The Unofficial Jørn Innset Homepage

I have been looking for a replacement for the original Toyota exhaust for a long time, and while exchanging the Toyota rear box with a regular sports-muffler did give an enjoyable new sound, it didn't provide much more power.

Then Dave Bishop in the UK sent me a comparison Nigel Orton had done for the members of The MR2 Drivers Club in the UK in their magazine "Log Book". The choice was pretty clear - it had to be Janspeed. Not only because it was relatively cheap, but the performance showed a very nice increase as well. You can find this excellent article below.

Decision made, Inge Mauseth and I ordered two Janspeed systems from Demon Tweeks in the UK. Demon Tweeks were very friendly and responsive, and the systems arrived a week and a half later.

The following weekend, we started on the job. Removing the old exhaust was pretty easy, but the three nuts which connects the manifold with the downpipe could be hard to loosen. They will come off though. I had stopped by Toyota earlier to get the two gaskets and the nuts and bolts which sits between the manifold and the downpipe. The gaskets should definitely be replaced when you put the new exhaust on, while the nuts and bolts might be handy should you break the old ones.

The fitting of the Janspeed system was dead easy - it bolts on as if it was a Toyota system. You might have to bend the 'hooks' that sits in the rubber hangers a bit, but that's about it. We fired up the car (mine, actually), anxiously waiting to hear what kind of sound it made...boy was it good! Here you can see and hear the Janspeed in this mpg-movie!

(the sample you'll hear if you click the first link above is in WAV-format, and was recorded by Dave Bishop)

We had used about an hour fitting the system to my car, but we used only 30 minutes on Inge's car. Funny how smooth things can go when you know what you're doing...:-D

The Janspeed system has two 3" chrome tailpipes, which we at first thought might look tacky on such a small car (that's nothing, however, compared to the 4 pipes the Ansa has). However, once on the car, it didn't look tacky at all, rather it looked right at home. It also has only one silencer (and no catalytic converter).

How about performance? We had an evening of racing at Rudskogen (a racetrack in southern Norway), and shaved at least a second off the laptime, and had 10km/h higher top speed at the end of the long straight as compared to the standard Toyota system. I guess that says it all.

Were there no problems at all, you might ask. Sure, I have two problems with the Janspeed system (picture #5 from the top shows the two trouble-spots):

Update: It's now 12.01.2000, and the same Janspeed system is still on my car. It hasn't rusted away yet! I have to confess I don't drive my car during the winter, and that obviously helps a lot.

Here are some pictures of the process (click on a picture to get a bigger (80K-120K) version):
(all pictures courtesy of Mr. Eivind Andersen)

The old, slightly modified Toyota system
	2 Janspeed systems waiting to be fitted
Inge working on his car
	Me working on Inge's car
The Janspeed system fitted on Inge's car

Following the article on the Magnex System for the AW 11 members might like to know what other options are available. As our own system failed recently in that one of the twin tail pipes "fell off" from the box I thought this would be the ideal time to look at alternative systems especially as the rear box section was just over three years old and had covered only 13,000 miles I was not overimpressed by the longevity of the system. The AW11 exhaust system comprises three sections: engine manifold, downpipe section and rear box. I will summarise the alternatives before giving more detail on each system. The above prices were either quoted over the telephone or are manufacturers published prices. With a bit of "shopping around" discounts could probably be obtained. A fitting cost of £25 (30 mins Toyota labour has been added to the Jan Speed, Sebring and Magnex prices as most outlets supply these on a "supply only" basis. Now a brief review:

Exhaust systems comparison chart
System	Manifold	Downpipe	Rear box	Fitting	Total cost
Toyota standard	-	£170	£155	Free	£325
Janspeed	n/a	£95	£185	£25	£305
Magnex	n/a	£290	included	£25	£315
Sebring	n/a	n/a	£295	£25	£320
DTW	£410	included	included	included	£410
ANSA	UK out of stock
Torque Develop- ments:
Budget System	n/a	n/a	£225	£45	£270
HKS System (part)	n/a	n/a	£390	£45	£445
HKS System (full)	n/a	£295	£390	£45	£730

3 year warranty, free dealer fitment, club discount given by most dealers. Chrome tail trims £30 extra so be sure to take them off your old exhaust, if you can get them off! A can of WD40 a necessity! System sounds a bit feeble, and is in need of beefing up!

18 month guarantee. Rear box not interchangeable with Toyota System hence downpipes will be required but this mates to the Toyota manfold. Downpipes and box available separately for future replacement. JanSpeed claim 12% increase in power. Fitting instructions and quality of fit are excellent. Turin tail pipes as original Toyota System in size/layout i.e. Q-car appearance

Rear box only, fits to Toyota downpipes. Two single square/ oval pipes, one each side. Claimed increase 5 BHP. No printed info available. Quote "you buy Sebring for a quality product".

Rear box and downpipes. Fits to Toyota manifold. Stainless steel. Single tail pipe, larger than original tail pipe. Lifetime guarantee. Two alternative brackets are now supplied to overcome earlier fitment problems. Good information pack available. No increase in power over Standard System.

T.D. are agents for the Japanese performance specialist HKS. Three systems are available:

Full replacement system including manifold. One year guarantee. Single elongated oval tail pipe. Not a DIY fitment unless you really know what you are doing. DTW prefer to fit the system which is not a 'while you wait' service. Apparently some are easier than others hence they require the car for two days. 10-12 BHP increase in power when fitted in conjunction with a K & N air filter - which they recommend.

