Frostbytes89

So, After months of research I finally decided to buy the Turbo XS race pipe and cat back. I had heard that it was too loud form some, that it sounded awesome from others. I installed it by myself on jack stands and when I started it up, let me say it was the most amazing sound I had ever heard.


Sound Improvement:
To me, the stock exhaust silences what the rotary engine should really sound like. It's loud, aggressive, and raspy. Let me repeat that. It is LOUD, AGGRESSIVE, and VERY RASPY. My dad and some friends constantly say "Man that is too loud, you're going to get tired of it and want the old exhaust back on." I have had it for 4 months now and I drive with the windows rolled down every time so I can hear more of it. It's just such a beautiful sound. It helps connect you to your car, you can finally hear her speak! I took her to the autocross for the first time and I had 3 or 4 guys come up to me and compliment the sound of my car. I'm also 23 yrs old so that may be why I don't mind the loudness at all(plus I never listen to the radio anyway.. nothing but crap on the stations imo)

Performance Gain:
I have to be honest. Not much that I felt. I actually suspect that the race pipe is HURTING my cars performance. When I talked to a mechanic, he said that the car relies on back pressure and with that catless race pipe, there almost is none. I have a couple of theories though that would be awesome if some of you could chime in on. My 8 has a stock tune. I have the TurboXS catless racepipe and catback, an AEM cold air intake, lightweight aluminum flywheel, and street performance clutch(and a short throw shifter). If I buy the Cobb Accessport, would it give me more of a performance gain than say if I had my car stock? My theory is that because my car is set up with stock settings, but bigger better parts, it isn't able to realize any real gains. But once I put the Cobb Accessport on, that will change dramatically? Let me know if I'm right about that!

Looks:
Very nice. 4 inch tips that stick out far enough to not melt the back of your car. I have seen the Agency Power tips and to me they look really thin and cheap. These are nice and thick sturdy looking tips that scream quality! The coolest part about this set up, is the flames! If you floor it from first to second to third and then shift to fourth at about 5-6k rpm, you'll get a HUUUGE "POP" noise and if a car is even in the next lane they will feel the pressure and see the(I've been TOLD) 4-8 ft flames that shoot out the back!

Summary
It absolutely adds to the car's experience. This exhaust makes the car so much more fun to drive, even if it doesn't provide great performance boosts(Though I would still like some input on what I talked about in the "performance gains" part of my review). Whether you're at the autocross or finding back roads or U-turns to fly through(safely I hope), the sound of the rotary engine is really brought out in all of it's spectacular glory. I DEFINITELY recommend this exhaust system.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

You will get tired of it. I love my TurboXS with the BHR pipe and turbo. I fixed a local members car over the weekend with this combo and man it is loud, I forgot just how loud it is.

caidoz

I've had mine for months and have been around alot of loud rotaries for years and I love it still. It really doesn't seem that loud to me thou. I'm 35 and love it so you might be good to go for awhile. lol

wrightcomputing

iTrader: (5)

As far as performance goes it is my understanding that the Cobb Access port will give you about 10 WHP and the Race Pipe will give you an additional 10 WHP when correctly tuned. If you do this your car will probably have just over 200 WHP.
Induction kit may yield 1 or 2 WHP, the stock cold air induction kit is so good that the only real improvement is sound and weight loss.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Get the car on a dyno first to get a baseline. Throwing numbers out there is pointless.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

So the other dozen+ reviews over the years were unnecessary? Thanks for clearing that up with another new thread.

Frostbytes89

Thanks, yeah that's kind of what I figured. I heard it would be a good idea to have it tuned though if you're running a catless exhaust system tho to make sure you're engine isn't running too lean.

Frostbytes89

So according to you we should all just stop posting on RX8club.com because somewhere at some point one topic was addressed. I bought a product and loved it so much I decided to write a review for it, as well as ask a question. Who are you to decide what interests I can and can't express at my will. If you don't like it, then go somewhere else or don't read my posts. But keep your sarcastic and negative comments to yourself and off of my threads.

Thank you.

