Them Ebay Turbo Manifolds

[Twinkie]

I know I know Ebay stuff are not the shit. "you get what you pay for" i know the saying...but hey. Sometimes cheap stuff work well. So why go for brand name when you can get soem generic brand that do the same thing?

So heres my question...IV been wanting and thinking about buying a nice and shiny (or not) aftermarket turbo manifold for my sr20. i always see those generic turbo manifolds on ebay that go for around $140 - $175 when i browse for sr20der/180sx/240sx/s13 stuff. Well ive always been tempted to think about buying one of them but never had enough confidents and motivation to get one...BUT THEY ARE SOOO CHEAP! (something like this)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7941618371&category=33632

So anyone have any experience with these knock offs? How to they run? Do you feel much difference compared to stock manifold? Is it safe? how is the welding? strong? bad?

If they suck...what brand do y'all prefer that is cheap in price and works well? im a low budget guy...shit but if theyre good enough...id sport them.

[89s132b]

These manifolds are a topic of constant debate on FreshAlloy. I would suggest getting the SSautocrack, err I mean SSAutochrome new design SS321 model. It seems they are the best of a questionable lot. Also, make sure all your exhaust mounts are in place (especially the dp-tranny mount) and a flex section in the dp wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I'll probably end up with one of these on my car eventually.

[Jeff240sx]

It doesn't look bad... and lifetime warranty. If you can live with a week of downtime every now and then.. go for it.
-Jeff

[89s132b]

It doesn't look bad... and lifetime warranty. If you can live with a week of downtime every now and then.. go for it.
-Jeff

Hmm, I'm not sure I would count on that lifetime warranty. I've heard some people get their inquiries ignored. Lots of people do get them fixed though.

[HATchTRICK]

I have one on my sr and have not had any problems with it at all..

Although i do not know if it makes a difference or not ,, i never driven a sr with a stock manifold.

I will be selling this same amnifold with t28 turbo and dump-pipe very soon cause i am upgrading this week.

My car ran a 12.7@111 mph with this turbo set up on a stock motor. with stock tires.

[89s132b]

How long have you had that manifold, how much boost, and how is it mounted (i.e. extra bracing, flex section, all exhaust hangars, etc)

[Vatche]

Well I would be one of the people who have my inquiries ignored. THEY wont refund me or even respond.

It cracked within a month of having it on my car. Thats pretty lame. SSautochrome and all those ebay brands are not worth the money. Dont even need a manifold. keep your stock one. trust me. not worth the hassle. Im waiting for them to refund me right now and i sent them my manifold 2 weeks ago maybe more now. They have horrible customer service and the only reason i even opened my mouth was because they havent done their part on customer service. and as a company thats the number one key to success. Your customers. And im telling you all right now. Dont buy from them they send shitty products and you cant get ahold of them.

[RSP13-Sideways]

Damn sorry to hear about your situation Twinkie.

I was reading about that manifold and the design looks pretty good, the welds look fairly nice. Why did yours crack Twinkie? Just curious? I mean, I don't want to buy one and have it crack, I'm throwing in my new motor and figured I might as well do it while it's out ya know?

[Twinkie]

Damn sorry to hear about your situation Twinkie.

I was reading about that manifold and the design looks pretty good, the welds look fairly nice. Why did yours crack Twinkie? Just curious? I mean, I don't want to buy one and have it crack, I'm throwing in my new motor and figured I might as well do it while it's out ya know?

Mine didnt crack..i never bought one but was thinking abouyt it. I think you mean SR20man? but yeah ive heard a lot of stories about the menifolds but never actually heard it from people who actually have them.

[HyperTek]

Well I would be one of the people who have my inquiries ignored. THEY wont refund me or even respond.

It cracked within a month of having it on my car. Thats pretty lame. SSautochrome and all those ebay brands are not worth the money. Dont even need a manifold. keep your stock one. trust me. not worth the hassle. Im waiting for them to refund me right now and i sent them my manifold 2 weeks ago maybe more now. They have horrible customer service and the only reason i even opened my mouth was because they havent done their part on customer service. and as a company thats the number one key to success. Your customers. And im telling you all right now. Dont buy from them they send shitty products and you cant get ahold of them.

how did it break? what where the conditions? If I broke something, im not gonna be a bitch about it and complain to the company thier product sucks, thats just unmoral. maybe you coulda took precuations and adjustments to your setup, like running a flex section in ur dp.

