It’s only money Jimbo. The smile that the mod puts on your face is well worth it. I’m 6 months into that same mod and I love it !!!
Progression now leads me to the SC installation from the guys at Blink. The only ball ache is the guy who programs the flash maps at Corten Miller is on furlough so although I booked it in whilst at Blink today, I’m now waiting to hear when we can take it forward and actually get it in the workshop. The pain of having to be patient is hurting already 
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It’s a very nice looking installation. Looks factory fitted to me.
I think if I was going to do FI that would be my choice over a turbo.
For the time being I’m going to enjoy what I’ve got but I’d love to hear more when you’ve had the supercharger fitted 
I saw a standard manifold sell for £400 on ebay last week, must the precious metals inside the cat, but might be worth flogging it and recouping some of your money back.
Often ebay will do free listings, so you pay £0 for listing and fees and many times they do £1 fee deals so could be very much worth waiting for that. £15 to parcel force and your cat is delivered countrywide in 2-3 days.
Do you actually feel the extra power though or does it feel like the old engine but more responsive? My main gripe with the NC is the engine seems very lazy under 3500rpm, above that it’s good fun.
I will be going for a remap but heard the flash map will removed the throttle limitations in the first 2 gears (or was it 3?) and to pay double the price just for launch control, flat foot shifting and throttle blip seems quite excessive. I’d only use throttle blip out of those options but I can kind of do that pretty well manually.
That’s good to know, I’ve got the old manifold sat on my workbench so maybe I’ll flog it.
As I understand it the stock NC ecu has restrictions on 1st 2nd & 3rd gears.
The EcuTek gives you 4 selectable maps not just a flash remap of the ecu but I hear what your saying. The way I viewed it was fitting the mani and EcuTek software sets me up for possible FI upgrades in the future if I want to go that far.
Like you my main criticism of the NC engine was the sluggish pickup below 3500 rpm. It feels a lot more punchy throughout the range now and doesn’t feel like your being held back until the revs build. Yes you can feel the difference in power but its relatively subtle and I’m not going to bother measuring 0-60 times. Power and torque are both improved so it must be faster. Your right the race rom features are nice gadgets for me the auto blip is the best feature and great when cracking on a bit. Realistically when are you going to use launch control and flat foot shifting on the road, not very often I’d say. I did try the flat foot shifting today and I’m not keen, just feels unnatural after 25 years of driving to leave your foot planted on the gas throughout gear changes.
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I think you’re one of the lucky ones who has cruise control, people without it cannot alter the ecu so basically stuck with the one map, not the end of the world I guess but does feel like you’re missing out a bit with the ECUtek feature if you can’t ever adjust them.
The flatfoot shifting is I believe mainly to keep a turbocharged spooled so not sure it gains much on a NA engine but good if you go FI in the future, which sounds like you might be thinking along those lines.
Thanks for taking the time to get back on the topic and write up your experiences, na tuning is never cheap and the gains are minimal but if it makes the car exciting to drive then it’s probably worth it.
Will be interesting to see if your MPG changes with the remap, often people say remaps improved their mpg 
Yes I’m lucky to have a 2010 car with the cruise control panel.
I suppose if you did go for EcuTek you could have one map with all features enabled maybe? You’d only activate auto blip when braking with the rpm above 3000. Flat foot shifting would be there in the background if you wanted to use it but I’m not sure about the launch control feature as that is adjusted through the CC panel.
Looking at the old manifold pictures above you can see why the engine feels a bit bogged down at low rpm. It’s not the best bit of engineering and very much has the feel of a quick fix to satisfy emissions regulations that perhaps weren’t considered at the design stage of the car. Subtle but sublime is how I’d describe the improvement.
Regarding mpg, I’ve yet to go on a long run and calculate it properly but yesterday I had 27 indicated mpg when driving hard. I reset the computer a cruised at 2000 rpm which gave me 48 mpg indicated on the last leg home. I would say the engine is now more efficient if you want it to be but that will probably be offset by the desire to use the extra performance more often.
You can have map switching without those switches, but you have to do it manually.
You buy the basic Ecutek kit and reflash it using your phone or laptop to run different maps.
Nowhere near as slick I know, but it is possible.
That’s enough for me to say it’s worth it, just to make your own NC that bit more special and enjoyable to ride.
Seems maybe they slowed the gas flow down so the cat had more time to clear the fumes? Just an idea, not sure if it works like that, blockage might create more heat etc.
Yes you could enable all the items on the one map and be done with it. I highly doubt I would bother once I had the full works on one map, that would be the only map I ran but nice to have options.
27 and 48 both sound respectable in their given environments. General driving for me gets me 35mpg and that’s 90% cruising with some little hard accelerations. Are you using a high octane map, meaning always buying high octane fuel now if you didn’t already?
I do remember a bluetooth add on but it was like £250 but I think when finished you could sale it on it.
Seems the PROecu which is the free option gives you some nice options, will look in to that and see what the process is to get it installed.
Wonder if you can use the ecutek on your stereo if your phone is plugged into it, via the appleiplay or android auto.
Agreed 
I’m no exhaust engineer but the original manifold very much has the look of trying to squeeze four square pegs into a round hole.
Fluid dynamics would suggest pinching the pipes restricts flow and builds back pressure so the engine can’t get the gases out and the new charge in. Possibly it also increases exhaust gas velocity into the cat and probably adds a good deal of turbulence into the bargain. I’m not sure any of those things are desirable for engine efficiency or cat efficiency? Maybe somebody else could explain it for us?
