Besides the point the turbo they hung off of it can run 30+psi NP and this is a true racing setup HKS should stand behind it. PERIOD
A stressful tap could cause issues though

 

Joeycoetes:

Titanium is not stainless first of all. I mig and tig weld and forge stainless, folded steel, aluminum and have worked with titanium. I have forged 1500 layer folded steel swords since 1985.

Titanium is not magic it is springy and it high strength to weight ratio + no corrosion.

Regarding why stainless will crack over time, it is a matter of heat:

Oxide colors will form on clean steel as it is heated. You've seen them many times, as the steel got hot where you're grinding.

 

Pesto...get that thing off your car brother!! I understand through our short conversations in other threads that you are gonna keep your EVO on the street, but I would hate to see it blow up. At the racetrack these things get super hot, and they will eventually crack. Drag racing is tough, but road racing is even harder on parts like this...they'll be hot for MUCH longer periods of time. The other day I saw a JIC stainless EVO header. I looked at the inside of the tubes, and guess what? WELD SLAG!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I wouldn't wish a blown motor on anyone, well almost noone, but I'm waiting for a JIC header equiped car to go boom. It'll get hot, the slag will drop off straight into the turbo and there won't be much left to do a rebuild on. I know I'm not heeding my own advice as I'm getting my car back from Borla tomorrow (they just finished development, and installed their stainless header). But the quality of the work is FAR superior to other stainless headers I've seen. I wish us all good luck!

 

If it is broken along a weld then there is either an engeineering fault causing undo stress on that weld, the weld was not done properly including an incompatible welding rod material, or the thickness of the stainless manifold is not sufficient. I did not see any marks or evidence of abuse anywhere near the crack in the manifold. One way or another this is an engeineering problem......it simply should not have failed....period.

 

NO EGT - again - I have been through this issue before - having had a problem with an UNNAMED vendor of upipes who resused to warranty some obvious defects - with such a costly unit I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything to void out any warranty I may have had

Although - having delt with HKS USA on other matters I fully expect them to cop out and blame me for their bad welds

OF COURSE its MY fault !

 

I could not agree more - especially since its only a few months old and most of that time the car was sitting in pieces. Most especially when you are dealing with a kit that retails for $5,900.00 - you expect a kit like that to last for some time.

BTW - my Cusco tubular exhuast manifold on my WRX / STI lasted for over a year without any issue and it was much larger than this unit

We will see what HKS USA has to say about all this tomorrow

 

Did it crack also at that point?

 

No - it was still perfect.

Also - the custom T3/T4 turbo set up that I had custom made by Pruven Performance from stainless tubes also lasted for over a year of hard use without one crack or problem of any kind

I did NOT epect this type of problem - and especially a slit down the middle of the seams

 

yeah, we have our differences, but I am glad you are ok.

 

Does the stock O2 housing bolt up to that turbo? Just wondering why they have an option for 3" downpipe or no downpipe. Also, do you know what the difference is between the 450 HP setup and the 550 HP setup?

Thanks,

Keith

 

how did you not hear it? didn't you notice that annoying flapping noise?

I'm surprised you weren't able to hear an exhaust leak through that gaping crack.
I notice the noise even when a downpipe bolt is loose.

glad to hear you found it before you lost some brain cells.

 

That is messed up, glad you found out before you passed out.

Time for an in-car CO gauge?

 

possible lawsuit? bad idea...

Let me ask you a question, can you file a lawsuit against a drug dealer that sells you bad weed?

The fact that using these parts on the road is ILLEGAL in the U.S., in addition to the fact that Al runs nitrous (another illegality), makes it highly unlikely that you would win any law suit of the sort. Thats what we call contributory negligence.

Not to mention, cast manifolds are just a bad idea to start. EVERY single legtimate tuner in the world knows that with cast manifolds, its not a matter of IF they crack, but WHEN they crack.

Further, exhaust manifolds are probably not the type of thing that courts feel the need to impose strict liability on.

 

Alex Alex... do not speak in generalities... be specific. Cast is much more shock resistant. All of this stuff is for RACING. You are absolutely right on no prayer for liability. You cannot legislate common sense.
I have seen rally cars being built at rmr and they always use cast. I have personal experience seeing stainless manifolds crack also.

It is a lot easier to make a stainless manifold than cast one. less material, less in tools etc. the stainless saves weight and can be possibly more efficient. Not more durable.

 

check out www.full-race.com if you plan on staying with tubular. They have hands down one of the best quality equal length tubular manifolds out currently.