Shady 1 American Racing Headers install and custom tune

[SHADY1]

Hey everyone it's been a long minute since I posted on the site. Some of you know my E92 M3 with all the carbon fiber mods . Some people know me as the guy that lives in Texas and drives his E92 M3 everywhere and anywhere to car shows and events which is true in this case. Ohhh I am also finally retired from the military served 23 years no more deployments for me time to enjoy life.


Well I am sure some of you remember this American Racing Header thread:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...1276366&page=4


To save you some reading Some the members on the post was giving Nick the owner of ARH a hard time and Nick even offered to do this.

We manufacture and ship systems all over the world. My shop isn't overrun with M3's that we conduct tests on over and over again. Is any of that difficult to understand? I made the offer to work with someone in our region who can conduct any testing he/she wants overseen by whomever they want. I'll even do the install for FREE! I'm sure you'll find something wrong with that also.

Nick

Well lucky for me I just happen to have purchased a set of ARH for my M3 and came across that comment in the thread. I sent a PM and a Email to Nick and told him I will be the guy to step up to the plate. Nick needed someone to install their ARH kit on their supercharged M3 and custom tune it with headers installed.

The kit on my E92 M3 is the VF650 kit. The kit is solid but for some reason my car was not making the horse power it should No codes, No boost leaks, no nothing and your guess is just as good as mine but I am going to leave that topic alone For those of you that are supercharged it was a real challenge for me to find a tuner I could trust, because no body likes touching someone else supercharger kit . I just want you all to keep that in mind if you plan to go with another tuner other than your original supercharger brand like I had to do . I had a friend do some research and he found a tuner we could trust. I let him do his car first his numbers were good and on point awesome I was sold. The shop we found was Powerhaus-Performance in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. My friend had his Supercharger with the ARH set up custom tuned he put down 519 WHP on their Mustang Dyno.

Now my road trip adventure from Texas to the East Coast and then the West Coast. I only had 1 week to travel to the East Coast and back to the West Coast I started on a Saturday afternoon. I had to be in Deer Park, New York at ARH by Tuesday morning. One day prior to starting my road trip I went to the shop in my area Eurocharge ATX and did a base Dyno run with my VF650 kit. The car at the time had Active Autowerke X-pipe Catless, Gintani Racing Exhaust, 93 Octane fuel. We did 3 back to back runs the highest the car put down on the Dyno Jet was 495 WHP No codes, no boost leaks, new spark plugs, new engine oil and blower oil, no nothing. Your guess is as good as mine

Long story short made it to Deer Park, New York at ARH HQ Tuesday morning, soon as I arrived they put my car on the lift for install. I got to meet the owner Nick and his son we had lunch together. I got a tour of the ARH facility it's awesome and well organized. Nick kept to his word the installation of my ARH long tube headers along with their 3 inch X-pipe was free of charge. Ohhh if you decide to do this install you will need to replace or I recommend you replace your motor mounts mine was toast glad they had new ones on hand . Once everything was installed the car looked awesome and sounded like a beast totally different. The Headers are awesome very well built no cut and bend type welds. ARH have a machine that bends the pipes into the shapes they need to be without cutting and welding. Their 3 inch X-pipe catless is very well built and connects flawlessly.

to be continue... still more

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[SHADY1]

The following day Wednesday morning I had to be in Cherry Hill, New Jersey at the shop Powerhaus-Performance for a custom tune on my VF650 supercharger with the new ARH set up. The base dyno run with the VF650 supercharger original tune with ARH set up was 470 WHP on Mustang Dyno. After that run the tuner put my car back to stock and custom tuned my car on their dyno. Once the tuner was done my car put down 523 WHP on the Mustang Dyno finally my M3 was putting down some real power it was worth my long drive from Texas.

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[SHADY1]

Next stop back home to Texas arrived early Friday morning dropped off old X-pipe and stuff repack car and hit the road again to the West Coast must arrive by Sunday for Big SoCal Euro Gathering. I made it to SoCal Saturday night to my sister house in San Diego. Went to the event the next day it was awesome and I had my own car model with me there . The following day Monday was labor day I hit a road hazard block of wood in the road could not avoid. Damaged my rear wheel, cut my front tire and damaged my Hamann side skirt got to love the California roads. It's a good thing for me I know people I got the wheel fixed and was back on the road.

