Just got a call from RB. Looks like they about to start shipping the next batch of exhausts. Should have mine next week.

 

The Stock exhaust off of my 8 with the pipe was 45# and the RB exhaust with the pipe was 52#-a fairly sizeable increase for racing purposes. I wish I had known the weight differential before I bought it. The build quality is excellent as is the exhaust note (although I could stand a little more db). but for racing purposes, I would really like an option of a much lighter exhaust seeing as my competition in S2000's are dropping up to 35# with titanium exhausts! The tips do turn real bronze and after talking to Jim Tanner, the GM at RB, I used Stainless Steel Polish and it hasn't changed. Maybe I'll get used to it.

 

Ive heard many reports that the tips turn a bronze color. I was wondering if anyone has a picture of a "seasoned" RB exhaust tip to better show this.

The stock tips stay perfect (aside from getting black from soot). They are very easy to keep bright with a wipe down every time I wash the car.

I would rather the RB tips stay equally as nice, but it seems they discolor after a few heat cycles. Jim Langer in a phone conversation prior to the sale of the first units told me about the problem, but it would be limited to the first systems they manufactured. He explained that they had plans to "double wall" the tips to shield the exterior chrome surfaces from heat to prevent any discoloration. Maybe they have decided to keep with the original design, or maybe we have yet to see the revision.

I'm ready now to plunk down my $600. The weight issue doesn't bother me much (you should see all the tools in my trunk), but I would rather the tips stay bright like the stock ones do. Its not too much to ask

 

Like I said before, this issue is not unique to the RB exhaust. I own an HKS exhaust and am experiencing the same thing. Another friend of mine has the GReddy and it too is discolored. Personally, I don't dislike it.

 

Polish it off with mothers works great i too had the same problem

 

thats what alot of ppl have been saying so it must work

 

Well.... Any install yet??

 

Mine came last night. I'll probably install it tomorrow night or friday and post back with pics.

 

The 8 goes up on ramps at 4PM PST on Wed for the install - :D

 

God I love my Racing Beat cat-back. It growls,gurgles and screams when you want it to. Always civilized and high end sounding. It echoes under highway bridges with a musical drone as you pass under. It turns heads from the sound alone. Let a friend drive your car as you stand on the side of the road.....you'll see what I mean. It really has commanding sound at high RPM from a distance.

 

Finished mine tonight also - damn those rubber hangers

 

got mine done. ill post the pics soonish. im noticing a burning electronics/clutch/brake pad smell coming from the exhaust with tiny wisps of smoke. is this normal or did i screw up the install somehow? other than that i love it. it sounds unbelievably good and i was really surprised at the difference the larger tips make to the appearance of back end.

 

Your exhaust will smoke for a day or so. It will smell funny for 2 or 3. This is normal and will stop completely when evrything burns off.

My tips turned a bronze color 1 hour after I installed them. I was pretty disapointed because they lost that new bright look almost immediately. However the next day after the tips were completely cool, I polished them with Blue Magic. The bronze color came completely out after only a few second of polishing. The other good thing is that they seem to be staying chrome in color after many heat cycles.

 

Ya, it only took 10 miles (1 short trip) for mine to begin turning color.

So Blue Magic, huh? Where's the best place to find that product? Hardware stores?

 

Yes.....hardware stores are a good place to start. Some bigger auto parts store will carry it (like Pep Boys). Alot of guys use this stuff to make their Harley's sparkle.

It will make your dulled tips look like you just peeled the bubble wrap from them.


also.....it took a 250 mile trip to make the bronzing slightly come back. alot better than 15 miles the first time.

 

Due to the extremely high exhaust gas temperatures of the rotary engine, the issue of tip dis-colorization has been circulating the rotary community for years.

We have attempted to minimize the discoloration of the tips by designing a “dual-walled” tip. This inner wall meets the outer wall at the tip outlet, under the curled edge. Although this does not eliminate this naturally occurring event, the effects of this extreme heating is minimized.

Yes, you can utilize various polishing compounds to remove the color, Blue Magic seems to work very well. (We received a sample bottle from the supplier, sorry we do not have a source.) We are continuing development on yet another that may be introduced on later models.

The “oily” smell, and wisps of smoke are residual oil from the mandrel bending process and will burn away during the first few drive cycles.

Jim Langer
Racing Beat, Inc.

 

Hey Jim, what is the torque on the bolts attaching the pipe to the exhaust? I know the CAT/Midpipe are around 33-44, but I don't know the other ones.

Great Exhaust by the way :D

 

I should be getting mine within a week! I am getting mine from devious12! Can't wait can't wait can't wait. :D

 

We recommend that the connecting pipe-to-muffler bolts be torqued to 28 ft/lbs. I will make a change to the installation instructions to reflect this.

Jim Langer
Racing Beat

 

Thanks, I had them elbow grease tight , but will re-check with the torque wrench.

 

Great quality exhaust from RB. I can't wait to deck out my RX in full Racing Beat trim! All that I read about the exhaust note was correct, sounds great under full throttle when I'm tearing down the Kink @ Road America.

 

Hello Jim,

I just picked up my RB catback exaust 7/27 is that one of the redesigned ones???
One of your sales rep showed me around your shop. Was very pleased with the tour. I like that turbo two truck with the jet ski, sounds sooooo tempting to buy. Oh back to the Exaust, I cant wait to install it. Just reading everyones post on the sound, wow cant wait to hear it!!!!!!!!!!

 

We haven't "redesigned" anything with this latest production run. We are still producing these exhaust systems from the large batch of supplies that we recieved about a month ago. On future batches I am not aware of any major changes that are being planned.

Enjoy....... let me know what you think!


Jim Langer
Racing Beat, Inc.

 

opps... I mean the tips being fixxed so that they dont bronze up??

 

Bronze???? We like to compare the color to the golden hue of a 60's era Formula 1 header, an Olympic Gold Medal, the golden amber of an ice-cold pale ale......

Yes, we are experimenting with other tip materials to see how they compare when exposed to the high heat of the rotary's exhaust. For whatever reason, the RX-8 guys seem to be a bit more sensitive to this issue than we have ever experienced in the past. We will keep diggin' and see what we come up with.

Jim Langer
Racing Beat