SR20 is a VQ wizard and knows what he's doing. I believe in that thread he mentions he has installed headers on 6 VQs. He had major complaints about Hot Shot's headers. So we have that info, and we have your info that they are the best for the Sentra.

Which engine is closer to the VQ30DE: the SR20DE/QR25DE or the VQ35DE? Easy answer. Now which HS header is going to be closer to the final VQ30 HS header? The VQ35 or the Sentra? Again, easy answer. It's all speculation at this point, but I'm wary of HS at this point and I will wait and see what the first guinea pigs say.

Nobody's dissing anybody. Many of us are just perfectionists and don't want to pay less to get an inferior product.

 

Plus a header for a sentra is nothing close to a VQ header, you've only got 4 cylinders and alot more space to work with.

 

Exactly my point!

 

Hey guys i can see you weren't really paying attention to what i have been saying. i will try my best to explain this with as many little easy words as possible.
Hotshot will be designing a new header for the 3.0 VQ30DE not making changes to the 3.5 VQ35DE header. What this means is while i am sure some people have had problems with the 3.5 header install this will be a diffrent header and maynot have any fitment issues. Does that make sense at all? Try to read slowly so you can absorb all that information. Now once again if we can show hotshot that there is a large enough market for this product i am sure they will spend sufficent time and effort in development to ensure perfect fitment. It would be nice if they could have a couple diffrent year cars to work on instead of micheals only. I would gladly donate my 99 but it would be impossible.
So what have we learned NEW HEADER DESIGNED OF 3.0 VQ30DE.It may or may not have fitment issues but we cannot make that assumption now can we?

 

They will not be designing an all-new header; they will be modifying their own VQ35 header and probably taking cues from Cattman's basic VQ30 header design. Anything else would be stupid. Why would they start from scratch when they don't have to? Cost drives everything in business.

 

Do you know this for a fact? Have you talked to John at hotshot? Are you going with micheal when he takes his car in? NO NO NO your not so stop making ASSumptions. I called hotshot and asked if the 3.5 hear fro mthe maxima would work on the 3.0 maxima and they SAID NO. if your not interested in the product or buying the product that is prfectly fine but could you stop posting in this thread and giving negative comments? According to the Poll on this page there are 32 people who are interested. And they are starting from scratch. I talked to john and he seems like an honest guy. hotshot has had there share of patent infringment problems i don't think they are going to copy cattmans design,

 

Nope, it's just speculation. But until you prove otherwise, it's plausible speculation.

You seem to be going on the gut feeling you got from talking to this Hot Shot guy (haha) as well as your experience with HS headers on a completely different engine. Those aren't good foundations to form a conclusive belief that HS headers for the VQ30 will have none of the problems with the VQ35.

 

I get the impression your talking out of your ***. Anyway man its all good if these get made alot of people will have a nice set of headers for $550.

 

if a ton of us preorder...we might be able to get a price of like $500...and after that the regular price would be $600 or so...the headers will be made of mild steel so they will last a long time and not crack...do to the fact that mild steel has some play in it....kind like building beams so they can flex in an earthquake...

here is what John specifically said, he will be designing a 2nd generation of headers for our cars (basically a modified version of the VQ35DE headers) but with several tweaks of which John has been meaning to do to the current VQ35DE headers for a while now which may result in yet even more gains...

he definitely wouldn't copy cattman's designs as if you already look at the pic of the VQ35DE headers on hotshot's site, they look almost the same as Cattman's design anyway...but it can't be a copy, as those headers came out months before cattman's....which basically brings to mind that that design with the loop in the rear bank is the optimal design for fit and in order make the 2 banks equal length....can't wait to see what "ideas/tweaks" John has in mind for a 2nd generation header specifically designed for our cars...

 

thanks for clearing that up Michael. Seems that we have some negative people in here. As long as fitment is fine on 1 or 2 cars i don;t see anyone else having an issue other than people with cali spec 99's lime me who may have to get some bungs welded into the exhaust after the cat. keep us updated and hopefully some other people pre order

 

Thanks for clearing up what? Thanks for clearing up that you were wrong? The fact is that they will be using an existing design and tweaking it. Tweaking = Starting Fresh? Hmmm...

Its going to take more than welding in some bungs. You'd have to extend the wire harness to cause they aren't gonna reach.

