We tackled developing a stock replacement manifold for the Evo 8/9 and had a few noteworthy goals and requirements that set it apart:

  • a collector that mimics the angle of entry of the turbine housing, giving each runner a direct shot into the turbine volute;
  • no tight radius or cheated/compromised bends (specifically runner #3); and
  • equal length primaries sized to match bolt-on Evo turbo offerings.

This wasn’t going to be a project that we would continue development of unless each one of those goals were checked off. Even after it took shape and the final weld was made, it needed to be backed by testing before being offered; it had to be a replacement piece worthy of its job.


Michael Alfred’s car already has a very stout performing combination; a setup geared towards the Shootout Stock Appearing Class and looking to get every last bit out of the FP Zero, with little regard to midrange power or anything below it. Frankly, we had our work cut out for us as our initial goal was to outperform the factory ported manifold, which we were hoping wouldn’t be terribly difficult to do at high rpm but we also didn’t want to give up much, if any, spool and midrange at the same time. Something that has historically plagued many stock replacement manifolds to the point of only showing gains at the end of the rpm range. He isn’t concerned with midrange, and has a ported FP manifold (with 20% larger runners than factory, very close to the area difference in small vs. large runners) already performing near the power level where large vs. small runner benefits/drawbacks start to become part of the conversation (roughly converting Mustang dyno to Dynojet #’s). The car was already at the far end of the spectrum, with the largest bolt-on turbo offered and an aftermarket exhaust manifold made to go with it. We prefer to have the tests somewhat stacked against us, but this one would let us know very quickly whether or not our piece would put out the numbers.
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Background information:
The car was taken to Yusuf at Geared Up Motorsports and Flyin’ EVO 2ning for the testing, done on a Mustang Dyno. Yusuf did his best to think of and do everything possible to ensure the testing was unbiased and the performance reached was dependent on the product itself, without any changes being made to the tune whatsoever besides realigning the air/fuel (without any other changes, the Morrison Fabrications manifold leaned out considerably). Some power was left on the table since it was a back-to-back comparison and he is waiting to really push it until the track.

A few detailed notes from Yusuf that he felt were worth mentioning:

#1 Car was tuned for most power without any knock count with an air fuel ratio of 11.7 on FP manifold at each boost setting. We tried raising timing as well as leaning out the air fuel and left it where it was consistently making power without any knock. We did not attempt to push the tune harder per boost setting on the equal length manifold. I’m confident at lower boost settings (36 psi and 40 psi) there is more left in it from the equalization of exhaust flow per cylinder with a more aggressive tune.  

#2 ALL settings in map and boost control were left the same from manifold to manifold per boost target.

#3 Dyno room temp was kept between 66*F to 70*F, all dyno numbers are using weather correction factor to eliminate false gains or losses from changes in air temp, humidity, or barometric pressure. No other correction factor was applied.

#4 All pulls were performed by letting the charge temp cool down to ambient and were performed when the engine reached 190*F.

#5 All comparison pulls were performed in 3rd gear to prevent excessive wear to Mike’s EVO. The final 45 psi pull was performed with a 5% reduction in boost control duty cycle from 6500 rpm and below to prevent overboosting from the additional load.
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Setup details pertinent to the testing:
Turbo: FP Zero
Fuel: VP x85
Exhaust manifold: FP Evo Race Manifold (ported) and the Morrison Fabrications Evo 8/9 Stock Replacement Manifold
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Data analysis:
All comparison pulls, ranging from 36psi to 45psi, resulted in the Morrison Fabrications manifold gaining between 20-30whp and 12-24wtq during full boost over the FP manifold. Before 5k rpm, there is no appreciable power/torque difference between each manifold.

The 36 psi pull, which is wastegate pressure, gives perhaps the best back-to-back comparison as the boost stays extremely close to being the same (green lines on the graph, darker green being the Morrison Fabrications). In the later 40 and 45 psi pulls, the boost control duty cycle was not changed to account for the Morrison Fabrications manifold and ended up at a lower psi throughout the pull compared to the FP manifold.

The Morrison Fabrications manifold made more power despite less boost.

36psi, wastegate pressure, with boost levels almost identical throughout.

40psi, with boost on the Morrison Fabrications manifold (dark green) being lower after 6200 rpm

45psi, with boost on the FP manifold (light green) being higher after 6650 rpm, and the Morrison Fabrications manifold being a little higher from 4500 to 6500.

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Recap and conclusions:
This wasn’t the initial test we were anticipating but were very pleased to have the opportunity to compare against a manifold as formidable as the FP and a turbo on the far end of the bolt-on scale. There were no losses anywhere and Michael got the high rpm power increase he was looking for which makes us so incredibly happy. We are so pleased with the gains from a simple manifold swap.
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The Morrison Fabrications Evo 8/9 Stock Replacement manifold is small runner to best match stock frame Evo offerings. This is, of course, with our oval port head flange, and all gently formed and seamless transitions throughout. Form always follows function in everything we create and although we initially ignored the “look” of this piece to allow it to emerge as we followed our strict requirements, it produced something beautiful. There isn’t one part of this piece that we aren’t proud of. It did everything we hoped it would. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Product page: Morrison Fabrications Evo 8/9 Stock Replacement manifold
Our thoughts on exhaust flanges: Oval Port Exhaust Flange vs. Transition Exhaust Flange

Cheers!
Matt and Annika Morrison

Details on Mike’s Evo:

Boostin Performance 3 head w/Gsc s3 cams
Boostin Performance high comp 2.0 Long rod
Morrison Fabrications Evo 8/9 Stock Replacement Manifold
Turbo Tuff rods
1400hd pistons
Manley billet crank
ID 2000s injectors
Double pumper 450/255
FP Zero
STM ss housing eliminator downpipe
Hochman Fabrication and Speed 3” aluminum exhaust
Hochman Fabrication and Speed 3” upper/lower intercooler piping
Ets 5” intercooler
Curt Brown 70mm intake manifold
70mm s90 Tb
Sparktech ignition
Stock ecu

The car was built and put together by Boostin Performance – minus the Hochman Fabrication and Speed work done by Ben. The engine has been going strong for 3 years now!