Applicable to '90 - '97
Jackson Racing Hi-Flow CAT
I bought this CAT new for $150 from a guy who won it from Moss Motor promotion. The CAT looks great, nice and shiny. My old one was clunking like crazy. It seemed that the CAT does increase power somewhat on the highend, the engine seemed little more responsive. Here is the bad news, after less than 8000 miles on the CAT, I notice there was clunking noise from the exhaust, after taking the CAT out, I can see that the inside is cracked and broken loose, no wonder my Miata's performance is so bad lately. I am so disappointed with the product since it is made from Jackson Racing who suppose to have a good reputation.
My advice is buy it from a vendor and keep the receipt so you can go back to the manufacturer if there is problems. Oh and stay away from Jackson Racing CAT.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to '90 - '97 1.6 liter
A performance replacement for the standard catalytic converter.
It worked great for about six months. Then there was a rattle that we had attributed to a bad alternator. When we replaced the alternator, the rattle was still there, and we traced it to the cat. I called the company we bought it from and made a deal to get a new one sent out, I would send the bad one back, and hopefully get credited for the replacement under the warranty. While waiting for the replacement, the entire element came loose the next day and clogged my exhast so badly that I could barely drive at 15MPH. They are a pain to find in stock, so I have had to settle for a regular after market cat to get my car back in commission. Due to poor communication about shipping and availability, my car has been out of commission for over two weeks. I am told the current stock problem is due to poor welds, (a batch was sent back to racing beat). I think I would stick with the stock model if I had seen a review like sooner.
Nice, shiny plating! Much sexier looking than the stock cat.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Direct replacement high flow catalytic converter for 1.6 or 1.8 miatas. Nice fit and finish with tough, integrated heat shield.
Had it installed for $20 at my local Midas. Guy said it fit perfectly with included gaskets. Slightly louder than stock - kind of nice, deeper tone. Gives the otherwise stock exhaust a more pleasant note with the top down, but a bit more resonance at highway speeds. Slightly better throttle response, and maybe a bit more powerful, but I'm sure the stock exhaust is the real limiting factor.
I need to check the o2 sensor to make sure I don't burn it out prematurely. Overall pleased with the product. It was slightly cheaper than the FM cat and comes with it's own gaskets.
A high performance catalytic convertor with increased flow by a claimed 10% over the factory unit.
I purchased the unit in August of 1996 for my 95 M Edition. This was in addition to the JR Header and Sport Muffler installation done at the same time. As soon as I got the car home from the shop I noticed that the exhaust had a strange and different odor to it. Laugh if you want, but it smelled like Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken with a dose of carbon monoxide for several weeks. Within 5-10k miles I noticed a vibration sound at an rpm level of around 1700-2000 only. It sounded like a vibrating heat shield somewhere under the hood. This noise went on for some time and disappeared each time after the car was fully warmed up, then the noise just stopped completely, never returning. Shortly after the installation I noticed a film covering the right rear bumper area by the tailpipe. This filming would appear after about 20-40 miles - every time I used the car and continued to film up the rear of the car for about a year, then it stopped. Most recently, the cat has self destructed. An awful rattling has been occuring over the past several days and it has been diagnosed as a catalytic failure. The convertor has fallen apart so much internally that the car is not driveable and the unit has clogged the exhaust path reducing acceleration power by at least 50 percent. I called Jackson Racing to discuss this failure after only 17k miles and they said the unit has only a 12 month warranty. But, they did offer to send me a new converetor for a reduced price. I have very little patience for this kind of product failure, but I was willing to replace the failed unit with a new unit from Jackson Racing with their renewed confidence that it won't happen again. Performance wise, you would need a dyno to see any horsepower gains. I can only take Jackson Racing's assurance that it has a 10% flow increase until now, anyway. The new cat is coming via Federal Express Saturday and I'll keep you posted to my short term and long term review.
I would like to see comments from any other users of this product.
Follow up by: Bill Meyer - meyerwg@tcg.com
Second replacement cat went on in a snap. I've had the new replacement JR Hi-Flow cat for six months now and about 5,000 miles without a single problem. No funny exhaust smell, vibrations or filming up of the rear bumper. By the way, the cat does indeed have a 50k mile warranty and was replaced in full by Jackson Racing at no charge. Make sure you retain all the paper work that comes with the cat in case you need to refer to it in the future.
| Back to Product Reviews | 15 July, 2000 |