Congrats on your exhaust, it is an awesome piece. Now that ive had mine installed for quite some time, I can say that I dont think cutting the plastic exhaust finishers was necessary like the directions for the exhaust stated. I didn't cut mine, have had the exhaust installed since the week it was released, and have noticed absolutley no melting of any part of my bumper at all. I believe the reason mazda instructed the cutting of the bumper was so that the area surrounding wouldnt melt and cause a horrendous smell. Ive been on several extended trips with my 8 (3 hours or more of continuous driving) and havent had any smell or melting of the finishers. I guess the cutting was just an extra precaution on mazda's part.

 

^ditto...the piping goes no where near the shrouds...i always run the car pretty hard and never did the shrouds melt

 

^Mine ended up being about 1/8" from the shroud so I ended up trimming mine.

I guess it depends on the car.

 

Okay, so we don't know about hp performance gains, but what about weight? Anyone know the difference in weight between the MS and the OEM muffler?

Thanks!

~ Matt

(weight is the enemy!)

 

well, theres definitely a difference in weight just by feel. as to exactly how much? not too sure

 

I think I read somewhere that it was suppose to be a couple pounds lighter, but when they received the exhaust they (onlinemazdaparts.com) said it was the same as oem.

 

That sucks, I would have though MS would have tried to lighten it a little. Especially given that the MS8 is heavier than the regular 8.

 

Wasn't the MS exhaust advertised as the new Lighter MS dual exhaust?

Was that false advertisement, a marketing ploy, or just a big mistake?

I was just about to order it and the main reason I wanted it is because it was lighter. Can anyone confirm this?

 

It is lighter, but only by a few pounds. I think it was 5 pounds different.

 

theres definitely a weight difference that can even be determined by feel. theres no way that the new ms exhaust is the same weight as the stock