Recommendations - DC Sports or Tegiwa exhaust manifold?

[p1tse]

Again just interest read and dyno's being subjective and different day to day, but someone who had spoon 2-1 then went toda or similar with better dyno results

I think there have been a few posts similar to that which shows toda is probably good for quality and performance, and can only assume if the tegiwa is a replica to it should be similar in output delivery.

I have been in a car with a japspeed then a tegiwa, and I could tell a different noise inside the cabin and prefer the tegiwa

But I do understand people not liking tegiwa as more replica based, but keeping on topic.

I would imagine the dc sport and tegiwa would be very similar; although I believe tegiwa has a v1 and v2 version

 

[MilanoChris]

What I have read with the DC sports (from people I know and trust) is that the inner flex can break and can result in a substantial drop in power (30bhp).

 

[p1tse]

I've seen flex bit break on dc too, but is it prone or inevitable to happen to all these with flexi part?

 

[Chewy]

The flexi is always going to give up on most, if not all manifolds at some point just down to the movement they endure, as we all know the K series is a lively little bugger in the bay, especially with the front mount being broken on 90% of DC5 (And EP3's).

It's most common in the DC Sports manifold because DC insist you fit engine mount inserts when fitting their manifold to reduce the amount of movement and prolong the life of the flexi (as warranty will be void without this) but not all owners do, so the flexi wears quicker, ends up failing and we hear about it more often on the forum.

I'm personally in the market for an aftermarket manifold in the near furture, and I genuinely have no idea what to get, Granted it would be easier if money were no object but that's not the case so I'll be looking into 'budget manifolds' as such. I would personally recommend the Tegiwa, as I have (not having owned one previously though) just based on what I've read from other owners on the forums etc, they have the lowest failure rate component wise of other manifolds that I have read (Ie DC Sports) and always seem to make reasonable power on various different dynos/tuners, i can only assume this is down to being a copy of the Toda (After seeing how similar they are side by side), which general consensus would have it is one of the best for the K20a.

Now, If I had a spare £1000-1200 (Talking new as 2nd are like rocking horse fecal matter) Toda would be the manifold of choice for myself, but as I don't have that sort of money to hand, as with most, I have to look at the alternatives.

I'm all for brand snobbery (sensibly) , but £400 for a Tegiwa vs £1000 for a Toda opens up a serious discussion, do you pay the extra for the R&D or give the criminals less than half of that for a 'proven' rip off, and this is the reason why i've not purchased one today, I don't know which way to go.

When you look into alternatives there's not much information in the UK on many, as most seem to go for Tegiwa or DC, I'm reluctant to give Tegiwa my money, and I'd rather avoid the potential of a premature flexi failure from the DC despite running inserts or upgraded mounts.

So where do you go from here, Get a custom one made, or risk buying something less commonly used and seeing how it plays out? It's a tough one.

 

[Fez]

Now, If I had a spare £1000-1200 (Talking new as 2nd are like rocking horse fecal matter) Toda would be the manifold of choice for myself, but as I don't have that sort of money to hand, as with most, I have to look at the alternatives.

I'm all for brand snobbery (sensibly) , but £400 for a Tegiwa vs £1000 for a Toda opens up a serious discussion, do you pay the extra for the R&D or give the criminals less than half of that for a 'proven' rip off, and this is the reason why i've not purchased one today, I don't know which way to go.

When you look into alternatives there's not much information in the UK on many, as most seem to go for Tegiwa or DC, I'm reluctant to give Tegiwa my money, and I'd rather avoid the potential of a premature flexi failure from the DC despite running inserts or upgraded mounts.

So where do you go from here, Get a custom one made, or risk buying something less commonly used and seeing how it plays out? It's a tough one.

For the ~£800 you would save getting the tegiwa over the toda, you could get a k100/remap, on top which would then make much more power than the toda.

Granted you'd be getting the remap anyway, but that £800 again could be used for track time, tyres, brakes etc etc... Which would all be better than the 1hp maybe? From getting the toda mani.

 

[Fvil]

I m in the market for a manifold too.. want to get a toda, but like you guys have said, it costly.

Looked at the Ktuned, but heard there are issues with the slip fit!

Skunk2 apparently is pretty good for power, but has fitment issues..

