Hey Guys, So I have been looking into getting headers for my 430. I'm looking at either Agency Power or Fabspeed. That being said they both look identical and I can't find anywhere online what the actual differences are besides they both may or may not be made in Taiwan. Has anyone had both? Can anyone that currently has AP headers give me a comparison vs stock? the price difference is about 1000 but I don't see the point in paying the extra $1000 if both products are the same. Please advise, Thanks
If you want to go for a Ferrari 430 Challenge Exhaust Manifold Headers PM me, i have one pair once or twice used in a track day. OEM no 219 942. It is written track use only on it so you have to check whether it is legal or not in your area. Cheers.
Is there a reason you are not considering the Capristo? I've never heard of Agency Power headers. Seems like most people on here choose between Fabspeed and Capristo. I think you should choose one of the leading few options that many people on here have used. Its a bad idea to select an unknown source to save a few thousand dollars on such an expensive car. Go with low risk!
Did you retain the stock cats, exhaust, silencer, valves, and support bracket? I noticed that the Capristo header webpage states you MUST install their spring bracket if you install their headers. I don't like the design of the Capristo bracket and won't install it on my 430. And I'm pretty happy with the rest of the stock parts so I don't want to replace everything.
Stock cats yes. The silencer was replaced with Fabspeed's sport x-pipe and their exit pipes with chrome tips and no valves. Sounds great. Image Unavailable, Please Login
u don't like the capristo brackets? the ones that were designed to cure the oem issues of rattling? that doesn't sound right.
I have them on my 360. No issue for the last 18 months. I am using them with 100 cell cats and Ferrari Racing Exhaust. Design is similar to Fabspeed. Quality looks same (may be finishing is a bit lower quality)but the price is a notch lower. A few seller exists in ebay,etc and they are accepting offers around -%10 list price.
A lot of incorrect statements have been made about the stock exhaust support design and about the Capristo bracket. This thread below includes a related discussion and the reasons I decided to not install Capristo brackets on my 430: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/360-430/435702-capristo-brackets-3.html
that thread is rather inconclusive. both my private shops as well as my dealer advise using the capristo brackets, irrespective of oem or aftermarket exhaust. they cld be wrong, but I don't see how ur worse off going capristio. with the oem brackets you KNOW there is an issue so 600 bucks is cheap optionality the way I look at the world. good luck.
I have a 2005 F430.. new to me past 3 months, how would I know if my stock headers have been changed out to the newer design? did the bracket also change in design or just the headers themselves? I don't know if I should change my bracket to the capristo.. a mechanic of mine said not to bother... he just rewelds the factory bracket when they break.. if they break..
I say do not change to the Capristo bracket but definitely replace the gen 1 OEM headers if they have magically managed to survive this long. Most probably they were already changed. It's unclear if the gen 2 OEM headers have an early failure problem, regardless of bracket. The Capristo bracket is poorly engineered and poorly documented, as described in the prior thread. Capristo's installation instructions are somewhere between non-existant and incorrect and the claims people have made for why the OEM bracket is insufficient are simply incorrect, as I described in that prior thread. If indeed the OEM bracket is a bit too stiff and is taking too much force to compress the spring when the exhausts heats up and expands, the proper solution is to change the thickness of the spring so its more flexible, not to rip the entire support system out and replace it with a flimsy after market system that attaches in a completely different way. The OEM support is designed to hold the exhaust stiffly in the vertical and twisting directions while allowing it to expand lengthwise, and it does that job very well. You can heat up your engine and watch the OEM spring expand and contract. I took measurements at various heat levels and posted them to show its allowing just as much motion as the Capristo bracket bolt sliding system. And you can see how well supported the exhaust is from vertical motion and twisting in the OEM bracket by looking at the design. The Capristo bracket provides very little twist or vertical support in comparison. And its ability to support in the horizontal expansion direction is flaky at best, dependent upon carefully tightening the two bolts using one-time threads so they slide during expansion but don't vibrate. If you over-tighten then it will restrain expansion with no spring effect and put even more stress on the exhaust. If you under-tighten then your exhaust is bouncing all over the place, you hear vibration sounds, and who knows what damage you are causing to the exhaust and engine mount points. If you tighten and then loosen, you've ruined the one-time threads and must replace the bolts, which I'll bet many installers have done without replacing the expensive custom bolts. And there is no specified correct torque value! So its a trial-and-error exercise to adjust the bolts. There are numerous threads of people going through this trial-and-error exercise. There should be no important bolts on an automobile that are not torqued to a deliberate, specified, measurable value. No reputable car manufacturer would include something like that in their design, and for good reason. Performance is not reproducible and you can't give clear simple instructions that any mechanic can properly, consistently follow. No documentation, bad design, no real analysis of the possible problem with the OEM bracket vs a proper solution to that problem, and violation of fundamental principles of good engineering practice for a high vibration high heat environment. The Capristo bracket is just poorly engineered and has no place in a high performance carefully engineered engine such as a Ferrari. It's just flimsy and we should all know better. If we really think there is still a problem with gen 2 OEM headers or after-market headers using the OEM bracket, I suggest we the Ferrari community get a decent replacement bracket engineered. It would attach exactly the same way as the original bracket to provide all the same support, but use a slightly more flexible spring. Only that one piece would need to be replaced to adjust the stiffness of the OEM exhaust support system. Pick a softer more flexible metal alloy, make it thinner, something like that.
What would be a better option than the capristo exhaust bracket then? I think I am stuck with it either way since I have the Capristo Race III exhaust . I am looking for a higher pitch so I think Fabspeed headers + straight pipes it is..... I was wondering if anyone has or had any experience with the Agency power unit since it is so similar. Anyways, Thanks guys!
SAME as in same design & manufacturer? That was mainly my question, so is there a point in paying 1K more for the same thing?
I think the 2 might be the same, made by the same company oversea's and then each company just rebrands it with their own name.. maybe fabspeed's name is worth a thousand more... ? I dont know for sure, but that's what it looks like from the postings.