Rear box only, fits to Toyota downpipes. Looks fantastic twin circular pipes both side like a Ferrari. Claimed increase in power 3-5%. Now the bad news. Imported from Italy and currently on three months back order with no sign of delivery. It gets worse for those of you who have an Ansa system. The flange on the downpipes which mates to the rear box is cut off when fitting. So if you've got an Ansa rear box which holes you currently can't get a replacement and you now have to replace the downpipes as well unless you are a metal worker! Alternatively buy two when they're in stock!

The JanSpeed system fitted perfectly, no alterations or modifications were required. The only problem is that they don't supply the necessary earplugs, this system is noisy! There is a particularly raspy boom between 2-3,000 RPM when accelerating from a trailing throttle. Beyond 3,000 RPM the system sounds perfect, very deep and purposeful.

Performance tests
Mkl Autocar test report	5.4 sec
My Mkl with standard Toyota system	5.0 sec
My Mkl with JanSpeed system	4.0 sec
Mk2 Autocar test report	4.6 sec

Concerned about the low level boom I contacted JanSpeed and an approved installer, both advised that this is normal replying 'you don't get improved performance without increased noise". One installer admitted that one customer having done two miles refused to accept the system and demanded his money back! Having now done 200 miles on the system one can adapt your driving style to eliminate the boom at 2-3,000 RPM by downchanging sending the revs up above 3,000 RPM before hitting the accelerator. In fact the higher the revs the quieter it sounds. In my view at 70-80 mph it's actually quieter than the standard system. What about actual performance? Mid-range acceleration was my most important criteria. The results using 50-70 mph in third gear as the benchmark are shown on the previous page (above). My car has a K&N replacement air filter which far improved breathing and the engine is quite loose now having done 48,000 miles. The Autocar road test car had only done 2650 miles hence it could have needed a few more miles to achieve optimum acceleration thus accounting for the 0.4 second difference. However, as the times show a 1.0 second reduction it is, by any means, a vast improvement. I would stress that these were not "one off times" but averages over a number of runs. So without doubt the JanSpeed system is very impressive in actual performance terms. It's a pity the pipes look a bit 'weedy' but it does go! However, the downside is the noise, you get people turning round looking to see what's coming before you get within 50 yards! And sooner or later I'm convinced the 'boys in blue' will pull me over on the basis that its excessively noisy. In summary, this is not a system for 'wimps' with delicate eardrums who don't want to sacrifice refinement on their shopping trips to Tesco etc. But for £260 those of you who want more power and for everyone to know you're within 50 yards of them it's fantastic value for money. The next stage is to put the car on a rolling road to measure the actual gains in BHP. Finally, the Autocar 50-70 time quoted for the Mk2 GT third is 4.6 seconds. Having driven an early Mk2 GT I was not sufficiently convinced that the extra performance was worth it being offset by it's shortcomings in other areas to buy one. Now I've got the performance edge nothing short of a supercharged version Mkl would make me change.

The price of the full TD system put me off investigating the benefits of replacing the downpipes as well so the choice became one of JanSpeed, Sebring, Magnex, DTW or TD. The Ansa system being unavailable unless you're prepared to ring every stockist in case they have an odd one. In my case the downpipes are just over three years old and out of the Toyota guarantee so it made sense to opt for a complete rear box and downpipe system so I was left with another Toyota system, JanSpeed, Magnex or DTW. The requirement for more power eliminated Magnex and Toyota system. Ringing around the Motorsport Mail order specialists reduced the JanSpeed system to £235 including VAT and delivery against £410 for the DTW system, no discounts here. My Toyota dealer quoted £25 to fit the JanSpeed system so I decided the £150 saving could go towards new wheels, the next step!

Secondly the time finally arrived for the exhaust system to be replaced. After reading in Log Book many moons ago of the availability of a through-flow exhaust which would greatly enhance the efficiency and performance I decided that now was the time, so I contacted Janspeed of Salisbury. They could not have been more polite and helpful - I was advised that the two-part full system is usually made to order but every now and again they have one in stock. They called me back within the hour with good news so I was able to arrange a fitting date. I had the choice of nominating a local fitter of my choice or taking the car to them. Janspeed offered free fitting - I chose the latter. When I arrived I was met by the chief engineer, offered a cup of coffee and would be advised in about 15 minutes how long the job would take - if protracted they offered to drive me to the City centre so I could lose myself in a book shop for a couple of hours. I was, in fact, looking forward to this option, however this was not to be for I was informed that the job would be completed in 20 minutes! True enough 20 minutes later I was invited into their clinically clean workshop, shown the worn out exhaust that had been removed and the two hairy looking chrome tailpipes that now peeped out from under the rear bumper. I was then taken out for a test drive by the chief engineer who informed me that it was Janspeed's policy to ensure that everything had been fitted to their high standards. Boy did that car growl - I was a very happy bunny! Full marks to Janspeed who made me feel like a V.I.P. and my car a 'Ferrari'. I'm sure you have Janspeed's details but here they are just in case.

The total cost me £397.15 including V.A.T. - worth every penny - the purr and growl and added power (approx.10%) has transformed our driving enjoyment.