Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
I too purchased this exhaust from Ebay. I paid $118+15s/h. The product arrived in perfect condition, sealed by the manufacturer. The total time from my final bid on Ebay to arrival at my door was 2 weeks.
This exhaust is well built and nice looking with an oval/angle-cut tip. It looks great on the car. All of the bolts, hangers, and gasket arrived neatly packed with well written directions. After reading the directions, I was on the road within 30 minutes. Be sure to soak the two bolts on the back side of the cat overnight with Wrench Ease. My car is a 91 with 102K, and the bolts came off with little effort after soaking.
Great look, great sound and modest increase in power. Definitely worth the low price of the system. The sound at idle is a soothing burble, that grows to a roar at full throttle. It is not too much louder that stock. Along with the exhaust I've put in a Jackson Racing drop-in filter and set the timing to 18 BTDC. For $150 the car seems to breathe and rev much better than stock.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
history: This exhaust is a quality German exhaust of the type often found on improved German cars (VW/BMW/Audi). I used to be sold by Rod Millen as a performance exhaust for Miata's. Someone in New Jersey (Bob Auten) bought out Leistritz's inventory and is auctioning them off on ebay. They originally sold for $300, and often go for less than $100 on ebay. Its quite a bargain!
Pro: deeper sound than stock, not much louder. Good torque increase 2000-5000 rpm. Seems to be well made.
Con: Not loud enought for people wanting a loud exaust. Some people may prefer more power above 5000 (at a sacrifice of power below 5000rpm). More expensive units offer more potential peak HP.
I put this on with a K&N drop in filter and love the results. I spend $130 for ~6hp improvement, or about .5 seconds from 0-60. This would be a similar effect to turning your A/C off at partial throttle
Leist. claims their VW mufflers increase torque, which I was a little skeptical about. Their web page http://www.leistritzcorp.com/sportsound/index.html shows a 5% increase in torque below 5000 rpm, with a lesser boost above 5000 rpm on an 8 valve VW engine. Much to my skeptical surprise, my Miata numbers show similar results.
The Leist increased my top end (5000 - 7500 rpm) by about 3% (3.57
sec to 3.46 sec).
Stock vs. K&N drop in filter and exaust
2000-4000 rpm 6% better (6.45" to 6.07")
2000-6000 rpm 4.5% better (12.42" to 11.89")
The Leist. exhaust (and possibly timing adjustments) are the only thing I know of that will give you more bottom end. Every thing else (intakes, headers, exhaust improvements, not including blowers) will only give you improvements over 5000.
The Leistritz exhaust improves the whole powerband, while improving the low end more than the top end.
Subjective: with the filter and exhaust, the car is definitely faster and freer revving, like turning the A/C off. The car is also nicely quiet. The exhaust is deeper, more playful that stock. It sounds good on acceleration, but is quiet on cruising. Above 5000 rpm, the engine makes as much noise as the exhaust (it is that quiet). Loud exhausts are a blast, but it gets real annoying after living with it for a year or so. This exhaust does not have the annoying 3000 rpm (60mph) resonance that some poorly designed units have.
If you are looking for louder, get a borla, or better yet an ansa or super trap (or other glass pack straight through unit). If you are looking for more HP, the Jackson CAI and Cat back will probably give you 3 extra HP, and will cost almost 10 times as much ($1000).
If you want a deeper, throaty, torque improving response and a bargain basement price, get the Leistritz, and throw in a K&N filter for $30 bucks. It is a nice improvement.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
A performance cat-back exhaust system. Has an angle-cut oval tip, coated in black porcelain (?). Fits 90-93 only. Installed on a 1990 "B" with 65,000 miles.
Bought it off eBay for about $125. Seen them go cheaper than that. Apparently this is the exhaust that used to be sold as a Rod Millen product. It came in the box, new, never opened. Had it installed at PBC while getting other items (new top, Jackson CAI) installed. Looks pretty cool, much different from most mufflers since it's black, angle-cut, and somewhat rounded in appearance. Sound is definitely louder than stock. Not raspy at all, kind of a low bass sound. Rumbles on startup, roars under hard acceleration. Sometimes when decelerating it drones a bit. The cabin noise can get a bit loud sometimes, but outside sound isn't too obnoxious. Performance seems improved, but I got the JR CAI and timing advance done at the same time, so not sure how much power from each. Overall about 15 HP gain after installs.
This exhaust is good for the money, but it's not stainless steel. When I bid on it, I assumed it was stainless. So I'm a bit concerned about longevity. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. If you want some quick power and noise and you see one of these cheap, go get it.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
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