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Another Positive MAPerformance Catback Exhaust Review

Messages
59
Likes
19
Location
Cullowhee
#1
Overview:
The exhaust is fantastic. It looks great, is well built, and sounds nice without being overbearing. On my 30 mile drive home from the installation, the aspect that stood out most was the additional power. It could be a confirmation bias, but I felt a more power from 2500 to 5500 rpms. With Adam’s customer service, the quality of the product, and the reasonable price, I fully recommend the MAPerformance catback exhaust.

Details:
First, although it has been said many times on these forums, Adam’s customer service is the best. I started off with a tune from Adam (which is the best). He answers emails very quickly and thoroughly. I am new to turbo cars, and he has greatly increased my knowledge.

The exhaust was shipped on a Tuesday and arrived on a Friday. It was well packed. It is in three pieces with two brackets. This means it even can fit in our back seat!

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I had the exhaust professionally installed (Secondary plug for Passion Performance in Cashiers, NC. Great people, good workmanship, and reasonable price). The installation took less than an hour. After it was finished, the guys in the shop brought me down and showed me the exhaust while it was on the lift. It looks great! And they commented on the craftsmanship of the exhaust, specifically the welds.

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The two minor things they told me: (1) the exhaust hangers are not good. I will probably buy betters one soon. The exhaust can move easily on the stock hangers. It can also shake a bit. (2) They said they had to cut the stock exhaust in half in order it without having to remove other portions of the back end of the car. I don’t know if this was correct or not. I didn’t mind having the stock one cut, but this is something others may want to be warned about.

The 30 mile drive home from the shop on a curvy mountain road was absolutely amazing. If not for the few slow drivers I was stuck behind, it would have been the most fun I have had with my FiST. The additional power is easily noticeable. Once the car hits 2500 rpms with about 1/3 of the trotter, my head flings back more than it has before. Granted, this is also because of Adam’s awesome tune, but the exhaust felt more powerful over just the tune. The sound is perfect for what I am looking for. I have had extremely loud exhausts in the past. I drove cross country in a civic si and I couldn’t talk to my passenger on the highway because they couldn’t hear me. I never want that again. I want performance with a nice sound that is reasonable. Below 3000 rpms, I couldn’t really hear the exhaust over the symposer. Above 3000 rpm it has a nice sound without being overbearing. It is exactly what I wanted. From the outside, it sounds like a performance car without being a car that will piss off your neighbors when you come home late at night (like the celica that lives down the street from me).

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If the above parameters are anywhere near what you are looking for in an exhaust, you must purchase the MAP catback. You will love it. After a few weeks (or longer since my FiST is not my daily driver), I will write a long term follow up. But for now, I could not be more satisfied. I look forward to continued business with Adam and MAPerformance.
 


J2FoRS

Senior Member
Messages
819
Likes
186
Location
Central
#3
Looks great! Welcome to the elite MAP CBE club. [party]
I'd 100% recommend Cobbs hangar upgrade. Keeps that MAP exhaust firmly planted exactly where you install it, and MAP's set screw set up on the rear most hangar works great on the stiff Cobb one to align the tips perfectly and hold them there.
Also i cut mine too otherwise you have to drop tbe whole rear end out. Id rather just weld the stock one bacm together if i ever have to reinstall.
Nice review [twothumb]
 


Messages
129
Likes
28
Location
Ventura
#4
Looks great! Welcome to the elite MAP CBE club. [party]
I'd 100% recommend Cobbs hangar upgrade. Keeps that MAP exhaust firmly planted exactly where you install it, and MAP's set screw set up on the rear most hangar works great on the stiff Cobb one to align the tips perfectly and hold them there. Nice review [twothumb]
Mine didn't come with a set screw on the rear most hanger and from the looks of it neither did Leslade's. Your's definitely looks different from ours and I'm kinda jealous!

Also yes, I too recommend the Cobb hangers, they do a fantastic job of keeping everything in place.

One thing I've noted after driving it more today is that I can definitely hear the difference in the exhaust sound when the wastegate opens and it sounds awesome. My friend had a Starion/Conquest with a huge turbo but stock exhaust and it reminds me a lot of the noise it made when the wastegate opens.
 


maperformance

Active member
Messages
701
Likes
258
Location
Cottage Grove
#7
I forgot to mention on [MENTION=3329]j2FiST[/MENTION] post. The set screw was a one time thing, there is now a bend on that hanger to keep it in place. The company we got the set screw clamps from were on backorder until end of October which isn't acceptable. We tried using some 3/8's ones form McMasterCarr and they wouldn't fit, so we changed the jig to do a bend on that hanger instead of the clamp.

