Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Stainless steel cat-back exhaust system
This is an update from a previous review. After 3+ years, the original Mongoose system broke a mount, tearing a hole in the silencer. A replacement system was arranged quickly by www.needforspeed.co.uk. The new system, from Mongoose, has been completely revised in the intervening years. The most obvious visual changes are that the tip is now 3", and the back box now sits flat against the trunk floor. The middle silencer is also a bit larger. The arrangement of the brackets has now been rearranged, and it seems unlikely that the same failure as before (which was metal fatigue) will occur again.
The fit of the U-bolt join of the two sections is improved, being moved away from the lowest part of the system. The forwardmost hanger is supplied as a seperate bracket, which is fixed in place using the two catalyst studs; some machining was needed to get this to fit well. Tailpipe fit is no longer a problem, due to the smaller tip used. The sound? Muted, even with a catalyst-bypass pipe. Good rip on acceleration, but no longer the deep resonance of before. Throttle response seems improved, using the SOP dynometer. Retail price is now £244, which seems good value.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Stainless steel performance exhaust.
I purchased this exhaust from www.needforspeed.co.uk , at a great price.
Exhaust arrived in pretty minimal packaging, but it had
sustained no damage. Exhaust is finished in 304 stainless steel, and looked very
good. Neat welds (but unpolished), back box was mirrorlike, 3.5" resonator.
The user needs to supply a new gasket and new hangers as required.
My car is a Japanese specification 1992 Eunos Roadster. No real fitting problems
were encountered; initially the tailpipe would make contact with the rear
tie-down hook bracket going through right handers, but a tip off the Miata list
put me right on that. Oh, and centre-box-back box joint is by a U-bolt and slip
joint just forward of the differential. Some careful repositioning of the U-bolt
was required to prevent grounding on fast back road runs. No problems since,
including a track session.
4 months on, and the exhaust still looks good. The back box is mounted perpendicular to the trunk flooring, so you can see it peeping behind the rear bumper. Looks real good with the mirror finish (which has stayed good). The pipework has taken on a golden hue. The exhaust is a little raspy when cold, but assumes a deep resonance when hot, which sounds superb through the back roads (including a bit of over-run during change downs). A bit boomy on highway runs though.
Performance-wise, its a bit more difficult to gauge, as the car was non-standard when I got it. Its certainly no worse than the previous set up (K&N filtercharger, advanced timing, Racing Beat 4-1 header, Fujitsubo FGK exhaust), and seems to be a bit torquier at highway speeds.
Cost me £253, which sounds pricey if converted into dollars, but remember the Borla system here costs £300+.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
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