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Thread: HotPipes Exhaust Header from Speedlab

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    HotPipes Exhaust Header from Speedlab

    This appears to be the only readily available header for this car. Being just 3 pipes and a pretty straight run, I've considered building my own. I have metal-cutting and fitting skills, and a friend who welds a lot better than I do. But, the price on this thing really isn't bad! Hard to justify the time and effort involved for the minimal savings and a passable, but probably not-quite-as-good result.

    Anyway, they said they can ship this thing to me for a reasonable price. I've inquired about a quantity discount. Maybe they'll bend a little? Maybe shipping 3-4 will be a lot cheaper than shipping one? I'll find out.

    So, I'm exploring the possibility of buying more than one. The price would have to be enough less to cover secondary shipping from my house to elsewhere, which might negate most of the savings. But, if anyone is near the Tampa area and wants to come pick one up? Let me know if you're interested. If the quantity discount is enough to make it worth my time dealing with it, I may buy some of them.

    Once I get my hands on it, I'll do some baseline acceleration testing (0-60... 20-50 in 3rd, that kind of thing) and then retest after installing it to get an idea of what the actual performance gains are. No, I'm not going to spend money putting it on a dyno. I'm too cheap for that. But, we can look at percent improvement in acceleration and extrapolate approximate increase in power.

    What brought this idea to center stage was that a friend posted something on Facebook yesterday about adding an intake and deleting a cat on his Mustang GT, and then with dyno tuning, they got the power up to 435. They were quite proud of themselves... 435 hp... from 417. That's 4.3%! If people are getting excited about 4.3%... even though it only equates to 3 hp on the Mirage, it's probably worth pursuing!



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    Seeing the baseline vs installed headers would be interesting to see. I remember seeing dyno numbers somewhere with Intake, Headers + exhaust system. I forget how much the gains were but it wasn't too significant but really, anything from 5-10hp gain on this small engine from 'bolt-ons' (without tuning) is actually pretty impressive.

    I'm sure the header will definitely will give you some gains. Definitely better than the stock header where the catalytic converter is located.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 43.4 mpg (US) ... 18.5 km/L ... 5.4 L/100 km ... 52.2 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Qrush's Avatar
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    I went with the Super Circuit 3-1 extractor.
    Name:  2016 supercircuit extractor.jpg
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    A few other have also. The newer (2016) version like mine has the flex-joint welded in. The website has a pic of the original design (http://www.h-performance.com.my/). I was pleased with the welds and quality workmanship. Ive had it 15k miles and no issues at all. Unless you count my pesky CEL that comes and goes, in spite of the defouler TIG-welded in.

    I had that, as well as the 1-3/4" exhaust (cat-less) run all the way back w/Magnaflow hardware. Turns smoothly up to redline and has added some mid-range punch. I recently moved my air intake from the engine bay to the lower grille, because of the heat-soak I was getting from the headers. No heat shield/wrap will do that. This has made a meaningful difference in throttle response and overall peppy-ness.

    Your setup is very close to mine, so I will be interested in what numbers you see. I assume ~+10 hp gains with CAI/Headers/Cat-Less Exhaust System.
    Last edited by Qrush; 05-11-2018 at 07:20 PM.

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Yeah, I'd expect 8-10% from a good header, exhaust and picking up some cold air. The header itself... 3-4% seems like a reasonable expectation.

    Looks like the SuperCircuit may not be available. They show a photo of it, but they don't actually have it listed for sale in their store.

    I swear it's like the people who make parts for this car have no desire to sell them.

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    Senior Member Qrush's Avatar
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    I agree about the manufacturers/distributors and their pace/communication, or lack thereof. I had to jump through a few hoops to get mine, but they were helpful and expedient. I contacted them through Facebook and used PayPal. Got here in about 10 days, I think. It was well packaged (undamaged) and I was able to track it through the entire shipping process. All in all, a "thumbs-up" experience for me.

    http://supercircuit.blogspot.my/2011...-to-order.html

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Thanks for the tip. I pinged SuperCircuit on FB. Might as well price-shop a little. The flex joint is a good idea. Of course, I'm thinking about a fully custom cat-back... I could always incorporate one at the front end of that.

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Speedlab responds to emails quickly, but not thoroughly. I suspect a combination of language barrier and laziness.

    First email I asked for price + shipping, and estimated delivery time. Got the price.

    Second email I asked how to place the order, and if they would discount for quantity. Got "Less 10% for 5 or more".

    So, not enough of a discount to make it worth trying to do any kind of group buy or resell. But, still a good price. (he quoted $310 shipped)

    Waiting for reply from SuperCircuit.

    And researching 2" exhaust parts. I really hate a loud exhaust, but this little engine sounds pretty cool opened up!

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    By the way... the irony here is that I would have TOTALLY impulse-bought this header last night. If Speedlab had a proper store on their website that would allow me to select the item and select shipping with rates and pay with my credit card, I'd have been all over it immediately. It would be a done deal.

    Let that be a lesson to you, kids! If you want to sell your stuff online, make it EASY for somebody to buy it before they change their mind, or start shopping your competition!

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    SuperCircuit got back to me with GREAT communication. Price is about the same, actually with shipping is $4 less. I like the flex pipe, and it looks like a great product. Knowing that others have had good luck with it is inspiring, as well. Solid communication is what made the sale, though.

    They even have a dyno chart that is believable on their FB page. Looks like I need to delete the second cat. I'm not going to do that... but, I could fit a larger cat to get rid of the restriction. Planning a 2" cat-back, anyway.

    9 hp from exhaust? Heck, even if it's just 6 or 7, it's worth doing!

  10. #10
    Senior Member IchabodCrane's Avatar
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    Is it worth 6 or 7 hp if you're taking a significant hit in economy?


    Will weld for beer.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)


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