[SHADY1]

Tuesday went to the shop European Auto Source (EAS) this is my favorite shop in SoCal they always take care of me and have done a lot of things to my car. Tom and Steve are the best, I had them put my car on their Dyno Jet because I wanted to know what type of power my car was putting down on the Dyno Jet. The last time I was at EAS with my car it was in 2014 for Bimmerfest. I did not drive my car to California I trailer the car into the state.
I put my car on their dyno back then my car had the VF650 kit, AA X-pipe Catless, Gintani Race Exhaust. The car put down 526 WHP it was on 100 octane. This time we put my M3 with the Custom tune and ARH long tube headers and their 3 inch X-pipe the car put down 569 WHP 91 Octane. I am happy the car is making consistent power.
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[SHADY1]

I finally got back home to Texas and took my car back to Eurocharge ATX with the Custom tune and ARH long tube headers and their 3 inch X-pipe. We put my car back on their Dyno Jet and did 3 back to back pulls my car made 552 WHP Remember my base Dyno run the original VF650 kit tune and AA X-pipe with Gintani Racing Exhaust was only 495 WHP. No matter what anybody says after all these proven results my car made power and these ARH Long Tube Headers and Custom Tune are playing a part. So if you are Supercharged and you still want more power I highly recommend this set up.

I want to give a Shout out to Tom@EAS, Nick ARH, Steve@EAS, Roshan Powerhaus-Performance, Adam & David at Eurocharge ATX
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[///M Kidding]

By just reading the topic, I thought you were going to bash them lol but good write-up... And you really drive your m3 ALOT!

[SHADY1]

Originally Posted by ///M Kidding

By just reading the topic, I thought you were going to bash them lol but good write-up... And you really drive your m3 ALOT!

Yes I do thanks. It's almost time to do the rod bearings again round 2 but this time I will try BE Bearings they did not have them when I originally did my rod bearings at 106,000 miles by EAS. My rod bearings were down to the copper .

[SSJTrunks523]

Awesome man! Can't wait for mine! Want to see what it does on an NA motor. LOVE the sound (recordings only so far).

[ASBSECU E93]

NICE!!

Did you ever figure out why the S/C kit was not making power?

[SHADY1]

Originally Posted by ASBSECU E93

NICE!!

Did you ever figure out why the S/C kit was not making power?

Nope I spent months or should I say years since 2014 dealing with that issue and just gave up almost. Looking for someone to Tune my car me and my friend had the same problem and did a lot of research but it all worked out now. I am happy with my current set up. You can basically call my kit a VF680 kit if you do the math

[ASBSECU E93]

Two years - what a shame.

I would have referred you to the team in Raleigh - Bimmer Performance Center. They are fantastic, offer custom tunes, and did my SC install.

Mind if I ask - all in costs for Headers and install?

You can PM me if more comfortable.

[Patrón]

Nice story James,
Thank you for your long service, congrats on restoring your power. I bet that EAS dyno with some good gas would have been some great numbers.

I'll keep any out out for the next event you'll be at so I can hear the car in person.

[SSJTrunks523]

I'm doing mine NA, adding the full exhaust, then S/C. Might have to travel to see Powerhaus as well. CT has no car scene at all. Esp outside of Fairfield County (which might as well be NYC). Thanks for the legwork!

[Nick ARH]

James, I can't thank you enough for making the trip. It was really a pleasure meeting you and I'm really grateful it was you that took me up on my offer. You're a class act!

I also appreciate you sharing your story with the membership. You put to bed, at least on the supercharged side of things, that if you are not ARH equipped, you are leaving serious power and efficiency on the table. You also proved just how critical a retune is after the header install. This is true with N/A applications also and many here have heard me say that on numerous occasions.

I wish you all the best. I'd love to see you bolt some real rubber on the M3 and make some laps down a drag strip. There's 10's written all over that with a decent 60ft.

Nick

[redpriest]

What an epic story. Thanks for the thread!!

[SHADY1]

Originally Posted by redpriest

What an epic story. Thanks for the thread!!

I am glad I could share it

[SHADY1]

Originally Posted by Nick ARH

James, I can't thank you enough for making the trip. It was really a pleasure meeting you and I'm really grateful it was you that took me up on my offer. You're a class act!

I also appreciate you sharing your story with the membership. You put to bed, at least on the supercharged side of things, that if you are not ARH equipped, you are leaving serious power and efficiency on the table. You also proved just how critical a retune is after the header install. This is true with N/A applications also and many here have heard me say that on numerous occasions.

I wish you all the best. I'd love to see you bolt some real rubber on the M3 and make some laps down a drag strip. There's 10's written all over that with a decent 60ft.

Nick

Thanks Nick you are a true man of your word, just like myself

[nick3753]

I must have missed the pics with the car model...:

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by nick3753

I must have missed the pics with the car model...:

[SHADY1]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Originally Posted by nick3753

I must have missed the pics with the car model...:

You know I left my model pics out on purpose because I knew somebody would loose focus on the purpose of this thread but here you go. This was my Tattoo model Whitney she drove down to see me and represent my group Lone Star Euro Fest based out of Texas at the show. She is also featured in the magazine Tattoo Taboo. Ok now let's get back on topic

[h4nh]

congrats on the mods and trip bro!

[whats77inaname]

You're w/in 4WHP of what 8k3 made on the Mustang w/pretty much the exact same setup