Titanium manifold/down pipe

[C-unit]

I know titanium are expensive and hard to weld, but beside those factor, how come no one makes/run a titanium exhaust manifold and downpipe?? Wouldn't it save a lot of weight since even SS manifold still weights a tone? I am not a fabricator but for those who is in this field, can you please chip in some opinion???

[sr20boostn20]

its not cost effective for an average person. especially for the driving that the average person does.

And your talking about using it to save weight?!?!?

there are 100 other places to start saving weight on your car, your exhaust manifold being the last.

run an open downpipe side exit and get rid of the 30 lbs from the 3 inch stainless and that huge can.

[C-unit]

I am just thinking because even supercar/race car don't have titanium header/manifold. Is there any disadvantage on the meterial itself beside the cost??

[Xracer]

That is just the reason. Its expensive. 80% of people are not willing to spend the money on a good quality manifold to begin with. Those who are will spend $800--$1300 on a peakboost/fullrace manifold. And that's if your lucky and have a 4cly engine. Those of us with 6cly engines are looking at $1700+ for a nice manifold. Those prices are just for stainless steel. Now factor in that titanium costs even more than say 304 stainless, and its harder to work with, you will be looking to spend at least 25% more money.


Edit: The reason why many race cars do not use Ti exhaust components is be cause they have access to even better materials. Inconel is often used for exhaust components due to its superior high heat characteristics. Ti is good, but there are other alloys that are specially developed for racing purposes. And I can promise you they are super expensive.

[sr20boostn20]

yeaa, Inconel seems to be the hot item on f1 cars. There is one company i forget the name, will make one for the public but its in the 10k range for a mainfold.

[Def]

Titanium is WAY more than 25% more expensive than 304 stainless steel. I'd probably say about 10-20x more expensive.

[Xracer]

Titanium is WAY more than 25% more expensive than 304 stainless steel. I'd probably say about 10-20x more expensive.

10x as much? Most definitely not. When I build exhausts I typically use 3" 304ss 18ga tube. That runs about $25-30/foot. Ti round tube in similar dimensions runs about $35-40/foot. If your paying $25 for 304ss, and $250 for Ti, then im sorry but you are getting RIPPED OFF.

Lets take JIC-Magic Bullet exhauts for example... Nice exhausts. They offer SS models and Ti models. Lets compare the SS version and Ti version for a supra TT.
JIC Spartan SS exhaust:$756
JIC Spartan Ti exhaust: $1,977

Now, keep in mind that an exhaust is a product of material and labor. So the increase in price is not solely due to material cost. Manufacturing processes for bending, muffler and flange construction must be accounted for. Even with this, the Ti exhaust is 2.6 times more than the SS exhaust. No where near the claimed 10-20 times more.

[guitaraholic]

I know that not only is titanium expensive, and hard to weld, I heard bending it is a REAL P.I.T.A

[C-unit]

what I see most people do its to pie cut it to create a bend.

[driftstyre]

10x as much? Most definitely not. When I build exhausts I typically use 3" 304ss 18ga tube. That runs about $25-30/foot. Ti round tube in similar dimensions runs about $35-40/foot. If your paying $25 for 304ss, and $250 for Ti, then im sorry but you are getting RIPPED OFF.


Material market price and price people can get materials for by searching are two different things. Average market price for .035 3" CP Ti (less desirable than 6/4 for exhausts) is well over $100 per foot. Stainless in heavier 18 gauge 3" is between $15-25 per foot.

[Xracer]

Ive never had to pay anything close to $100/foot for Ti tube. Of course the different grades have an affect on price. But $100/foot is pretty crazy.

[SmogSUX]

Hard to bend, costly, hard to weld, and a huge reason: Titanium is kinda soft and doesn't do well with heat. I'm willing to bet a turbo car with a Ti manifold would end up cracking the shit out of the manifold from the weight of the turbo and the heat.

[Def]

Material market price and price people can get materials for by searching are two different things. Average market price for .035 3" CP Ti (less desirable than 6/4 for exhausts) is well over $100 per foot. Stainless in heavier 18 gauge 3" is between $15-25 per foot.

I was quoting roughly street 6AL4V pricing, which is all I'd really consider using if I was buying the stuff new.

I've never seen 3" stuff of reasonable wall thickness go for anywhere near $35-40. Maybe CP1 or something that's super thin, which would be ok for an exhaust.

The thicker stuff that can handle heat better as well as have higher strength is $$$.

[smelly240]

dont you need some crazy shielding for welding ti?

[Xracer]

If your doing structural welding then yes is supposed to be pretty well covered in shielding gas. For items that are of lesser importance for strength (ex: exhaust tubing) it is not absolutely needed. Of course it should always be back purged.

[redline racer510]

titanium is not a good candidate for turbo manifolds and when it is they use extremely thick tubing and flanges like someone said on this thread, their are many other places to focus on wieght reduction. inconel would be a better option

[PoorMans180SX]

Look what I found:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Turbo711/cars/TITAN_MANI_L.jpg

A SPEC PRODUCTS (http://www.aspecproducts.com/images.asp?theid=16163)

[fishhouse]

signal auto built a few back in the day. i remember some dude selling one on here i think acctually for like 900 used.