Not many choices are there 😕

 

[Mark_teg]

Nobody has mentioned the Buddyclub..

 

[Chewy]

Nobody has mentioned the Buddyclub..

Buddyclub is always a good shout and it's very tempting to say the least (It's certainly in the running) I suppose it gets over looked as only a select few have ever ran them.

But when talking 'budget manifolds' circa £400 new, the Buddyclub is still a little bit dearer at £660? IIRC (Give or take some discount from Paul at SPD that is) but this was prior to the Sterling drop, so could be even more now....

Could be people are put off by the slip joints, or the lack of flexi? - I'm not too sure.

Seems like a good compromise considering it's Jap developed, midway in terms of price compared to others and most importantly not a copy of something else.

 

[Richie200]

Nobody has mentioned the Buddyclub..

I run a Buddyclub manifold mated to a Megan Racing cat back. Fitment on the manifold is spot on and doesn't hang low compared to Tegiwa etc... Power wise I'm sure it's going to be similiar to other manifolds, but I've heard the Buddyclub ones make torque than others. Whether this is proven I'm not sure.

Good alternative to a Toda if you haven't got deep pockets.

 

[MrRy]

Would love to see a WHP comparison graph for the DC, Japspeed, Tegiwa, Buddy club and Stock, all tuned properly on the same car.

As a different point of view, for me I'm sticking to stock and made that decision a long time ago. The cost, weight loss and extra bhp doesn't compare with losing the reliability of the OEM unit and the MOT faff some might have. Even though I already run Vibra Technics mounts.

I had an ep3 for a little while, with dc Mani, dc exhaust, aem intake, k100 running 241bhp via TDI and it felt slower than my DC5 when it just had a Spoon N1 and Top Fuel induction kit. No remap, no decat or mani, etc. The ep3 also sounded chav beyond belief.

 

[Fvil]

I ve thought of BuddyClub. but yea its the slip fit that puts me off.

What about Invidia's header? seem like they have revised it and got rid of the flex (with a donut gasket and springs) Seems like the same design as Skunk2 tho (which ever came first)

I ve got a full spoon sat in the workshop atm... but I wanna a full race manifold.

 

[Rage_DC5]

I ve thought of BuddyClub. but yea its the slip fit that puts me off.

What about Invidia's header? seem like they have revised it and got rid of the flex (with a donut gasket and springs) Seems like the same design as Skunk2 tho (which ever came first)

I ve got a full spoon sat in the workshop atm... but I wanna a full race manifold.

If you want to sell the 2-1 seperate, drop me a PM

 

[Crazylegs]

Can I ask what may seem a silly question.

I have a Tegiwa manifold with decat which I take it means the car will not pass an MOT with the current system, are there any ways around this without having to take current system off?

Come MOT time if I have to switch it to an OEM system, will the car need re-mapping again after each time?

Thanks.

 

[Johngreen537]

Or find a more friendly tester locally.....

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Crazylegs]

I'm hoping my current garage will be that 'Friendly local tester' lol

So the answer is no then, it will fail an MOT as it currently stands?

 

[Mark_teg]

I'm hoping my current garage will be that 'Friendly local tester' lol

So the answer is no then, it will fail an MOT as it currently stands?

Yes, it will fail as cars produced after '93 require a Cat to be fitted.

 

[Crazylegs]

Yes, it will fail as cars produced after '93 require a Cat to be fitted.

Cheers Mark.

 

[SamDC5]

Find a decent garage, it will technically fail to be honest. However at my MOT they tested it as a car without a cat so it seems to be luck of the draw.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[Crazylegs]

Find a decent garage, it will technically fail to be honest. However at my MOT they tested it as a car without a cat so it seems to be luck of the draw.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Did you tell them it had a decat though?

I've a good relationship with my garage but I doubt very much they will break the law to get it through its MOT.

Cheers.

 

[SamDC5]

Did you tell them it had a decat though?

I've a good relationship with my garage but I doubt very much they will break the law to get it through its MOT.

Cheers.

Mine doesn't have a decat but the emissions sheet on the back says it was tested as a non catalyst vehicle.

I know my garage very well and even if I had a decat they would pass it. You could buy a sports cat and have it welded in?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk