I put on my cat replacement pipe today. Turned the car on, drove it to the hoist and turned it off. Was on for less than a minute and was barely above idle. 10 minutes after I turned if off I decided to shoot the manifold/1st cat flange with a laser thermometer and it was almost 300 degrees still. I know rotary exhaust heat is extreme but damn, that's crazy. No wonder it's all held on by stainless hardware and thank God I used stainless to put on the pipe. Also explains why the replacement pipe is so thick. I pity the fool who uses anything cheap and thin for their exhaust.

 

Absolutely. I was talking to a fellow REX owner over supper about em. He said he saw a study done down in texas where they tested aftermark CATs and exhuast, headers etc. SOme of the products life span was measured in MINUTES.

 

Yeppers, hence the reason for soooo much heatshielding under the passenger area aroun the cats too.

 

It really is insane the amount of heat these things produce. Really makes you think about why you should buy the expensive exhaust over the cheap stuff.

 

+ eleventy. And I still maintain that the full RB system is worth every penny.

 

To give you guys an idea, a friend of mine tried to use JBWeld to patch an exhaust leak... it ended up melting off and dripping onto his driveway! (after he let it cure overnight then started the car to try and fix a fuel problem)

Jon

 

I think that this is part of the reason RB has you re-use the center exhaust pipe with their systems. You can't just go out and buy 1/8" wall tubing anywhere. The stock exhausts on these cars are really very nice. They are just usually rusty and worn out. Thankfully I wirebrushed off my centerpipe and hit it with some BBQ paint. Looks brand new....