If your nuts are rotted and can’t be spanners off…… I tried cutting the nuts with a dremel-type device. It has been done by a member but I found it too awkward.
I used an angle grinder on one half of the manifold. You lose 3mm of material off the joint that can be replaced with shims if you want to reuse the silencer at some point.
Preferred was using a good quality hacksaw blade with fine teeth. The mating surface guides the blade so minimal material is lost. It took an age but it is done.
The IL Motorsport exhaust really does beef up the rear end look. Its tips are perfectly the right proportion and the body of the exhaust has more presence than the standard item. I thought it might ground, but it’sailed over my favourite speed bumps
Exhaust sound.? Well, there’s more of it. Brilliant once you’re driving properly but a bit noisy if stuck in traffic bumbling along. OK with PRHT up but some light booming at low revs with roof down.
Exhausts are pretty expensive to take a punt on. I wonder how many peeps have been disappointed after splashing the cash?
Excellent work and thank you for sharing!
I had a nightmare about this too when I changed mine also but yours seemed worse!
I fitted a japspeed centre pipe on Friday (-cat) and after one 4 mile trip back, I wish I hadn’t done it.
Way too loud for me and not recommended imho!!
Yep, when you’re driving for pleasure I suspect most exhausts will do the business. It’s living with them when you are doing the inevitable bits of in between. It takes up quite a percentage of my road time.
Just popped the rear of car on ramps. Took five minutes to swap over the exhaust from iL motorsport to standard backbox If the rubber hangers are in good condition and well lubed it’s a breeze.
The standard exhaust is too quiet and the non-standard a little too loud. Solution: Swap when you get too irritated by one of them.
Simples, I’m keeping them both👍
Hmmmm…This has got me thinking. Im just about to swap out my standard exhaust & header for IL M’sport . Hoping it won’t be too loud. Perhaps I should keep the standard, just in case.
It’s all so subjective. When you start the ilMotorsport it has a wonderful low growl. It’s also sounds exhilarating when properly on the move. Once that bit is over and I’m picking up the shopping or stuck in slow traffic it just gets a bit intrusive.
Keep the old exhaust hanging on the garage wall if your ever going on a touring holiday would be my advise👍
Yesterday ( first outing)the standard exhaust sounded ‘limp’. Today it sounded fine! @bainbridge hit the nail on the head a couple of posts back - you just assimilate what yous got.
I have the ILMotorsport backbox on my NC1 1.8 about 1 year now. I really like the sound, not too loud or droney. It was installed by an MX5 specialist. The bolts needed some special tools and force to get off, but he managed in about one hour.
This year I would like to install the IL 4-1 header also, but in doubt if it will not make to much noise in addition to the backbox. Any experienced info is much appreciated!
Reading this is all a bit worrying as I have a full IL Motorsport exhaust to fit to my car. There’s no engine in the car currently so will be a while before I will get back to exhaust stage but not really wanting it to be too over the top. I’ve heard what it sounds like on youtube and the likes which is what made me buy it in the first place but that isn’t like living with it day to day. We will have to see.
The best exhaust I ever had was on my old Sierra, that’s how many years ago it was, I had a full janspeed manifold system and back box and it sounded fantastic. Quite when cruising but just right when you opened it up. You don’t hear much about them anymore which is a shame.
Exhausts: they are £200 to £600 a pop and until you spent a day with you in the car and that exhaust on the back no one else can tell whether it’s for you or not. It’s an expensive punt unless you can ‘ask a friend’. at the many members meets around the country👍
Hi yes, ive only had it on a few days, i had a remap as well, so that could cloud the water a little.
My 1st impression is its deep sounding, almost like driving a bigger engine. Definitely revs more freely , even bounced off the rev limiter a couple of times… & i NEVER seem to do that Coming from a standard system it does seem quite loud to my ear , but i do like it, it gets especially good when you hustle it a bit!
I’m standard except the backbox but also feel it’s a bit easier revving once over 3thou. But it’s difficult to separate extra performance from extra noise.
Software changes look an interesting option in combination as mentioned above. The car will be set up for the average driver with typical servicing. So some leeway here if you are prepared to look after your car with more diligence. I don’t know the pricing but it’s high for turbo cars as the gains can be exceptional. £300 for an extra 50bhp is typical. I wouldn’t want to spend that for an extra 5….
I can thoroughly recommend looking at a good quality remap, especially if you have a more efficient manifold upgrade. For me, Ihad the torque limiters on 1st & 2nd gear removed which make these two gears a lot more tractable feeling, rather than just passing through them to 3rd. I went with a non race , fast road car setup. This has added noticeable torque & friskiness in ith mid range.Depending on what type of remap you are looking at. I would recommend ecutek packages that are done by someone who knows their stuff…
Drum roll for Performance Link !
Now that’s £850 if you want to not sweat about whether you can get through your next Mot. And you didn’t mention the cost of the software….
For the spannerfanatics, one of the non-cat headers can be had for a few hundred and can be swapped out come MOT time. With a swappable flash that could be a realistic option?
Everyone seems to agree the first swap out of the exhaust header is a nightmare. But once you do any job on a car it’s half the time if you do it again.
I recently changed my shocks for the second time. Write down what worked first time and you won’t spend an age fiddling with spanners that didn’t work the last time and you had forgotten about.
I’m not happy with my Meisters so will try the Koni Active once they get Uk. I should have created a file to give me all the tools, and in what order to do the job in a three hours hopefully.
Just as an example… with a large extension and a wobble unit you can get all the three major bolts that allows the rear suspension to be removed with just a cheap impact wrench in a minute. It takes an age with normal tools