Apologize for the confusion.
 


Messages
261
Likes
58
Location
Santa Fe
#10
Can anyone describe how the MAP exhaust sounds compared to the one from COBB? Specifically cruising on the highway? I thought the COBB was pretty quiet cruising on the highway, but after reinstalling my stock exhaust I've realized how loud it actually is. I'm looking for something a bit quieter and I'm hoping the resonator on the MAP exhaust would help.
 


Messages
358
Likes
128
Location
riverbank
#11
Can anyone describe how the MAP exhaust sounds compared to the one from COBB? Specifically cruising on the highway? I thought the COBB was pretty quiet cruising on the highway, but after reinstalling my stock exhaust I've realized how loud it actually is. I'm looking for something a bit quieter and I'm hoping the resonator on the MAP exhaust would help.
My roommate has the Cobb and his car is slightly quieter than my MAP at highway speeds.
 


Messages
358
Likes
128
Location
riverbank
#12
I've been having issues with the sleeves that hold the pipes in place becoming loose over time. I cranked them down hard twice but they seem to get undone after a couple hundred miles and expose leaks. This time I tightened them down with some lock-tite hoping that they wont loosen. [MENTION=3178]maperformance[/MENTION] have you guys noticed this?
 


OP
McLilySladentine
Messages
59
Likes
19
Location
Cullowhee
Thread Starter #13
I have only heard the Cobb on Youtube videos. But the MAP is fairly quiet below 3000rpms. You can easily talk to others in the car (I can't say the same about exhausts I have had on other cars) even at higher rpms.
 


jayrod1980

Active member
Messages
776
Likes
189
Location
Viva Las Vegas!
#14
I mentioned this in another thread but beware if you get COBB hangers. They will definitely prevent the exhaust from bouncing up and down but instead your exhaust will smash back and forth into the bumper. I have two missing paint spots caused by the play in the exhaust. This is not MAPs fault, the urethane just doesn't grip the hanger rod on the muffler very tight. The COBB hangers are great though if you buy some small worm hose clamps from Home Depot. Their smallest sized pack fits and is only a few bucks and comes with a pack of 10. I touched up the missing paint areas (car only has 1600 miles) and put worm clamps to the left and right of the urethane hanger rod. The exhaust is now completely anchored.

Today I plan to get under the car, make sure the bolts are tightened down along the mid section and I'm going to add more clamps to the other rods that have the COBB hangers. This weekend I pushed on the pipes near the engine and they can be moved around as well, so I believe the clamps will fix that. I believe your bolts wiggled loose from the vibration and play from the stock hangers. The exhaust can bounce up and down on the stock ones.

Again this is not a negative on the MAP exhaust. It sounds great... similar but a little louder than the COBB. The exhaust is quieter and the boom I had at 3K RPM has gone away now that the exhaust is more or less immobilized now. The welds are amazing and it looks better in person than in pictures. If you have Adam's tune, he suggests an exhaust over a downpipe anyway, and this is a very high quality product for the money!
 


Messages
87
Likes
11
Location
Boondocks
#15
I mentioned this in another thread but beware if you get COBB hangers. They will definitely prevent the exhaust from bouncing up and down but instead your exhaust will smash back and forth into the bumper. I have two missing paint spots caused by the play in the exhaust. This is not MAPs fault, the urethane just doesn't grip the hanger rod on the muffler very tight. The COBB hangers are great though if you buy some small worm hose clamps from Home Depot. Their smallest sized pack fits and is only a few bucks and comes with a pack of 10. I touched up the missing paint areas (car only has 1600 miles) and put worm clamps to the left and right of the urethane hanger rod. The exhaust is now completely anchored.
I had the same exact thing happen to me. I have a dime-sized piece of paint missing from the tips rubbing. I'm going to get the clamps or some stainless collars with set screws to keep the hangers in place on the rods.
 


jayrod1980

Active member
Messages
776
Likes
189
Location
Viva Las Vegas!
#16
I had the same exact thing happen to me. I have a dime-sized piece of paint missing from the tips rubbing. I'm going to get the clamps or some stainless collars with set screws to keep the hangers in place on the rods.
The Home Depot 10 pack work just fine. Once you install one to each side of the hanger it will never move.

I used the Dr Colorchip touch up kit to fix the paint. It more or less blends completely with the paint. I was really only worried about more coming off over time or a big bump cracking paint off where it's actually visible. It's about 40 bucks for the kit on their website and the blending alone that it does is well worth it! I'll get some pictures when I return from the in laws if I can and post the after with the worm clamps.
 


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