Megan Racing Manifold: Post-use Review!!!

[caall99]

So here it goes:

a year ago i installed a megan racing manifold and O2 elbow, they were def pretty pieces and fit very well. the install went easy and everything bolted up. when i turned on the car i def noticed a different pitch in sound. The car had a more waaawaaaa sorta sound, that got pretty high pitched in the upper rpm band. It felt like it pulled a little better, but then again i also did the manifold to turbo gasket at the same time because my old one was dead.

driving up to NH (day after install), i all of a sudden noticed that my car sounded like shit and wouldn't pull at all anymore. i could average about 40 mph but no more. something was obviously wrong. turns out the shitty gasket that the manifold came with blew out, and was totally shredded. not only that but i lost all four nuts mounting the turbo to the manifold and the turbo was literally dangling on the downpipe. this sucked. after trying to tighten spare nuts onto the studs every couple miles i finally made it to my buddies place in NH. as time went on i noticed more and more exhaust smell. after removing/installing the turbo atleast 15 times fixing stupid gasket leaks, i couldn't find a leak, without further ado i assumed the megan manifold had cracked. i finally said, **ck it, and decided to install my stock manifold again.

it turns out the megan manifold was never cracked and that i had a leak between the O2 elbow and downpipe. i took the time to port and polish the stock manifold and cleaned it up a whole lot. i just finished installing the stock manifold tonight, and all i can say is i sure am glad i did. the car feels much more torquey, spools quicker, and pulls so much harder in the mid range with no apparent loss in the top end. the exhaust noise has become lower in tone, and much quieter. not only that but it also has a little muscle car burble sound to it. i am not a muscle car fan but all i can say is that it sounds much better than the previous annoying screaming sound of the equal length tubular.

so in conclusion, my car does feel faster with the ported stock manifold than it did with the equal length tubular manifold. then again all of this could be in my head, who knows. i tend to get used to things on my car and not realize when something is the same or changing, so i always assume the latter. eitherway, i do prefer the subdued note of the stock manifold, over the high-pitched screaming of the megan one. if anyone wants to buy my megan manifold pm me, i'll sell reasonably cheap.

[HyperTek]

i wonder if it coulda been those crappy gaskets.. i got another brand ebay mani, but i had put new oem nissan gaskets on it.. holdin up for 10 months so far w/solid motor mounts..

but i never drove the car with the stock manifold so I dont know the gains

[caall99]

i forgot to mention: i got new oem gaskets for the megan manifold. i am also using those gaskets on the stock manifold, and the stock one is def still making my car faster.

[sepulchral]

i had a megan manifold on for 2 weeks, took it off, the manifold to head flange is warped badly, like 1/8".............

[GSXRJJordan]

damn you guys got some bad stuff...

I have just about everything Megan makes for the s13 (worked for a Megan-sponsored driver for a while) and my mani and elbow (the whole exhaust actually) has held up really well. The gaskets they give with the mani suck, but S15 (multi-piece) metal gaskets make all the difference in the world.

People with t25s often say the stock manifold "feels" faster, and it may, but as soon as you go t28/gt2871 or especially t3/t4, a tubular manifold is what keeps the boost coming strong at the high rpm's, and does help spool (although the trendy school of thought is that log-style mani's spool faster).

I'll take the risk (of a cracked, cheap manifold) with Megan manifolds time and time again rather than spend a grip on a more expensive (and presumably not "better") mani ~ I'd have to buy a lot of Megan mani's before they paid for a Full Race/SilkRoad/etc mani

[g2ic02]

hey i am interested in the manifold let me [email protected]

[g6civcx]

Use the metal S15 exhaust manifold gasket. It's much much stronger than the older carbon paper. A brand new paper gasket disintegrated from just test-fitting.

Also rebuild all your turbo gaskets. I recommend tack-welding the manifold to turbo nuts.

[mrmephistopheles]

to OP - sounds like a majority of your woes stemmed from improper installation
Not defending Megan (even though I have their turbo outlet and DP on our 180sx).

[slideways2004]

yeah i thinks its retardd that people put all this effort into swapping mani's and stuff and then put those crappy gaskets in tehre especially when they hear all these horror stories about the crappy paper gaskets. use teh s15 metal that goes to the head and the metal thick one for the turbo. the only thing i can't figure out is teh nuts backing off

[SoSideways]

Use the OEM locking plate for keeping the nuts on the turbo to mani nuts, that way they won't back off.

