I dont understand the astronomical cost that AWE seems to charge for their manifolds. It does not make any sense that they could charge 3k for them, i was on ebay the other day and saw these ones for $250. Now i know the AWE ones have better welds and they are prolly a better metal and they are painted but to me a weld is a weld as long as it holds and im sure the ebay ones do as far as paint goes hell i can paint anything for very little cost. So how much better can these AWE manifolds be that they have to charge 12 times as much as the ones on ebay. They are nearly identicle. I have taken into account that the AWE ones do come with heatshield and the nuts and the gaskets and the 3k still doesnt seem like a deal to me. Dont get me wrong I love AWE and my car has paid a visit their but i cant get my mind around it please soemone help me out here with a good explanation.

 

well first you are paying for AWE parts, the RND, design, and all that good stuff. Now my question is, how many FAST S4s has that company on ebay put out? As for your whole weld comment a weld is not just a weld as long as it holds, it could be porus, it could have been burned too hot or too cold, might have small holes that you wont find right away untill it expands and shrinks. but all that aside you really dont need to do headers on the S4 the stock manifolds do just fine, if you want to do anything to them you should just get em ceramic coated and call it good. oh yeah and from what i have heard the headers tend to crack, but thats just what i have heard

 

Your paying for design and development they put into them. AWE manifolds are TOP quality, but i do agree with you i would NEVER pay that. The best solution IMO are the vast ported and polished & ceramic coated exhaust manifolds. www.vastperformance.com from what i hear they are much better than stock, and at $520 (+$200 core charge if you dont send em your old ones) its a pretty good deal. Fingers crossed ill be putting these on with some k04's this summer

As the price of the car continues to fall it only makes sense that tuning it will become cheaper. $3000 on exhaust manifolds for a $12,000 car? laughable.

 

wait Vast makes headers?? well shows you how much i look at vast

 

yeah vast makes great headers also piggies and intakes, well ok not really "make" just make stock better by porting and coating. Plus if you ever have any questions all you have to do is ask and vast will tell you want to get even if they dont have it.

 

Remember also to consider fitment, and longevity as well.

A lot of eBay manifolds have been known to crack, emit lots of heat, or just not fit/line upwell etc.

You generally get what you pay for, but sometimes you can find a genuine good deal or get lucky...I personally just wouldn't take chances on exhaust manifolds of all things.

With that said, if you installed eBay mani's i'm sure many would love to hear feedback! And, the AWE's, with everything included (downpipe shields, studs++), really shouldn't be more than $1500-2000 I agree.

 

I agree that the AWE are top quality without question. But they are sooooo expensive that most people HAVE to look at alternatives. I did when I had my stg2 car and was leaning toward the VAST manifold work. To me the eBay ones were too much of a risk to possibly have to pull the engine again if they failed.

Thank God, they guy who built mine had DEEP pockets and put the entire AWE Twin2 on the car. I couldn't have spent the 6k+ that he did.

 

Autospeed Performance makes ceramic coated tubular headers. They appear to be high quality and well designed. Ohh ya, they are $1,000 cheaper than the AWE ones too. Might be something to consider.

http://www.autospeed.us/store.php?cr...on=show_detail

"Y2K Edition" S4 STG 3-
GIAC
Piggie Pipes
Borla
KO4's
Dairintake
APR Boots Gauge
EVO MS Diverter Valves

 

i'd say dont even bother....for a whole like 6 hp (thats on a stage 3), its hardly worth the cash unless all you do is race. spend the money elsewhere....lighter wheel tire combo will provide much better gains than that.

 

I really think that for $530 its worth it to port, polish, and ceramic coat your stock manifolds. If i was doing a big turbo build I obviously would get new manifolds, but i still wouldnt wanna spent $2000+. Its not worth it for K04's Hybrids or RS6's