Engine Performance This section is for discussion on all engine building related questions.
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by: KPower

Racing Beat Power Pulse Exhaust Quality

Old 10-12-2017, 03:20 PM
  #1  
Elite Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
concealer404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,917
Total Cats: 2,201
Default Racing Beat Power Pulse Exhaust Quality

Just to nip this in the bud ahead of time: I purchased this from 949 Racing. Dan has been super nice to talk to about the whole thing and even took the time to talk to Racing Beat about this issue for me. 949 Racing is awesome. Racing Beat is not.


I recently purchased a Racing Beat Power Pulse Muffler as a luxury purchase, to match the extremely nice Racing Beat header and Racing Beat midpipe i had already. Since i'm building an extremely nice car with extremely nice parts to enjoy for a long time to come, i figured spending $350 for a muffler was maybe worth it.

This is what i received. Joke is on me!


20171010_172344 by concealer404, on Flickr


20171010_172638 by concealer404, on Flickr


20171010_174534 by concealer404, on Flickr


These welds are pretty unacceptable in the context of a $350 muffler. If i wanted questionable quality i would have bought an $89.99 ebay muffler and taken my chances.

I've since been provided with picture examples of what the welds normally look like on these exhausts (as well have seen the weld quality on the two Racing Beat midpipes and headers i have on my cars) and have determined that this is entirely different. We are now paying the same price for a vastly inferior product.

Two examples below:


Mitymazda rb muffler 4 by concealer404, on Flickr


ian rb welds by concealer404, on Flickr

The vendor that i purchased this from reached out to Racing Beat on my behalf, and was told that "Apparently they changed the rod they use, and the welders are not 'used to it' yet.
They didn't say they won't swap it, but admitted that the rest of the batch is the same." What ******* douchebags. (Racing Beat, not the vendor)

Take extreme caution. I would absolute not suggest purchasing this product at anywhere near this price. :unamused:
concealer404 is offline  
Old 10-12-2017, 03:21 PM
  #2  
VladiTuned
iTrader: (76)
 
18psi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 35,821
Total Cats: 3,481
Default

Looks like it was welded in "intro to welding" class in junior high school

.........and by jr high school I mean sweat shop in china.
18psi is offline  
Old 10-12-2017, 04:10 PM
  #3  
Junior Member
iTrader: (1)
 
mitymazda's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: El Dorado/Sacramento
Posts: 276
Total Cats: 266
Default


This is what it should look like, after 6 years
mitymazda is offline  
Old 10-12-2017, 08:46 PM
  #4  
Junior Member
iTrader: (1)
 
dubya's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: SC
Posts: 97
Total Cats: 10
Default

I had been thinking about ordering one of their new Power Pulse Race mufflers, but might hold off after seeing their recent lack of QC. Looks like even the product photos on their website for the new race muffler include toothpaste-like welds:

dubya is offline  
Old 10-13-2017, 08:50 AM
  #5  
Senior Member
iTrader: (6)
 
yossi126's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 854
Total Cats: -15
Default

If you want to keep your sanity in check I would avoide a Racing Beat muffler. It was acceptable with stock piping, but after putting the racing beat manifold and a high flow cat, sound was obnoxious and droney.
I would buy a Magnaflow box and paying a shop to do the welding. The bigger the box = quieter, sane mind.
yossi126 is offline  
Old 10-13-2017, 10:36 AM
  #6  
Moderator
iTrader: (12)
 
sixshooter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 20,645
Total Cats: 3,009
Default

I must recommend the Magma flow as well. Lars made muy bueno welds, too. Molten goodness.
sixshooter is offline  
Old 10-13-2017, 11:39 AM
  #7  
Elite Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
concealer404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,917
Total Cats: 2,201
Default

I have other options and didn't need to purchase this in the first place, it was just a "well maybe i'll treat the car to a nice thing" purchase. Joke's on me.

