Looking at my options and thinking about doing custom 2.25 or 2.5" piping with a Mazdaspeed bolt-on. I figure if i do it this way I could come out cheaper then the Racing Beat. Anybody have experience with having this done or comments one way or the other?

Would performance gains be about the same as the racing beat if I used this solution?

Thanks for the help and the opinions.

Oh yeah, this will be going on a 2003 Protege5 with a AEM Short RAM or Injen CAI put on at the the same time, debating which way to go there as well, right now leaning towards the AEM for ease of changing the filter and the fact that the siren for the alarm is mounted where I would need to re-locate the bottle to.

 

If you're going for power with the exhaust, you're not gaining anything unless you have the CAI to go with it. Sure, you'll flow better out of the engine, but the short ram isn't much different than the stock in terms of air volume by density. Get the CAI.

 

I had the Mazdaspeed exhaust on my car for a while but it was tough (loud on the inside) on the wife and kid when we'd take long trips so I sold it. I just wanted to let you know that the diameter of the pipe on the MS exhaust is 2" I.D. at the flange that bolts up to the center pipe. I'm not sure how that would mate up to a 2.25 or 2.5" center section. I would think a full cat-back system would be 2.25 all the way down the line.

Personally I had a custom axleback section made up with 2" pipe with no muffler, just a resonated Pacesetter tip. I like this setup better than the MS pipe. Sounds great inside or outside of the car. Someone on this board had researched the flow of a NA 2.0 litre engine and found that even a 1.75" can typically flow more volume than our engines put out at high revs. With this setup I feel I have less restricted flow (compared to stock) without any loss of lower end torque. Oh, and it looks cool too!

 

Are you saying that the stock airbox breathes as good as a short ram style intake? Care to back that up with more than just opinion?

Jay

 

Thanks for the information on the exhaust.

Unfortunately I live in California and I whatever I get has to be C.A.R.B. approved which limits my choices.

So from what I am reading, I would be best off to save my money now and get a Racing Beat exhaust a little later.

On the Intakes, I have searched and read and searched and read and still haven't been able to come up with an answer as to which one I want to get. From what I gather about the AEM and Injen (the only two I am considering) these are the concerns I have:

Perormance gains are about the same, the Injen may offer a small increase over the AEM.

Injen "looks better"

Danger of water locking your engine with the Injen, but only if you drive in water that comes up to the headlights. What about driving through large puddles that splash up high?

The Injen filter will be more difficult to remove and clean

The AEM is C.A.R.B. approved right now and the Injen is pending and should get approval "anyday".

For me I would have to relocate my alarm siren and the water bottle if I went with the Injen. Worth the hassle?

The AEM comes with a version for the Automatic and a version for the 5 Speed. From what I can tell the auto version puts the filter higher up in the engine bay, likely to impair performance enough that I should spend the extra money and get the Injen?

How the intake sounds? Pretty much the same for both?

Thanks for everyone's help. New to the car modding scene, the only mod I did on my last car '96 Nissan pickup was a drop-in K&N.

 

The AEM flows more air (per se') but since it's so hot, it's not as dense. The stock intake pulls less air, but the stuff it does get is almost from the outside, thus colder. These two cancel each other out. Yes, the AEM does flow ALOT better, but I've seen how hot it gets under the hood, and unless you have a CAI, you're really not gaiing anything. I'm sure if someone did the math, you'd find they both suck in the same volume of air.