Tuned Length Exhaust Manifolds (ebay)

[r33freely]

I have seen lots of Tuned length exhaust manifolds on ebay etc, to my way of thinking they must be worth the dollars as im sure the turbo would benifet from the better flow

has anyone fitted one of these and if it was a low mount did it simply replace the standard manifold?... as they claim on ebay

Regards

Dave

[R31Nismoid]

Ebay = dont go near it

cheers

[RANDY]

You've gotta wonder how good they are, and how well they're built. I'd really like to hear from someone who has fitted one.

Some of them look OK, others look dodge.

[SirRacer]

why not buy one? id be more than happy to buy one considering in most cases they are just a copy of someone elses research and design work.

sure they arent made as well but flow better than standard and if they crack (the big brand ones do as well) you simply just weld it up and start again.

if the whole poser attitude in many cases that if it says hks or something on it, its suddenly wonderfull and works 50 times better than anything else. one of my cars is full of apexi/hks/blitz gear but i wouldnt have any hesitant putting on one of these exhaust manifolds in a reasonably tuned engine.

[BezerkR32]

This is why, this manifold was supplied buy customer and lasted 8 days before wastegate fell off, it was repaired, then three weeks later all the welds on the runners cracked. if you like getting stranded with a massive exhaust leak and no boost go ahead. this has also happened on a SR20 manifold supplied by a customer. I will no longer fit them as have been stung twice. There is a reason they are so cheap, the material is way to thin. The pic of the flange was taken after repair but you get the idea. Oh and suppliers are not very helpful when it comes to warranty either.

why not buy one? id be more than happy to buy one considering in most cases they are just a copy of someone elses research and design work.

sure they arent made as well but flow better than standard and if they crack (the big brand ones do as well) you simply just weld it up and start again.

if the whole poser attitude in many cases that if it says hks or something on it, its suddenly wonderfull and works 50 times better than anything else. one of my cars is full of apexi/hks/blitz gear but i wouldnt have any hesitant putting on one of these exhaust manifolds in a reasonably tuned engine.

Edited June 26, 2006 by BezerkR32

[CruiseLiner]

theres a few wa big power gtr's running the xspower manifolds i think it is and they have made over 600rwhp without a problem and lasted longer than 12 months without a hitch.

i think the first lot of china manifolds were really bad and thats y the bad rep and now they are making them alot better and seen to last very well for the minimal price tag.

$300 is stuff all anyway, even if it does fall apart after 12 months its still good value.

[SirRacer]

This is why, this manifold was supplied buy customer and lasted 8 days before wastegate fell off, it was repaired, then three weeks later all the welds on the runners cracked. if you like getting stranded with a massive exhaust leak and no boost go ahead. this has also happened on a SR20 manifold supplied by a customer. I will no longer fit them as have been stung twice. There is a reason they are so cheap, the material is way to thin. The pic of the flange was taken after repair but you get the idea. Oh and suppliers are not very helpful when it comes to warranty either.

i know what your saying now. the ones i have seen have lasted a good year hense my comments. i havent owned one myself but from what ive been told even if it does leak after a year its still good value. some of the bigger named jap branded ones have been known to leak also.

that manifold is a horrible example so i know where your coming from there definitley. the main issues ive heard with the "ebay" special is they they crack and dont bolt up properly in the first place due to warping of the flange

[BezerkR32]

Dont get me wrong, we use a lot of aftermarket manifolds, mainly XTR supplied by GCG. Have been on cars for over 12 months without a hitch, but they arent $300. Get what you pay for.

i know what your saying now. the ones i have seen have lasted a good year hense my comments. i havent owned one myself but from what ive been told even if it does leak after a year its still good value. some of the bigger named jap branded ones have been known to leak also.

that manifold is a horrible example so i know where your coming from there definitley. the main issues ive heard with the "ebay" special is they they crack and dont bolt up properly in the first place due to warping of the flange

Edited June 27, 2006 by BezerkR32

[DoughBoy]

XTR manifolds are the same china ones that you can buy off eBay, but less than half the cost. IIRC buying direct from the manufacturer in China the manifolds are ~$US50 each.

[DoughBoy]

Here's one the same as the "GCG" manifold

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...Y_BIN_Stores_IT

[DoughBoy]

Ooh the cheapest "locally" was $229:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SKYLINE-R32-R33-R34...1QQcmdZViewItem

[2rismo]

What you smokin', boy?

