Thanks Marty. I agree about Joseph and R Speed. I bought a tire/wheel combo there and the service was excellent.

That $300 exhaust is starting to look pretty good. I better quit talking it up or they will all be gone.

Martin (also with an IB/IB MCS, nice choice!)

 

Yes,

That is the same exhaust Marty has.

We only sold 2 of them.

An early prototype and Marty's

Believe me at $300 bucks they are a steal even with the fitment issues.

As some of you guys know, these systems, were originally made for another vendor who did not follow through with their order and we were supposed to market them as own on the rebound to help the builder that was stuck with them; now that has fallen through also.


If the manufacturer had offered them to me at $300.00 a piece, I would have bought them all regardless.

Oh well everything happens for a reason.

These systems sound very cool and a good value even with the center hanger conflict.

I think it is a great opportunity for all!

Joseph

 

Joe, expect a dyno sheet in the upcoming weeks.

I'm thinking of having it done locally but the drive to Philly to see Eric is always mighty tempting.

On a side note, I also had to bend the rear skid plate down JUST a tad to clear the tailpipes. There was just the slightest hint of rubbing when warm.

Now that it's broken in (no more smell!), it's really nice. Definitely louder than stock but not as loud as a Magnaflow, not even CLOSE to Borla Race. I'd put it between the Milltek and Magnaflow, closer to the Milltek. This exhaust has an incredible mellow burble when you let off the gas. No drone, not much louder than stock when cruising.

I'll send you a video for the sound clips this Sunday.

Martin/Traveler: Hey, what can I say? IB/IB is the BEST!

Marty

 

Cool,

Thanks Marty!

Joe

 

Well I broke down and ordered one this afternoon. I suppose that I have only myself to blame for resurrecting this thread in the first place. I was infatuated with the exhaust when I first saw it from RSpeed. $300 is just too good a deal to pass up. WooHoo! :smile:

 

My Ebay exhaust arrived today exactly one week after placing the order. It was shipped the same day. The componenents were well packed. Each piece was covered in bubble wrap and then wrapped again in cardboard with lots of tape. I've taken off the cardboard to make sure there is no damage but decided to leave the bubble wrap for protection during installation. I did sneak a look at the angle cut tips.

I'll do the install Saturday and post a report. Wow, a pulley last weekend and now this. My MINI's personality in changing.

 

:smile: I think you made a good buy. Get rid of that bubble wrap it will just get in the way. Get some cardboard and put that down, easy to slide around on without marring your new exhaust or yourself. Bolt the OEM hangers back on your OEM exhaust system after you take it off and use it as a gig to compare/measure where the hangers ought to be on the new one. You can then make your adjustments. Good deal. :smile:

 

I installed my Ebay/RSpeed Type 2 exhaust today and my experience was very similar to MartyR’s. First of all there was an interference with the resonator at the center support. Thanks to Marty I had anticipated this and proceeded to break out the Dremel and trim the support. Unfortunately I was almost out of cutting discs (you will use a few) which necessitated a trip to the hardware store. I probably spent about 45 minutes trimming as I wanted to take my time and proceed carefully. It turns out my first cut was too conservative so I went back and trimmed another 1/8”. Once that was done the rest of the installation went without a hitch. I hung everything loosely, then hand tightened the bolts. The tips were centered so starting at the back I tightened all the flanges for a perfect fit. No tweaking required. Like Marty I also had to bend the battery heat shield down a bit where it was touching the bottom of the tips.

During the test ride I noted a rattle at idle. It turns out the exhaust tube while not touching, was very close to the center support. This was a vertical clearance problem that was cured with some spacer washers at the front mounting bolts for the center support and under the center support bushings. With that done it is now rattle free.

So is it worth the hassle? For me the answer is a definite yes. Clearance issues aside, this is a gorgeous piece of work. The welds are clean and I really like the Y split and the slash cut tips. It starts with a nice growl and settles down to a low burble. Full throttle acceleration is not too loud allowing you to still hear the intake (Max Velocity) and supercharger whine (15% pulley).

If you are squeamish about hacking on the center support then this is not the exhaust for you. If you plan to have a shop install the exhaust then this is probably not for you. The extra charge for dealing with the center support interference will more than likely offset the cost difference to a Scorpion. This brings up a good point. The Scorpion at $495 plus $25 for shipping is not that much more than the Ebay at $300 plus $85 for shipping. Add in $15 to insure the Ebay shipment and it’s even closer. To some it may well be worth an extra $135 to insure a hassle free installation.

Personally I am very satisfied and would recommend this to any do it yourself type who is not opposed to doing a little trimming. $385 for a stainless steel MCS exhaust is still a heck of a deal.

 

Can someone post the link to one of the sellers? For some reason I can't get it to work when I click on them. I would prefer to guy who is willing to vary shipping costs

Sad....my car isn't even here yet and I've already bought a ton of go fast parts...sheesh

t.

 

If Anyone needs the contact number for the Manufacturer PM Me

Joseph

 

Sound clip?

Paul.

 

I don't have a recorder. Maybe MartyR has done one.

 

What does your but dyno say?

 

That hard to say. I just put a 15% pulley on last weekend and have hardly driven the car since then. (I drive a company pickup during the week. ) Combined they make for a big improvement but it's hard to say how much is attributable to each part. With the exhaust it's all about the sound anyway. A little extra horespower is just a bonus.

