Last year I upgraded my Mazda 3’s suspension, making it much more fun to drive. The only springs I could find that were made for performance, not for looks or lowering, were from Racing Beat. I used Racing Beat parts back in the 1990s autocrossing my 3rd gen RX-7, so I knew they were top quality.

I also wanted a tuned exhaust. Sure there are plenty of aftermarket exhausts for the Mazda 3, but most are just loud; they are not tuned. I didn’t expect big gains because most cars are well tuned by the factory – but at least some gains would be nice. The Racing Beat exhaust meets both requirements: it’s barely louder than stock, and is tuned providing marginal gains. They dyno tested it and published the results. It’s not much of a gain, but still more than I expected.

This is the same exhaust that Mazda provided as an OEM part on the limited “club” version of the car. Power gains through tuned exhaust are achieved through increasing volumetric efficiency, so one can expect slightly better fuel economy too. But it was unavailable – out of stock. I signed up to get notified and waited…

Finally, in Oct 2022 it became available and my order went through. It took just a few days for it to arrive here in Seattle. It’s a giant size box that cost over $100 to ship via UPS. Fortunately, Racing beat doesn’t charge tax outside CA state. So the total price was $696.

Installation

The exhaust comes with new nuts, bolts & washers, and a new seal, to attach to the car’s exhaust pipe. Quality is top notch, better than OEM. Installation took less than an hour, including the time to jack up the car and clean up afterward. I sprayed liquid wrench on the original exhaust pipe nuts, but they were not frozen in place. Summary of installation:

• Jack up the rear of the car safely with jack stands.
• Remove the 2 bolts securing the muffler to the tailpipe.
• Spray the muffler’s 4 rubber hanger joints with WD-40 to lube them.
• Jack up the old muffler in place so it doesn’t fall when you unfasten it.
• Unfasten the 4 rubber hanger joints and remove the old muffler.
• Hang the new muffler on the 4 rubber hanger joints.
• Secure the new muffler to the tailpipe using the new sealing washer, bolts, washers & nuts.
• Ensure the muffler is properly centered and secured.

Fit and Finish

The new muffler is better than OEM quality. It weighs about the same. The tips are larger diameter and fill the circular bumper curves with about 1/2″ of clearance, just enough that they won’t touch as it vibrates over bumps. The fit is perfect. When the muffler’s circular metal hanger studs are properly inserted into the rubber hangers, it’s perfectly positioned and centered without any finagling or tweaking. The muffler’s connection to the car’s existing tailpipe is perfectly positioned and angled. Its exterior dimensions are similar to the original so it doesn’t conflict with any of the hardware under the car.

Sound

I’ve installed aftermarket exhaust systems on several bikes & cars in the past. This is the quietest that I have seen or heard. It’s almost indistinguishable from stock when putt-putting around town. When you apply full throttle, it’s just a touch louder than stock but only slightly. Many other cars are louder than this with their factory exhaust.

Yet what is a bit different is the tone quality or timbre. This exhaust suppresses the higher frequencies, producing a lower pitch with a touch of rumble. I say just a touch because you are never going to get much rumble with a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine.

What is pleasantly missing from the sound is drone. There is none.

That said, the stock exhaust doesn’t sound bad. It is clean with no rattle and, unlike most other economy cars, sounds like the engine wants to be revved. This Racing Beat exhaust adds some depth to the sound without being loud or obnoxious. It’s a subtle tuned exhaust for adults.

Performance

Shown above, the performance gains are marginal. The gains are smooth and consistent through the entire RPM range from 1500 RPM to redline. The shape of the curve is not changed, with peak torque between 4000 and 5000 and peak power at 6000. The peak increase in torque is about +8 ft.lbs. at 3000 RPM, or about +6%. The peak increase in power is about +5 HP from 5500 to 6500, or about +3%. That’s small enough, any difference you think you feel is placebo. But with small engines like this, I’ll take any advantage I can get.

Conclusion

With a subtle sound that enables you to get on the throttle without blushing, the Racing Beat exhaust is suitable for daily driving. The marginal gains in torque & power, and the appearance and sound add a bit of fun. With quality better than OEM it’s a lifetime part. No doubt this is the best aftermarket exhaust for the Mazda 3.

However, the pragmatic view is that even a well tuned aftermarket exhaust doesn’t make much difference in performance. If you’re autocrossing or racing this isn’t going to improve times by any appreciable amount. And it’s expensive. When it comes to adding fun to your car, or improving your autocross or track times, the biggest bang for your buck is suspension upgrades. Do that first. After that, the Racing Beat exhaust is for when you still want that extra smidge of fun and are willing to pay top dollar for it. Or, if for some reason you need to replace your OEM exhaust (maybe it started to rust), you might as well upgrade to this one.

Postscript

What to do with the old/OEM exhaust? You could keep it, but you’ll probably never need it again so it’s just another large thing to fill up your garage. You could throw it away as trash, but it’s big & bulky enough that’s going to cost you. And, what a waste that is. I thought of two better options:

• Give it someone who needs it. The Mazda 3 is a popular car, somebody, somewhere, needs an OEM exhaust in serviceable condition.
• Take it to a salvage or scrap yard. They’ll pay you for it. And it will either be recycled, or put back into service on another car.

I called around and none of auto salvage yards in my area wanted a muffler – they only accept entire cars. So I took mine to Schnitzer scrap metal recycling in Woodinville. They pay about $3.50 per 100 lbs. so the muffler is only worth about a buck. But that beats paying $30 or more just to dump it in the trash.