The GCG/XTR manifolds are nothing LIKE the crap I've seen come from

'eBay pReformance'

Adrian

[kiwi32]

I have heard of one which was that thin when it got hot is sagged under the weight of the turbo. I have also heard of the waste gates falling off.

[png godzilla]

i bought a set of GTR TT Low Mount manifolds off e-bay.

my findings are

1)welds not a patch on HKS & the like (to be expected)

2)missmatch of gaskets & flanges was a problem that had to be fixed

3)generous clearances on bolt holes could allow for a 10mm missmatch "steel flange to exhaust port"

lucky i checked first.

4)no mounts for heat sheilds or water pipes.

5)can't get at least one nut on each flange without having to grind the hell out of a ring spanner because they didn't allow for the fact that most people don't have ring spanners will less than 1mm cross section heads!!

The add even said,

SKYLINE R32 R33 R34 RB26 DETT LOW MOUNT MANIFOLDS HKS S

Notice it says HKS

this is what showed up

i wasn't all that upset as i knew the HKS set was A$1,800

but fitting them up was a pain in the a s s !!

i must have ground away 3 ring spanners trying to tighten the nuts & finally breaking the "Special Spanner" (& no wasn't about to gring down my good ones)

i have a Tommei kit on order, just look at the difference!! Haven't got them yet, but i'm sure they will bolt up & just work like all the other HKS & Tommei stuff you buy!!

Tommei_Exhaust.bmp

Mind you the std cast manifolds are supposidly good for 600+ hp, so it's really just for the bling bling factor!!

I WOULDN'T TOUCH E-BAY MANIFOLDS AGAIN.

[png godzilla]

woops looks like the upload facility doesn't like bmp files, heres the Tommei in jpg

it just oozes quality & look at all the extra's!!

[DoughBoy]

What you smokin', boy?

The GCG/XTR manifolds are nothing LIKE the crap I've seen come from

'eBay pReformance'

Adrian

Haha look at those links and tell me that it's not the same item as Bezerkly posted? A while ago I got a manifold direct from China, and funny enough it's identical to the ones GCG have in their display cabinets. As someone posted there have been a couple of revisions of the manifolds, and prob several different factories in China making them... but even the units that Simon or Sean in WA are running with their combinations are the same as the GCG ones, at less than 1/2 the price.

Not saying they are the duck's nuts, I'm sure they have some unique features bundled in with them (uncontrollable boost, turbo positioning hitting cam covers or p/s gear) but you get what you pay for.. and some people have gotten decent results with the new gear.

[RedDrifter]

I got one of the XSPower RB20/25 low mount stock position manifolds and it wasn't really the best. Got a hairline crack witch lukily I could see and get welded up ok. I have notice one of the support welds has cracked.

Car sounded better at idle and that was about it.

Gonna put the stock manifold back soon.

As said before "you get what you pay for"

[Denver]

ive got one of the even later revisions of simons manifold, the gate pipe is in a revised location, fixing the boost creep issues the early version had, and the wall thickness is a lot thicker than the early china mani's that came out, welding is a lot better, more filler used than just butt welding the pipes together..

one thing that did need doing, is getting all the surfaces faced so they where nice and flat.

so far so good, haven't really done much with it as yet <only done the dutton rally> but given simons has lasted thus far, id say they'll cop a beating now..

like everything china ia making, the first version blows, but the later ones catch up with the real deal, bang foy buck, time you replace a couple of them if they crack, your still better off $ wise, because even with 2 replacements your in front of the real unit, and probably still getting simular life span from it..

Edited June 27, 2006 by Denver

[DVS JEZ]

im using an xspower highmount manilfold on my 32 GTR with to4z. it made 416kw on friday with 23psi.

only problem i had with it was the wastegate was facing the wrong way, so we had to cut and weld the flange facing the correct position.

cheers

Edited June 27, 2006 by DVS32R

[BezerkR32]

Chris, It's one thing to say that the manifolds 'look' the same but to suggest that they're the same thing is ridiculous. Until you have seen the manifolds side by side you can be forgiven for thinking that they're the same.

Anyone can copy an exhaust manifold design but copying it well is a different story. EVERY ebay manifold we've EVER seen has been rubbish and each and every GCG/XTR manifold we've used has been fine.