Looks pretty good... So I still assume the DP won't bolt up into the stock position and if you use the mid pipe just a clamp or could be welded to the stock exhaust.

 

Hey unclemeat, I see that you have a factory JCW. Why don't you try bolt the OBX DP to the stock catback, to answer everyone's question?

The 1.5mm figure was just a wild guess, seems I got pretty close

 

Yes the pipe thickness is as measurable as 1.5mm. it appears to be the same thickness as my WMW Catback exhaust but I do have to say the OBX is not quite as high a quality as my $699 catback exhaust; but its close. Also the box was hardely near the 12 lbs UPS had on record. I'd say the box weighted closer to 20 pounds; so the seller screwed the shipping company for about 8 pounds. I hope thats all the seller screwed...

The OBX midpipe was stated to be 2-1/4" OD on the ebay description, but it actually turned out to be slightly larger at 2-3/8" OD and 2-1/4" ID. To get the OBX to bolt up to my WMW Cat-Back exhaust, well; my cat-back came with an adapter specific for the VBand to adapt to the stock midpipe which I'm not exactly sure if anyone else has really seen before since it looks a little custom. This golden piece is gonna make my install a very easytransition from the OBX to the WMW Catback; All I think I need to do is cut this adaptor piece by about 3 inches along with make an aditional purchase: I just bought this 2.5" Lap joint Band-Clamp from Jeggs so that I can fit the OBX Midpipe to the WMW exhaust adapter for like $12 shipped:

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/30732...oductId=753274#

I did a bunch of online reasearch and found that Jeggs appeared to be the only retailer who sells a 2-3/8" to 2-1/2" lap band clamp. There was another company; Walker which is larger, and then theres Summit Racing with in-between sizes without descriptions. I feel this Jeggs piece will work for me.

What this will do: I'll be able to slide the OBX midpipe 2-3/8" OD snuggly into the 2.5" OD (2-3/8 ID) WMW Catback pipe and then lock it all together with the Jeggs SS Lap band clamp. I'm also using a second lap band clamp I got with the WMW exhaust which secures the read pipe with the muffler.

This is good for me but likely harder for people with stock exhaust measuring 55mm (Which is 2-5/32 or 2.16"). OBX does not include anything past the midpipe for bolting to the stock cat-back so you'll likely need to cut, buy, and weld a few inexpensive pieces. I'll know more for sure when I pull the stock exhaust off my car this weekend; I'll take some pictures and show what does and doesnt line up correctly.

I've really lucked out. Since I bought the catback exhaust barely used my grand total so far has been less than half-a-grand for a SS decatted turbo back system. Not bad so far; we'll see how install and performace goes this weekend!

 

i've had my eye on this thread for awhile

i'm familiar with OBX stuff from my other cars.. they're stuff can be hit or miss...

make sure u check the flatness of their flanges.. on their exhaust headers and turbo manifolds.. they sometimes warp when welded..


I'm curious what system they copied.. and what system their exhaust is designed to work with?

will it work with an Supersprint catback?

 

I believe that system is the one OBX copied minus the resonator. My guess is the 3rd pipe back on the supersprint cat-back has the means to clamp onto the second pipe.

I did measure the flasness of the DP flange, and its about 99% flat and nothing my Black and Decker belt sander cant turn to perfectly flat. Also OBX came with not one but two turbo to DP gaskets - although they dont look too high a temperature rating. I'm going to try and use the stock gasket which is only $10 if I need to replace.

The next thing I'm scared about is having a complete exhaust with only pipe and a muffler. No resonators will probably make it sound anoying. We'll see.

How do OBX pipes hold up in the RX7 world?? I used to have an S4 T2 and an S5 T2 so I do have to say Racingbeat is slightly better quality... Also you might remember me as "SaabGuy" on rx7club.com.

 

Get some earplugs

 

Just my $.02...

I bought some LT headers for my truck from OBX, and the headers themselves were beautiful, the y-pipe supplied was way off. Brought it to a muffler shop, had it cut and welded to fit... and I still saved money doing this than the next cheapest headers made out there.

Can't go wrong with some of their prices.

Let us know how it sounds!

 

you got that thing on yet? get it on and floor it!

 

LOL! Jegs just shipped the lap band clamp today so i should get it before this saturday's installation.

