Why I Will Never Buy Another HKS Product Ever
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
From: Pasadena, CA/ Atlanta, GA
Why I Will Never Buy Another HKS Product Ever
For years, I would wonder why on cold starts, the majority of the exhaust smoke would exit only, the drivers side exhaust tip. This baffled me as I know my very nice/ expensive HKS exhaust was a *true dual and could not imagine that one cylinder bank would was breathing heavier than the other. Nonetheless, since my car and exhaust SEEMED to be performing fine, this quagmire never went beyond casual curiosity.
That was, until people began retrofitting their HKS exhaust with X-pipes and suddenly found that the so-called H-Pipe in the exhaust was actually made by a moron.
With all these photos popping up, with the flex-pipes now leaking bad enough to cause a check engine light, I felt it was time for me to visit the exhaust shop. After consulting both a couple of exhausts pros and some Infiniti service friends, I made the decision to ditch the leaky flex-pipes in favor of hard pipe and add a Magnaflow X-Pipe. This also proved to be a great opportunity to inspect the H-pipes. What we have below is the result of my search.
and another shot of pipes so that we can dismiss any replica/hack job arguments about the exhaust.
I am soo pissed that my $1200+ AUTHENTIC HKS product was lil more than junk, with a blockage like that present. I cant wait contact HKS directly and inform them of my feelings regarding, their company and its overpriced underperforming product
On the positive note, the X-pipe sounds lovely. It took me a day or so to get used to the lower in-cabin volume (higher pitched) sound. I think however that the exhaust may be a bit louder than previously at WOT. The sound is really unique as described by others, it brings back a hint of the VQ sound, but it is now combined with the deep throatiness of the HKS mufflers. The combination of my resonated test pipes and headers makes for a sound that sounds (dare I say) V10ish under 4k rpm. From the cabin its reminds me of a BMW M5/M6 with a muffler (not quite as deep though)
I did notice however, that with the X-pipe my mileage has dropped at bit, especially when driving hard. Last night after some spirited driving I saw 10 mpg!!
for the first time in 7yrs of ownership.
Overall Im aside from the ability to vaporize fuel, I am quite happy with X-pipe and the improved flow.
That was, until people began retrofitting their HKS exhaust with X-pipes and suddenly found that the so-called H-Pipe in the exhaust was actually made by a moron.
With all these photos popping up, with the flex-pipes now leaking bad enough to cause a check engine light, I felt it was time for me to visit the exhaust shop. After consulting both a couple of exhausts pros and some Infiniti service friends, I made the decision to ditch the leaky flex-pipes in favor of hard pipe and add a Magnaflow X-Pipe. This also proved to be a great opportunity to inspect the H-pipes. What we have below is the result of my search.
and another shot of pipes so that we can dismiss any replica/hack job arguments about the exhaust.
I am soo pissed that my $1200+ AUTHENTIC HKS product was lil more than junk, with a blockage like that present. I cant wait contact HKS directly and inform them of my feelings regarding, their company and its overpriced underperforming product
On the positive note, the X-pipe sounds lovely. It took me a day or so to get used to the lower in-cabin volume (higher pitched) sound. I think however that the exhaust may be a bit louder than previously at WOT. The sound is really unique as described by others, it brings back a hint of the VQ sound, but it is now combined with the deep throatiness of the HKS mufflers. The combination of my resonated test pipes and headers makes for a sound that sounds (dare I say) V10ish under 4k rpm. From the cabin its reminds me of a BMW M5/M6 with a muffler (not quite as deep though)
I did notice however, that with the X-pipe my mileage has dropped at bit, especially when driving hard. Last night after some spirited driving I saw 10 mpg!!
for the first time in 7yrs of ownership.Overall Im aside from the ability to vaporize fuel, I am quite happy with X-pipe and the improved flow.
You're a little late to the leave-hks-because-quality-sucks party...
Discussions and the first person to do so:
https://g35driver.com/forums/intake-...e-picture.html
http://my350z.com/forum/intake-exhau...st-h-pipe.html
Discussions and the first person to do so:
https://g35driver.com/forums/intake-...e-picture.html
http://my350z.com/forum/intake-exhau...st-h-pipe.html
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
From: Pasadena, CA/ Atlanta, GA
No not late, just adding my name and rant to the list.
As stated, it was the previous post by others that prompted me to check my exhaust so I in fact, thank Gary and the others who discovered this first.
As stated, it was the previous post by others that prompted me to check my exhaust so I in fact, thank Gary and the others who discovered this first.
Wow! That is just not acceptable for an exhaust that costs over $1k.
I will say it is easily fixed though, but still a pain.
I will say it is easily fixed though, but still a pain.
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^^ the H pipe should not be intruding into the other two pipes. But I guess it's easier to just cut two holes into each pipe, shove a pipe inside it and weld it to together. VS doing a contour cuts of the H to match the curves of the exhaust pipe and welding.
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 40
Likes: 1
Man, after seeing the pics. it is hard to believe. That looks like a child put them together. Have you contacted HKS with these pics? They ought to come out to the house and install you another, while you sit there bird-doging- them, It's a Georgia thing
As an HKS *****, I'm disappointed to see things like this.
The HKS universal mufflers I used in my exhaust were really well built. They even came packed in Japanese newspaper. :P
And dat X pipe VQ sound @ 3.5k. I know what you're talking about, except mines louder.
The HKS universal mufflers I used in my exhaust were really well built. They even came packed in Japanese newspaper. :P
And dat X pipe VQ sound @ 3.5k. I know what you're talking about, except mines louder.
Last edited by Massios; Mar 5, 2012 at 10:59 PM.