ivan
14-06-07, 05:47 PM
Exhaust Manifolds for the 4E/5E engine (CT9 Specific)
The 4EFTE engine has only come out with one version of the manifold from standard. These manifolds are known to be quite restrictive and an upgrade has become quite popular. The major restriction is with cylinder 3 runner having a restriction where your average person could not fit their little pinkie finger through the hole. Another reason for the change is due to the manifold cracking from age. Remember these manifolds are over 10 years old now.
Below are some photos of the standard manifold, and their restrictions.
299 300
Now while we are on topic of the CT9 exhaust manifold, we will look at the different variety of manifolds that have surfaced on the internet. There has been quite a wide variety available, but how do we separate the good ones from the bad ones? I will try and provide my personal opinion on the below manifolds and outline their pros/cons.
I do not know the manufacturer for most of these, but if you are ever purchasing one I’m sure you can use the pictures as a guide:
Manifold 1
This manifold I stumbled upon ages ago. It was a one off build, and was made using mild steel. It appears as though it has 1.5” runners on it. In my opinion this is excessive and not required. It would reduce the response of the turbo, and provide no gains from it. You don’t want any of the gases to expand in the runners as all it will have to do is contract once it gets to the exhaust housing. You want the expanding of gasses to occur at the rear wheel of the turbo. One thing this manifold has going for it is it was made in mild steel. It won’t crack and if it does, you could re-weld it and she would last for ages. This is because mild steel stays strong through heat cycles.
Note: The two manifolds are different slightly however they appear to be both made in the same manner.
275 276 277 278
Manifold 2
I am impressed by the runners on this manifold. It is not exactly equal length but comes close. How this will help you make more power? Well it won’t but is more ideal than random length runners! Equal length runners don’t necessarily make you more power, tuned length runners do. To make tuned length runners you have to do a lot of research, and make a lot of manifolds and test them all to see the real outcome. Also it won’t clear the standard intake pipe, but I’m sure most members are not overly concerned with that.
279 280 281 282
Manifold 3
I believe this is an WEPR manifold however I am not sure. The quality that I see from the picture is not fantastic and there are quite a few reasons I would stay away from one of these. Firstly the flanges are about 6mm thick. Any good quality manifold will use at least 12mm thick flanges for the head flange, and 10mm flanges for the turbo flange. Another thing I notices was the studs on this manifold. It looks like they have been welded to the turbo flange. This should not be done, as replacement makes it difficult. Also you should be using Toyota studs. They are very good quality and will have less problems. The material used on this manifold is stainless steel. Now what people must remember is not all stainless steel is the same and they definitely come in different grades. This will determine the strength and durability of the item. Lastly stainless steel manifolds crack over time. This is not due to decats\dump pipes not being braced. Its due to heat cycles on stainless steel, and because of this you will notice not many manufacturers use this on standard cars. I will try and find some photos of this manifold and where it is prone to crack.
283 284 285
Manifold 4
These are from David Burwash. I have not heard of any reviews from this manifold, but it does look like a quality unit that is made in the UK. The flanges are thick, designed for use with standard Toyota studs, and have a supportive brace at the front (not sure how much it would help). It looks like a promising unit however it is stainless steel, and as mentioned previously, does not cope well with heat cycles. I can see this manifold taking its time but like pretty much every stainless steel manifold I have seen, they all crack.
286
Manifold 5
Well this is the RoadRunner manifold. Its made my me, and I have not had a single manifold be returned for a repair, and I don’t expect any either. We have never had one crack either which is a good thing. The have been in production for about 18 months now, however are no longer directly available, unless I decide to do a group buy in 6 months time. Our manifold is made from mild steel, and is welded using a Tig, so its done with quality in mind. We do spray it with heatproof paint but over time it does start to peel. We use 12mm flanges and thread the turbo flange so the Toyota studs can be used. We believe you will get the best performance out of using 1inch runners (26mm) as the ports are 25mm. Other manufacturers have their own preferences and ideas but this is ours. Downside to this manifold is apparently price, and the fact that we were going to but decided not to include heat shield brackets. My personal one does and its pimp, it looks just like stock.
