Megan vs Tomei manifold, actual users please chime in

[SofaKingFast]

I've searched and I didn't really get the answers I was looking for. I'm well aware of the pros and cons of each manifold, so I'm looking for feedback from actual users who street/track their 240's. Basically I have the cash to afford the Tomei, but the price of the Megan is too good to ignore. There are plenty of accounts of both brands cracking, so is it really worth it to spend almost 3x as much for the Tomei? I'm perfectly fine buying 3 megan manifolds if they last longer than 1 Tomei. Plus Megan comes with a 1 year warranty...thoughts?

Ryan

[Black240Ct]

buy tomei.. i like mine alot.. nice and responsive.
the quality of the tomei is superior to the megan stuff imo.

but the performance of it is reason alone to spend the extra cash

[WISH ONE]

Does anyone have dyno numbers to back this.
IMO its a no brainer to go with the TOMEI but performance wise is it really that much better.

[ILoveMyRHS13]

Comparing Tomei and Megan is like comparing Trojan condoms and Ziplock bags.

[SofaKingFast]

buy tomei.. i like mine alot.. nice and responsive.
the quality of the tomei is superior to the megan stuff imo.

but the performance of it is reason alone to spend the extra cash

Did you heat wrap yours?

I also wasn't aware there was a performance difference between the two. I'm interested to see numbers, because if that is the case that might settle it for me.

[gyani]

I always thought that heat wrapping these types of stainless manifolds leads them to crack faster, as they aren't allowed to dissipate heat, and fatigue quicker.

I like my megan just fine, gave me a little top end kick over the stock manifold. It is a little rough on the side, if I had time I'd go in with a dremel tool and smooth out the inside of the piping and welds, so it flows that much better.

[SofaKingFast]

Comparing Tomei and Megan is like comparing Trojan condoms and Ziplock bags.

Haha yes I understand this, but this is my budget racer and if I can save some money here and there without consequences I will. With that said, I think I'm leaning toward buying the Tomei especially if there are performance gains over the Megan.

[SofaKingFast]

I always thought that heat wrapping these types of stainless manifolds leads them to crack faster, as they aren't allowed to dissipate heat, and fatigue quicker.

I like my megan just fine, gave me a little top end kick over the stock manifold. It is a little rough on the side, if I had time I'd go in with a dremel tool and smooth out the inside of the piping and welds, so it flows that much better.

That's what I've always read and understood too, but I can't imagine Tomei including heat wrap if they didn't intend for people to use it?

How is fitment on the Megan? How long have you had yours and do you track your car regularly?

[Prok0]

I have a megan mani on my car. Fit fine, bolted right on and worked great.

Used it for about 2 years so far, daily drove the car, beat on it a bit, sat the downpipe on driveways/speed bumps/etc, and the manifold has not cracked thus far.

If you are interested in tomei's design but dont want to pony up the extra money you could get the Ichiba manifold, they have one that has the same short runner design as the tomei but its a few hundred cheaper.

[travypoo]

i had a megan mani for 2 years. welded it about 3 times in various spots. i decided to put the stock cast mani back on and the car felt much more reponsive. wont crack and can be heat wrapped without worry. the tomei manifold is the same runner design as the stock manifold. could also just buy the isis one, they are dirt cheap

[Touge Noob S13]

Dont bother with Megan, just keep the stock one if you are on a budget. Search extrude honing the stock manifold.

[kouki_steve]

had my megan version 2 manifold with support bracket from touge factory,
almost 2 years boosting 14psi, sr. blew the 4 bolt gasket from megan
but threw on the oem s15 gasket, never had a problem after.

never cracked. 100 bucks, cant beat it.
spooled up smooth/quick.

[TUnity2]

Had my Megan for almost 4 years now. 2 1/2 years of dailying and over 3 years of drifting and it's fine. All I did was cut slots on the flange in between each runner and welded the support bracket so I wouldn't have to worry about the bolts.

[SofaKingFast]

Thanks for the responses guys. Does anyone on here have experience with the Ichiba manifold?