 

well only time will tell. Yes thanks for clearing up that i was wrong, i can admit that but whatever they do as long as i can get a header for my 4th gen i will be happy.

 

LOL...thanks Broaner.

BTW, I voted "I would definitely be interested" to the question "Would you buy Hotshot Headers if the gains, quality, fit, and price were good?". Based on the laundry list of complaints about HS's VQ35 headers, I'm not optimistic that this condition is going to obtain, but if it does, I'll happily buy HS headers.

 

I totally agree with this statement. SR20 has fit 3.0VQ Cattman headers on a 3.5VQ therefore the 3.5VQ Hotshot headers will fit a 3.0VQ. The only thing Hotshot will have to do is install the EGR fitting. Hotshot is not in expert with Nissan's therefore they don't know that the engine bay of a 96 Maxima is nearly the same has the 03 Maxima. Externally, the block and heads of the 3.5VQ and 3.0VQ are identical except for the VTC solenoids on the 3.5. Hotshot might have to rework the y-pipe with a mild bend, but that's it. The header itself will be the same. Years ago Emax put 4th gen 3.0 manifolds on his 3.5 so that he could run a 4th gen y-pipe. It all worked fine.

As for Hotshot quality, I suggest contacting SR20 because he'll tell you they're junk. They don't line up right, the flanges are very flimsy, they leak, and I believe there have been cases of clearances issues with the cross member and steering rack.

I still don't see why all of you are so excited about such an expensive and labor intensive project that has shown no improvement on the 4th gen in the 1/4 mile or on the dyno compared to just a regular y-pipe.

Show me one instance on the 4th gen where any headers have surpassed the performance of a y-pipe. It's your money, but at least do some research to understand what you get.

 

Everyone gets all hyped up because the 5th gens see a major gain of headers over an aftermarket ypipe. The only reason is because the ypipe on the 5th gen doesn't remove the precats like it does on the 4th gens...only headers are the solution to removing the precats and gaining the power that 4th gens see with only a ypipe.

 

HELLO guys Dave B? MrEous. My car is calispec 99 which has a precat in the front manifold i may see more gains that other 4th gens since i still have this exhaust restriction.

 

Maybe not 'more gains' per se...but rather you would start putting out the same #s as if you were already a Fed Spec and just did a header install.

In short you would free up a small amount of hp lost by the Cali Spec header precat.



That's just my guess...it makes sense to me.

 

Well, if people are willing to spend $500, $1000, and more on exhaust, which is almost entirely for sound and aesthetics unless you're boosted, why wouldn't people be willing to spend $500 or $600 on headers, which are mainly for sound (and engine bay aesthetics)? There would be more labor involved with the headers but many of us do this kind of stuff ourselves and enjoy a challenge.

 

i want the HP nissan owes me who told them to install a precat in my front manifold. if i have to get headers to do this then so be it

 

Hello!! Order the front manifold from Fed-spec or better yet grab one off a junker motor and then fit a Fed spec y-pipe Then you take that $400-700 you saved and apply it to some other mod that actually does something unlike headers or an UDP.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only 4th gener that knows this.

 

maybe i will

 

but will you get the good sound of the equal length runners?

 

...Great suggestion. That would be a better solution. Unless he wanted shiny-ness under his hood. It's a tossup...lol

 

Front manifold only? Only three of the cylinders exhaust through the extra precat(s)?

 

Or PM SR20 and ask him to ship him one of the dozen OEM manifolds he has in his dumpster for like $50. This is exageration but obviously all people that did this install that weren't Cali spec have an OEM manifold laying around somewhere.

Who says an OEM manifold can't be made to straight bling. 10 minutes of prep/paint work on the front heat shield and you've got yourself a color matched non rusty engine bay. Or you could always go the nicer route with Jet Hot coating.

Totally off topic; what do you guys think about doing away with the flex section? I'm going to fill all three engine mounts with poly so the engine is going to move much less than before. The flex section on the Budget y-pipe does not flex nearly as much as the OEM pipe did. Has anyone ever replaced the flex section w/ just straight piping? It would help eliminate any last bit of bees in the can I have.

 

Does anyone have pics of what a installed Fed Spec Y pipe looks like? i Would like to see which 02 Sensors i would need to relocate After the CAT or how many bungs would need to be added to the fedspec y pipe. Also is it a safe assumption that all 95-99 fedspec cars have the same ypipe design?

 

You are just asking for major cracking problems if you do that.

