This is after 2.5 years of daily driving. Called up their customer service and was told it's normal for 304 stainless to do that cause of salt. I live in Delaware. That must mean you north east guys should expect about a year out of this.

The refused to do ANYTHING about it. Says a lot about a company that they won't stand behind their product for more than one year.



So, just as a warning, don't buy a megan racing catback. It's junk

 

Found this on Megan Racing's website:
http://www.meganracing.com/tech/faqs.asp?id=89

 

That section doesn't look like SS at all. Yikes!! My buddy had a Megan SS exhaust on his RSX-S for a good 6 years, driven in NJ salt every winter and never developed rust. SS will get a lil corrosion and discoloration but never seen it rust through like that.

 

For what its worth they do offer a ceramic coated version of the catback that acts as an anti-corrossive agent. I've used megan products in the past with good results but I guess it's hit or miss.

 

Either they're using a very low quality 304SS (Chinese possibly) or that ain't 304. Perhaps they used 409SS and called it 304SS.

 

That's what I'm thinking. I understand that 304 isn't impervious to rust but 2.5 years is ridiculous regardless of where it is in the country. Between how quickly the pipe failed and how strong a magnet grabs onto it I'd bet money this isn't true 304 stainless

Oh well, live and learn I guess. Hopefully this info saves someone from a headache down the road

 

Holy sh*t Steve that is ridiculous! No way that is 304SS; Im sorry but Im not buying it. How is it that your resonated test pipe appears to be in fine shape yet the catback has rusted away?

FWIW I bought my RMR racing catback from a local probably 8 years ago, used so who knows how long he had it for and my car has been through countless winters now and still looks fine. Good old merican steel

 

Wow. I have had a Greddy catback on my VIII since 2006. 10 years and over 150k miles. In that time I have lived (and daily driven) in PA, MA, NY, & NJ. My exhaust looks nothing like yours. Something is not right.

 

A few people in the know have told me this is a growing trend on cheap chinese/tiwanese exhaust stuff - the factories are making parts from 409 and it is being sold as 304

 

Tell me about it

I get the feeling that they just cheaped out on the catback when spec'ing out the material. The guy before me had put their O2 housing, downpipe, and test pipe on it and he lived right by you in MA. All those components seem to be doing fine.

I get that parts fail and I get that sometimes there's a bad batch in manufacturing. I even get that sometimes poor engineering decisions are made. What I don't understand and what bothers me the most is how I spent a half hour on the phone with them and they were willing to do NOTHING about it. That's a garbage company in my eyes

 

How do you like the sound of the greddy? I liked the megan sound but a little loud at idle. I'm searching for that ideal "quiet at low load/idle but roars up top" mix. The invidia and greddy are at the top of my list right now

This wouldn't surprise me. I was just over in China last month can see this being the case...look at it from their end: they try to cut cost wherever possible to stay competitive. Some companies just choose whatever supplier is cheapest and that's the end of it. At the end of the day it's the company's responsibility to stay on top of their supplier and make sure they're not cutting corners... if this is what's happening megan racing is doing a terrible job at that

 

I have the Greddy Evo II (model name not the car that it is designed for) and it is slightly louder than stock but much deeper in tone. (FYI-I do have a HFC in place). It does growl angrily as the rpms increase.

Good luck!

 

How do you test for specific material composition? Since we pretty much know the answer already it would be interesting to come back with data to Megan stating that the material isnt 304SS and then see what they have to say when it comes to misrepresentation of said product. There must be some smart person that you know with a material sciences background that could help you out with the test.

 

Using a mass spectrometer will give you the chemical composition of the material.

In my experience that material is not 304SS by general material specifications.
The amount of surface corrosion is surprising for only two years of driving, regardless of salt. It seriously looks like galvanized steel performance or worse actually.

 

they must have gotten a bad copy or they made a big mistake, i've had mine for about 6 years DD through all conditions and it looks nothing like that