Megan Racing type 2 exhaust and you: my review

[tastyratz]

Megan Racing type 2 exhaust and you: my review.

I recently purchased the Megan Racing type 2 exhaust in black from wesellcarparts on zilvia.net

The exhaust was shipped very quickly and the price was very cheap at only $335 shipped. wscp was great and I have nothing but positive over my experience with them, sale was smooth.

This exhaust was chosen for being low profile for my s14. I have my no compromise fully built s13 for summer fun but needed something that attracted less attention and also was more "civil" than the s13 for DD and year round driving. This exhaust uses 3" piping all the way through into an oval muffler with dual stainless polished tips. The exhaust is entirely ceramic coated black for corrosion resistance as well as resonance reduction and heat retention (heat = faster flow) It looks very low profile which is just what I wanted.

My s14 currently has:
Ebay headers
s13 oem 2.5 in/out cat converter (s14 was just a resonated chamber as the cat used to be on the header)
248/232 cam combo
redrilled cam gear for proper alignment.
ram air intake



The exhaust arrived and when I took it out of the box it looked good. The welds are mig and looked solid and thick. The black ceramic coating seemed decent and tough. Flanges are thick and the piping was a heavier gauge than expected. Piping and muffler is mild steel not stainless. There is a resonator right after the cat and it lead to a dual tip muffler. The muffler has 3" OD polished stainless steel tips that taper to a 2" ID over about 1.5-2" or so at the end. The exhaust is 2 pieces, muffler half and main pipe half.





I wanted to see what it weighed so I got on a scale, then got on the scale with the exhaust and recorded the difference.
Stock s14 exhaust: 37lbs
Megan: 34lbs

3 lbs less than stock. Not as light as a can style but better than heavier. I didn't mind a little extra weight here if it measured up.
While you might expect it to have a chambered muffler design it doesn't. The muffler is a straight through glasspack "turbo style"
See the diagram below:



As you can see it seems like half of the muffler is completely wasted. There is no muffling going on after the perforated section, and the perforated section takes up less than half of the muffler. This makes this big heavy tank at the end only half of what it needs to be and less functional than the average straight through 3" n1 style can.

I also noted that where the ceramic coating ended and the stainless tips begun it looked like they used regular masking tape to do the edging... how can I tell? There's loads of little bits and pieces at the transition and they couldn't reach in between the tips to pick it off so they left a couple of big chunks on there.


I bolted it up to my s14. Fitment was actually excellent, I was impressed.



Ground clearance was close to stock, the lowest point to almost worry about would be the flange by the muffler which sits maybe 1.5-2" lower than stock.

stock:

Megan:


Tips of megan:


Tips of stock:


I also made a video clip with before and after sound to show the differences in volume and tone. Some people just do an after sound clip which doesn't really show how it compares to stock. Different recording conditions (location, camcorder type, etc) don't make for valid comparisons side by side. car was in the garage, on a lift, right next to the open door. Sound clip was taken 2 feet lower than the muffler tips (car in the air) and at a 45 degree angle lining up with the passenger side door or so.I revved the car to 3krpm a few times then to 4krpm.

I will throw up the video clip later


Sound is quiet compared to other exhausts at less than 2k under load. at that point it sounds awesome. Very quiet near stock and subtle with pronounced pulse notes. from 2k-3k it starts getting really loud and its just as loud if not louder than your standard can style. At that point it loses any throaty growl it had and all exhaust tones just blend. My s13 has a titanium N1 style exhaust which is VERY VERY loud. This is about the same over 2k in comparison.

Revving the car out it has a nasty rasp to it. The car sounds like a battle of epic proportions between rival bee hives is taking place in the muffler after 3krpm or so when revved in place or 4k when romping it on the street. Ricers rejoice here is your choice.

The exhaust resonates the cabin something fierce... So much so that I needed an Advil when I got to work today. Things in the car rattle and the thought of going on the highway make me cringe. I will be dynomatting the trunk over the exhaust today in hopes of making this less painful till I change it.