The flex section is not in there just to isolate engine movement.

Your whole exhaust from the flex section back is suspended by rubber hangers. If you turn the flex section into a rigid joint, all six degrees of freedom of movement that your exhaust currently enjoys will become constrained. The result will be a huge increase in the loading of that joint as your entire exhaust is now essentially one big cantilever.

You just need a better flex section. I have had my cattman y-pipe for 3 years (~50 K) and it still sounds essentially stock (stock muffler of course)

 

Zack, all fed spec y-pipes are exactly the same in all aspects. There is one O2 bung in each downpipe. A total of two bungs in the y-pipe.


Eng92, I would agree that the stress on the joint would be much greater than OEM. But the exhaust movement and engine movement are very greatly seperated by the OEM flex section. On the Budget pipe the flex is much stiffer meaning this seperation of movement is greatly reduced. We are swapping the clutch on my buddies bimmer at the moment. It has no flex section. How is the stress dealth with? The welds do not appear to be double thick or special in any way.

 

Guys i really wonder about header gains over a y-pipe on say a maxima that revs 1000rpm over stock,runs 260+durations cams gets maybe a comp bump and gains a 1/2 liter in displacement

Would you spring for them then dave? Whats your feeling on that.

 

Is your buddies BMW fwd or rwd?

In a rwd car, engine motion is of a "roll" nature and your exhaust is not constrained in that direction (rubber hangers) so a flex section is generally not necessary.

In a constrained system, the joint stress level is highly dependent on the stiffness. In our cars, you have a vertical pipe coming down off each manifold that make an abrupt 90. This geometry highly constrains any "pitching" rotation. With a transverse mounted engine, most of what you get is pitching motion.

I agree that the OEM flex section is very "flexible", but when designing things for mass production, to avoid warranty and heaven forbid recalls, you have to be fairly conservative.
Depending upon the amount of motion that has to be accomodated, the joint stress level from a system with a little bit of "give" is far smaller than one that is rigid.

Also, some cars do not use a weaved flex section like ours. I have seen a short pipe that looks a little like an accordian as well.

 

Is there a FWD BMW out there?

I understand that the engine rolls side to side as opposed to front to back. That doesn't change the fact that there is still stress on the system. On the back half of the car the exhaust is all on the driver's side and therefore again a cantilever situation. I agree with what you said. I was just hoping to be able to get rid of this nasty noise.

The aftermarket y-pipes use a weaved section wrapped around an accordian.

 

Stress is not a bad thing. You will only get cracking if the stress intensity is above the threshold for the material.

Picture this in your mind. Take our entire exhaust aft of the flex section and lay it on the ground. Imagine how hard it would be to grab a hold of the forward end of it and rotate it down so only the muffler raises off the ground.
Grab the same point on the BMW exhaust and rotate it sideways (axial rotation) to raise the muffler. There has got to be atleast an order of magnitude difference in the required moments.

Can you buy just a higher quality flex section and weld it in?

 

all I know is....John at hotshot said the headers will be made of mild steel (basically aluminized steel "a la" warpspeed y pipe's and such...which last forever it seems...and never crack...)

 

any new information yet?

 

he still needs a test car for 3 days to a week....I can only lend my car for 2 days in a row at most....so we need some other socal maxima guy to lend him their car (I don't have a 2nd car anymore)....call John up and discuss the details if you're interested and want the labor done for you and a discount on these headers when he finishes them...

 

I have. But you guys are very far and there is no way i can give up my car for a week since distance is a problem.

 

so just talked to John (the owner today)...he told me they are finishing up a Celica right now (they are about half way done making headers for it) and then they need a local maxima as the test car (4th gen of course)....along with an 04/05 maxima....for 3 days to a week...I am trying to work something out so I could do it...but it would still be very difficult with my schedule to let them use my car...

any takers who want all the labor done for them and a discount? call hotshot performance...

 

Jeez, you can't live without your car for 3 days? Just take mass transit...oh wait, you're in LA.... haha

Seriously, you don't know anybody you could carpool with? Bike to work? There must be some kind of bus system there. I don't presume to know your situation but it seems weird to me that you are wholly dependent on your Maxima to get to work (or whatever). Anyway, I would do this in a heartbeat if I live in SoCal, as my Max is just collecting dust until March anyway [see sig pic].

 

VQuick....you sure want these headers don't you!!!