As for the O2 dump to turbine nuts, those you'll just have to keep checking and retightening here and there.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Honestly, another solution to our nuts backing off issues is to have an exhaust shop install a flex pipe into the DP. Keeps the pressure off the Mani and elbow. I too had a MR manifold and its cracked, but im still impressed none the less. I know what that manifold went thru and thrust me, it should have cracked a loooooooong time ago. At one time, my car was so low that when im driving on the freeway and change lane, my exhaust flanges would car road turtles. One time while driving back from LA to norcal thru the grapevine, i bottomed up on something hard enough that i broke 3 of the turbo elbow studs. Made it home, took the whole setup off the car to double check and tap out the broken studs, Manifold held up with no cracks or anything.

[Slidin240Wayz]

I have the tuningpros manifold (very similar if not the same as MR)- it held up 100% through winter and about 8 track events and some 1/4 runs with no flex joint or damper by the tranny mount. I have kept the same setup but now I installed the damper on the tranny mount. I also have an ebay dump pipe and MR Downpipe. No nuts or bolts have ever backed out. I think installation is key!!! Even though this mani has held up very well, I will be upgrading to a full race in the spring. I am very excited about that.

Carlos

[HyperTek]

here is a question, are you guys installing your manifolds with the engine in or out of the car?? maybe a rushed thru install could be doing your problems. i installed my ebay mani b4 i put the motor in, so i was able to properly ensure that everything was perfect.

not sayin that the manifolds will not crack (nothing last forever), but just making sure everything lines up/and is seated properly.

[caall99]

wow this is boring! i never intended for this thread to turn into a installation error thread. i was just informing you guys about my mistakes when installing it, but most importantly the performance effects. i obviously know how to install it now because i have read the 5868593234 million other threads about "Mani nuts coming loose", and my current and last setup held up without a leak. here is the final answer on installation, use the **cking OEM metal locking plates that hold two nuts together at a time (so they don't spin loose), and the metal manifold to turbo gasket, with copper gasket spray, and u will never have problems again. period. we are done talking about install. i started this thread more along the lines of performance of a ported stock manifold v.s. megan racing manifold on the stock T25 turbo. ok? jeeeezz...

[HyperTek]

haha its all good.. thanks for the info tho.. if anythign happens to mine, ill throw the stocker back on.. =D

[McRussellPants]

"My turbo fell off the manifold and then when I put the stock manifold back on with the turbo properly attached it was alot faster"


Cool, I'll keep that in mind the next time my turbo falls off, put it back on and it will be faster.

[caall99]

i don't think i made myself clear. yes the turbo did fall of the damn manifold but i got it bolted back on, and it stopped leaking. i am not retarded, and have never had anyone else but myself do anywork on the car, so yes again, i am knowledgable about the SR. i drove the car with the megan manifold installed properly without any leaks for several months, and it is only then that i decided to try out the stock manifold after thinking that my manifold was cracked. got it? it takes everyone a mistake or two before things work perfectly, maybe McRusselPants is some sort of retarded superhero, that gets everything right the first time, i dunno. i really don't need your attitude, just take my info for what it was intended: that a ported stock manifold can actually outperform a megan manifold on the stock T25 turbo.

[Slidin240Wayz]

It all matters in the title of the thread. If you put review, everyone else is going to respond with a review. If you put "MR Mani vs Stock ported manifold with a T25" then it would have been different. You also said the turbo falling information in your initial post which of course would have created install comments, which it did.

Carlos

[caall99]

i think its all in ur head man... yes it says review, meaning i am reviewing the product for u guys. its not about u guys telling me that i do not know how to install/run a product. i might as well have omitted the turbo falling off part, then again it seams to me that you guys focused on it, and figured that it was all my fault that the megan did not perform the way it was supposed too. well, for the last couple months i have been running the megan without leaks, perfect sealing all around. just recently i installed the stock ported manifold with everything sealing perfectly as well. comparing the two, the stock manifold with the t25 is def putting more area under the curve, and making the car not only "feel" faster, but actually faster. anyway i am done, and so is this thread, unless someone has something performance related to add.

[sepulchral]

so what caused my manifold flange to warp when it was boled tightly on the damn head? im talking the manif to head flange

eghhhh

megan racing welds = just as shitty as SSA however, include warrenty