Quote:
Originally Posted by TDHarris
I installed the M&K 2-in 2-out sport muffler on a 3.2 Carrera 4 years ago, and I have been very unhappy with the quality. In those 4 years I have had to weld up cracks 3 times, and I just removed the muffler yesterday due to more cracks. The cracks formed around both of the inlet pipes, and around the outlets on the end plates. It appears that in an effort to make a very light muffler Ben sacrificed durability and used metal that was just too thin. The weight of my muffler is 15 pounds. Do you know the weight of your unit? He may have improved the design since then.
My other complaint was that the fit was terrible. The muffler did not even come close to matching up with the mounting bracket on the engine. Plus there were no tabs to fit into the notches in the mounting bracket to keep the muffler from shifting position. In order to get a good fit, the mounting bracket needed modification, and tabs were welded onto the muffler to lock it into position. Also, the tailpipes were too short, and didn't clear the valence. This required the addition of short extensions. I also welded gussets to the inlet pipes to reinforce them, and it looks like I will need to do the same to the outlet pipes.
On the plus side it is light - important for a track car. And it sounds great. I find your comparison of the loudness with the Dansk 2-in 2-out interesting. I have a friend with a 3.2 Carrera having SSIs and the Dansk muffler. His car is quieter than mine, and I have the tailpipe inserts which quiet mine considerably. Without those inserts I would exceed the sound limits at Mt Tremblant and Calabogie (92 dBa). Is Ben making the mufflers quieter now?
One final note. I sent Ben an email listing the defects in his design, and explaining my displeasure with the product. This was not a rant, just a polite "thought you should know" letter. I wasn't asking for anything, and he didn't offer anything. It would have been nice to get at least an apology for selling an inferior product.
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A rare complaint and even rarer that Ben did not offer more. I can only think that he figures you can't please all the people all the time. Ben's background in designing the M&K product is aircraft muffler design. The crossover to sutomobiles has not been seamless for M&k products. When I bought my muffler there was no talk about gen 2 much less gen 6.
That tells me he keeps working at a better product line.
Fours years ago I don't think the M&K married up to the stock muffler bracket all that well, but I thought Ben had a mounting kit that made for a better hook up. Do you have that kit installed?