[RESOLVED] pacesetter turbo manifold any good? (No.) [Merged 5-8]

[tsiawdspeed]

I was looking in a magazine and they said that Pacesetter made a header for the turbo. Does anyone know about the quality or performance of the header?

 

[Factor]

You have herd bad things from people that dont have them, I have had mine for a while now and i feel a noticable difference over stock, and my MPG went up, plus they look awsome. I was out last weekend and people said they were some of the best looking headers on a car. they come with everything you need to install them and it took me about an hour to take off the old and put on the new. if you don't want to take my word for it take summits, do you think they would sell junk?

 

[94TalonEs]

They any good???

jay

 

[qwall]

compared to what?

I had them on my 92 n/t. Better than stock manifold. I cleaned up the edges and burrs and welds on the inside to make it smooth. Color will burn off in a week unless you get it coated. For $100 not a bad investment, esecially if you ported the runners and smooth it out.

 

[DaVille]

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I'm thinking about buying a pacesetter header, and i noticed they don't have the flex pipe section on them, Will this be a problem?

 

[Mike1992]

They dont use a flex, they use a pivot ball section that works about the same though, no leaks from mine. I suggest the armor coated one or have the flat black one heat wrapped, them things heat the engine bay like no other!

 

[Ghost1984]

yea they definitely heat up the engine bay

 

[DaVille]

They get hotter then a stock manifold? I plan on buying one of those cheap ebay air intakes, so if i don't wrap the header do you think it will hurt performance cause the intake is sucking up hot air?

 

[realitytb]

or you can use heat resistant paint. costs about 7$ for a can

 

[Blueheat23]

I have the P-setter Armor-Coat header as well as a Weapon R open filter element intake and I have no problems with heat. The ceramic coating helps a great deal in keeping temps in the engine bay down. Before I had the header I had my stock exhaust mani with no heat shield and that made engine bay temps MUCH MUCH higher than this header has made.

 

[sphillips91]

I know from personal experience pacesetter cat backs are the shittiest ####ing exhausts Ive ever had the misfortune of owning. Are the headers different?

 

[dr1665]

There are those who've had bad luck with the P-setter header, but I've had mine on almost a year. Install went perfectly and I've had nothing but good luck with it. I even bought mine uncoated and used. Works just fine. Planning on cutting the compression flange off the end, welding on a flex section when I do my striaght pipe exhaust this summer.

 

[Talonracer06]

yeha im ordering my pacesetter header, downpipe and cat back this week or next. why do u say that they are the worst(not exact words) but what is wrong with the catback? let me know, i may not get it then.

 

[Mike1992]

I got both, theyre great for the Money. In my eyes the cat-back is just fine but the muffler looks ### and sounds like ass, so if you get it replace it. if your getting the header I suggest having it reinforced welded

 

[Blueheat23]

I also have the Pace Setter direct fit hi-flow cat and 2.5'' cat back on my car. I've had no problems with any of the stuff and install was a cinch. The flange on the header is welded like crap, but its held together for almost a year of abuse....the armor coat still looks like it did the day i installed it (check out my gallery, the pics of the header are from about a month ago). I think alot of the people on here bad mouth Pace Setter just because everyone else does, not because they actaully own any of the products. So u bought a header for a 130 bucks and it cracked after 6 months. What the hell do u expect from a 130 dollar painted header?! The stuff may not be the best in quality but for the price and performance gain...you can't beat it with a stick. Bottom line....IF you are getting the header, get it armor coated, it will last much longer and it looks great. And the cat back is a freggin nab for sub 200 dollars. Also, Pace Setter warranties there shit for 3 years, so even if anything goes wrong you can just replace it!

 

[sphillips91]

Good thing they had a warranty too since I went through 2 cat backs in 2 months. Total ####ing shit products, the catbacks anyway. Theres a reason why cat backs like apexiand thermal research etc cost upwards of 600-700 bucks compared to pacesetter sub 200 systems. Lower grade steel, less power gains, lower quality all around. Ive owned them so yes I can comment and Im just saying I would never buy them again. So you can pay 200 for a questionable at best exhaust system or put down 100-150 more for a nice one or if you got the dough go with a nicely made and proven system in the 500-650 range.

I firmly believe you should not skimp on car products. Would you put that crap oil they sell at gas stations for 99 cents in your pride and joy or pay the extra 2-4 bucks a quart for quality oil?