Frostbytes89

Yeah you're right. I have a friend who insists that the Cobb Accessport email tune is useless because the data logging will never be as accurate as if I were at a dyno place. I guess one could go back and forth with the pros and cons on that one. I just don't feel comfortable having my car tuned by somebody who doesn't know rotaries well, and the closest guy to me is in Dallas. I just feel better trusting Mazda Maniac lol. Probably naive on my part though.

gjrod720

I have a 2004 stock exhaust and stock tune rx8, with just an AEM CAI only. My cat converter is starting to go, so I am thinking about purchasing a mid pipe to just delete the cat converter altogether. I was looking into the turbo SX race pipe and I'm glad I found this review though, and I do find it helpful.

Due to your review though I think it may just hurt my car more though... I feel like if I had a turbo system installed then maybe I wouldn't need all the lost back pressure, but seeing as I am only stock with a CAI, I couldn't afford to lose more HP... lol If you disagree, please let me know, I am NOOB and I could always use more knowledge!

Thanks for this review though!

(Some threads are outdated as fuh and don't even come up unless you search HARD... (Not fun... Google definitely helped reduced the intensity of the search.) And truly, who wants to search through years of half extremely knowledgeable and half extremely IGNORANT posts? Those posts will be there for the people that do want to read through it all, however a new thread never HURT anyone! That just means we have multiple threads to read up on!

I understand all the hard work that was put into the site in order to pass on the knowledge to others and it IS greatly appreciated, but time is precious for ALL of us. If you are expecting us to read through all of the countless "You're a noob use the 'search' function" posts, and all of the half thought posts that could lead to incorrect information on the topic, then this forum may not be as awesome as I thought it was. WE ARE ALL HERE TO HELP EACH OTHER, SO QUIT MAKING PEOPLE FEEL STUPID LIKE ITS YOUR JOB!

Crazy.8

Do you happen to go to any local Houston meets at all? I am in Houston as well and am leaning towards the turboxs if I get exhaust. I would love to hear it in person so I could hear how loud it is; watched many YouTube videos and read many reviews and videos just don't match the true loudness.

jonj

I've been thinking about the Turbo XS as well my 8 had some hack job done to the exhaust when I bought it last August. When, where and how often are there meets in Houston?

lgilbert50

iTrader: (1)

Have the Turbo xs cat back with race pipefor 2 months now and love it. Nice deep tone sound distantly rotary, excellent workmanship and I noticed a increase in performance above 4k.

sinanevan

this post made me decide to buy this exhaust.. thank you for posting

Darkness8

iTrader: (2)

If any one is interested, I am thinking of selling My turbo XS exhaust. I have an OBX header, AP DR mid pipe and it sounds great but the long road trips at a steady speed starts to wear me out. PM me.

sinanevan

how much??

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

^^^ this

been there, done that

Darkness8

iTrader: (2)

350 plus shipping.

sinanevan

do you have any videos and pics? and how many miles on it? im very interested but i can get it brand new for 500$ thats why am asking a lot..thank you in advance

lgilbert50

iTrader: (1)

Here,here, have the Turboxs system with the Turboxs catted midpipe on my 06 Shinka and then went with Mazdamaniac's Cobb and the difference was night and day. Engine smoother, torque/ acceleration improvement that you can really feel and a minor MPG improvement . I think it is quite a bargain considering you still have to have a Access port or something like it to program and then add the cost of dyno time. As far as numbers are concern I use Torque on my phone and it shows a 11 hp increase.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Same.... even coupled with the BHR I wanted to blow my brains out after a while.

Now running BHR and OEM exhaust and couldn't be happier.

Rotary_Redliner

I installed the TurboXS w/ racepipe and I'd have to say it is really damn loud and raspy at first.... but it seemed to tone out after a few months ? maybe some kind of break-in period, or it could have just been me getting used to the sound. I felt like you lose some down low torque, but definately gain some high rpm pull.

But after installing my Greddy Turbo kit, I'd say that the exhaust sounds PERFECT. Nice and deep, with the turbo cancelling out all the raspiness.

Bru 17

So deffenitly this of agency power?

bigonumba10

iTrader: (1)

Just purchased my TurboXS catback, racepipe and AEM intake and installing this weekend.. Can't wait to see what it sounds like in person.

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

loud as f*ck