My Review of Ace A/350 Header & Delicious Tuning Flex Fuel Kit + Tune

[tomaszjanczak]

I’ll start by mentioning that I was an OFT and OFH user for almost the past 3 years before switching to this setup. I began using OFT basically as soon as I got the car. So, this will also be a comparison to my experiences with both setups and I will talk about things that I have never seen or heard ever being mentioned.


Why did I switch?

• Becoming more aware as I got more experience with the car, I began noticing certain things and having doubts that the engine was running right.
• Wanted to have a flex fuel kit for easy (and safe) switching between 93 fuel and E85.
• While I am aware OFT does have a flex fuel kit option now, it all goes back to my first bullet point, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Purchasing from CounterSpace Garage

Before purchasing, I discussed everything with @CSG Mike and he answered all of my questions quickly and very knowledgeably. The transaction was smooth and everything was delivered much earlier than estimated. I bought everything from CSG (header & ceramic coating in & out, tune, flex fuel kit, EcuTek license and cable kit.) Many, many, many CSG stickers were included in the package and that is super cool! I think this is absolutely the best place to buy parts and get advice. I don't even know who else comes close to the knowledge and professionalism of CSG. You will always be happy when you go with their advice and recommendations.

Installing the Ace Header

Installation was slightly more difficult than the average header swap because of the removal and replacement of the over pipe. I had to lift the engine a bit to do the over pipe swap. I know some people did not have to lift the engine, but I couldn’t see that possibility in my situation. But, lifting the engine was not a big deal.

One thing I will mention that was the biggest hold up in the installation was that I did not have any nuts and bolts that would mate up the over pipe to the front pipe. I’m not sure if my stock hardware was different for some reason, but nothing fit and there were no parts in the hardware kit that came with the header that were meant for that. A Home Depot run was necessary to get these parts. I haven’t read about someone else having this issue, so I don’t know what was going on in my situation.

Securing the header nuts to the engine was a little bit of a challenge for me and there was very tight spacing but you just have to figure out what technique works for each nut.

After installation, the header was rubbing/vibrating against the metal skid plate in 2 spots, it was extremely loud. I hammered down the 2 spots but it still vibrates very noticeably at around 5,000-6,000 RPM. I’ve been too lazy to hammer some more but this is definitely a fixable problem.

You could just get a shop to do the installation and forget about all these problems but what’s the fun in that!?


Installing the Delicious Tuning Flex Fuel Kit

This was a very simple process and I think the directions make it more complicated than it really is!


Flashing the Tune with EcuTek

This was new to me, coming from OFT. But, following the instruction videos on Delicious Tuning’s YouTube channel made it very simple.


First Impressions

I was just gently driving around town, keeping RPMs low, and the first thing I realized is how much more power there is below 3,000 RPM compared to my previous setup. I thought I would lose power in the lower RPMs because of the generally accepted “fact” that UEL headers perform better in that area, even compared to the Ace.

Well, that definitely wasn’t true from my experience. Not even close.

As I became more aware, I cringed every time I drove the car with the OFT/OFH setup. The car was just DEAD below 3,000 RPM. This was not the result of a “low torque” or “low horsepower” car, or “that’s how it’s supposed to be," or “it’s a trade off for more top end power.” This was simply the engine not running right and basically “bogging down” anywhere below 3,000 RPM.

I didn’t fully realize this until I drove on the current setup.

Second thing I noticed (related to the first point), is the smooth transition at 3,000 RPM. You might be asking, “What the hell are you talking about?” Well, with the OFT/OFH, 3,000 RPM was an on/off switch, a very abrupt on/off switch. Like I mentioned before, the engine was DEAD below 3,000 RPM and as soon as it hit 3,000 RPM, I felt the roughness and “jolt” from the increase in torque/power. This was happening at low and partial throttle, and I could feel it. And it was just harsher the more throttle I gave it. Basically what I’m saying is no matter how I drove the car, I could physically feel when it was 3,000 RPM without having to look at the tachometer and with my current setup, I cannot tell.