 

NICE! glad to see i'm not the only rotard on the site


well the OBX intercoolers were alright.. not the latest and greatest in cooling technology (fin density,bar and plate, and casting smoothness) and it didn't come with a duct (i'm talking about the SMIC for the FD here) but it was far better than stock.. and way cheaper then anything else out there...
ppl started using them for V mount applications as well..


as for the OBX turbo manifolds... early batches had problems with flange straightness.. and thin welds would crack under rotary heat..

later batches were improved upon.. some ppl still re-enforced the welds for the piece of mind.. but anyway u looked at it, it was cheaper than the rest..


but it was always a touchy subject tbh

alot of ppl felt that these "chinese sweat shop" products were putting the reputable brands like HKS Greddy Apex'i etc out of business.. especially the smaller shops in japan..

they spend all the time and money on R&D.. the chinese guy rips it off.. and sells it for peanuts... the poor bastard who did all the effort goes belly up..

 

I know what you mean about Rotary heat. My S5 T2 would rip through Bonez catalytic converters about every year, although an airpump probably would have stopped that. On my S5 T2 I often saw 1630 degree EGT before the turbo and of course those cars always run rich as pigs. Its so bad that an rx7 can easily blow mild steal muflers in half. Emissions on an RX7 is far worse than anything else which is one of the reasons why Mazda stopped importing the 3rd gen in 1995 due to ODB1 vs ODB2 standards (They sold until 2001ish in Japan however).

That being said, the R56 modern day direct injection should likely run a lot less EGT than an RX7.

The welds on this OBX equipment look alright. I do wish they welded the pipe inside of the turbo flange where all the exhaust first hits upon exiting the turbo. I've been thinking about getting that taken care of but didnt want to start any bad press for the OBX.

Its much shame how R&D gets stolen by the chinese in every manufactoring aspect. If you cant beat em, join em - Become an operations manager and outsource all your manufactoring. Thats just what Corporate America does.

 

So i just got the Jegs brand Band Clamp and as it turns out its the wrong dang size. Their internet description is incorrect. The above link to Jegs is the not the right part. Jegs is gonna make good and re-issue the correct part as an RMA replacement - meaning I dont have to pay anything to exchange what I got but now I have to wait.

The correct part is here:
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/30731/10002/-1
-Even though this clamp says 2-1/4 and the details say something smaller... the tech said it actually measures 2-3/8 and 2-1/2 with a micrometer - like I thought the first part was going to be. Who ever made these clamps must have been retarded.

I do have to wait a couple of days now for the new delivery. Keep ya posted...

 

damn that sux!

have u started removing ur old exhaust yet? or is it ur DD? u might want to check if there's anything else u'll need while u have it apart and waiting..

i want to see the old and new exhaust side by side for comparison purposes..

 

It it my DD so I have not removed anything yet. All I believe I need is this exhaust clamp, but if I need anything during install I'll have plans to go to Summit Racing's retail store about an hour away with the wife's car.

I just got fedex tracking information on the new clamp so I hope it comes tomorrow.

 

YEAY!!!! Its fully installed!!!!

This evening I got my replacement band clamp and went right to work. I took off the old exhaust from the turbo back. No surprises taking the stock stuff off. I laid the stock exhaust next to the OBX/WMW pieces and realized I had a very minor issue. The OBX/WMW exhaust combination is about 8 inches shorter than the stock exhaust. Luckily I have an exhaust shop just right down the street - I was able to get a free 8 inches of 2.5" Mild steel pipe cut and welded to the adaptor between the WMW and OBX. This adaptor piece I believe was included with the WMW cat back but Im not certain. Its a piece of mild steel 2.5" pipe with a 3" v-band welded on the end - a perfectly straight piece. The WMW bolts to the v-band and the OBX midpipe slides in and locks in place with the Jegs band clamp.

To get the stock exhaust off, I had to remove a metal plate held up by 6x10mm bolts right in the middle of the car. i have no idea what this plate does, but it wont go back on with the aftermarket exhaust due to clearance. No big deal do me. i put the 10mm bolts back up but left the plate off the car.

