Greetings gents,

I was thinking about grabbing up some performance parts while I still got the money to spend on some goodies. The mechanic said I should think about some ceramic headers by Downey Off Road Mfg. Question being, How much will these guys improve my performance? I plan on coupling these headers with a catback exhaust in the future.
Ryan

 

Hi -

Is your question about the ceramic coating and its benefits on headers, or headers in general?

Please post what you drive and the engine it has.

 

Sorry, I mean performance headers in general. Some info on how ceramic is superior to chrome coating would be helpful as well. Thanks.
I drive a 00' Tacoma 4x4 with the 3.4L V6.
Ryan

 

Don't waste your time on headers on the 3.4. For nearly $1000 installed, they are far from worth it - until you are supercharged that is. Even then the gains are questionable IMO.

Oh, and the install is borderline TORTURE, even for the experienced wrencher. It took me between 8 and 10 hours to do mine - and you cannot put it back to stock because you will have to saw the crossover off.

Ceramic coating reduces underhood temps, improves exhaust gas scavenging, and increases the life of the header(s).

 

ditto ditto ditto

Been there, done that, don't recommend headers on a N/A engine. If you're supercharged or will be "soon" (say, 3 months max) then go for it.

 

Ceramic is mainly for the heat. Same reason they use them on jets and rockets. They reflect the heat and keep it away from your engine, keeping temps down and Horsepower up.

 

I'm glad i learned (beforehand) that headers are a basically a complete waste of money for the 3.4...not only in this thread but few others as well.

Now the 3.0 is another whole 'nother story!

 

...if you're N/A. If you have a supercharger or are planning to get there SOON, then headers are AWESOME.

 

^ Hey Mark, would headers even work with the turbo set up since the manifolds would be custom anyway? I am thinking along the lines of Greedy's set up, which you may have seen by now - not something like the STS set up.

 

Turbo? No, of course not... that would be silly of someone to suggest that it would since you'd have all that custom exhaust piping! The only way that someone could possibly suggest such a thing is if they had brain-farted at 6:12 in the morning 'cause they hadn't gotten their morning caffeine load and were typing way too fast trying to catch up with all the email and threads that updated overnight!



(oops - good point) GOOD MORNING!

 

Did someone say coffee?

I wonder if they make ceramic-coated coffee mugs?

 

Kinda off topic, but kinda on topic.

Does anyone know why they dont cermain coat headers for toyota inside and out? the guy at downey had never even heard of inside ceramin coating. The reason I ask is the headers on my dads 454 are coated in and out, and I wanted the same for my 22RE, but oh well....

 

Mine were coated inside and out by HPC.

 

Price, price, price .......
For military spec coatings of headers for the Downeys, it would double the price of the headers.
eg. 4 stage coating of the turbo clamshell ONLY = $175

 

Thanks for the info.... And I would guess there isnt as much heat in my 22RE as a 454 ;-)

 

I read that most forum members say headers on a N/A 3.4 are not worth the time and money.
But what about headers to improve torque for towing? I am particularily interested in the TRD headers (long pipe = lower rpm benifit). These claim +20ft-lbs @3200, that's 10% increase.
I do not see anyone talk about torque for towing.
Answers please?

 

Well, you have to look at the overall cost of the product, i.e., include the installation.

For a shop that's done this before, figure 6-8 hours. If they've never done it before (and you conned them into trying it!) figure 8-10 hours. At a general shop rate of $75/hr, that's a chunk of change. So you're sitting around $1300-1500 for a set of headers.

ouch. That's MORE than 1/2 way to a supercharger with the fuel mods.

To answer you straight, yes, the low end torque went up when I did this N/A, but the whole powerband shifted down, which means that when you stomp on it to pass someone (obviously not when you're towing) there's LESS torque up top.

The question at hand is if it's worth $1300 to pick up a bit of torque down low. My vote is "no"...