[sideviewcivic]

look at it like this, poor welds with high amount of impurities. cheap stainless steel, will not last long how people want them to last like a stock manifold, remember stock is iron. if someone were to make an iron manifold it would out last the stainless one. besides stainless is used as an alternative to the weight of iron. if you want sometihng better shell out cash for a full-race mani or something similar. Greddy and other manis crack just like SSautochrome. Possibly cutting expansion slots in the mani and adding additional bracing to keep the weight of the turbo from cracking the welds on the mani. just get a log mani, spools faster if you want serious power, over 300 at the wheels then get a legit mani, other wise stock works fine. spend that money on an LSD instead

[outlandishhyperhotdog]

i too have had bad luck with SSautochrome. i ask the guy a question and he acts like an arse. So needless to say I would never do business with SSautochrome. i did however buy another manifold similar to the one you are inquiring about. it held up fine. however the maifold placed the turbo outlet pipe so close it would melt the rubber coupler from the turbo to the hotpipe constantly and it sucked to drive home like that and it also had a slight leak in it. The leak is just a spot weld fix away. if you have a turbo with the outlet clocked at a differnt degree it would be ok I guess. i personally would stick with the stock one and just polish the aluminum heat shield. on a good note I have a friend with an SR who has a knock off greddy intake manifold from ebay and it seems very nice. maybe buy on of those instead.

[duey]

i've had my manifold (ssautochrome) on my car since the begining of summer. I run 15psi daily, and going to the drag strip about once a week. Also drove from Boston to Florida for vaca. And the only downside to the manifold was that the bracket broke, but i suppose thats better than the manifold cracking itself. My mani has about 7k on it in a matter of 6 months of driving and only the bracket became a small problem.

and honestly for 200bux (what i bought it for on ebay) it's been worth every penny for me (apparently other people don't have good luck with them).

[HyperTek]

deleted blahblah

[Twinkie]

how is the hp gain? can you feel any difference comared to the stock sr20 manifold? I wanna make sure that if im gonna buy it, ill have a worth enough hp gain and feel difference.

the opportunity cost of me buying a manifold is blow off valve, an electric fan or a front mount intercooler or soemthing liek that which i can be spending my money on too.

also, another questions...any of you know how affective an aftermarket intake manifold for the sr20 is?

[sideviewcivic]

the greddy one mite give you 10-20hp as far as i know, its more of a bolt-on to refine your setup if you want like 350+ at the wheels. cams and pwer FC, along with S15 turbo should net you decent gains for daily driver. Apparently Im not sure if this is correct, I heard somewhere with lots of dyno tuning someone gained nearly 60+HP on a stock SR with just power FC. I cant verify wether it was a redtop,blacktop, S14 or S15 motor.

[Vatche]

well my setup was missing a bracket between the dp and the transmission, thats the only bad thing on my part. but i dont necessarily have much of a problem. The real problem is stated this way.

the stock manifold is cast iron. its not going to crack. the ones ssautochrome make are very thin steel and have really bad welds. all the cracks are on the welds obviously. over time all aftermarkets will crack. but not in 2 months, it would take a little longer i would think. mine cracked in 2 months, and the only reason im "bitching" about it, is because they advertise a 100% refund guarantee, and yet they dont respond to inquiries, and they dont refund your money when you send them the cracked headers back in the mail.

otherwise if you think losing low end and gaining high end, coming to the same hp in the end is worth it, then buy one, and spend your 200 bucks.

or you could spend your 200 bucks on food

[sr240mike]

Just curious but did you have their new design manifold? The only problem with the one I got was the header flange was warped. I went to a header shop, had it sanded to a flat surface and had them cut slots in between the exhaust ports. I would probably even get a flexible exhaust pipe section before where the dp mounts to the tranny to keep it from cracking when the motor mounts flex under acceleration.

[Vatche]

yes it was their new design