Hellion quandary.

[Towelly]

Hello all, been looking at forced induction since I bought the car in 2006. Have yet to get the funds together. But now that they are coming together, I'm looking very serious at getting a turbo setup. It has come down to three kits; Hellion (Most likely from Brenspeed) , Powerhouse (Direct) and Turbonetics (Jegs, best deal I could find). Any of these three will probably be ordered as a tuner kit as I have plans for the rest of the supporting hardware. Will contain a BB upgrade and probably 66-67mm turbo.

So why the quandary? The Hellion setup is at the top of my list. BUT, my car will be lowered by the time I get the kit by at least 1.5" in the front and 1.75" ish in the rear and I'm very concerned about scraping. Which is why I seek other kits. Is there anyone out there that makes a pipe that doesn't sit lower than the A-Arms? What have you guys done, for those already running Hellion's kit, to curb the problem? Again for those already running a Hellion setup, if you had to do it all over again, would you stick with Hellion or go elsewhere?

Thanks,

Jake

(The Car is a virtually stock '06 GT 5speed)

 

[Vashthe3rd]

With that lowering your hotside piping will scrape.
The Hellion kit is (as far as I know) the only kit you just mentioned that will scrape, this is because the compressor inlet and downpipes go under the K-member.

If I got the same deal on the Hellion system that I got yea I would, otherwise I'd be using turbo horsepower.
Question: On a stock GT why are you getting a bigger turbo? Do you plan on getting a forged engine? As long as you know the 60-61mm turbos are better for the street and the 76's are better for the track.

 

[US-1]

Is there anyone out there that makes a pipe that doesn't sit lower than the A-Arms?

Yes....Team Performance Stealth GT Twin Turbo System.

Absolutely no part of the system sits lower than the factory frame rails.

 

[TurboPete]

Yes I would buy a Hellion Kit all over again , no it doesn't scrape as bad as you think. No different then if you had longtubes with off road exhaust.

My car is also lowered and I have no major issues at all .

The Hellion Kit is the best fit kit right out of the box.

It all boils down to personal preference , All the kits work very well , I just went the Hellion route b/c of the all stainless pipes.


Pete

 

[Towelly]

With that lowering your hotside piping will scrape.
The Hellion kit is (as far as I know) the only kit you just mentioned that will scrape, this is because the compressor inlet and downpipes go under the K-member.

If I got the same deal on the Hellion system that I got yea I would, otherwise I'd be using turbo horsepower.
Question: On a stock GT why are you getting a bigger turbo? Do you plan on getting a forged engine? As long as you know the 60-61mm turbos are better for the street and the 76's are better for the track.

Yes I plan on getting a forged shortblock in the near future. Also, I think that the 67 will respond a little bit better on the street, seeing as how I have a 5 speed and eventually 6 speed, than a 76 or larger. I'm not looking for much more than 650 to the tire at a maximum anyway and it will never be a full time track car.

Yes....Team Performance Stealth GT Twin Turbo System.

Absolutely no part of the system sits lower than the factory frame rails.

Would love too, but it costs too much for my budget.

Yes I would buy a Hellion Kit all over again , no it doesn't scrape as bad as you think. No different then if you had longtubes with off road exhaust.

My car is also lowered and I have no major issues at all .

The Hellion Kit is the best fit kit right out of the box.

It all boils down to personal preference , All the kits work very well , I just went the Hellion route b/c of the all stainless pipes.


Pete

I've heard exactly the opposite, but I've never actually ridden in a Hellion car either. So, your the first person, lowered, that I've ever heard that from. Also, long tubes don't scrape. Not even 3" ARH's, buddy has a GT the ARH's with sportlines and they don't scrape.

From guys that have the kit on a few other forums I've heard of a few getting some custom pipes to solve the problem. If it has to go that far I'd rather buy something else in the first place. Especially when you go big Hellion makes you buy the "race" pipe. Turbonetics and Powerhouse already have a 3" (or better) down-pipe. Although, Hellion is still obviously on my list for other reasons. Known good MAF signal, Powerhouse and Turbonetics have both had trouble. Ready directly out of the box. No if and or buts and the kit can be had for cheaper than the other two when optioned similar.

 

[2006torquefreak]

I agree!

With that lowering your hotside piping will scrape.
The Hellion kit is (as far as I know) the only kit you just mentioned that will scrape, this is because the compressor inlet and downpipes go under the K-member.

If I got the same deal on the Hellion system that I got yea I would, otherwise I'd be using turbo horsepower.
Question: On a stock GT why are you getting a bigger turbo? Do you plan on getting a forged engine? As long as you know the 60-61mm turbos are better for the street and the 76's are better for the track.

 

[07 s197]

i had the hellion 76 race kit and was lowered on frpp springs. The only time i would have issues with ground clearance was with good size speed bumps. I never once scraped the pipes that went under the k member. The down pipe before it opens to the y, would be the only part that would scrape

 

[forensicsteve]

I think that the 67 will respond a little bit better on the street, seeing as how I have a 5 speed and eventually 6 speed, than a 76 or larger

Yep....started with 67mm...now have 76mm. There is a lag difference between the two for street driving.

 

[retfr8flyr]

If you are going for the tuner kit then you should check out Turbohorsepower.com. Jim Napier is the man to talk with and he can fix you up with exactly what you want.


