ACE CS400 installed!!!
https://i.imgur.com/6DnEStj.jpg

Paired with the HKS R-Spec front pipe, oem midpipe, and TRD High Response Muffler Ver. R.

I got it installed. Took me about 5 hours because I'm slow and it was probably the most difficult header to install. I tried to snake the overpipe portion in like I did with my AVO, but because of the merge collection, it would not budge. So I unbolted the engine and jacked it up. That was probably the most surprisingly easy thing to do! The bolts came undone with no problem at all, and lifting the motor 1/4 of an inch to slip the overpipe portion in was a breeze.

Now... the annoying part. The overpipe! That piece of shit is by far the most difficult part I've ever had to install. The three bolts had to screw in and were at funky angles. The 2 were pretty easy, but the top right bolt can kiss my whole ass. That sucker was so hard to thread and then tighten I almost gave up. I had to remove a portion of the plastic paneling in the wheel well to get my socket lined up. Then, the overpipe-to-front pipe part had threading too! I've never seen that before. Once again, that was also a nightmare to line up, thread, and torque.

I plan to do some data logging tonight and send it off to Zach at CSG and let him do his magic. I'll be curious to see how it stacks up against the HKS header it's replacing and the Nameless/Cosworth I had on both my FR-S and BRZ. If all goes well, I will be the last mod I do for a long, long time. Hopefully this weekend or next week I can get some sound clips of the set up.

Keep us posted.

ACE CS400 Review
 

My review did not post. Well the short is this: ACE CS400> Cosworth 0.3 manifold> HKS EL header. :burnrubber:

I took the car for a nice run down and wow does it have power all around! Each time I came out of a corner, there was power on tap. It feels more lively than the HKS did. While raspy, it was not as raspy as the Cosworth. The tuning by Matt@Cosworth was damn good out of the box. Zach@CSG did excellent work tuning in the car on both my HKS and ACE headers. I also did notice one thing. I have the beatrush under panel, and my CS400 DOES tap it every so slightly, but only from flexing of the panel. I only noticed this because when I went to tighten the bolts down after heat cycling, there was some coating that was knocked off. I could not hear it, nor would I have known. So I'm not going to worry. :thumbup:

In which area is the ACE CS400 better? Mid rev range or top end?

Mid range. But it has plenty of top end too.

Got a sound clip of the new exhaust set up! @Tcoat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzht4CGkfaw

Sounds much like the standard TRD exhaust with maybe a tad more rasp and volume. Looks great too!

The rasp is the headers for certain. They are very raspy

Ahhh yes that makes sense. So with stock it is probably very close to the standard TRD.

@weedere33 or anybody else. With regard to the oil cooler, the cusco kit is, to me, outrageously priced. Are the radiator hose adapters available separately? I have everything else.

It is very over priced! I'm sure you could contact Cusco directly and ask for replacement adapters. Otherwise, you may have to see if someone can CNC a pair for you.

Actually, you can find them a number of places. I ordered a pair of 40mm anodized aluminum water temp sensor adapters for just under $10 each.

I'm looking forward to your report on how well the set up works.

thanks for the help.

Love following the progress on this, such a great colour

Those T connectors do not give me any confidence that there will be sufficient coolant flow through the cooler. Do you see any temperature difference between the coolant inlet and outlet of the coil?