So with my welded 8" extension piece I was able to complete the install. I first started with bolting up the downpipe, O2 sensors, and factory heat shields. The alignment of the OBX pieces are about 97% perfect. The only minor bump was with the stock heat shield where the O2 sticks out the top. I just man-handeled the heat shield until it moved about 1/8 an inch. In doing so I could not re-attacd one of the 10mm bolts for the heat shield just behind the radiator; but I expect nothing to come of it and just left it without a bolt. The only other thing with the DP is it doesnt use the lower mount like some companies. I think Alta was having problems with the mount cracking anyways. no biggie.

The rest of the stuff bolted right up - OBX midpipe popped into the stock exhaust hangers with no hickups. The joint between the downpipe and midpipe turned out to be satisfactory with everything included from the ebay purchase. The back of the midpipe accepted my welded adaptor, and then the WMW exhaust bolted right up the the adapter's v-band flange with a v-band clamp. After the first heat cycle I had to adjust the exhaust because it had slightly expanded past the bumper. It grew about 1 inch in length when it got hot.

Fitment was very very good, and in a few weeks I'll probably go get 1 foot of 2.5" stainless and a new ss v-band flange to get rid of the temporary mild steel pieces I used for the adapter. For now its good to drive.

I really really doubt this system will fit the stock Mini exhaust. If I had to guess I'd say the best thing you can try is the OBX Cat-Back exhaust which is available from the same ebay seller. For $275 it just might be worth it. The DP costed $175 shipped; so you can get a full OBX turbo back exhaust for $450 shipped. Or you can do what I did and collaborate efforts on a middle connecting piece for your application.

The drive. First thing I noticed was NOISE. The exhaust is definately noisy enough to overpower a blasting radio. Having no cat or resonators does not make for a very peacefull ride. Armed with only the WMW mufler its about 4 times louder than stock. The sound quality instantly reminded me of a Subaru WRX; perhaps just slightly raspier in fact. Its definately no Honda Civic but dont expect your neighbors to be very impressed. I'd say the exhaust sounds very similar to this clip of an Alta 3" full exhaust:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ZST...om=PL&index=34

or this WRX:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnmUS...eature=related

Performance is what was expected. I feel power gain of course but my car really needs a tune. I guess I probably gained about 10tq in the midrange and a few hp up top. Since Mini re-flashed my ecu three months ago it seems my car is kinda turdish. Before they flashed I was hitting 21psi of boost; now I'm only seeing 15.5 because of Mini's stupid re-mapping. I'll go get a dyno pull none the less next week, and then soon get a dimsport tune to see what I can get up to.

Smell... Smells wierd... Its not all that bad but you can tell theres a smell. Its not like my neighbor's classic car though.

CELs. I didnt get any (yet). If you look at the one of the pics above you can see the bottom O2 sensor screws into a 2" long piece of threaded pipe, and in the middler there is a 1/8 inch hole. The bottom sensor is reading whatever through that tiny hole. I guess its the same as a spark plug anti fouler. I drove the car for 35 miles and did NOT get a CEL which is pretty good if Im just doing my daily cummute. Maybe OBX majically made a working O2 Sim? ya right.

 

Nice One! how does Way's pipe sound with that catless DP ?

Go drive 10 miles at a steady 65 and if you do not get a cel i think alot of people will switch to obx.

Make sure to retorque the downpipe fasteners in the next 50 to 100 miles then check every
week or so for the next month.

 

It sounds very good for the cost I paid. Its a little Loud! And theres Lots of burbling on deceleration. The price made me think it would be an awful fart-can but I'm actually surprised at how non-rice it actually sounds. its really the same as most of the full exhaust systems you'll find on youtube.

 

you should hear the powerhouse system

 

I know you said there is fitment issue with way's cat-back but if someone was going to run this with the stock cat-back it wouldn't be a problem right? You would just cut the stock exhaust where ever the mid-pipe ends and you should be good to go.

 

Or for 275 buy the matching obx catback

 

True I was just trying to keep the DB's down.

 

catless dp with stock exhaust is LOUD or with aftermarket exhaust is LOUD

 

Don't get me wrong I want it to be aggressive.

 

Big you should look under your car first. My stock exhaust on the 2009 JCW has a pretty long resonator, which the OBX pipe ends right in the middle of the stock exhaust's resonator. If you have the other resonator you might have some luck in putting this on a stock exhaust but I'm not too sure.