What is the deal? Why are companies coming out with at least FAIRLY reasonably priced intakes, but all the headers, and exhaust systems for that matter are crazy expensive? All the headers that are out for the Z are in the neighborhood of $2000. Do they expect anyone to actually BUY headers for $2000? I would not pay more than $500-$600 for a GOOD set of headers. And all the exhausts being over $1000 is rediculous too. I'll be going custom exhaust, and simply skipping the headers until they come down to a reasonable price.

-Sean

 

If Doug at Crawford Z here in Nashville can get enough HP out of his equal length pipe headers he's working on, I think he'll have a much fairer price than $2000. Not cheap, but maybe more reasonable than that.

His first dyno didn't give him the HP he wanted, I understand. Not sure what is coming next. They seem to think it might be the ECU cutting back on the fuel mapping, due to the way the graph looks.

 

Yeah with the Japanese companies you have to figure in shipping from Japan and customs and duties into the total cost. I am sure if you bought a ticket to Japan you could find it much cheaper

 

The other problem is it seems that every company is using exotic materials in their exhaust systems. I can get a very nice set of headers for my Buick for $525. That is 2 1/8" primaries, 3.5" collectors and Jet-Hot coated. They look VERY nice, and the Jet-Hot coating will last just as long as an SS system, and the Jet-Hot coating probably keeps underhood temps down compared to SS piping. I wish they would make a set of headers similar to this instead of making them out of titanium. I don't understand the need for titanium unless you are building an all-out purpose built race car or if you just have too much money and you need something to waste it on. I would also be happy w/ an exhaust system using aluminized pipe w/ SS mufflers. These would cost a lot less than the super expensive systems already out on the market and would perform just as well.

 

you're looking to pay $500-$600 stainless steel headers? maybe you could afford more expensive headers if you sold some of that **** you're smoking. seriously though that's just not reasonable, remember you have a v6 so you're essentially buying 2 sets of headers. look to pay about a grand for quality short headers in ss, and about $800 in coated mild steel. plus installation fees which will be about $200.

 

I've noticed the price for parts for the Z is quite expensive. I had a dakota i modded, and SS, Ceramic Coated headers for that where only $420. Thats for a v8. I dont see why everything for the Z has to cost so much money. Other than it is a brand new car...

-DrCold

 

No need to be an *******. You can get headers for a 4.6L mustang for as cheap as $250 (not stainless). You can get corvette headers for $600-$800. Now tell me, why shouldn't we see headers for around $600?

 

I was going to say.... I did header on my old Z31 and it was hardly that expensive - mild steel(i think) w/ ceramic coating for sub-400. Heck, even $tealin has 'em for the Z32 around 600.

 

we've got no underhood space so our headers require more complex bends. that requires cutting and welding together u-bends, which is labor intensive and expensive. if you don't want these complex bends jus stick w/ stock. and you can't you can't use domestic prices to ours, cause they are ****ing cheap. you can get a set of 8 forged pistons for a domestic application for less than 4 pistons for an import 4 cyl. the r&d alone is very extensive to fabricate headers for the z33, and any company that makes them can only expect to sell a couple hundred at the most. a domestic motor, depending on the application, can sell tens of thousands. high volume honda headers already sell for $400 in mild steel and you wanna pay only a $100 more for ss headers for a z? i'm not being an *******, i'm just being realistic. good luck w/ your search for el-cheapo headers though.

 

I think part of the reason prices are so high for import parts is because people are stupid enough to pay them. It makes no sense that 4 pistons for an import motor should cost more than 8 pistons for a domestic motor, especially considering that the pistons for a domestic V8 are MUCH larger and are made out of the exact same material. Even parts for low volume domestics such as the Buick V8 are cheaper than imports.

Many domestic headers also have some fairly complex bends and the Z isn't THAT tight that there would need to be extremely complex bends. You would be surprised how tight some domestic cars are when you try to route 4 2 1/8" primaries on either side of the motor.

I guess you can't blame companies for charging a lot of money for parts when they can sell them at that price. It would just be nice to see some reasonably priced performance parts.

 

Have you seen the headers for the Z that are out? They look pretty much the same as any other header I've seen, and even LESS complex than a lot of headers I've seen. There are no more complex bends going on than I've seen in other headers. And if you look into your engine bay, there is lots (well, not LOTS, but more than ample) of room down where the exhaust manifold comes off the engine. It's only *really* tight up top. And as for import parts being cheaper than domestic parts, it all depends on the car. Parts for civics/integras are a dime a dozen. Parts for corvettes are much more expensive in general. But prices for mustang parts are also a dime a dozen. It has a lot to do with volume, but still, back to my original post, $2000 for a set of (not even titanium) headers is out of hand, no matter.

And I can't imagine the r&d to make headers for our car is very much more extensive than any other car that a company makes headers for for the first time.

 

Well said. It all boils down to supply and demand, and to some point, material and craftsmanship. An example of this would be a set of headers for the Acura CL-S. Comptech came out with a good set of headers that produced a dyno proven 22-25 hp to the wheels over stock. They charged > $1000 for them. Citing materials and craftsmanship as one of the reasons for the price. Well, approximately 6 months later, OBX came out with a similar design as Comptech and sold that for $800-$900! Dyno proven HP gains were simlar to Comptech. Only differences were different welding techniques, lower grade stainless steel materials (Debatable), and "Made in Taiwan".

You decide. For me, I was one of the fools who coughed up >$ 1K for the Comptech name .

 

The 350Z appears to have more than the Z32 and they are less than 1g for the $tealin headers. Even if it had the same amount then you would still see some good prices.

[/QUOTE] high volume honda headers already sell for $400 in mild steel and you wanna pay only a $100 more for ss headers for a z? i'm not being an *******, i'm just being realistic.[/B][/QUOTE]

Actually you can get mild-steel, ceramic coated headers from some pretty big name companies for less than 300.00. I paid 292.00 shipped for my DC Sports header on the integra(got rid of that rattle). 400.00 was in the SS range. Personally, I chose the mild-steel b/c I wanted to fix the rattle and didn't car about a "show-car look" and to think that on the Z you are never going to see those headers. =)

 

EXACTLY!!!

To many people with Z's are willing to drop whatever it takes to get that part. Companies KNOW this and will take advantage. This does make up some of the higher costs.

 

Actually the header prices I have seen have all been right in line with what I expect from japanese companies. Their quality and workmanship as well as their R&D is worlds beyond what US companies produce. The headers on Japanese cars are much more efficient out of the box and it takes a lot more testing to create a header that will produce significant results unlike most American cars. In my opinion, you can't make a fair comparison between the two.

 

my question is:

Why didn't the factory install equal length headers on the cars from the get-go?


I will wait 'til prices drop, but I will invest in a set when they become more reasonable.

You all do realize we really have one of the newest toys out there, right?

I mean, come on... you can't compare the price of a set of headers for a 8 cyl. Mustang because the market is so much broader...

They will come down with time... a bit anyway.