Looks very much like Mazda didn’t want to design a bespoke catted mainifold and created a solution between a standard mid-pipe cat and the four exhaust pipe runners coming out from the engine block. At the time I suppose Ford were looking to save money and as we know the NC shares a lot of its architecture with the RX-8. Obviously that exhaust couldn’t ’t be used so I think it’s reasonable to assume they came up with a low cost quick fix for the NC.
Oh and yes I do tend to run on 99RON most the time unless I’m somewhere where it’s not available.
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The cat compromise is probably the best they could acheive given the restricted room in the longtitudinal rear wheel drive installation bearing in mind that the nc engine is sat quite far back and the cat has to be close to the engine to satisfy low warm up times for emission standards. That said, most of the aftermarket catted manifold suppliers seem to have a more elegant solution.
It’s a bit of a contradiction I think. Mazda went to so much trouble with the weight balance, gram strategy, strut bracing & suspension geometry to create a good chassis. I think we’d all agree they did a pretty good job there. Just seems odd that the manifold has the look of a bit of bodgery about it given that it takes power and torque away from the engine. I think probably engineering costs could have been the deciding factor? Anyway the stock car is a great thing to drive. If it was all sorted straight out of the factory we’d have nothing to talk about on this forum😁
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We’ll be looking at that thing forever more saying ‘Just what were they thinking?’
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A bit more info on my recent de-cat manifold and EcuTek mapping upgrade. A week on and I went for another drive today, sometimes it’s good to approach things after the dust has settled with a more objective and less emotional head on. The car still feels great btw, low rpm pickup is significantly improved and my car is definitely faster and more torquey than before.
I’ve noticed today a few extra little rumbles and burbles from the standard back box now the engine can breath better. The exhaust just sounds better across the board now, slightly louder yes but a more pleasing sporty tone.
MPG indicated on the computer 26 hard driving and 45 cruising so very similar to before I would say.
Thinking about the exhaust I would love to enhance those newly discovered burbles to a more audible but not too shouty level. Can anyone recommend a back box replacement that would enhance the IL-Motorsport de-cat manifold without turning it into a rattling, farting, crackling booming hideous embarrassment?
I was looking at;
Cobalt: Well respected but they have been discontinued and maybe not suited to a de-cat mani?
Cobra road back box: Read they are too loud with a de-cat and boomy on the motorway.
IL Motorsport: Beautifully made but again maybe too loud with a de-cat mani?
Go Perform: Heard good things here, a definite contender.
Racing Beat Power Pulse: Same as above.
Roddisons King Cobra: Seems well respected by people who have upgraded the manifold and want to enhance the sound without making the ground shake.
BBR Grand Touring: Any comments welcome?
I’d love to hear your experiences good and bad regarding exhausts but especially when carrying out further exhaust work following a manifold upgrade.
Cheers & Happy Easter
James
Forget the Cobra…mine droned more than the missus. Took it off the same day and sent it back for refund.
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Cobra seems to be too much of a good thing on a de-cat manifold.
Did you go back to stock or fit something else?
Back to stock and that’s how it will stay.
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I’ve got the Racing Beat Power Pulse in conjuction with BBR manifold and stainless steel centre section from BBR.
It’s tolerable for shorter distances and great fun when you go out for a blast for the fun of it. A few pops on the up shift, and the occasional pop on a downshift, but nothing too crazy.
However for longer trips, and when temperatures are up, it does get quite loud and, at cruising motorway speed, fairly unbearable even with slight throttle applications. Most noticeable on small inclines when trying to maintain a steady speed. Find myself almost shouting to be heard. I’ve got a soft top, which probably doesn’t help things either.
Luckily the fun factor and those small trips outweigh the droning on the motorway, especially as there have been no long trips recently, but I expect that the balance will change as the longer trips become more regular.
So I guess what is acceptable may be heavily determined by the kind of driving you do, whether hard or soft top, and what “too loud” is given that’s a very individual conclusion.
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Thanks Adam
I guess I’m hoping to have my cake and eat it maybe?
I’d love to just add a bit more character to the exhaust note and I think this seems fairly easy to do on the standard system but once the manifold is uncorked it’s a harder balance to find.
I do enjoy spirited driving mainly but I don’t want full on loud on the motorway. Do you think your stainless mid pipe makes a big difference to the RB box and BBR mani combination?
Did you install the system in sections? If so how did each new part change the sound for you?
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It’s a really tough balance. I’d love a switchable exhaust - to flick between standard silencer and the aftermarket one…as I’m exactly the same as you. On some drives, it’s fantastic, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. On others, especially the longer ones, it gets quite tiring quite quickly. To the point that I don’t even bother with the radio, because you can’t hear it 
I did the manifold and rear silencer first, leaving the centre section initially. It was noticeably louder then to be honest. Man maths forced me into the centre section too when the original broke away from one of the joints! I would say that it added a little more noise, but not a tonne more.
I’ll try to get a video of it tomorrow and I’ll post it. I’ll do the typical YouTube thing and do a cold start, cold rev, hot start, and hot rev, if that helps. I’ll probably have to leave home for the hot exhaust clips. You might not get a sense of volume, but it might help with tone. 
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That would be really helpful thank you. Enjoy the drive as well 