IMF

iTrader: (2)

Hello,

Some of you already know me for the SC400 headers that i have been offering, to most of you i am the new guy. IMF is a new company a little over a year old, hopefully with your help we can grow and offer more products to the Lexus community.

I am planning to offer new products to Lexus models and i wanted to check interest before i start investing my time and money into any specific products. I want to see if there is any interest to a new set of headers for the GS300/400/430 models.

Of course the headers will be made out of high grade 304 stainless steel, be a direct bolt on that wont require any modifications and most importantly will improve performance.

I already have excess to existing headers for the GS300 which i can offer or if you would like something new that can be made as well. It all depends on how much interest i see. V8 models i will need to make a completely new design for, which is not a problem. Show me you are interested and i can make it happen.

Please post here or PM you if you are seriously interested in headers.

Retail price for the GS300 would be between $399-499. Retail price for the GS400/430 would be between $699-799.

Let me know,

Chase

speedaddic

iTrader: (10)

it would be nice to see a what #'s a prototype of yours does against the S&S or even my one off JPI headers.

Frankdorn

iTrader: (7)

I'll definitely be interested in headers in late spring for my 400, but I'll be honest, $700-800 is more than I would've thought. With shipping, an even thou? S&S headers are decent, the second batch anyway, and some report seeing almost 20whp...I thought they were like $500 but discontinued? Dunno, I planned to look into it more heavily next season, when I'll be aimin' for a Rock-a-Lex setup! Anyway, there's my feedback in the form of random thoughts.

IMF

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the feedback, thats what i am looking for.

The reason my headers will cost more is because they are made of stainless steel, the S&S headers are mild steel, thats a big difference. If i can get at least 25 serious customers to buy as the same time, i can possibly do a group buy and offer the headers at a little bit of a discount but $599.00 price point would be the lowest offered.

As far as horsepower i dont see a reason i cant achieve or beat the numbers the S&S headers offer. The goal is to always put a better product then what is already available or at least hang with the best ones.

JBrady

Frank, they are not discontinued. Cost with Jet Hot ceramic coating inside and out is around $600. Shipping is not much. It will be interesting to see what IMF can come up with.

JBrady

Stainless is certainly an attractive choice. It would be very cool if you can offer a header that works better than the S&S while fitting in the stock location with stock cats. One thing to watch is with the shorter tubes there is less flex to fight cracking. As far as performance be careful with the tube sizing and make the best collector(s) you can.

By all means, improve the breed, if you can. I have posted tons of details and design theory both before and after the S&S were created. Pretty much worked out as planned except for the cracking on the first generation and that was cured with thicker tubing and welding changes.

Care to share your thoughts on areas you hope/expect to improve?

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

I would be interested as well for my 98 LS400 .
I want ones that look like a company from Japan that went under called "C's" for comrades . It was beautifully made with flowing smooth curves and precision welds a real work of art.

Frankdorn

iTrader: (7)

Match the price, beat the performance! If you can dyno prove better hp gains than the S&S, I'm sure you'll get the 25 people you're looking for. You may wanna give jbrady a call so you two don't crash the forum.

IMF

iTrader: (2)

If we can get 20 people i can work on a better price. Maybe first run at $499 a set, it all depends on interest.

GSJake

iTrader: (21)

I will be in the market spring of 2010 for my 430. I contacted S&S and was quoted the following.

$659.85
50.00 (I wanted the JET HOT coating to be black)
23.79 (Shipping to WI)
--------
$733.64

IMF what is your time line?

ryan78

iTrader: (2)

what kind of HP gain would be realistic? i have an AWD, and certainly would be interested in the GB if we are talking a 15-20 gain. is that reasonable? i know discussions with ISS over their speculative cat back exhaust would have a similar gain. i am in if that is achievable.

speedaddic

iTrader: (10)

I may be interested in these as well...heck, i've taken off everything else JPI has done

JBrady

I am actually looking forward to these. It will be interesting to see that test data.

While dyno numbers are interesting my guess is peak horsepower gains will similar and in the 15-20rwhp range. That said it is the PERFORMANCE gain not the peak dyno gain that defines a parts success. I have a GTech Competition performance meter (just like the current SS model) that actually dynos the car on the road. It also gives power from the very beginning of a run and you see just how much power is being used and how things such as spinning the tires or a torque converter change effect actual performance.

GS Fonzy tested his car before and after on the 1/8th mile track and improved his times by 3 tenths of a second with the S&S headers. This is usually calculated at 10hp per tenth for the performance and weight range of the GS4xx. So with a peak gain of say 17rwhp the car has an OVERALL improvement (power as used in actual racing) of around 30rwhp. So while dyno is a good tool it is the actual performance that matters. Hopefully someone will do the same kind of testing on the IMF headers when available. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...headers-2.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/2982151-post31.html

BTW, my LS400 on the GTech usually shows 215rwhp WITHOUT headers (again not dynojet actual power used)(headers arrived yesterday so hopefully before the year is done) I did 3 back to back 0-60 runs and all had the same power but performance ranged from 5.858 seconds to 6.175 seconds. You need repeatable data to judge a performance gain BUT you can FEEL the sharpness or dullness of a mod. So, real performance and real feel define a gain.

memGS300

I would definitely be interested for my 03 GS300 as I'm currently considering some Mazzuris from an IS300.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

hmm i might be interested in this! price seems good.

i wouldnt dont mind lending my car over to be a test car too (cough cough)