+1 crawford

Call up Crawford and talk to Doug. Ask him why his headers are better than the competition. The Crawfords were desgined to produce maximum results, not to fit. Thats why theyre so friggen hard to install and far more worth it than any other set of headers on the market. When it comes to headers (to an extent) bigger (longer) is better. Long(er) tube headers will always produce better results than shorties and mid lengths. As for "brand name" your paying more for the fact that the Nismo headers say Nismo on them than anything else. Just look at the specs, they are puny in comparison (relatively speaking on our 3.5L motor). 1200 for Crawfords or 1300 for a set of (in my and a majority of people on this boards opinon) headers that arent as good as the crawfords, with a lovely hikeup for the name. Easy decision for me.

 

I dont know if they make the headers Nismo? Sorry.

 

My oppinion is that Crawford is the best header design (if you wish to retain your cats) with the toughest install. I witnessed 2 G35 coupes get their crawford headers installed at the same time and it was an extremely tough fit (motor had to be tilted).

Nismo, DC-Sports, Topspeed, Pro-1, Alpha Works all follow the same shorty header and collector design and gains would most likely similiar between all of them. I like the smoother inside welds of the DC-Sports header compared to the nismo. Read this thread if you don't know what i'm talking about. Its a comparison of the above mentioned headers.

http://www.my350z.com/forum/showthre...ghlight=header

The Unlimited Tuning header looks to be yet again the same shorty header design but the collector seems to be more merged at the end/flange than the nismo, DC, etc. Not sure how much more power that will translate to. Guess we'll have to wait for the dyno charts to be posted.

 

For what it's worth, I've yet to see a dyno plot of the crawford headers. The alphawerks WERE dynoed at about 17hp and 16 tq gain at peak. This was without any other changes in modifications. In otherwords, the car was modded, but the headers alone made the 17hp difference. The crawfords are advertised at 20 hp at peak (40 at redline) WHEN USED WITH PLENUM AND CATS. Folks, it stands to reason that the 20hp claim is crank hp, which after drivetrain losses, is nearly identical to 17hp at the wheels. Even if not, 3 hp is fairly irrelevant. And when you have to use products that have been independently dynoed at ~8-10 hp EACH to get those gains, it makes me wonder...the alphawerks headers, at almost $500 cheaper and certainly a couple hundred less to install as well...well, let's just say until I can see a dyno of JUST the crawford headers that makes 25-30 hp at the wheels...I just can't justify the price. They may be the best, but you pay dearly for such a negligible difference.

 

thnx for all of the advice and responses! Sounds like a lot of you guys are into the Crawfords but my friend said that quality-wise and durability wise, Nismo is better in that aspect. And the Crawfords just aren't as reliable in the long run. In the short run, they'll pack a lil more power. I'm still kinda leaning towards the Nismo's. BTW, who can install these for cheap?

Foobs

 

Check out the alphawerks. They can be had for about 600.00.

 

I'd suggest looking at Jet Hot coatings as well. The Nismo headers look pretty raw, so they're nothing special to look at. But they did look a lot better in the flat black JetHot2000! They do offer a "sterling" finish for less, but it's a lower heat rating... ...and the flat-black looks soooo good. The JH2000 ran $225 for a set of Nismo headers, which includes return shipping. I spent about $40 shipping them there as well.

An added beneftit was that there appeared to be a couple of pin-holes in a couple of welds. Not sure if they were just on the surface of if they would have resulted in small leaks... ...but the JH2000 filled them as well as smoothed the appearance of all welds. The overall difference takes the Nismo headers from raw-looking to a high-quality part, IMO.

I just thought I'd mention this since you brought up some possible wear concerns with the Crawford headers. If the parts are new, Jet Hot will give a lifetime rust-through warranty. The added protection on either of these headers would almost certainly ensure that they remain in great shape for as long as you own your car. If you're looking at coating your headers anyway, the differences in contruction are going to result in minimal differences in life expectancy.

 

Where can I find this data? I'm also very interested in purchasing headers, as well as highflow cats (keeping stock exhaust.....for now).

 

search...alphawerks dyno

 

is it true that if you go with any other mods beside NISMO products than you may have warranty problems???

 

i asked the dealership today and they said that whatever mod that you add on, no matter the brand, it will void anything that it "affects."

foobs

 

hmmm...because a friend of mine went to the clearlake infiniti and asked and they told him that as long as it was Nismo. I guess it just depends on the dealership maybe

 

it will not void the warranty unless they can prove that it was the aftermarket product that caused the failure.