Fabspeed Motorsport Ferrari 355 High Performance Headers

If and when the other vendor becomes an established maker of F355 headers (an emphasis on "if"), then we can start making comparisons. Not saying they are vapourware, but at this time they have very few (if any) units out on real cars with real customers.

The $2,200 price is interesting. Their website specifies mild steel for that number, though. 304 grade SS costs $2450 for 8 cylinders. To offer 321SS (and coated) headers for the lower price sounds like a significant discount.

For now, Fabspeed is the only game in town (US) that provides an established product, with actual units in stock, and a sizable staff to handle any questions or issues.

I was more concerned about sound compared to OEM 4-2-1 headers, but after putting them on I couldn't tell one bit. All I noticed was the stronger low-RPM bass from my new sport cats. The high-RPM sound feels the same.

 

Chan they built mine upon my request in 321s/s. I had them copy the OEM headers.
They modified the heat shields to fit the increased primary tube size.

 

I dont question the quality...others have. Some take issue with them being made in China or Taiwan or wherever you get them...I dont. I have only said running them straight out of the box there is a chance and a really good one its going to cause other issues and at that price there are other options that are ready out of the box.... people can do what they want with their money....but this forum is also where people come to get educated so they can make a choice they feel is best.
If Your headers came powder coated with heat blankets for around $3500. That Imo would put them right on par with others. then they would be ready to go out of the box and they are worth the little extra cost over the others.

 

Randy
You could take Fabspeed up on their offer of $3k headers with coating and purchase the $80 blankets posted (#204) by Greg above.

You would have then powder-coated headers with heat blankets for less than the $3500 you were willing to spend above. What say you.

 

I just ordered those header blankets - Thermo Tec. I have had uncoated Fabspeed headers on my F355 for the past 3 years. No problems with heat so far but I also don't have cats and live in a cool climate. I'll report on the product when it arrives and I install them.

 

Do report back please. I am considering them. For $80 some odd bucks I was going to just order them....but I'll wait for your report.

 

seems like the Jegs are cheaper $86 pair 20"x 24
the thermotec's are $102 pair 20"x24

for the exact same thing. even the same picture on the product description.

 

Same exact product. I bought it off ebay for $77.95 shipped. "Thermo Tec 14003"

 

Fair enough ...my whole argument has been why should i spend 3k and then ....well you need to spend more or these headers might cause damage to your car...Lets see how these header blankets work. Guys dont shoot the messenger because you dont like the truth...lets use facts and logic,

 

It's not feasible for companies to stay in business offering a high production run and quality product with heat blankets and ceramic coating at that price point. It is impossible to compare operations that are putting off small quantities of high quality products to an operation that is on a much larger scale with much higher overhead and hundreds of quality products. Both have their merits and both have their customers, we are lucky to have the choice between several reputable brands to suit our tastes.

 

Correct ....but you should inform yourself. Were comparing quality hand made headers, some are insulated and put back in the clam shells with Chinese knock offs.

Out of curiosity what headers are you running on your 355?

 

The ONLY reason Fabspeed headers are not on my shopping list is because of the 4-1 design.

My mechanic, who's opinion I respect massively is a BIG fan of the Fabspeed headers and recommends them to everyone.

However, I don't want a little more power at the very top of the rev range.
I want more torque in the middle.
Maybe that's just me, but thus I'll have to buy a header with a 4-2-1 design and will probably end up with Tubis and will have to re-mortgage the house as a result.

To Joe, this is meant as no criticism of your company or your product (if you made a 4-2-1 header with meaningful gains in the midrange I'd be all over it) it's just my personal wants for my car.
If your research and customer base tells you that people just want more top end power, then it makes sense for you to cater to that.

Cheers.

 

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Randy please don't take this the wrong way, but I think you are debating with yourself in this thread. The other guys posting recently already have replacement headers of one type or another on our cars, and we all found our own comfort zone for purchase price and perceived value. I am glad there are option available considering how small the Ferrari 355 market is.

 

Options are always good. Even if you don't buy Fabspeed headers for x, y or z reason it is undeniable that the F355 owners are so much better off because they support it with so many aftermarket parts. They brought the price point for headers on a F355 down. Others responded or stopped offering their products because they couldn't compete. From my first hand experience the quality and customer service is far better than any other option. Any. Tubi, Ferrari, QV... they all fail. I have heard from direct owners on this site about each one of those failing. I have never heard of Fabspeed headers failing. Ever. Customer service? Please. Not even a comparison to be made.

I don't give half a flying F if Fabspeed sources some of there raw materials from Taiwan. The end result is amazing and they unquestionably stand behind there product. Lifetime warranty. The choice for me was easy and I would and will buy from them again.

Those who in the past and currently are out on some imaginary witch hunt have and are currently embarrassing themselves.

