Budget Exhaust ideas?

[vv4rhead]

Hey all,

Don't often get a chance to post here because i generally can't afford to do anything with my car, but i do love it and i'm hoping to get to do something fun for it in the near future, namely get a new exhaust.

Now, i'm not really in it from a performance standpoint, i care more about perceived performance than numbers, if it feels faster (IE, is louder, sounds tougher etc) that's enough for me.

The catch is i'm on a uni-budget and only have a few hundred bucks to try and mess around with the car, i know a lot of guys here are from the get the best forget the rest club, but i'm really just looking for a chance to bond with my little car and give it some more personality.

I'm not looking to modify the stock exhaust as i do want to keep all my stock parts, so i don't really want to have things cut and welded

Obviously used is the way to go, but unfortunately most of the cheaper exhaust brands/systems on the market seem to be lacking in information on the net.

I'm mostly interested in knowing where you guys would go if you were looking for this kind of thing, at the moment i'm messing around with import websites and japanese yahoo to see if that nets me a decent result as gumtree seems to be pretty dry and there isn't much in the for-sale section of the website atm.


Also if anybody knows anything about a HKS super drager (one G) exhaust, i'd love to hear it as that's the only thing i've really found within my price range atm, there was a lovely enthuza catback on gumtree but alas i didn't get to it in time.


Cheers

[hks_kansei]

NA or NB?

if you just want a bit more noise and are willing to DIY the NB is slightly easier. (flange near teh diff, NA flange is near the cat so you need alot more pipe)

As far as budget goes, YahooJP is ok, but not what i'd call super cheap once you include freight and all the related import duties and the importer's fee.

Ebay is generally the best bet for cheap secondhand stuff.



as for the car being louder etc, the simplest option for intake noise is to buy a $30 pod filter from autobarn etc and just slap it on instead of the airbox. You will gain absolutely no power, and probably lose some, but it will sound cool.

as for exhaust, the cheapest option is likely to find a cheap universal muffler that fits where you need it (not hard, the factory muffler is gigantic)
then all you need to do is get an exhaust shop to weld some pipes and a flange to make it fit onto the existing midpipe. Depending on the shop, and how much they need to do, this can be cheap, or not.
If you have access to a welder this can work out to be extraordinarily cheap.

[speed]

2nd hand from the classifieds section on this forum.
If it's just sound you want, you only need to change your muffler. I get that you don't want to chop yours up but how about buying a cat back from someone on here?

Guess it all depends on how fussy you are with the desired sound.

I paid 200 for a used sports cat back system.

[slug_dub]

If NA8: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mx5-1-8-Extr ... 1e9ddeeb23

If NA6 you could start with: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tanabe-Limit ... 4ae8fdebd3

As speed has said, the catback will do the most for improving sound, but I think its generally accepted that most actual gains would come from changing the manifold and the catalytic converter.

Just don't go buying the uber cheap eBay brand new stuff ok... anything but that! The variable quality of that stuff is just dire.

[joshuam]

Location? There is a basic catback in Tweed Heads for $20 on the 'Mazda MX5 of Australia' FB group right now.

[vv4rhead]

Car's an NA6CE

I've been watching the classifieds for a bit now and i haven't seen one come up for a fair while, i suppose not that many people are selling these things.

I haven't been able to find much on ebay either, seems like mostly china weld-on cannons, which aren't exactly going to work.

Unfortunately Tweed heads is a bit far, and i don't imagine anyone would post an exhaust for $20. (And that it'd kinda the ruin the deal)

Pretty tied to not chopping up the exhaust, i do want to be able to return it to stock.

[vv4rhead]

I can only assume these "Empire performance" headers are the kind i'm supposed to steer clear of?


http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bateman/ ... 1076459560

[hks_kansei]

If you're wanting exhaust on a budget, and want it to sound nicer then leave the headers until later.

The muffler makes the biggest difference to sound, putting extractors onto an otherwise standard exhaust won't change the not much at all, and it costs more.



I still think replacing the muffler is the easiest and cheapest option here. if you want to avoid cutting up the exhaust look for another factory exhaust, usually they're pretty cheap, and then chop it up.

[vv4rhead]

That seems like a pretty solid idea, get a spare stock exhaust and cut it up, how much do exhaust shops usually charge for that kind of thing though? I don't really have tools or means to do much with my current situation, i'm not even able to cut metal myself at the moment. Also, as something like this would be "Custom" would it be likely to create an overly loud, droney and obnoxious sound? (Due to the fact that it's not a mass-produced system or whatever)


Ideally i'd like a decent brand, heavily used, catback system. But it seems like people don't replace their exhausts all that often. Which is pretty fair to be honest, either way i imagine there's a lot more waiting around for something good on the forum/gumtree with that method though.

About the extractors, if they were actually likely to produce a performance increase, at $220 shipped to me i would likely buy them, but the small number of previous threads on the subject seem to suggest they to little more than look pretty and the fitment mightn't be great, lots of people saying they had to to some level of modification to them, i'm not really experienced enough to be messing with that kind of stuff (The most involved things i've done are brake pads, fluid changes, pulling out the pedal box to be re-welded and other basic stuff of the sort) and i don't really have the tools/space should the need arise for something to be modified. That's why used is pretty important (not only to keep the cost down) but also because it will have already been fitted.


Cheers for all the help guys

[hks_kansei]

Extractors will probably get you a tiny power increase, but not enough to feel. (on their own anyway)


As for exhaust shop cost, if they simply cut out the old muffler and weld in a new one it could be as low as $50.
If they need to make new parts (pipes bent up etc) the cost can add up.


as for drone etc, it really depends on the muffler chosen, brand names aren't a guarantee of drone-free.
I have an RS*R Exmag GT2 muffler on mine, and it drones like you wouldn't believe. (granted, it's basically just a hollow milo can)

I know others who have had exhausts made up out of scrap who've had minimal droning.



Other than that, it's really just a matter of watching ebay etc and waiting for someone to sell something in your price range.

[hks_kansei]

actually, just curious.

What's your maximum price roughly?

That would help with recommendations on what's doable (or worth doing) within budget.

[vv4rhead]

Probably looking at a maximum of $250-300 for a nice used catback. I have been watching for a while and will continue to, I just figured I'd make a thread to get some more idea of where to look, and it's been pretty helpful thus far. It's nice to post for once instead of lurking all the time too.

[speed]

Steer clear of the Empire ones. Plenty of threads on here about them already. Basically they don't fit properly and need cutting, grinding and welding.

[hks_kansei]

Probably looking at a maximum of $250-300 for a nice used catback. I have been watching for a while and will continue to, I just figured I'd make a thread to get some more idea of where to look, and it's been pretty helpful thus far. It's nice to post for once instead of lurking all the time too.

ah, cool.

That's a good budget, you shoudl have no issues finding something at that price (secondhand)

I was expecting "oh, under $100"

[vv4rhead]

Oh great, i was expecting to hear that $250 wouldn't be close.

I'd rather stay around $200, that's my preferred price point, but i'm willing to stretch it a bit.

Anyway i suppose its back to lurking until something comes up. Cheers for the help guys