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Hi I have an 89 Mx5 with a stainless steel cat-back exhaust system with stock headers. I was thinking of buying the mx5 mania X-Force Stainless Steel Headers to bolt on for extra performance. Apparently 10-12 kw more!!.. However I like the sound of the exhaust now as it sounds like an Rx7. Will the sound change massively or will it still have that sweet sound. And are the Xforce headers reliable in terms of performance and durability. Cheers.

I doubt you'll get near the claimed 10-12kw, seeing as you already have a cat back, and especially on a 1600.
More like 5-6kw at best.

fwiw, I didnt notice much change in my exhaust note when I added headers to my existing catback system to my NB8A.
Though to be fair mine was pretty loud to begin with..

Is it worth getting?

Only you can answer that one....
$500 for 5kw. That's value to some, not to others..

Its actually $345. Any enthusiasts have better options or think its good

$345 sounds reasonable to me.

IF you get a few horses from it then great, and they should also look nice once fitted.



If you do decide to get them, make sure they include a new gasket, or at least budget to get a new one ($20 or so from memory)

WHile you might be able to get away with re-using the old gasket it's never really a good idea.

Okay cool. Ill contact mx5 mania and will happily buy them. Ive done alot of research on them and its all good. So im going ahead. Cheers guys

I've heard x force headers in addition to a catback give more rasp, a more tuner sound. Although im guessing most headers on a na6 give that rasp. Anyway keep us informed on your findings, sound, performance etc !

Hi I didnt end up buying the xforce headers because its 400 including postage. And for an extra 4-5kw. I wasnt sure i wanted to waste my money. Ive seen some mx5 headers that are stainless steel for like 200 including postage, but not sure on what to get. If anyone knows good cheap headers, let me know. Cheers

If the $200 ones are off ebay i'd be a bit wary.

I seem to recall that a few of the ebay ones (Empire rings a bell as a name?) had a few issues, stuff like flanges not lining up perfectly, welds being pretty meh, material being thin.

I'd suggest if you want cheap, maybe look at secondhand ones. They come up cheap for time to time.
The only issue is that if you want shiny looks you'll need to clean and polish them before fitting (which tends to be hard work since the stuff is baked on hard)

The other alternative is to just clean them off, rough the outside up, and give them a coat of heatproof paint.