Mazda Talk Forums

Great, ppe + Q and no baffles...... Yes, exactly what we were seeking, thanks!

http://miataexhaust.wordpress.com/2010/ ... -exhausts/

has any of you seen the comparison (RS Max vs. Long tube) on the bottom of this page?
I have just read it and kind of shocked me. I tought that the long tube is the king of headers, but it seems like it is not! The RS Max performed better... and is much cheaper...

Any comments on that? Do I see it wrong?

Already been discussed in some detail, see the discussion page 9 and 10 of our thread on Project Blue 2006. More testing is planned.

Didn't want to make a new thread. Somewhat related.

Brian can you give me a heads up on what AWG stranded wire you guys use on your O2 extension cables. My buddy did not want to buy the cables like I suggested for the PPE Longtube, and I'd rather not have to get under my car to check the ones I bought from you unless I have to lol.

This is for the front O2. He spliced in 18 AWG Stranded, and I think that's where he is running into the constant P0130/P0134 codes.

amoore311 wrote:Didn't want to make a new thread. Somewhat related.

Brian can you give me a heads up on what AWG stranded wire you guys use on your O2 extension cables. My buddy did not want to buy the cables like I suggested for the PPE Longtube, and I'd rather not have to get under my car to check the ones I bought from you unless I have to lol.

This is for the front O2. He spliced in 18 AWG Stranded, and I think that's where he is running into the constant P0130/P0134 codes.

P0130 code is A/F sensor >500 ohms; P0134 code is A/F sensor >80 ohms. This isn't due to insufficient wire gauge, 18 AWG should be fine. I suspect your friend has an open circuit in his splice. When I did mine, I noticed that the sensor wire is NOT copper based and is very difficult to solder to. It took me lots of heat as well as a good deal of patience to get the solder to "wet" the sensor wire. Have him open up his splices and check for cold solder joints.

Having done this myself, I do not recommend splicing the sensor wires. Over the next 6 months, my car developed intermittent codes until the front A/F sensor failed. The replacement was over $250 so I just ordered Brian's extension cable. Works great, no problems.

Finally fixed everything for him last night, with the same 18 AWG Wire.

I ended up pulling the sensor completely off the car and re-soldered every connection myself. I experienced the same issue that you did MorrisG. It took a lot of heat, but I got everything wired up correctly and soldered up just fine.

He reported last night and this morning no codes, so hopefully everything is good to go.


I will also say to just buy the stupid extension cable. For the $40ish bucks they cost, they are WELL worth the cost.


You can also get tested/used sensors from miata salvagers for around $150. That will be the direction we go if this fix ends up not working long term. Used Front o2 + Brian's Extension Cable.

Brian wrote:Already been discussed in some detail, see the discussion page 9 and 10 of our thread on Project Blue 2006. More testing is planned.

I wonder if you custom tune for each header if that would change the results.

morrisg wrote:PPE Long Tube Header Component Weights:

Header ~14 lbs; catted pipe is 7.7 lbs; Magnaflow resonator is 6.5 lbs; rear pipe is 3.5 lbs; clamps and hangers ~3 lbs.

Total with no muffler or tail pipe: 34.7 lbs

Goodwin Race Single is ~7 lbs, so the whole system could come in around 42 lbs.

Stock muffler is ~26 lbs. I'll let you know what the other stock system components weigh after I take them off.

Figured I'd revive this thread from the bone pile, since I just got my new 1.63" PPE long tube header and decided to weigh everything. My el-cheapo bathroom scale doesn't seem to be all that repeatable, so the weights are probably only good to half a pound or so.

The new header with PPE ceramic coating came in at 15.4 lbs., which makes sense since the primaries are larger tubing.

At first I weighed the whole midpipe in one shot and come out with 15.6 lbs pretty consistently. Then I weighed the different pieces separately and came out with 7.2 lbs for the cat pipe, 5.4 lbs for the resonator, and 4.0 lbs for the rear pipe. Of course, when you add those up, it comes out to 16.6 lbs total. And my bag of clamps and bolts came in around 3.2 lbs.

One thing I noticed is that PPE seems to have switched away from Magnaflow for the resonator. It still looks like a 14" long, 5" round resonator, but not sure who makes it. It also seems to be about a pound lighter than the Magnaflow one.

So the take-away is that the whole setup is all but identical to the 1.5" version in weight. The header is about a pound heavier and the midpipe is about a pound lighter.

Can't wait to get it installed and post some driving impressions.