. I will be selling mine once the headers come out since they won't be able to match up with their BHR midpipe.

The sound is amazing out of it (paired with a TurboXS cat-back).

I Gutted my cat last year.. Spent almost entire weekend tryin to Gut out the SILENCER.. Definitly not a option.. So I Cut itoff and grabbed some Pipe from Pep Boys with some Reducer's and couplings just to see what it would sound like.. Apart from small Leak in my Engineering its not all that bad.. But not all that good..Heavy Drone aound 2k but around 3 it disapears, But for 30 bucks in parts it was fun.. Ordered Walker Cat for NJ inspection and probably an Agency Mid Pipe for Daily Driving..