Equal length mani's are slightly easier to tune more precisely. Between being equal length, having a lifetime warranty, and not having to weld the thing together to use it, I'd definately spend the extra $75 to get this manifold.
Also, as said before, the Suby community has had great success with this company's manifolds;)
thinking of KAT... what do you guys think of this thing????
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C-Kwik
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ka24detkyle wrote:The brace was added for support. I've see too many manifolds crack after time, mostly due to the weight of the turbo and vibrations.
It was approached like this. The manifold has piping that connects to the head flange. Then the turbo sits away from the head putting stress on the runners. That stress is always there when the turbo is mounted on it. Then add to the mix some heat...and some nasty vibrations, (such as the cars that ride stiff, pot holes, etc.). That really makes a manifold crack. The brace was added to help remedy that problem. If you feel the thermal heat expansion is more of the reason for the cracking then just cut off the bracing with a die grinder. It's only about an inch long. Personally i'll be running it "WITH" the flange.
Thanks,Kyle Bennett
I agree there are issues with that, but that's where good forethough to relieving as much stress to the manifold comes into play. This is really more aimed at the person designing the rest of the turbo system. Stainless is plenty strong. Most cracking issues tend to come from poor accomodations for expansion. I've seen plenty of stainless manifolds hold up to lots of power with no bracing. I'd probably remove it, or at the least, grind it down enough so that the brace becomes the weakest link if the differing expansion rates puts too much stress on it. I'd rather the brace break then a runner.
As I said, though, the mani looks great.
andrave wrote:well the sr20det community hasn't.
Really!?! Could you explain a bit... I'd like to know what's up here.
I can only think of two WRX's that have had problems with these mani's, and both were replaced free of charge by Stone Racing. If there's another side to this story I'd like to hear about it.
I post on zilvia.net sometime, and some guys were saying their ssautochrome SR20 T3 manifolds had cracked... and by some I mean 4 or 5, which is a lot, to me...I didn't know about the lifetime warranty, maybe it wasn't offered when they bought theirs?not sure.one guy said he had to have his welded 3 times before he finally replaced it with an HKS one...
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ka24detkyle
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ka24detkyle
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ka24detkyle
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ka24detkyle
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I'm not trying to knock anybody or their work...
but you guys need to keep in mind that a warranty isn't everything. Odds are, the maker is only willing to repair the manifold if it cracks. Not that it's a bad thing, but by the time you pay shipping there and back, and add in the trouble of taking it off the car, putting it back on, and the downtime... I'd bet you guys would rather pay $50 for a part that wouldn't crack. Not that you can tell the future, but just reminding you that sometimes, the hassle of getting warranty work isn't worth saving a few bucks by letting a guarantee influence your decision. Buy what you think is most reliable, and do give weight to a person that backs his work, but don't make a guarantee your highest priority. Afterall...Craftsman has an excellent guarantee on their screwdrivers, but they're junk. Personally, I use them because the hassle and cost of downtime isn't bad.
As for the welding and cracking issues... There's a lot that's more important than having or not having braces. For example, the filler material in the weld is much more important. If it expands and contracts at a rate too much different from the base metal, a crack will prevail.
A suggestion to the maker... sometimes, a bigger weld isn't stronger. By putting more reinforcement on the weld, you also raise the angle at the toe (where weld meets base metal) of the weld. This increases the stress riser. A weld that is perfectly flush inside and out will be stronger than one with great reinforcement (all other variables the same).
It doesn't look like the crome is sticking to the welds very well. I don't know what can really be done about it, but I got a couple ideas you may try if you havn't. Maybe clean them with a scotch-brite wheel after welding, instead of a metal brush. or rig something to keep a longer trailing of gas coverage on the weld. or maybe travel faster and put less jules (heat energy) into the weld. Electropolishing may be a better option than chroming. It actually looks like it's been electropolished, but pics aren't always as good as seeing something in person.
Either way...I don't mean to sound negative, as it's great that you're doing these. It takes a lot of time and effort just to cut and fit one of these pieces together... and it's not something easy to duplicate. Overall, it's nice work and worthy of being proud of.
but you guys need to keep in mind that a warranty isn't everything. Odds are, the maker is only willing to repair the manifold if it cracks. Not that it's a bad thing, but by the time you pay shipping there and back, and add in the trouble of taking it off the car, putting it back on, and the downtime... I'd bet you guys would rather pay $50 for a part that wouldn't crack. Not that you can tell the future, but just reminding you that sometimes, the hassle of getting warranty work isn't worth saving a few bucks by letting a guarantee influence your decision. Buy what you think is most reliable, and do give weight to a person that backs his work, but don't make a guarantee your highest priority. Afterall...Craftsman has an excellent guarantee on their screwdrivers, but they're junk. Personally, I use them because the hassle and cost of downtime isn't bad.
As for the welding and cracking issues... There's a lot that's more important than having or not having braces. For example, the filler material in the weld is much more important. If it expands and contracts at a rate too much different from the base metal, a crack will prevail.
A suggestion to the maker... sometimes, a bigger weld isn't stronger. By putting more reinforcement on the weld, you also raise the angle at the toe (where weld meets base metal) of the weld. This increases the stress riser. A weld that is perfectly flush inside and out will be stronger than one with great reinforcement (all other variables the same).
It doesn't look like the crome is sticking to the welds very well. I don't know what can really be done about it, but I got a couple ideas you may try if you havn't. Maybe clean them with a scotch-brite wheel after welding, instead of a metal brush. or rig something to keep a longer trailing of gas coverage on the weld. or maybe travel faster and put less jules (heat energy) into the weld. Electropolishing may be a better option than chroming. It actually looks like it's been electropolished, but pics aren't always as good as seeing something in person.
Either way...I don't mean to sound negative, as it's great that you're doing these. It takes a lot of time and effort just to cut and fit one of these pieces together... and it's not something easy to duplicate. Overall, it's nice work and worthy of being proud of.