287288289 290
Manifold 6
The almighty JAM cast manifold. This unit is cast and will last longer than was you will own the car for. They are a solid unit and include the heat shield brackets. I have read on a thread that someone was having restriction issues with this manifold. How true it was I am not sure. I only have one photo of this, and am yet to find an easy way to distinguish between this and a standard manifold.
291 292
Manifold 7
SilkRoad Manifold is apparently a high quality Japanese made stainless steel manifold. The funny thing is people don’t seem to learn when it comes to stainless steel manifolds. They crack and its extremely hard to prevent it. The manifold looks like a nice solid unit, with nice welds throughout. The manifold in the first two photos looks like a promising unit, however you look at the third photo and you understand what I mean by cracking. This was hardcoreep’s manifold that he re-welded. If you don’t want it to crack buy a mild steel one. And I’m not just saying that to make a sale as I am no longer selling products for starlets due to other commitments.
293 294 295
Manifold 8
This is a home made Log Style manifold by some top blokes from Adelaide, Australia. The intent was to build a manifold on a budget and for it to be effective. All 3 manifolds are on cars that produce 150hp at the wheels. The manifolds are built using plumbing ‘steampipe’ bends and pre-cut flanges. It was all put together using a MIG, had some love with a dye-grinder. All in all these are quite a nice piece of work and they have proved to work well. The only aspect that I would criticise is the collector. I would have personally welded a deflector inside the collector so that runners 1& 2 don’t just collide with runners 3 & 4. This is another manifold that also retains the standard heat shields.
296297 298
Regards,
Ivan
Note: This article may have been copied from another website and revised to better suit the Starlet community. If you are the owner of the original article and would like us to remove it, please contact me via email with the subject "Remove Article" and i will remove it from this website as soon as possible.
The 4EFTE engine has only come out with one version of the manifold from standard. These manifolds are known to be quite restrictive and an upgrade has become quite popular. The major restriction is with cylinder 3 runner having a restriction where your average person could not fit their little pinkie finger through the hole. Another reason for the change is due to the manifold cracking from age. Remember these manifolds are over 10 years old now.
Below are some photos of the standard manifold, and their restrictions.
299 300
Now while we are on topic of the CT9 exhaust manifold, we will look at the different variety of manifolds that have surfaced on the internet. There has been quite a wide variety available, but how do we separate the good ones from the bad ones? I will try and provide my personal opinion on the below manifolds and outline their pros/cons.
I do not know the manufacturer for most of these, but if you are ever purchasing one I’m sure you can use the pictures as a guide:
Manifold 1
This manifold I stumbled upon ages ago. It was a one off build, and was made using mild steel. It appears as though it has 1.5” runners on it. In my opinion this is excessive and not required. It would reduce the response of the turbo, and provide no gains from it. You don’t want any of the gases to expand in the runners as all it will have to do is contract once it gets to the exhaust housing. You want the expanding of gasses to occur at the rear wheel of the turbo. One thing this manifold has going for it is it was made in mild steel. It won’t crack and if it does, you could re-weld it and she would last for ages. This is because mild steel stays strong through heat cycles.
Note: The two manifolds are different slightly however they appear to be both made in the same manner.
275 276 277 278
Manifold 2
I am impressed by the runners on this manifold. It is not exactly equal length but comes close. How this will help you make more power? Well it won’t but is more ideal than random length runners! Equal length runners don’t necessarily make you more power, tuned length runners do. To make tuned length runners you have to do a lot of research, and make a lot of manifolds and test them all to see the real outcome. Also it won’t clear the standard intake pipe, but I’m sure most members are not overly concerned with that.