Impressions after a Couple of Weeks

• Idle is so incredibly smooth. With OFT/OFH, I felt vibrations through the steering wheel, like it was a lumpy idle.
• Idle does not dip when AC cycles on/off, like it did with OFT.
• No hard data on this, but from the dash computer, highway MPG went up 5-6 MPG. But since I have no manually calculated data, I can’t say this is completely accurate. Once I do have calculated data, I will update this.
• When decelerating in gear and at low RPMs, the car is completely smooth all the way down the RPM range. With OFT, the car harshly jerked back and forth under the same circumstances. Just imagine being on a mechanical bull, that’s exactly how it acted, although not as intense, but that same motion.
• In traffic, when creeping along slowly in 1st gear, it is totally smooth and even “enjoyable.” With OFT, this situation was very bad to be in, as the car once again, harshly jerked back and forth. Same mechanical bull feeling. You can imagine this was not pleasant for me or anytime I had passengers.
• About the power increase with the Ace: to me, the power difference between the two setups is greater than the dyno graphs show. Don’t get me wrong, the car does not magically have GTR-like acceleration now, but I did not think the car would be this much faster after the setup change.
• My E85 experience is very limited due to a very bad tank of gas in the middle of data logging, sending power way down. This was immediately fixed after using a different gas station but now all of a sudden the temperatures here went down from high 70s and 80s to low 50s so I’m using 93 octane now to avoid any cold start issues with E85 as this is my daily driver and I need it to start reliably. But the 1-1.5 days I had with the good E85 in the tank, the car feels exactly the same in terms of smoothness in every situation. I truly did not have enough time to experience E85 to its full potential so I can’t give any good comments to the power difference between 93 and E85. But that’s the only difference that you will experience running E85 - the increase in power. The engine behaves exactly the same as when using 93. Idle is identically smooth running both fuels.
• Gear changes are smoother - don’t know why, I am driving the same way I have always driven. Can’t explain this one but it must be something with the tune.

Experience with Delicious Tuning

I data logged to make sure everything is running right and was in contact with Zach at Delicious Tuning. He always responded very quickly and the process was very smooth. Two tune revisions were necessary for my car.


The Bottom Line

I did not think this would be the case, but I am currently more surprised by the new tune than the new header. The big increase in power everywhere in the RPM range is great and all, but my car actually runs well now! Since I spent so little time on the stock tune when I got my car, I honestly thought that how the engine ran with OFT was completely normal. (FYI I was using the tunes supplied on the OFT website and did not modify them at all and always updated to the newest ones whenever they became available.)

So, I’m still getting over how smooth the entire driving experience is now. It really is a big shock to me because I was not expecting these differences. I was just expecting more power.

So I thank CounterSpace Garage, Delicious Tuning and Ace Header for completely changing how my car drives.

Edit: Another interesting thing I might add: When I was on the OFT setup, I once had the owner of a performance shop drive my car. It wasn't to test the tune or anything but he asked "Does your car have a misfire?" I didn't really know what he meant at the time (Remember, I thought the car was running great!. The car didn't have a misfire but that's how the poor tune made the car feel. This was probably related to the idle instability I previously mentioned.

If anyone has any questions, please, ask away.

[TofuJoe]

What is the rest of your intake and exhaust setup besides the header? How does the sound compare?

[tomaszjanczak]

Originally Posted by TofuJoe

What is the rest of your intake and exhaust setup besides the header? How does the sound compare?

My whole intake system and air filter are stock. For the exhaust, I have an Invidia Q300 cat-back. Front pipe is stock.

For the sound, from the outside, I really can't tell a difference in the volume. From inside, the only difference I can tell is the "rushing air" sound at lower RPMs that comes from the header is a bit louder with the Ace. I assume that is because of the faster/stronger exhaust flow. Drone, or the lack of drone in my case, has not changed.

Obviously the sound difference will be there from an EL header vs UEL. I actually prefer the EL sound.

[phrosty]

I think the rushing air sound is due to thinner-than-stock exhaust walls and getting rid of the heat shield.

[tomaszjanczak]

Originally Posted by phrosty

I think the rushing air sound is due to thinner-than-stock exhaust walls and getting rid of the heat shield.

Yes you're absolutely right.

[menikmati]

Originally Posted by tomaszjanczak

Installing the Ace Header

Installation was slightly more difficult than the average header swap because of the removal and replacement of the over pipe. I had to lift the engine a bit to do the over pipe swap. I know some people did not have to lift the engine, but I couldn’t see that possibility in my situation. But, lifting the engine was not a big deal.

One thing I will mention that was the biggest hold up in the installation was that I did not have any nuts and bolts that would mate up the over pipe to the front pipe. I’m not sure if my stock hardware was different for some reason, but nothing fit and there were no parts in the hardware kit that came with the header that were meant for that. A Home Depot run was necessary to get these parts. I haven’t read about someone else having this issue, so I don’t know what was going on in my situation.

Securing the header nuts to the engine was a little bit of a challenge for me and there was very tight spacing but you just have to figure out what technique works for each nut.

]After installation, the header was rubbing/vibrating against the metal skid plate in 2 spots, it was extremely loud. I hammered down the 2 spots but it still vibrates very noticeably at around 5,000-6,000 RPM. I’ve been too lazy to hammer some more but this is definitely a fixable problem.

You could just get a shop to do the installation and forget about all these problems but what’s the fun in that!?

Is this normal for the header installation? Per the CSG product page, "- Modular with OEM Front Pipe back," so I wouldn't expect any problems mating the ACE OP to the stock FP.

Are the rubbing issues with the skid plate something that can be avoided by tweaking how the header mates to the FP and engine, or is that something that's prevalent in all 350 installs?

[tomaszjanczak]

Originally Posted by menikmati

Is this normal for the header installation? Per the CSG product page, "- Modular with OEM Front Pipe back," so I wouldn't expect any problems mating the ACE OP to the stock FP.

