Ekona

LM1 Terrific piece of kit.

They're still sitting in the bags they came in, as a quick test of them in really didn't sound a whole lot different (admittedly this wasn't under load) so I'm going to leave them out for now. I plan to do a noise test just for the laughs really, so I'll get some video of the bungs in when I do that (hopefully next week).

That's what the volume control on your PC is for ;) The only trouble with the videos of the K1 posted up (mine included) is that they don't convey the bass across properly. That's what really makes it a very special sound.

Videos! Quite a difference, eh?!

Not really worried about as a sniffer can only detect so much as it's post-cat, but assuming it's close enough to the true reading it's getting dangerously rich at the top end, possibly getting towards bore wash perhaps?

Runs quite rich, doesn't it? 11-11.5 is what I'd expect an FI engine to run, not an NA one. How did they get the AFR? Sniffer at the exhaust tip, or have you had a separate hole for a proper wideband sensor added before the cats?

In all fairness I wouldn't actually be that surprised: I know people have said it's loud on here but I didn't quite believe how loud! Great tone though, and exactly what I was after so no complaints here.

Probably, but I left it round my mate's place as it's filthy and I didn't want to get the interior dirty I've got to refit it for a trackday next month anyway, so it might as well stay there for now. Managed to get the entire ESR exhaust in the Zed including Y-Pipe AND was still able to get the roof back up!

It's on! Oh. My. Dear. God. It's as if there's a small thermonuclear device somewhere between the V6 and the end of the exhaust, and every time you stamp on the accelerator a small part of it is unleashed! It's loud, very loud, and yet it retains a beautiful tone that truly sings when you want it to (one of the the slip roads that joins the A10 is now a favourite of mine, as booting it down there and redlining in 1st and 2nd was simply amazing!). I'll be honest: It is a tad boomy on partial throttle at times, but then that's exactly what Phil said to expect and it should settle down nicely in a few hundred miles once there's a good build up of soot throughout the system. Bear in mind though that I'm running this sans inserts for now, as the tone when under load is just too nice to ignore. I also can no longer do subtle at all, as my return journey via Braintree town centre proved I love it. It's a real quality piece of kit and there were absolutely no fitment issues at all, which you rarely get from small suppliers/manufacturers. Pleasure doing business with you Phil, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this exhaust to the attention whores amongst us out there PS: For sh*ts and giggles, when we were halfway through the process with the stock backbox and mid-pipe removed and just the y-pipe and cats left on, we thought it'd be fun to fire it up in my mate's garage where we were doing the install, because we're childish like that Not only was it a glorious sound, but even putting the rest of the exhaust on didn't really sound like it was any quieter!

Got mine today! Fitting it Saturday, so will be sure to get loads of before + after footage and sort some clips out. Beautiful piece of kit too, seriously impressed with the quality of it.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to drive it, just wouldn't own it

I paid over the top for mine by a long way I reckon (£25K, 5000 miles, rev-up MY06), but everytime I drive the thing I simply don't care. It's the exact spec I wanted and came from a NMGB dealer with low miles which ticked every box on my wanted list. I could've had a much faster car for what I paid, or a better looking one, or something with a bigger engine in, but that's not what I wanted. There'll always be something better/cheaper out there if you look, but with car purchases we always tend to follow our hearts and not our heads. Best way I reckon

+1 That car has been superseded by 3 generations now, so there's no chance I'd be paying anything over maybe £18K for it, and that's on a generous day. Whilst I can admire the work that's gone into creating something like that, unless it's going to live at the drag strip then there's very little fun to be gained from it IMHO. Even as a track toy it's going to be passed by Caterhams all day long on anything other than the very longest straights. Seeing as the new engine has only done 4K miles, I'm guessing the seller agrees with me

Tigerseal

Cheers Phil *googles for other pics of said kit* O. M. F. G! No offence meant personally Kev, but your pics are actually the best I can find of that kit!

Heh, the more I look at it the more I like the rear! Which kit is it anyway?

That front is absolute gash, but the back is somewhat better (the spoiler is a little too large IMHO, but then so are most Zed spoilers so there you go). That front though... Honestly... Tell me you won the bet? Each to their own bud anyways, it's your car not mine and as long as you're happy that's all that matters. Hell, it might just be the angle of the photos and it could look okay in the flesh for all I know.

Count yourself lucky, 97 is at £1.16 around here atm Some of those headlight designs are simply incredible. If I ever get some spare cash, I'm definitely going to have to give those guys a call.

Tbh the louder the better really. One of my previous cars was a turbo'd MR2 Roadster with a 3" exhaust and a tiny silencer and I thought that was lovely, and my last car (VXR220) had a Milltek on which was nice when you booted it, but far too quiet otherwise. Had to be like that though else I'd never have passed track noise regs. I thought this time I'd make the most of having a car where you can actually easily get the exhaust off/on and put something silly loud on for the weekends and then put the stock box back on for track. Job's a carrot

Ordered my one today as well I get the feeling as though it'll be stupid loud too, seeing as how Phil must've spent a good 10 mins warning me just how loud it actually is! Thing is, if it's quite loud on the coupés, then how loud is it actually going to be on my roadster with the roof down?! Can't wait

This scheme will never happen, as has been said the cost is simply too high. Besides, they'll put them all in on the motorways anyway which are deathly boring at the best of times, so I'll happily stick to tearing up the countryside and the twisties if that's okay with you.

Or you could just accept that you have a totally different car and not try and get in a pissing contest. If you really want an M3 that badly then flog the Zed and buy one. Either way, an M3 with 340bhp is still going to be quicker than a Zed with 310bhp. Don't worry about it, and simply enjoy the fact that you own a car that you like, and be damned what anyone else thinks.

Love to see it with the bungs, and a standard track noise test (0.5m and 45degs from exhaust at 3/4 rpm) both with and without the bungs would be great. If the bungs can make it track-friendly then I'll most definitely be ordering one

Guys, you do realise that this is all a wind up? Clicky And again *EDIT* It even says so on the petition as well.

Not anymore: Is up to a far more sensible 9K IIRC. I like the idea of owning a Jap turbo nutter barge of some description one day, but it'll be when I simply have to have 4 doors and 4 seats. Until then, I'm sticking firmly with 2. It'll be interesting to see how well the paddle shift holds up over a few years, and whether it starts to eat clutches or has a few electronic foibles that could prove expensive to fix.