"For even more excitement, stay tuned for the soon-to-be-released STILLEN 350Z Full-Length Headers - that will put you well over 300HP!"

http://www.stillen.com/morenews.asp?id=30

 

what was the first stillen BS? I know they have some lofty claims on exhaust hp, but how can they be called BS, did someone dyno it?

 

Possible, if measured at the crank

 

well, one of the big ones i remember is for the Z32 N/A and +25 hp out of their headers... bah... i'm glad I had a TT. =)

 

Question:

How come I noticed that a lot of members seem to rip on Stillen a bit... this is my first Nissan and Iwas under the impressiont hat Stillen was a reputable aftermarket manufacturer.. is that not true?

 

For the details, do searches on twinturbo.net and maxima.org. Basicly Stillen's customer service is extreamly variable. I for one have never had a problem with them, but others have.

Their HP claims are often not based on stock applications, so are difficult to translate to what you will get. They are a premium tuner, and their prices reflect it (but not always their quality).

In short, Stillen resellers will often have parts for less money, and you take you chances with Stillen in the customer service arena.

 

re: is Stillen any good?

I don't get the bashing - every product I've purchased from Stillen has been easy install, works as advertised, FITS (!), and they last. My daily driver stillen exhaust is going on 6 years of NE snow, salt, crud. Stock Nissan replacement lasts about 2-3 seasons tops. Their K&N setup for cone is really slick.

Get what you pay for. Plus, they test, test, and revise. If you're not as patient as they are, sure, buy the first piece of crap to hit the market. Strut tower brace is a good example - I've seen fake "OBX" sold as "real" through other places, stuff that doesn't fit, never had any issues remotely like that with stillen.

I think this Stillen-bashing comes from people who want it all, right now, and aren't willing to pay the premium for tested and quality parts.

Re: HP claims - they dyno and publish a RANGE of HP claims, using at best 91 octane CA gas - they could easily stack the deck and generate better test numbers; they don't.

Steve

 

I think that Stillen means that the exhaust will put you at 300 hp and that with the headers you will be over 300 HP. I do not think the headers alone will put you over 300 HP.

 

14 more HP for how much more$$$$. I don't think $2,000 more for 13 hp is worth it when you can spend $5,000 and get close to 70 or 100 hp with a Twin Turbo setup.

 

I had STILLEN headers on my 96 NA. Guess how many hp I gained over stock on the dyno. Zero. I paid $450 for the headers and another $400 for installation.

Fitment was a little poor, but they sure did look pretty and were lighter.

Once every blue moon, STILLEN will have a nice product. Unfortunately, that nice product will come w/ below average construction or really crappy customer service.

BTW, the STILLEN ECU for the Z32 is a re-badged JWT ECU and the STILLEN POP charger for the Z32 is a polished JWT intake ring w/ the STILLEN logo engraved and a true K&N filter. STILLEN is the Neiman-Marcus of Nissan aftermarket performance except w/o that fabulous NM service.

Michael.

 

Tends to be more like BOSE

 

Stillen is overpriced. Plain and simple... but if you look at most companies when you buy through them you pay more than through a reseller. And that has nothing to do with getting what you pay for. Stillen makes quality products for a higher price, but there are plenty of exhausts out there that are cheaper. The Z32 has dozens of exhausts throughout the price range. Are you willing to pay 700.00 via Stillen, 650.00 via reseller, or another exhaust for 500.00. B&B is super expensive and a great exhaust as well - but it's not for everyone.

I still think that Stillen uses some shady marketing figures to sell their "dope". I have to refer back to the Z32 market and some numbers that are untruthful. Sad Sad Sad. +25 hp from Stillen headers for the Z32 when most are only getting 8-13hp 'em. They rebadge the JWT ECU(or used to) and the Intake(don't think they do that anymore).. maybe they've changed from back then, hope they did.

 

Darn Michael, you beat me to it... next time i'll refresh after leaving for a few minutes. =)

 

Just something to remember... When you spend that $5000 on a Turbo or SC setup... you will also have to spend the jack on an exhaust... maybe not a header (if you go turbo those will be included) but reguardless, for the performance that you will expect, and ultimatly to make the kit work correctly an exhaust is required.

just my .02

-MattGold

 

Welcome to the board MattGold

Any turbo kit will have to come with their own manifolds. They were pretty good on the old Z32 TT so you didn't have many people coming out with their own. I believe that Z-Specialities has some and GReddys kit came with some pentroof... Anywho, the exhaust doesn't necessarily have to be switched out when going to a turbo setup, but you will find horsepower there. My only example is the WRX - turbo car but you can find 30-40hp by getting a new exhaust(uppipe and turbo-back exhaust while keeping those back cats or one cat). I imagine that the Z would do a better job as the exhaust already seems effecient, but you never know. =)

 

nismo is also very expensive..but atleast people over there dont BS all the time

 

Agreed turbo kits will come with manifolds (headers, whatever)... However I really* don't think that most turbo kits are developed with the thought that people will retain their stock emmissions equipment. More forced air, would almost require a higher flowing exhaust, if for no other reason then to keep the turbo from choking itself.

Case in point, I wholesale parts for a living, and I had a customer purchase a Single Turbo kit for a 93 FD RX7... Now I come from a rotary background so this "bolt-on" kit should have been a fairly straight through job for the guy. However once the turbo kit was on, the injectors were swapped and the ECU was tuned he KEPT having issues... I went down the mod list over and over, always looking over the most obvious modification: a cat-back exhaust... It turned out the guy installed the 400RWHP kit as his FIRST mod! Bone Stock to - BOOM - Single Turbo. Needless to say I gave the guy a damn good deal on an exhaust just to get the car running right and no sooner did they bolf the pipes up then did the car run smoothly... I guess more or less what I'm getting at is there's more or less an order to modifications... and if you're installing turbos on a car that came without them, then you should already have an exhaust, or at least do it at the same time to make sure all systems are "go".

As for your WRX, yes, I too believe that any factory turbocharged car will realized amazing power gains from replacing the factory emmission equipment...downpipes, uppipes, midpipes and cat-backs. Supras gain 30-50HP, RX-7 upwards of 40ponies, however our starting block is a burly 3.5 NA which won't make close to that power with a mere cat-back, or full exhaust for that matter...

-MattGold

 

Thanks for the info. I think they have probably gotten better in their testing and claims, but don't have personal experience going back to Z32 market. If you also nicked vendors for rebadging some products as their own, well, how many else do you kick out?

Re: K&N intake, they're really clear who makes the cone, they make the very nice cast fitting (venturi-style ring), also good instructions.

Another consideration - when a retailer pulls in products other than their own, plus makes some of their own stuff, they're a;so selling convenience of one-stop shopping. Convenience costs.

BTW, when I bought the intake & exhaust I mentioned before for the Alty, Stillen dropped ~20 percent as incentive to buy both, so they obviously have some room to work with above cost. At the same time, I didn't pay more than buying separately elsewhere.

Again, thanks for the info, good to know their history.

Steve

 

What's a pair price on a pair of header? I paid $400 for a pair of Z32 Stillen header, and I think it's pretty fair price. Just go down to the vary basic of tradding. The natual of tradding is what they are selling is what you don't have. I still haven't seen another pair of header for Z32 yet. How can I complain about their price? Better luck on Z33. Chances are, headers for left steering car can't exchange with right steering car with same engine.

Performance wise, they must measured +25 from the crank, while some user reported +13hp (from wheel??). Well, still doesn't quit match yet. yet I consider 13hp is a good gain, and dyno doesn't measure the smoothness of rev climb.