 

I honestly don't think there is much to be gained from headers. We have a mid-engined car with equal-length primary header pipes. There is no room to run longer pre-merge tubes due to cats, muffler and the rest of the street-legal crap hanging back there.

The only real variable is 4-2-1 vs. 4-1, and those are minor HP/TQ differences. Even the Stainless Headers (now GP Headers) option is simply a replica of the OEM Ferrari headers just done with superior materials. At $2200--coated--and reusing the OEM flanges, it sounds like a good value if you can tolerate the small-shop crew and uncertain ownership of this design.

The other wild card is Tubi headers. I've heard it is a similar configuration relative to OEM, but no confirmation. Also, it's $6000+ and Tubi don't answer the phone.

Considering the limitations of the F355, I just want headers that sound the same and won't break every few years. If you can feel any related difference on the butt dyno, more power to you (pun not intended).

 

I have to disagree with that.

After tuning the Fabspeed 348 headers, under the curve, picked up 24whp and 27lb/ft tq. Look at the Dynojet graph of Fabspeed's 348 4-1 headers.


Then we have my Hytech tri-y headers. Untuned and under the curve they picked up an average of +14tq, and in a few areas in +20lb/ft range. Again this is Untuned. Look at my Dynapack graph, you can see the pretty substantial torque difference in the midrange. There is nothing "minor" about the gain in tq vs the stock headers. Plus, the gains will be even better after a tune.

As I have said in the past, had I not already had my headers I would FOR SURE have a set of Fabspeeds on my car. The stock 355 headers plain SUCK in my opinion.
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Ernie,
Thanx for posting the graphs. Very interesting, but what do you mean by "tuning" the headers?

 

I believe the graph of the Dynojet is from Fabspeeds dyno.

they have an ECU flash software for the 355/348. (big $$$ for it)

so they able to tune the car with the new headers on.
the majority of those gains is likely from the tune rather then just the bolting on of the new headers.

 

Wave tuning, and ecu tuning to take advantage of the better efficiency of the headers. As for wave tuning it has to do with acoustics inside the pipes. Depending on diameter and length they will resonate at different engine speeds/rpm. So when the headers are tuned it is done to place the resonance where it will be most beneficial for making power/torque. Think of how a trombone works. When the trombone player slides the tube in or out it changes the note of the instrument. A similar thing is happening inside the header. When the exhaust is coming out of the cylinder exhaust gas and an acoustical wave comes out. The acoustical waves travel much faster than the gas. When the wave gets to the merge/collector a pulse will travel back up the pipe/s it is involved with. If you time that pulse to just the right moment you can create a negative vacuum at the face of the valve, which helps scavenge the cylinder, and drawn in the new air/fuel mixture as the valve opens/closes.

And now for the ecu tuning.

With the headers tuned better the engine will need to be retuned to take advantage of the changes in the exhaust flow, and intake flow. The engine may now need more fuel and or ignition timing. Once that is adjusted properly = more hp.

There is a whole lot more technical stuff involve, which someone much more educated than I can explain in more detail and better. But in a nut shell, that is what header tuning is, and why you need the ecu tuned to take advantage of a better header design. Get the piping and collectors right = more power. Get it not so right = not so go power, or loss of power. Same deal for the ecu tuning.

 

It is, I got it from Fabspeed's site.

 

I've had other cars tuned via a flash software of the ecu to change the Air fuel Ratio and timing. to create more power. Fabspeed has this.

but I've never heard about tuning the actual header.
what you said makes sense. but how is this performed?
you can't hook up a flash software to the headers.
I assume this is by design of the actual header, which Fabspeed likely a accounted for when designing their headers.

 

I agree with Tony. It would seem that this tuning of the headers would have to be done by the manufacturer. I have an ECU tune on a Porsche that pleases my butt dyno & passes Cali smog. I had a Dinan tune on a BMW that gave a VERY dramatic increase in power & torque, but that was a turbo car & probably affected the longevity of the engine.

It would be interesting to know if the dyno sheet we're seeing is just headers (which I tend to doubt), or if the ECU has been 'adjusted to take advantage of the new headers'.

 

My dyno sheet is just headers on the stock 348 spider ecu tune.

 

Math and a LOT of testing.

The real world is much different than theory. You can calculate things on "paper" but once it hits the real world there are soooooo many things that change how things are affected. The number crunching can get you in the ballpark, but its the real world tests that will get you the defining results. Plus there are other variables that affect how the engine will react to the design of the headers. The cam profiles, the angles on the valves, the porting of the heads, the spray pattern of the injectors, the fuel pressure, the compression ratio, the rpm range, the intake manifold length, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. That is why the F1 teams spend millions on design and testing.

Anyway, in my opinion the Fabspeed headers are a very good design, and well worth the money they charge.

So unless you are going to put your nuts on the table, spend the money, do the number crunching, then the testing, retesting, and modifying, just get what has already been tested and proven to out perform the stock headers.