Just installed status gruppe headers and cat section 1.

[Csa225]

Car sounds like an absolute monster. I cant describe how thrilled i am with the turnout.

Status gruppe catless headers, status gruppe 200 cell race cats section 1, supersprint x pipe, supersprint race mufflers.

Its loud, crisp, low rasp, and very mean. Power increase very noticeable.

Hopefully the link works. Kept saying invalid file

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by Csa225

Car sounds like an absolute monster. I cant describe how thrilled i am with the turnout.

Status gruppe catless headers, status gruppe 200 cell race cats section 1, supersprint x pipe, supersprint race mufflers.

Its loud, crisp, low rasp, and very mean. Power increase very noticeable.

Hopefully the link works. Kept saying invalid file

All I could hear was some dude saying, "Good God Almighty!" :-) Just kidding.

Congrats. That is a very unique sound. I bet it sounds great in person. There seems to be a whistling noise in the video. What is that?

Salty

[Csa225]

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

All I could hear was some dude saying, "Good God Almighty!" :-) Just kidding.

Congrats. That is a very unique sound. I bet it sounds great in person. There seems to be a whistling noise in the video. What is that?

Salty

Hah. Its the blow off. Not sure why some ESS kits do it and some others dont.fun stuff

[Vanne]

Sweet mother of... NICE!!

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by Csa225

Hah. Its the blow off. Not sure why some ESS kits do it and some others dont.fun stuff

pics of engine bay?? sounds like an old Rb26... really nice and unique.

[dubsesd]

awesome!! what ess kit do you have?

[yousefnjr]

A+

[Steenos]

Holy crap that sounds good!

[Csa225]

Thanks fellas. Its a ess525 kit. Ive got a bunch of videos on my phone so let me find a few minutes to edit out the boring parts and ill put more up.

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by Csa225

Hah. Its the blow off. Not sure why some ESS kits do it and some others dont.fun stuff

Oh, a supercharger. Wow! Good stuff. Amazing sound. Can't wait to see and hear more.

Salty

[pokeybritches]

Have you had a retune since installing the headers? You need it with Alpha-N. I'd recommend TTFS, since they are local and do true dyno tunes. Frank Smith is one of the best out there.

When I installed stepped headers, I initially had power gains in the midrange, but a slight peak power loss. With the s-pipe, I felt gains all throughout the power band. With the tune, I gained another 21 whp (5%).

The tune is necessary because Alpha-N tunes are very sensitive to hardware changes. The O2 locations are not identical between OEM and aftermarket headers. ESS's tune is spot on for stock or Euro headers. Once you make your way into the aftermarket, a retune is required for optimum performance, and it really should be done on the dyno.

[NickyC]

Sounds nice, but wtf with that driving lol.

[Csa225]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Sounds nice, but wtf with that driving lol.

Not sure 'what the f*** with that driving' exactly means. Maybe Wtf is wrong with my driving? Yes, I'm aware I broke several laws, and it ended up being a shitty spot to film. Oh well.

Wanted to make a quick video mostly so I could hear what it sounded like outside of the car.

[Csa225]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

Have you had a retune since installing the headers? You need it with Alpha-N. I'd recommend TTFS, since they are local and do true dyno tunes. Frank Smith is one of the best out there.

When I installed stepped headers, I initially had power gains in the midrange, but a slight peak power loss. With the s-pipe, I felt gains all throughout the power band. With the tune, I gained another 21 whp (5%).

The tune is necessary because Alpha-N tunes are very sensitive to hardware changes. The O2 locations are not identical between OEM and aftermarket headers. ESS's tune is spot on for stock or Euro headers. Once you make your way into the aftermarket, a retune is required for optimum performance, and it really should be done on the dyno.

I appreciate the heads up. Status Gruppe Said to contact ESS about any CELs but so far nothing has popped up after 300 miles. I will def talk to Frank and set up a doctors apt. 21 more hp is enticing!

Water/meth injection is a definite before summer. Done a lot of reading and heard good things.

I haven't done a dyno yet either. What is your setup with your ESS car?

[tiltmode43]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

Have you had a retune since installing the headers? You need it with Alpha-N. I'd recommend TTFS, since they are local and do true dyno tunes. Frank Smith is one of the best out there.

When I installed stepped headers, I initially had power gains in the midrange, but a slight peak power loss. With the s-pipe, I felt gains all throughout the power band. With the tune, I gained another 21 whp (5%).

The tune is necessary because Alpha-N tunes are very sensitive to hardware changes. The O2 locations are not identical between OEM and aftermarket headers. ESS's tune is spot on for stock or Euro headers. Once you make your way into the aftermarket, a retune is required for optimum performance, and it really should be done on the dyno.

Any chance you have the dyno plots on these?

Congrats on the upgrades, OP!

[pokeybritches]

I do, but I would rather not post them (I can PM), as I don't want someone unfamiliar with my setup to run across this thread and assume aftermarket headers cause a power loss without a tune. It really only applies to cars with Alpha-N tuning. The CPI stepped headers are one of the best engine performance mods available for the S54, but their benefits on a supercharged car are dependent on the car being optimally tuned... as with any aftermarket headers and Alpha-N.

The dynos I have are:
1. ESS tune, OEM catted headers, OEM s-pipe (Dynojet)
2. ESS tune, CPI stepped headers, OEM s-pipe (Dynojet)
3. ESS tune, CPI stepped headers, DKF s-pipe w/ 100 cell cats (Dynocom)
4. TTFS tune, CPI stepped headers, DKF s-pipe w/ 100 cell cats (Dynocom)

Dyno's 3 and 4 are attached. The Dynocom dyno that TTFS uses is better for tuning due to the way it measures torque, but it's sometimes referred to as a "heartbreak dyno" because it reads about 7% lower than a Dynojet. A Dynojet is nice because results are pretty standard (although I've seen 10 wheel horsepower deviations between dynos, depending on the software).

One run achieved 415 whp on the Dynocom, which is about 444 whp on a Dynojet. FWIW, my non-M dyno'ed at 285 whp on the same Dynojet I used for the baseline ESS Z4M runs, but only 266 whp on TTFS's Dynocom dyno.