Verdict:
I give this exhaust a 7/10. If it sounded great and had a quality muffler I would have given it a 10/10. Build quality, fitment, appearance, and ground clearance are stellar. 3 points removed for sound. I would have very willingly paid and extra $50 for a better FUNCTIONAL muffler. Megan obviously didn't get the point of making this exhaust and their target audience. Ill take the exhaust tone of a straight pipe 3in can over this exhaust any day. It is quieter than the straight pipe but definitely doesn't sound as nice.

Updated: I threw up pics. Not putting the sound clip up yet. I have put 100 miles on this exhaust since I purchased it. So far it seems to have "broken in" and mellowed out significantly. I can no longer hear the rasp I originally described in my review (at least from inside the car I haven't noticed it anymore) Its still not as quiet as I would like but I think I will give it a tank of gas to see. I no longer have the carpet piece, spare tire, or trunk wood to block out sound a bit. I also dynomatted over the muffler section to see if that helps.

Update again: Added sound clip
http://personal.tastyratz.com/articles/megans14.mp3

and crappy shakey video clip with audio showing the tach too.

Please don't judge the car based on its automatic disease - it was inflicted with the autotragic at birth but will be getting a manual sex change soon enough.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ky7R1kWNhW0

[fuco8210]

good to know, just by the design you can tell it was going to sound raspy

[tastyratz]

not necessarily, a good oval can at the end can sound killer (like the greddy SP exhaust or apexi ws on some cars)
Everything on this is so beefy I wasn't expecting it to sound tinny, but the fact that the muffler is all but useless since most of it goes to that split is what kills this thing. My attain titanium 3" straight has 0 rasp to it.

[tastyratz]

updated the review with pics now.
Ill update it with video/sound once I have time to take another clip in the car after its broken in a bit more.

[Ben G]

fuckin balls man there is a section for this http://zilvia.net/f/reviews-forum/

[tastyratz]

That's for reviewing sellers - this is a product review.
balls ftw.

[Ben G]

i think you could have posted it there those are just sub categories.... there is a main one that no one has even posted in yet

[tastyratz]

thought nobody posted there because it was restricted and a placeholder.
Mods your free to move my thread in there if you want.

[Ben G]

idk i have no clue anymore i put in a suggestion for a product review thread haha way easier

[WeSellCarParts]

Thanks again for the purchase Great write up!

[s13 @ fullboost]

very professional write-up from the first paragraph i could tell it was legit and not some gay hey I just bought this here is a pick you should buy or not buy it. I liked it allot and took the time to read it =] guys we need more write-up's like this one.

[grnappletree14]

great write up. would give u rep if we still had it. do u know when the video will be posted

[GSXRJJordan]

I agree, it's OK but should sound have an actual muffler at the end to sound more like it looks.

Low-pro, well made exhaust = Apexi WS Noir.

[mugendork]

I will see if there is anything I can do to change the muffler for this car. I was not there to prototype this exhaust, but maybe I can get it changed up. Thank you for the stellar write-up, it was a pleasure to read.

-Jared from Megan...

[ThuG LyFe]

thank you so much for the review. i saw this exhaust a while back and thought it was just what i wanted. but after reading this what i feared was true...it's just another loud 3" exhaust. if they made 2.5" with an actual muffler i would have highly considered buying this but i guess i won't anymore...

please post the vid when you do make it i want to compare how loud it is. probably louder than my 3" can with silencer.

[neilsan]

Kudos.

I have a circuit sports on my otherwise stock S14 and the rear muffler is similar in that only the distance from the inlet to the Y is perforated. I'm willing to bet the money saved by doing so is so minimal that you'd have a hard time finding justification, but then again I guess we're not the ones getting paid $5/wk to build them.

I've seen a youtube videos of the Megan exhaust and I was surprised at what I heard. I was expecting it to be loud as evidenced by no center muffler for S13's and only a tiny resonator for S14's but I was expecting it to sound at least a little sportier.

The tone of the Circuit Sports is pretty nice and the volume is definitely quiet enough... but my big gripe is that the tips sound "windy". Something's causing quite a bit of turbulence right at the rearmost section. When my garage gets buried this winter I'll definitely be doing a ittle surgery.