 

Finally got my eBay exhaust installed this morning. Took it to a local muffler shop because I decided I'm too old to lay on my back in the driveway wrestling with exhaust systems. (one of the joys of becoming an old coot is that I can decide what work I do on the cars and bikes based on the fun/hassle factor. when the hassle > the fun, somebody else does it and I sit by, watch, criticize, and laugh)

Not a big deal, really. Had to trim the front mounting plate for the resonator and heat the inside muffler mount pins with a torch to rotate them 90 degrees (I've got an 04). Bent the bash plate under the battery slightly for tip clearance.

That was it. Finish is nice, sound is great. No thrumming or resonance and it doesn't sound like a Honda with a fart can.

Worth the price and shipping and less than a hundred bucks to have somebody throw the car up on a lift and do the install.

 

What were are your mods? What does your butt dyno say? Do you think the plate you modified could just be ground back with a 4" angle grinder?

 

I've got a Pilo intake with a wholly holey firewall panel behind it and that's it for functional mods. My butt dyno is heavily influenced by my ear dyno and my wallet dyno. But I've been messing around building and modifying bikes and cars for a long time so I know not to trust those two traitors. As far as I'm concerned exhaust mods are mostly for sound and for bling. On a car that has a decent exhaust from the factory (and examining the factory exhaust from the MINI I'm pretty doggone impressed with it) there's not going to be a big day-and-night difference that you're going to really feel just be changing exhaust. But it does sound so fine!

The mounting plate in question has a rectangular hole in it, centered left to right and maybe a couple of inches back from the leading edge of the plate itself. The plate is not monstrously heavy gauge steel and relies on ridges stamped in it for strength. You could probably use a pair of decent metal shears to cut it, it's that thin. We used and angle grinder and it made very quick work of it. The hard part is having the chutzpa to actually cut the thing. Once you've taken a deep breath and committed yourself to it, it's easy.

 

Aye, sorry for the absence! I've been away from civilization for the last week or so - Yellowstone drew me away from the rat race for a while.

Anyhow, I'll record a video tonight and attempt to post it tomorrow or Friday. I am heading to the dyno in about two weeks so I'll have some sort of hard data as regards power.

SteveS and Spunky, I received your PMs and will respond this afternoon. Basically, I did what Traveler did - cut some material out of the front of the bracket and just reused it. I initially fabricated a steel plate that used four of the six bolts for that bracket as a reversible fix (reversible in that I didn't do any damage to the OEM bracket, but then again I didn't use it at the time, so I guess "reversible" wasn't a very good description).

All things considered, this exhaust is a super deal. If you buy one on ebay for $300 + s/h, you can buy a replacement bracket if you decide to cut yours and STILL come out hundreds of dollars ahead compared to buying almost any other exhaust on the market. And the sound is very sweet.

Please bear with me as I reenter the world and catch up on posting the sound clip and get around to dynoing. I truly wish I could have been more prompt with it - but planning a wedding, working on the new house, and starting a new job have really kicked my *** the past few months.

Marty

 

Thanks Marty. I look forward to the dyno results. I had the same thought about the bracket. I'll bet Classic MINI will sell you one cheap. But then again the appraiser at Auto Nation would probably never notice.

 

You know, I was thinking the EXACT same thing!

I made a video last night but am figuring out how to post. Will try all day if it takes such...

Marty

 

pic of exh. next to old

 

I’ve been chasing a spurious exhaust rattle all week. I tried too many things to mention here but in the final outcome it was my Helix shift lever extension pushing the heat shield into the resonator. I decided to take off the extension, which turned out to be a not too easy task. That Loctite red might as well be weld metal. I rounded off the end of two allen wrenches, broke a couple of drill bits and finally ended up cutting the damn thing off with a Dremel.

No more short throw shifts and no more rattle. Looks like I’m in the market now for a short throw shifter that lets you retain the plastic cover on the shifter housing.

That said, I do love this exhaust. At highway speed you don’t know the difference over stock, but when you get in the boost it makes exquisite noise.

 

I bought, put in the exhaust. I have HK, Alta, 15%. Exhaust sounds very quiet under normal driving, has very nice and smooth tone on acceleration, not at all obnoxious. Hardly louder than stock.

I took pics but can't figure out how to post.
Cut small chunk out of support plate in the middle. Very easy with angle grinder, smoothed it off, painted it. Install pretty easy. Took grinding wheel to bigger pipes just to remove hint of edge on inside, took sm file to smaller pipes, likewise. Welds looked terriffic. System very hi quality.

Did not dyno, since had no time or bucks for it.

I detect hint of added performance. Can't say it's a lot, but the mid range seems to be stronger.

If you're looking for a performance hit like the pulley, save your money. However, losing a few pounds, getting a real nice tone, and sharp system, this is a bargain. $409 delivered in 2 days (I'm in CA so must pay the tax), perfect transaction.

Fyi, the box said "Dynamik", Taiwan, ROC on it, so must be made there. Really nice system, very hi quality.


[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/jeff/Desktop/new%20exh%20next%20to%20old%20exh%20100k.jpg[/img]


[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/jeff/Desktop/resonator%20on%20plate(1).jpg[/img]
[img]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/jeff/Desktop/system%20unwrapped.jpg[/img]

If anyone can tell me how to post pics, please do.

 

I have never gotten anything of quality from Taiwan. I bet the system looks nice, but it will not last long.

Paul.

 

What's not going to last? It stainless steel with quality welding.