279 280 281 282
Manifold 3
I believe this is an WEPR manifold however I am not sure. The quality that I see from the picture is not fantastic and there are quite a few reasons I would stay away from one of these. Firstly the flanges are about 6mm thick. Any good quality manifold will use at least 12mm thick flanges for the head flange, and 10mm flanges for the turbo flange. Another thing I notices was the studs on this manifold. It looks like they have been welded to the turbo flange. This should not be done, as replacement makes it difficult. Also you should be using Toyota studs. They are very good quality and will have less problems. The material used on this manifold is stainless steel. Now what people must remember is not all stainless steel is the same and they definitely come in different grades. This will determine the strength and durability of the item. Lastly stainless steel manifolds crack over time. This is not due to decats\dump pipes not being braced. Its due to heat cycles on stainless steel, and because of this you will notice not many manufacturers use this on standard cars. I will try and find some photos of this manifold and where it is prone to crack.
283 284 285
Manifold 4
These are from David Burwash. I have not heard of any reviews from this manifold, but it does look like a quality unit that is made in the UK. The flanges are thick, designed for use with standard Toyota studs, and have a supportive brace at the front (not sure how much it would help). It looks like a promising unit however it is stainless steel, and as mentioned previously, does not cope well with heat cycles. I can see this manifold taking its time but like pretty much every stainless steel manifold I have seen, they all crack.
286
Manifold 5
Well this is the RoadRunner manifold. Its made my me, and I have not had a single manifold be returned for a repair, and I don’t expect any either. We have never had one crack either which is a good thing. The have been in production for about 18 months now, however are no longer directly available, unless I decide to do a group buy in 6 months time. Our manifold is made from mild steel, and is welded using a Tig, so its done with quality in mind. We do spray it with heatproof paint but over time it does start to peel. We use 12mm flanges and thread the turbo flange so the Toyota studs can be used. We believe you will get the best performance out of using 1inch runners (26mm) as the ports are 25mm. Other manufacturers have their own preferences and ideas but this is ours. Downside to this manifold is apparently price, and the fact that we were going to but decided not to include heat shield brackets. My personal one does and its pimp, it looks just like stock.
287288289 290
Manifold 6
The almighty JAM cast manifold. This unit is cast and will last longer than was you will own the car for. They are a solid unit and include the heat shield brackets. I have read on a thread that someone was having restriction issues with this manifold. How true it was I am not sure. I only have one photo of this, and am yet to find an easy way to distinguish between this and a standard manifold.
291 292
Manifold 7
SilkRoad Manifold is apparently a high quality Japanese made stainless steel manifold. The funny thing is people don’t seem to learn when it comes to stainless steel manifolds. They crack and its extremely hard to prevent it. The manifold looks like a nice solid unit, with nice welds throughout. The manifold in the first two photos looks like a promising unit, however you look at the third photo and you understand what I mean by cracking. This was hardcoreep’s manifold that he re-welded. If you don’t want it to crack buy a mild steel one. And I’m not just saying that to make a sale as I am no longer selling products for starlets due to other commitments.
293 294 295
Manifold 8
This is a home made Log Style manifold by some top blokes from Adelaide, Australia. The intent was to build a manifold on a budget and for it to be effective. All 3 manifolds are on cars that produce 150hp at the wheels. The manifolds are built using plumbing ‘steampipe’ bends and pre-cut flanges. It was all put together using a MIG, had some love with a dye-grinder. All in all these are quite a nice piece of work and they have proved to work well. The only aspect that I would criticise is the collector. I would have personally welded a deflector inside the collector so that runners 1& 2 don’t just collide with runners 3 & 4. This is another manifold that also retains the standard heat shields.
296297 298
Regards,
Ivan
Note: This article may have been copied from another website and revised to better suit the Starlet community. If you are the owner of the original article and would like us to remove it, please contact me via email with the subject "Remove Article" and i will remove it from this website as soon as possible.