Racing Beat Headers on NC

CoachOz · Postby **CoachOz** » Sun May 04, 2014 8:09 am

This might seem like a silly question but I'd really like to find out what these headers sound like with a standard mid-pipe and standard muffler. I've searched the web but all the sound files or videos I've found have after market mid-pipes and / or mufflers.

I know they will be louder (about 20%) but it's the tone I'm interested in - sharper, deeper, drone, etc?

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Sun May 04, 2014 9:10 am

Louder YES.
A deep burble at idle that is not at all intrusive at cruise.
At WOT it just sounds like a daily drive sportscar should sound when you give it the jandal.
You will notice a lot of crackle and burble on deceleration....Music!

You will enjoy the extra power

CoachOz · Postby **CoachOz** » Sun May 04, 2014 9:50 am

Hi Rob

Thanks for your reply. What did it sound like before the Goodwin exhaust? My NC is my daily driver, probably about 200 kms a week of highway, country roads and around town. I had a Goodwin Roadster Sport muffler, which I removed because the drone at 3,000 revs drove me nuts.

Peter

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Sun May 04, 2014 10:42 am

Hey Pete.

Good to see u are thinking of doing the headers

We have just installed a few of them on different mates NC's the last few weeks.
James and Phil have the headers with everything else standard. I'll message them and see if they can get a sound clip up.

My my experience. It's just a tad louder than stock. I'd imagine at freeway speeds you won't hear anything.

CoachOz · Postby **CoachOz** » Sun May 04, 2014 11:00 am

I'm keen to do it, I just don't want a repeat of my muffler experience, particularly as it would be a much more expensive exercise if they didn't work out.

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Sun May 04, 2014 5:18 pm

Roadster Sport is a noisy muffler, the RSQ is quieter and no drone from my experience,
RS SuperQ is apparently quieter again but I haven't heard of one in Oz yet.
When it was standard it just whooshed around. Can't understand Mazda building a sportscar that whooshed

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Sun May 04, 2014 10:19 pm

To answer your questions.

Headers with stock midpipe and muffler is around 30% louder due to the deletion of the first cat.

There's no drone because you are keeping the cat / resonator and the stock muffler.
If / when the second cat dies the noise will go up some more but it doesn't get near the noise level of the Roadster Sport.

For others, forget about putting any other after market muffler on with the headers except for the 'Q'. They will be WAY too noisy for 98% of owners.

Postby **orx626** » Sun May 04, 2014 10:41 pm

Charlie Brown wrote:For others, forget about putting any other after market muffler on with the headers except for the 'Q'. They will be WAY too noisy for 98% of owners.

You forgot about this one CB.

http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=43004

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Mon May 05, 2014 8:59 am

orx626 wrote:
Charlie Brown wrote:For others, forget about putting any other after market muffler on with the headers except for the 'Q'. They will be WAY too noisy for 98% of owners.

You forgot about this one CB.

http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=43004

Your muffler does sound mighty nice with the headers we recently installed on Trevor's car

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Mon May 05, 2014 2:04 pm

orx626 wrote:
Charlie Brown wrote:For others, forget about putting any other after market muffler on with the headers except for the 'Q'. They will be WAY too noisy for 98% of owners.

You forgot about this one CB.

Yep, you're right Danny, I did forget. :oops:

I didn't hang around long enough to hear Trevor's. It is on my list of things to do.

I've tried:
5zigen - loud, boomy and lots of drone. Rattled every panel in the car.
Goodwin Roadster Sport, with and without the baffles - again loud and a bit of drone. Nowhere near as loud as the RS though.
Listened to the IL motorsport and the owner said it droned and got rid of it.

I have a little muffler that I fit at the track to replace the OEM. It was recorded at over 105db in turn 2 at Wakefield when reading from the control tower (about 250 metres). This muffler could probably shake the blue metal out of the roadway :roll:

. I drove to Wakefield once with it fitted and wore earplugs. Never again.

CoachOz, It’s very hard to post up sound clips because you never have the same recording conditions and equipment as the next person.
The headers will give a nice sound with the stock system. It will pop on down changes and sound more raspy. The tone doesn’t get deeper.
The big advantage is the extra power. This is a good mod for the NC. My car went from 92rwkW to 105rwkW with just the headers added. Get the tune and you add another 6 – 8kW.

CoachOz · Postby **CoachOz** » Mon May 05, 2014 2:38 pm

Thanks Charlie Brown

Is the extra power just at the top end or can you feel it lower down the rev range as well?

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Mon May 05, 2014 8:31 pm

CoachOz wrote:Thanks Charlie Brown

Is the extra power just at the top end or can you feel it lower down the rev range as well?

Everywhere

CoachOz · Postby **CoachOz** » Mon May 05, 2014 8:56 pm

Thanks everyone

I've booked the NC into Deckspeed later next week to have the headers fitted. Then I get to drive almost 400 klms home - should be a good try out and hopefully lots of fun.

CoachOz · Postby **CoachOz** » Sat May 17, 2014 11:22 am

The deed is done.

Deckspeed fitted the headers and I drove home from Sydney via the Old Pacific Highway and Nurbushring as well as Sydney traffic and highway cruising.

I'm pretty happy with the result - a bit louder and a nice tone. Overall the car feels more responsive and the extra torque is noticable.

Thanks everyone for your input