Earl

 

[TurboPete]

I've heard exactly the opposite, but I've never actually ridden in a Hellion car either. So, your the first person, lowered, that I've ever heard that from. Also, long tubes don't scrape. Not even 3" ARH's, buddy has a GT the ARH's with sportlines and they don't scrape.

From guys that have the kit on a few other forums I've heard of a few getting some custom pipes to solve the problem. If it has to go that far I'd rather buy something else in the first place. Especially when you go big Hellion makes you buy the "race" pipe. Turbonetics and Powerhouse already have a 3" (or better) down-pipe. Although, Hellion is still obviously on my list for other reasons. Known good MAF signal, Powerhouse and Turbonetics have both had trouble. Ready directly out of the box. No if and or buts and the kit can be had for cheaper than the other two when optioned similar.

Like I said the only pipe that scrapes is the y pipe . it hangs in the middle part of the car , so when goiing over big speed bumps it rubs JUST LIKE O/R Pipes with longtubes, the two pipes that go under the a arms will never hit. Those are in the same position as the tires so if the tires have to go over something , so does the pipes , it will never hit!

Oh and the HELLION kit already has the 3" Pipe , the only difference between the RACE and Street version is the Race version has a y-pipe that eliminates the converters completely . The street version you need to cut after the converters and install the additional pipe.

Enjoy which ever kit you get .


Pete

 

[Mike Rousch]

I have installed a bunch of Hellion kits, The only thing we ever noticed was exactly what was said here all ready. The only pipe that will hit is the y pipe itself.

 

[TurboPete]

I have installed a bunch of Hellion kits, The only thing we ever noticed was exactly what was said here all ready. The only pipe that will hit is the y pipe itself.

Thanks , for backing Me up , oh and something else to consider , any muffler shop can adjust the y-pipe by making it just a little shorter in the center section, thats it !

I wish Hellion would just make the pipe shorter from the get go , but not sure why they haven't looked into that.
Maybe Ill call them on Monday .


Pete

 

[Vashthe3rd]

TurboPete is speaking the truth, I think the OP got lost here not realizing there are multiple low hanging points.
Lemme revise what I said:


Lowered, if you're not careful you'll hit any of the low pipes on speed bumps. From the cats (or where they would've been) the pipe will rub/scrape on those bad bumps as well. Basically if you're lowered be careful, it'll happen eventually but it won't destroy them or something.

I daily my car so I see all kinds of bumps and have scraped before. Being careful is all it takes, and to me being careful is worth the ass load I saved by going with Hellion.


And yes to clarify all the piping on the Hellion kit is 3" (where applicable) currently all my piping is 3" all the way to the mufflers.

 

[demarcom]

This may be old and irrelavent information, but the Hellion only had the low hanging pipe on the version with cats. If you go no cats I dont think that pipe goes under the frame. I didnt think powerhouse had a catted version of their system..

 

[Vashthe3rd]

This may be old and irrelavent information, but the Hellion only had the low hanging pipe on the version with cats. If you go no cats I dont think that pipe goes under the frame. I didnt think powerhouse had a catted version of their system..

I'm gonna chime in and say that I run the catless one currently and that they still do go under the K-member.

 

[demarcom]

Thanks for the correction... For some reason I remember hearing that it didn't, but like I said that was old news and hearsay.

 

[akula52]

scraping

I can't speak to any of the other kits, but I have a PH 76mm and one of the reasons I chose it, was because it had great ground clearance. I may be biased, but here's a pic. You can make your own judgement. Oh, I have Eibach pro springs. Good Luck

 

[hellion]

u wont see that type of clearence with the hellion thats for sure

I can't speak to any of the other kits, but I have a PH 76mm and one of the reasons I chose it, was because it had great ground clearance. I may be biased, but here's a pic. You can make your own judgement. Oh, I have Eibach pro springs. Good Luck

 

[jwlast]

u wont see that type of clearence with the hellion thats for sure

Love my Hellion, but ground clearence on my unlowered Mustang GT is minimal. Thought of moving the turbo kit from the GT over to my GT-H, but a quick check under Hertz car revealed no way there would be more than a few millimters of ground clearence at the K members at best. I run the race pipes, san cats, and undercar clearence would also be minimal.

 

[Towelly]

Thanks for all the reply's guys. Lots of good info here. Thank you for correcting my mis-information about the downpipe and y-pipe. The only reason I may seem overly worried about clearance is because I will be lowered and on 17's. I like running auto-cross and I haven't the need for bigger brakes yet so I am running 17x9's with 255/45 front and 275/40 rears. So, even without lowering springs I'm a bit lower than stock just because my tires are shorter. As of Febuary I will be doing a pretty big suspension overhaul. In addition to my BMR LCA's already on the car, I'm getting Springs,Struts, front and rear sways, rear lca relocation brackets, Adjustable PHB w/ brace and a rear UCA w/ HD mount. Also, maybe a BMR Tubular K-member w/ adjustable A-arms so that will help with the turbo install down the road. But thats not the only reason I may be getting the K though.

Like I said though, Hellion is still near the top of my list with PH coming up fast. The only apprehension I have about the PH kit is tuning. I'll be doing the tuning myself with the help of a more experienced tuner remotely, so I'm concerned about the MAF signal being that the PH kit is "blow-thru" where as the Hellion kit is a stock "suck thru" style setup. Any of you guys tuning your setups? Or are there any tuners out there that can give there opinion on this topic?