I've also contemplated going with the stock manifold and extruding it, but I can't seem to find anyone that's selling one.

[nickauger]

take isis one if you one to save cash but for maximum response&performance buy Tomei one !

[D.Adams]

Dont bother with Megan, just keep the stock one if you are on a budget. Search extrude honing the stock manifold.

Im with him. You pay for what you get get the OEM extrude honed.


Stick with the OEM till you can get the tomei.

[herbieS13]

+1 on the extrude hone, also if u can afford it get it port matched also

[Hashiriya415]

I'm selling a tomei, used 500miles, with new bandage. PM me if interested.
Seriously it takes a lot've time to make manifolds that make power.

[Black240Ct]

the design of the tomei helps retain the quick spool that the stock mani has.. rather then the 'equal' length megan manifolds..

i wrapped my first one, on my current one its not wrapped and i made heat sheilds to block brakes and such...

with a tomei manifold and s14 t28 at 15 psi with cams i made 305 hp

[SofaKingFast]

It looks like I'm going with the Tomei guys, thanks for everyone's help. I almost considered the Megan because its ridiculously affordable and plenty of people seem to have run it reliably. What swayed me in the end was the better response I would get from the Tomei, better durability (knowing eventually it will crack though...), and a good price from Hashiriya. I'm not going to lie, having the bling factor is cool too.

Ryan

[Hashiriya415]

Mani is sold guys, please no more PM's

[Treefish]

Just don't heatwrap the Tomei, it'll last way longer. Also Tomei has a warranty. Mine cracked (heat-wrapped) and they replaced it as soon as I sent them the damaged one.

[chiboy002]

tomei: Research and development

[va240dude]

It looks like I'm going with the Tomei guys, thanks for everyone's help. I almost considered the Megan because its ridiculously affordable and plenty of people seem to have run it reliably. What swayed me in the end was the better response I would get from the Tomei, better durability (knowing eventually it will crack though...), and a good price from Hashiriya. I'm not going to lie, having the bling factor is cool too.

Ryan

Nice dude, I have a Tomei I bought from Treefish not installed yet, but I did a bunch of research on manis before making my decision and decided to go with the Tomei due to R&D. Anybody can make a manifold, but it is nice the figures to show that maximum flow is achieved from each cylinder. Unless you just absolutely can't afford it, Tomei FTW!

[projectslider]

DMAX equal length.

[[email protected]]

Same crap, another day...

Small variations, but with different price tags go with whatever's better for your wallet.

If you really want performance, man up and beef up your sr20 with a bigger turbo and mods to accommodate.

People buy items like tomei/arc/mugen/for hardparking/showing off how "baller" they are.
If that's your game, then have fun. I'm not hating on that either because I've done it as well.

Who cares if you get +2 more hp off a manifold, eat some mcdonalds for a week and the +2 hp won't do much.
(numbers are just made up to prove a point, I don't care to google dyno graphs because all motors are different)

IF you do buy a megan, run a flex pipe and you shouldn't have issues.

(source: I've owned/used almost every manifold on the market for our personal cars/customer's SR20s)

My opinion if it really matters, stick with a stock manifold for a t25 or t28, run a sidemount and have fun.

Save up the cash for school, gas, or something better for your future.

[90hatchie]

dmax equal length.

+1 love love fucking love it

[Touge Noob S13]

Same crap, another day...

Small variations, but with different price tags go with whatever's better for your wallet.

If you really want performance, man up and beef up your sr20 with a bigger turbo and mods to accommodate.

People buy items like tomei/arc/mugen/for hardparking/showing off how "baller" they are.
If that's your game, then have fun. I'm not hating on that either because I've done it as well.

Who cares if you get +2 more hp off a manifold, eat some mcdonalds for a week and the +2 hp won't do much.
(numbers are just made up to prove a point, I don't care to google dyno graphs because all motors are different)

IF you do buy a megan, run a flex pipe and you shouldn't have issues.