This is an FYI and a suggestion to not buy this trash, yourself.
concealer404 is offline  
Old 10-14-2017, 02:52 AM
  #8  
Junior Member
 
AndrewG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 92
Total Cats: -4
Default

so I guess this mean the headers will be the same ? or they are made in different chineese shop?
AndrewG is offline  
Old 10-14-2017, 05:39 PM
  #9  
Elite Member
iTrader: (2)
 
Arca_ex's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,628
Total Cats: 427
Default

I'm pretty sure it's Taiwan instead of China lol.
Arca_ex is offline  
Old 10-14-2017, 10:10 PM
  #10  
Newb
 
tankrust's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: SoCal
Posts: 30
Total Cats: 5
Default

For what it's worth, I purchased a Racing Beat header through 949 a couple of months ago and it is a thing of beauty. Hopefully they do right by you and exchange your muffler.



​​​
tankrust is offline  
Old 10-15-2017, 01:01 AM
  #11  
Elite Member
iTrader: (1)
 
borka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 1,552
Total Cats: 196
Default

This is what happens when good companies start cutting costs and outsource to the cheapest China bidders.

might as well buy ebay China junk at 1/3rd the cost.

I had a racing beat power pulse dual tip muffler on my last miata, it came with the car, so no idea how old it was, but it held up real good, sounded great with a stock car and midpipe.
But i do not remember how the welds looked, never bothered to look at them.
borka is offline  
Old 10-15-2017, 12:07 PM
  #12  
Cpt. Slow
iTrader: (25)
 
curly's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 14,175
Total Cats: 1,129
Default

I'll give you $150 and get rid of it for you.
curly is offline  
Old 10-15-2017, 06:17 PM
  #13  
Elite Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
concealer404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,917
Total Cats: 2,201
Default

Originally Posted by tankrust
For what it's worth, I purchased a Racing Beat header through 949 a couple of months ago and it is a thing of beauty. Hopefully they do right by you and exchange your muffler.


​​​
Yep i have a couple RB headers. They're nice.
concealer404 is offline  
Old 10-15-2017, 06:18 PM
  #14  
Elite Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
concealer404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,917
Total Cats: 2,201
Default

Originally Posted by curly
I'll give you $150 and get rid of it for you.
Nah, 949 has graciously agreed to take this trash back, but i'm still on hook for shipping. Trying to sell it locally quick to minimize loss, otherwise that's what i'm doing.
concealer404 is offline  
Old 10-17-2017, 08:21 AM
  #15  
Elite Member
 
z31maniac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: OKC, OK
Posts: 3,693
Total Cats: 222
Default

They've realized the young kids these days don't care about the actual quality of what they are buying.
z31maniac is offline  
Old 10-17-2017, 08:40 AM
  #16  
Elite Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
concealer404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,917
Total Cats: 2,201
Default

Apparently.

FWIW, my midpipe appears to be MIG'd as well, but without spatter EVERYWHERE, contaminated welds, and just generally looks quite nice and uniform, not the bird **** that's on every weld on this muffler.
concealer404 is offline  
Old 10-31-2017, 05:16 PM
  #17  
Junior Member
 
lbatalha's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Portugal
Posts: 106
Total Cats: 22
Default

Just to add another data point, recently got the race connecting midpipe from racingbeat europe, took about 4 weeks to get here from the US:



The welds on the curved parts seem much better than the MIG crap on the hangers, but looks solid enough.
Its obvious the resonator was welded somewhere else, based on the difference between the end cap weld and the one connecting to the actual pipe.
Could look much better if it had some nitric acid brushed on afterwards.
lbatalha is offline  
Old 10-31-2017, 05:21 PM
  #18  
Elite Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
concealer404's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,917
Total Cats: 2,201
Default

That looks dirty, but the welds themselves look solid. I'd probably just suck it up and clean mine up if it looked like that.
concealer404 is offline  
Old 10-31-2017, 05:34 PM
  #19  
Junior Member
 
lbatalha's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Portugal
Posts: 106
Total Cats: 22
Default

Originally Posted by concealer404
That looks dirty, but the welds themselves look solid. I'd probably just suck it up and clean mine up if it looked like that.
Yeah Im not worried. A quick scrub/polish should get rid of it

Hope the header looks better.
lbatalha is offline  
Old 10-31-2017, 06:24 PM
  #20  
Art
Junior Member
 
Art's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 369
Total Cats: -251
Default

.

Last edited by Art; 06-11-2018 at 05:17 PM.
Art is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:37 AM.