Are the rubbing issues with the skid plate something that can be avoided by tweaking how the header mates to the FP and engine, or is that something that's prevalent in all 350 installs?

The Ace OP fits perfectly with the stock front pipe but none of my stock hardware was able to be used to secure the two.

From reading other people's experiences, the rubbing on the skid plate is from differences from car to car. It doesn't matter how the header mates to the FP because the header will always mate to the engine the same way, and it is the header that rubs. (The 2 lowest points of the header rubbed/are rubbing on mine). Some people don't have an issue with rubbing.

My theory is that for those who do rub, the skid plate has been hit from the underside, for example whenever you go in or out of a steep driveway, or curb, or speed bumb, and the skid plate gets slightly pushed "up" towards the engine over time. That is the only explanation I can think of because some people do not have this issue.

[bfrank1972]

Humm, that's really strange about the OFT tune issues you had. I haven't had any such issues with mine at all - I wonder if something else was/is up. FYI only tunes I've run so far are OFT stage 1 (stock), OFT stage 2 EL (with aftermarket EL header), OFT stage 2 EL E85 (stock and aftermarket EL header). Congrats on the header, I concur that outside of FI, a quality header is the biggest bang/buck mod. Transforms the way the car drives 100%.

[tomaszjanczak]

Originally Posted by bfrank1972

Humm, that's really strange about the OFT tune issues you had. I haven't had any such issues with mine at all - I wonder if something else was/is up. FYI only tunes I've run so far are OFT stage 1 (stock), OFT stage 2 EL (with aftermarket EL header), OFT stage 2 EL E85 (stock and aftermarket EL header). Congrats on the header, I concur that outside of FI, a quality header is the biggest bang/buck mod. Transforms the way the car drives 100%.

You wouldn't believe how many things I tried to fix my issues. I must have gotten about 10 smoke tests to check for leaks. All showed absolutely 0 leaks. I changed gaskets 3 times, I even changed the nuts and replaced BOTH O2 sensors. I uninstalled and reinstalled my whole intake system to make sure it wasn't an intake leak of some sort. There was no other issue but the tune. In my opinion, people haven't talked about the issues because they have not had a comparison to a good tune.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by tomaszjanczak

You wouldn't believe how many things I tried to fix my issues. I must have gotten about 10 smoke tests to check for leaks. All showed absolutely 0 leaks. I changed gaskets 3 times, I even changed the nuts and replaced BOTH O2 sensors. I uninstalled and reinstalled my whole intake system to make sure it wasn't an intake leak of some sort. There was no other issue but the tune. In my opinion, people haven't talked about the issues because they have not had a comparison to a good tune.

So I'm guessing you flashed the tune and forgot about it. Countless people have used OFT and the OFH. But it's something you need to log and tweak. I'm willing to bet you did neither.

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by tomaszjanczak

You wouldn't believe how many things I tried to fix my issues. I must have gotten about 10 smoke tests to check for leaks. All showed absolutely 0 leaks. I changed gaskets 3 times, I even changed the nuts and replaced BOTH O2 sensors. I uninstalled and reinstalled my whole intake system to make sure it wasn't an intake leak of some sort. There was no other issue but the tune. In my opinion, people haven't talked about the issues because they have not had a comparison to a good tune.

Dunno - my wife does say I'm sometimes oblivious, but I think I'd know if my car were not running right due to a tune (certainly not the issues you were seeing). I was thinking just what you were, maybe an exhaust leak somewhere/o2 sensor issue that was sorted when you unbolted and re-bolted eveything, but sounds like you were on it. Question - did you happen to try the OFT setup after you bolted everything back up? Or did you go straight to a custom EcuTek tune?

Anyway glad to hear your car is running right, just thought I'd contribute some anecdotal/unbiased experience with OFT setup.

[tomaszjanczak]

Originally Posted by bfrank1972

Dunno - my wife does say I'm sometimes oblivious, but I think I'd know if my car were not running right due to a tune (certainly not the issues you were seeing). I was thinking just what you were, maybe an exhaust leak somewhere/o2 sensor issue that was sorted when you unbolted and re-bolted eveything, but sounds like you were on it. Question - did you happen to try the OFT setup after you bolted everything back up? Or did you go straight to a custom EcuTek tune?

Anyway glad to hear your car is running right, just thought I'd contribute some anecdotal/unbiased experience with OFT setup.

I have zero bias too and also sharing my experiences.

Do you mean trying OFT setup after I tried those fixes? Of course. This was a while ago. I just told myself that this is how it's supposed to be and lived with it.

If you mean did I try OFT after I installed the Ace header, then no, I didn't because I didn't want to run a tune not specifically designed for that header.

[bfrank1972]

yup the latter, and not in any way implying you are biased. just was curious as to whether you saw the same symptoms after you redid everything. could have somehow sorted the issue. anyways enjoy

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Lantana frs]

I experience that soggy feeling below 3k with an el header and early ecutek tune. Big difference from 3k up though.