(source: I've owned/used almost every manifold on the market for our personal cars/customer's SR20s)

My opinion if it really matters, stick with a stock manifold for a t25 or t28, run a sidemount and have fun.

Save up the cash for school, gas, or something better for your future.

OP is 30 years old. Looks like the one that needs to go back to school is you.

[JDMorina]

Same crap, another day...

Small variations, but with different price tags go with whatever's better for your wallet.

If you really want performance, man up and beef up your sr20 with a bigger turbo and mods to accommodate.

People buy items like tomei/arc/mugen/for hardparking/showing off how "baller" they are.
If that's your game, then have fun. I'm not hating on that either because I've done it as well.

Who cares if you get +2 more hp off a manifold, eat some mcdonalds for a week and the +2 hp won't do much.
(numbers are just made up to prove a point, I don't care to google dyno graphs because all motors are different)

IF you do buy a megan, run a flex pipe and you shouldn't have issues.

(source: I've owned/used almost every manifold on the market for our personal cars/customer's SR20s)

My opinion if it really matters, stick with a stock manifold for a t25 or t28, run a sidemount and have fun.

Save up the cash for school, gas, or something better for your future.

QFT!
msglngth

[anton1o]

Tomei are known to crack due to Stainless, Ive been told by a many person in Japan to not buy a used Tomei Manifold since its prone to cracking..
I'm still Manifold less, but coming from people in Japan who've used these manifolds, or know of people who have and saying to watch out isn't the best of news.

Megan isnt available to me locally, but if its just a cheap manifold then you may aswell, atleast if it does crack you can easily weld it up without no worries, you really dont want to have to continually weld up a brand name manifold, when you could of just got a cheap copy..

Or stay away from both, and get a Custom Steam Pipe manifold, they generally all come with Life Time Warranties(well they do in AUS anyway) best of luck :)

[tricky_ab]

tomei: Research and development



I quoted this just in case you missed it...

[DrIvEsldEwAyS]

your not gunna see much of a difference...cant beat cheap if it works the same

[Pandapants]

The tomei manifold is more than some bent up, shiny pipes.

[s14_sr20_silvia]

The tomei manifold is more than some bent up, shiny pipes.


I'm not disagreeing, but I have yet to see proof. I've daily driven with a megan manifold heat wrapped for almost 4 years, and it's still holding strong.

Has anyone actually dyno proven that the Tomei makes better power/ spools faster?

[RickyS13.]

I've had my Tomei mani for 2 years now no heat wrap and its held strong on my daily/track car. I wouldn't know about Megan as im not a fan of their parts, all I know is I never had to get my Tomei mani welded 3 times. All of their parts are great quality.

[Pandapants]

Has anyone actually dyno proven that the Tomei makes better power/ spools faster?

The manifold was issued in some magazine a couple of years ago (I want to say super street, cant remember), there's info on the tomei website (obviously biased), and a quick google search brought up info for the 4g63 (not relevant to the sr20, but relevant to tomei's reputation).

All Tomei 4g63 In Stock!!!! - evolutionm.net (http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-sale-external-engine-power/230475-all-tomei-4g63-stock.html)

The power gain wasn't much, but the torque curve is nice. From a physics point of view, Tomei's idea makes sense.

[airhead]

im currently running a s15 mani on my redtop

i had a megan mani worked great never had a problem wats so ever sounded BOMB too...
im thinking of switching back to my megan mani once my turbo gasket go bad...

[RickyS13.]

The manifold was issued in some magazine a couple of years ago (I want to say super street/Project Car, cant remember), there's info on the tomei website (obviously biased), and a quick google search brought up info for the 4g63 (not relevant to the sr20, but relevant to tomei's reputation).

All Tomei 4g63 In Stock!!!! - evolutionm.net (http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-sale-external-engine-power/230475-all-tomei-4g63-stock.html)

The power gain wasn't much, but the torque curve is nice. From a physics point of view, Tomei's idea makes sense.

Fixed^^

Tomei Research and Development :D