[tastyratz]

Well its definitely a lot quieter than when I first got it. It's "broken in" more than any exhaust I have ever owned - but for the better.
I went out last night back to back for a drive in my s13 ka24e-t with a 3" straight titanium exhaust. The s13 will definitely punch you in the chest. There is a far more apparent volume difference now than when I first got it. The mr has a very sexy idle that's just barely over stock. Drone is still heavy under load on the highway, etc. and the rasp isn't always there but it does pop up sometimes.

I have the sound clips on my video camera. I am hoping to get them up in the next week or so (no promises) but they could be up as soon as tonight. The clips Ill upload are from inside the car. I haven't had a chance to really hear it go from outside the car yet.

[neilsan]

lol holy shit i didnt even realize who the op was. If you posted this on ONE i missed it ><

Glad the sound shaped up for the better.

[treken2t87]

For $450 you could have gotten HKS Hi-Power 3" catback :-\ ... I love this exhaust on my S14 with sr20...it's my not too loud at all...especially for a daily

[importdude]

here is mine

[mifesto]

i would have to agree with this review. mine is relatively quiet but for a twin tipped and big muffler (or so it appears), its louder then you may expect.

[tastyratz]

FYI: I updated my main post to include a video and an audio clip

[240cracker]

sorry to bump a year old post but im not getting the answer im looking for anywhere...

sound clips dont really help me compare...

some of these people say its loud and others relatively quiet...

is it going to be a pretty big difference in how quiet it is if im running a n1 style straight pipe now? cuz this thing is louder then when i had my buddyclub spec 2 /w sr

sick of exhaust tickets really interested please help

[GSXRJJordan]

Originally Posted by 240cracker

sorry to bump a year old post but im not getting the answer im looking for anywhere...

sound clips dont really help me compare...

some of these people say its loud and others relatively quiet...

is it going to be a pretty big difference in how quiet it is if im running a n1 style straight pipe now? cuz this thing is louder then when i had my buddyclub spec 2 /w sr

sick of exhaust tickets really interested please help

It will be much quieter than your straight pipe. I can't believe you drive a straight pipe or a BC Spec 2 in La Habra... just asking for hood pops.

Deadmau5 is the shit, btw.

[240cracker]

Originally Posted by GSXRJJordan

It will be much quieter than your straight pipe. I can't believe you drive a straight pipe or a BC Spec 2 in La Habra... just asking for hood pops.

Deadmau5 is the shit, btw.

lol i know

i used to daily that shit.. but normaly i just drive it at night to fuck around

yes deadmau5 is dope as fuck

[tastyratz]

Your straight can will be louder than this, this is not as quiet as a lot of aftermarket exhausts with an oval can because its a straight through perforated setup (very similar to standard straight cans)

It is much more stealth in appearance, a notch less in volume... but not what I would define as quiet. I would just call it less loud - if you are looking for mild look elsewhere and look 2.5"

If you want to give this one a try I have my used one for sale from this review (and I have no shame) you can PM me if you want it cheap.

[240cracker]

i dont want a super fukn quiet exhaust... just something that isnt a huge bust even at cruising speed

would u say that is what it is?

i still want it sound sick when im driftin and in high rpm

2.5 no way... not for the turbo

[tastyratz]

Only problem there is were wandering into opinion zone... its loud enough to be annoying to me in the car and not comfortably have a full on conversation with a passenger... but my s13 ka-t titanium can leaves my ears ringing after a long drive. Step down definitely, but if your primary focus is noise to change exhausts look at doing a borla muffler or something - could even just weld another one onto what you have.

[Flicktitty]

Originally Posted by 240cracker

i dont want a super fukn quiet exhaust... just something that isnt a huge bust even at cruising speed

would u say that is what it is?

i still want it sound sick when im driftin and in high rpm

2.5 no way... not for the turbo

sounds like what you want.

I have one on a 2JZ powered S13 and at crusing speed my friends N/a Ka with a hks hi power is louder then the 2J one. but once you crack the throttle it wakes the fuck up.

i like it.

[240cracker]

damnnnn

idkkk haha

its this one or ill look into a new tip like borla one u r talking about

thanks guys