Best value manifold: Che?

smith123 · Post by **smith123** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:21 am

Having owned my mr2 for a few months I have decided to get a performance manifold as I don't want the pre-cats breaking up and I'm after a few more bhp. Since Im on a bit of a budget is the CHE manifold the best value for money? I'm not sure I want to risk a 'no name' one on ebay.

Cheers Jeremy

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:17 pm

The no-name brands on eBay are the Che manifold too

Personally I wouldn't bother, as the BHP increase is utterly minimal if there at all. Just gut your existing manifold and spend what you were going to on a front strut brace (if you don't have one already) or some kind of underbody bracing (like a TTE turbo-style one or a Corky's brace), that'll make much more of a difference to the car than an single extra horse power will.

Post by **tonigmr2** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:42 pm

Interesting you say that mate, as the racing MR2 Roadsters are now all using the copy manifold off ebay, and I am told are reporting a definite increase in power. I just bought one too, so look forward to doing a before and after comparison!

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:32 pm

You'll notice the power more because of zero precats, rather than the manifold itself. Gutting the precats in the stock manifold frees the engine up a fair bit, and was what myself and Mark are planning to do with our racecar (should we ever get it finished!).

Post by **tonigmr2** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:24 pm

Get on with it!!! We want to see you out there.

My manifold is indeed already decatted, so will be interesting to see.

smith123 · Post by **smith123** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:23 pm

tonigmr2 wrote:Interesting you say that mate, as the racing MR2 Roadsters are now all using the copy manifold off ebay, and I am told are reporting a definite increase in power. I just bought one too, so look forward to doing a before and after comparison!

How much did you pay for yours? They seem to be about £140 on ebay which is probably what most garages would charge to remove the precats from a standard manifold anyway.

Post by **tonigmr2** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:33 pm

£129 plus £8 postage. There is a supplier from the States doing them for £70 and promising no VAT on delivery mind.

excalibur1814 · Post by **excalibur1814** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:53 pm

Got mine for £150 around two years back. Not sure if it made a difference as I have the usual o2 sensor problem

smith123 · Post by **smith123** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:33 am

Managed to get a new one on ebay last night for £111.50 including postage

What are the gaskets like that come with it, should I use them or get ones from Toyota?

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:52 am

Definitely get new ones from Toyota. For the couple of quid they want for them, it's not worth the hassle given that I've heard a billion and one stories about the supplied gaskets leaking. That's for all three gaskets, the metal one between manifold and block and the two between manifold and cat.

smith123 · Post by **smith123** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:47 am

Ok thanks I'll do that. Is it quite easy to fit? (it took me 18 hours to change the springs on my old mk2

)

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:48 am

Piece of cake, assuming none of the bolts shear off

Spray everything in a coating of Plusgas or other penetrating fluid (not WD40) for a few days before you start and you'll give yourself a much better chance of success.

Post by **tonigmr2** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:02 pm

Interesting on the gaskets, they look fine in the kit. What's wrong with them?

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:36 pm

Everyone I know who has used them has had them leak, and the general consensus is just to get the proper Toyota ones. I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with them as such, it just seems to be that they don't fit/crush very well.

Post by **tonigmr2** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:06 pm

I'll ask the guys at Rogue who will be fitting it....!

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:11 pm

Honestly, I'd just get them to fit OEM gaskets or supply them yourself, it's not worth the hassle to go back and have to do it all again. Have a search over on ROC, there's loads of cases on there.

Post by **tonigmr2** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:58 pm

Right you've convinced me, I'll ask them.

smith123 · Post by **smith123** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:20 pm

I was planning on leaving the heavy old heat shield off as I would imagine it would need modifying to fit. Is it a good idea to use heat wrap on the new manifold considering how hot the engine bay gets normally?

Ekona · Post by **Ekona** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:25 pm

Not really, unless you want it for aesthetic purposes. I left mine off for about 3 years, no issues at all, and I could point you in the direction of 50+ other people who have done the same with no problems.

frogger · Post by **frogger** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:50 pm

no problems no, but the theory would be in favour of heat wrapping - aids the evacuation of exhaust gasses and keeps engine bay temps down.
You will probably never notice the benefits, and I'm sure it will cause no problems as such, but the theory sides with heat wrapping.

www.imoc.co.uk

Best value manifold: Che?

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