I did make it over to CJs shop last month. Nice place and it seems like they know what they are doing. I have no problem with them using my car for prototyping. However I don't want to pay for a set when they are done. Especially if power gains if any are unknown. We left it as he was going to try to find a SLK 32 to prototype as well at the same time to make sure both headers are the same. I am fairly confident the OEM manifolds are the same but clearance issue on a new header design may be an problem between our cars and the SLK.

 

Well is he willing to have you pay for materials instead of the completed header? How much does he want? They really are doing us a favor by offering such a service, but I would rather them build a turbo manifold instead of headers, I'm guessing they might make about 15 hp over stock manifolds.

 

If they can prove a performance gain granted from a product that we have not previously had I am all for it... Although my funds are somewhat limited I will definitely do the upgrade even if it is not worth the price...

 

I am ready to place an order now. All I need is a price and pictures of the finished product.

 

calling psuperti...

time to step up to the plate and take one for the team. you did say you were willing to get your car used to prototype and get one didn't you?

don't mean to twist your arm or anything... :-)

 

you know i would do it if my lease wasn't up. would have loved to hear the crossfire with a nice headers setup.

 

doesn't look like this is going to happen, just the wrong market for perf. parts i guess.

 

happens all the time here, people whine and moan that no one makes parts, someone shows up to do it, every goes, "ewww no more warranty", "i'm too scared to be first" etc. etc. Unfortunate, would be so cool to see this car have a healthy aftermarket like the 350z enjoys.

 

I was not going to post this but what the heck. The main reason for me not leaving my car at CJs is that he wanted $1,000 for a finished set after they were prototyped which he believed would be a healthy discount from the $1,500 he thinks he can get retail. Usually any time a aftermarket company uses a customers car for prototyping a new product the customer will receive the part gratis for compensation for using the car 2-3 weeks or whatever time it took. However with CJs being a smaller operation with probably no marketing or R&D budget I can understand his reluctance.

I thought of a plan this morning which may work or may not work. How about we set up a Crossfire header fund? If we can get 20 people who are serious about this to kick in $50 toward the first set I will let them have my car for prototyping. I will inquire about doing before and after dyno runs. I have not spoken to CJ about this at all but if he saw he had 20 serious buyers, his production costs would be reduced and the $50 could be reduced from the final retail cost. What do you think?

 

Ah I see, well if he's trying to get $1,500 for headers I have many more local options for doing custom header build. And since nothing is dyno proven, who really knows if it will make anymore power?

I remember a company was building headers for the old Lexus IS300 6 years ago, I forget what they charged but when it came time for dyno test, the stock manifolds made the same hp as the aftermarket headers, I'm not interested in paying hard earned money only to make 4 more hp if that.

 

a good stable 10 hp + at that price sounds like a reasonable request... without torque loss that is...

 

10 hp is not enough power gain to spend $1,500. I think I'll buy another car if that's the cost of hp for the Crossfire. maybe I would drop that kind of money if the car was already making 350 hp stock.

 

I will state again I am ready to purchase a set of headers. I can accept the prices being thrown around. I would of course prefer less but I am willing to step up and even be the first to purchase the headers. The only thing I would ask is that we have a set target of HP & Torque on the headers. As long as that make that number or greater I will keep them. If they produce less than promised I can return them for a refund. If that simple condition is met I would purchase them now.

I would also be willing to contribute to a header fund as long as the funds went directly to the shop and reduced my final purchase price by the amount contributed. I am not interested in purchasing a set of headers for someone else.

That being said I would send a $100 in to a header fund now.

I am ready to go on these puppies. I am putting willing to put my money where my mouth is.

CJ - contact me I am ready to go. Fab up a set of headers for me and lets get this ***** rolling. If you decide that you don't want to fab up a set of headers because you think there are too many posers for you to enter the market lets discuss just making me a pair of flanges. I will build/get a set of f'ing headers built.

I am ready to put down 400hp at the wheels without nitrous. Need a good set of headers to support a nice aggressive cam.

What do we have to do to get this done?

 

Count me in too... so that's two of us... does that constitute a group buy??? LOL.

I'm not surprised of lack of commitment to purchase, Vadim (evosport) had 99.9% of xfire owners pegged a long time ago. ;-)

 

To make 400 hp you need the faster supercharger pulley, and an ecu upgrade. then I would start looking at the exhaust. no need for headers to make that much power.

As for cams, who needs a more aggressive cam when the engine is boosted, there really is no need for all of that engineering. If you had a Normally aspirated engine then yeah go with the Shricks' grind and tune the ecu to the cam, should make another 30 hp on the NA motor.

 

Already spinning the SC faster.

In talking with the guys that have SLK32's & C32's the standard RENNtech & Kleeman cams report good results.

The stock exhaust is pretty efficient. There is very little to be gained HP/TQ wise in messing with it. Swapping in some high flowing cats will net you the biggest change.

The stock exhaust manifolds are a huge bottle neck. They are the biggest restriction in the flow path.

ECU is waiting on the cam & header decision.

Getting to 400 rwhp is not an easy task. 360-380 rwhp not a huge deal. Getting that extra jump is the problem. Not sure that it can really be done without spinning the SC near the limits of the electronic clutch and thermal efficiency's of the unit.

Of course in working to reach that level steps must be taken to address the cooling system in the car. This is my current project. I am working on a "stage 2" cooling upgrade for myself. My current plans build a foundation for a "stage 3" cooling system which would entail work on or replacement of the stock IC. I do mean the IC itself not the IC heat exchanger.

Need to also come up with a LSD solution. I am not thrilled with the 2 options on the market I am aware of. Time to start seeing how much work it would take to make a Quafie work in the car.

I could always take the "easy" route and hook up a 100 shot of Nitrous.

 

I believe srt6-crossfire has already made 400 hp at the crank with out headers, from tuning by the guys at SI, you might want to talk with him.

if your overdriving the S/C you should really look into getting a larger intercooler first, next tasteful mod would be water alcohol injection, soon you'll be running 12 sec 1/4 miles on stock headers.

 

I am not interested in only 400 BHP - that is easy. What I want is 400 RWHP without Nitrous which is much more difficult.

While a cooling system upgrade is in the works my car runs very consistently in its current form. We will see if the cooling system upgrade is worth the money. My current thought is that it will not be but we will find out. Before you ask yes I do track my car on occasion.

SI has been moved off my list of tuners. I have emails and PM's into the guys at SI and have received no response to my questions.

 

A great way to use nitrous with no additional threat to your engine is to spray your intercooler in order to super cool the air coming into your engine. I have built turbo cars with this they can gain upwards of 40 whp from a little fwd 4 cylinder.

 

Well in that case, if you want to put 400hp to the ground I would look into building a twin turbo set-up. it more efficient than that power sucking S/C.
I wonder if the drive belt to the S/C can even handle spinning a 500 hp motor??
Build a turbo manifold for the car and rig up a larger IC system. I think it can be done, but I have my doubts about the S/C being able to tolerate the higher speeds, it will work but for how long?

Oh, did you try smoothing the Y-pipe from the S/C yet, I heard that trick makes a bit more power, I think its the SL55 y-pipe you need to order from MBZ.