Maybe when you rebuild your engine just order a set of pistons out of JC whitney for 100 bucks no problem GREAT PRICE!





I realize there is a big difference between engine internals and cat back exhausts but I apply the same theory to all of it.

If youve had good luck with your pacesetter thats nice. I would go as far to say you arent the majority. Determining factors like weather conditions, driving habits etc can all affect how long a low quality part will last compared to a high quality one.

 

[Initial DSM]

www.fastfabrications.com makes a long tube header for n/t's for $350, that works better than a regular header. No dyno tests but the designer said it should net a 10-15whp gain. This is projectidly primarily off the specs from the AF/X long tube header from the Neons, and also that the company works with Scott Mohler of team Mopar, and Darryl Cox Racing which uses alot of their products.

 

[realitytb]

my friend has pace headers and they work great (plus you dont have many more options with 1g N/T)

 

[Blueheat23]

I realize there is a big difference between engine internals and cat back exhausts but I apply the same theory to all of it.

Well that about sums that up.

I was not trying to start an argument with anyone. I was just saying I've had great experience with Pace Setter for the price I payed and the power I gained and it annoys me when people spend money on discount parts and then complain when they don't work so great. It is a DISCOUNT PART, you bought it because of it's price point, so when it doesn't perform liek the 500-600 dollar cat back that you wish you had...don't bi*** about it.

I firmly believe you should not skimp on car products.

Yet you own, in your words, a total ####ing shit exhaust product. Hmmm..

 

[Mike1992]

What makes the pacesetter cat back not as good as the more expensive catbacks? They're both mandreal bent and fit perfectly in the hangers?

 

[sphillips91]

"Yet you own, in your words, a total ####ing shit exhaust product. Hmmm.."

I used to own them. Ihad 2 of the same exact systems on my 240sx. This was about 5 years ago, first exhaust system I purchased. One failed after a month so they sent me another and than that one went to hell after another month (different problem though) Only good thing I could say is they didnt give me too much trouble when I told them what had happened. After the 2nd one I just returned it. I dont know about the headers but my experience with pacesetter products was not a good one.

After that I just had the shop make a custom system for me, motor was NA so having it pressbent wasnt a big issue. That exhaust sounded fine and lasted the entire time I owned the car (4 years)

I had a VRS exhaust system on my Laser RS I used to own and right now my car is all stock just bought it a few days ago.

 

[Mike1992]

How did your exhaust fail?

 

[sphillips91]

First one started making a loud buzzing noise after a month or so. I figured at first it was just because it was a small 4 cyl NA engine and hearing all the civics around I was convinced for a few days but it sounded so bad I took it back to the muffler shop had them pull it off (just the muffler) and they turned the muffler upside down and a bunch of tiny metal shavings fell out. Thus the cause of the buzzing noise. So I returned the cat back and got another sounded fine for again for a couple weeks than started getting louder, and louder and the deepness was gone replaced by civic sound. Also the tips and muffler were starting to show small rust spots/discoloring. After this I just sent it back.

So like I said after that went with a custom exhaust at the shop and got a magnaflow muffler. I paid 270 total and never had issues again.

Dont know if they still make the same style but it was the cat back with the duel 2.5 inch tips colored yellow on the inside.

 

[Mike1992]

my cat-back had a single tip muffler and I agree, the muffler is POS, but the mandrel bent piping is good for the price. I wacked the muffler off and installed a ebay muffler and had a resonator welded in to tone things down. Im satisfied with my pipes

 

[Blueheat23]

sphillips, the dual tips you are talking about have since been removed from there lineup because of the exact reason you stated. I thought the dual tips looked better than the single 4'' and I called Pace Setter to ask if I could have that instead and there response was "too many customer returns based on muffler/tip failure." Why they wouldn't redesign the muffler and leave the tips is beyond me but who knows. My muffler actually doesn't sound that bad after 11 months of use. It HAS gained a slightly more ricey tone since first purchased but nothing I would care enough about to remove it.

 

[Mike1992]

sphillips, the dual tips you are talking about have since been removed from there lineup because of the exact reason you stated. I thought the dual tips looked better than the single 4'' and I called Pace Setter to ask if I could have that instead and there response was "too many customer returns based on muffler/tip failure." Why they wouldn't redesign the muffler and leave the tips is beyond me but who knows. My muffler actually doesn't sound that bad after 11 months of use. It HAS gained a slightly more ricey tone since first purchased but nothing I would care enough about to remove it.

I think it looked really ### I had to switch it