Helix tubular turbo manifold ?

[Jesse SR20]

Anyone used one, seen one, heard about one ? At only $310, I just have to question it's quality.

It's at Touge Factory.

[ItzGenX]

You can get that same manifold on ebay for like 150. It is the same thing that has been going around since the magazines knew about SR20's.

[msaskin]

Looks strikingly similar to the ssautochrome manifold, with some extra welds, and at twice the price

For $150 get the autochrome one on ebay. the way i see it, all stainless manifolds, even the $900+ jic ones, are prone to cracking. if the $150 one cracks, i'll pull it off the car and weld it back up

~matt

[Jesse SR20]

the way i see it, all stainless manifolds, even the $900+ jic ones, are prone to cracking.

That seems like a bad conclusion to jump to.

Stainless is a outstanding material to use for manifolds. But certain design features must be used to account for stainless' large amount of thermal expansion. For example, using a segmented exhaust port flange. (neither the helix or ssautochrome manifold use this feature)

Take a look at http://www.full-race.com. They've be making tubular stainless manifolds for turbo hondas for some time now. And the honda crowd loves em. And they make manifolds for nissans aswell. (but veeeery expensive)

[msaskin]

That seems like a bad conclusion to jump to.

Stainless is a outstanding material to use for manifolds. But certain design features must be used to account for stainless' large amount of thermal expansion. For example, using a segmented exhaust port flange. (neither the helix or ssautochrome manifold use this feature)

Take a look at http://www.full-race.com. They've be making tubular stainless manifolds for turbo hondas for some time now. And the honda crowd loves em. And they make manifolds for nissans aswell. (but veeeery expensive)

Makes sense. All the stainless manifolds i've seen crack (mainly the OBX and the old style SSautochrome ones) actually just broke in the middle of the cylinder runners, so it's not in a terribly high stress area.

I've been attributing this mostly due to the thin wall design of the older style manifolds, and the weight that they must (somewhat) support.

Hopefully the newer style autochrome ones are better. The one I put on seemed pretty beefy compared to the OBX one my friend bought.

As a side note, I wish I could afford a full-race manifold...those things are trick

~matt

[Jesse SR20]

Hopefully the newer style autochrome ones are better. The one I put on seemed pretty beefy compared to the OBX one my friend bought.

How long have you been running your current SSA manifold ? What type of boost level/hp ?

Have you run other SSA manifolds in the past ? Problems ?

If the new design proves to hold out for a reasonable amout of time, then it's a great alternative to the high end manifolds.

Lemme know, thanks.

[VitaminT]

Yeah I don't think the manifolds crack where the flange is, but rather when all the pipes come together.

[msaskin]

How long have you been running your current SSA manifold ? What type of boost level/hp ?

Have you run other SSA manifolds in the past ? Problems ?

If the new design proves to hold out for a reasonable amout of time, then it's a great alternative to the high end manifolds.

Lemme know, thanks.

Just a few weeks for me. I run 10-11 psi on the street and at the track. I'll be hitting a number of open track events in the coming months in 110+ degree heat outside, so a bunch of 30 minute lapping sessions in that heat should show any flaws real quick

~matt

[S14Life]

Full-Race makes awsome stuff. I plan on having that SR mani some day... some day...

[VitaminT]

I just wish they made a T25 bottom mount manifold. Maybe even with an external gate flange.