[Jason666]

Hey guys, I’m new to this Q family. I have a Q60 3.0T premium AWD in Canada. I only have JB4 and Infiniti Hemholtz Exhuast and KN drop in filter with me now. Looking for more modifications in the future. Just asking for more advices here.
I’m planning to get a LDP and Heat exchanger for next mod. But my location is Winnipeg, Canada. It seems like we have 7 months with winter time in here. So my question is do I really need heat exchanger for my Q? If not, Should I save the heat exchanger money for getting a Y-pipes and Mid-Pipe? Also, which brand of LDP do you guys recommend? (Megan,AMS,FI). I see there are lots of different reviews for the Megan LDP and Y-pips. Kind of confusing me now.
I will appreciate for all your advice.

 

[Bevo Horn]

Unless you're on the track, I don't think the heat exchanger is necessary in Houston, TX where it's known to be hot and humid a bunch.

 

[IridiumRS400]

Since you are looking for advice - you'll have the JB4 with exhaust mods doubling your boost to Red Sport levels, the single IC pump and stock HE will result in heat soak (i.e., timing pull) after the 1st pull under boost. If you can live with that, then, yeah, skip the HE. Otherwise, get the HE. I have the AMS (Infiniti-branded) HE, and have had no issues with heat soak.

As for the LDPs, I'm a big fan of FI products. Megan is cheap for a reason - I'd question how long they would last operating in winter environments.

 

[Jason666]

Unless you're on the track, I don't think the heat exchanger is necessary in Houston, TX where it's known to be hot and humid a bunch.

Thanks for your response. Once I do a new mod, I might go to track just for testing how fast my Q60 can go. But not often.

 

[Jason666]

Since you are looking for advice - you'll have the JB4 with exhaust mods doubling your boost to Red Sport levels, the single IC pump and stock HE will result in heat soak (i.e., timing pull) after the 1st pull under boost. If you can live with that, then, yeah, skip the HE. Otherwise, get the HE. I have the AMS (Infiniti-branded) HE, and have had no issues with heat soak.

As for the LDPs, I'm a big fan of FI products. Megan is cheap for a reason - I'd question how long they would last operating in winter environments.

Very appreciate your response. Well, I think I will get the heat exchanger then. I know there is no problem with AMS HE. However, is there any different between AMS and Mishimoto HE? Since they are the same size but different prices. Also, how about BMS HE(399). just wanna save couple bucks to upgrade other mod if the cheaper HE can perform well.
For LDP, is there any different between AMS LDP and FI LDP? They are the same price, but I am not sure if they have different quality. So do you mean that Megan LDP will not last for long in the winter?

 

[IridiumRS400]

Very appreciate your response. Well, I think I will get the heat exchanger then. I know there is no problem with AMS HE. However, is there any different between AMS and Mishimoto HE? Since they are the same size but different prices. Also, how about BMS HE(399). just wanna save couple bucks to upgrade other mod if the cheaper HE can perform well.

I have no experience with the Mishimoto or BMS HE, however, I have not heard anything negative in the terms of installation or driveability issues with these HEs. I went with the Infiniti-branded AMS HE and had it installed by my dealership to reduce any issues with warranty going-forward. The Shop Foreman at my dealership installed it, and they gave me a 1-yr/12k mile warranty on the installation.

For LDP, is there any different between AMS LDP and FI LDP? They are the same price, but I am not sure if they have different quality.

The AMS LDPs are 3" diameter and the FI are 2.5" dia. with similar SS grades. I'm very familiar with FI's shop and their build quality, so that's why I went with them. I also have their resonated CBE for the past 3 years, and the only issue was a weld crack on a muffler hanger bracket, which I had repaired locally.

So do you mean that Megan LDP will not last for long in the winter?

Mostly with flex-joints on Megan Y-pipes. You can troll the Q50 forum and see what experience other owners have with Megan stuff:

Megan racing lower downpipes

If you are looking for the cheapest route, by all means, go with Megan.

 

[FenyrQ60]

Very appreciate your response. Well, I think I will get the heat exchanger then. I know there is no problem with AMS HE. However, is there any different between AMS and Mishimoto HE? Since they are the same size but different prices. Also, how about BMS HE(399). just wanna save couple bucks to upgrade other mod if the cheaper HE can perform well.
For LDP, is there any different between AMS LDP and FI LDP? They are the same price, but I am not sure if they have different quality. So do you mean that Megan LDP will not last for long in the winter?

I have the Mishimoto Heat Exchanger. I'm very impressed by it and the price is unbeatable. I live in California and this summer has been scorching. The Mishimoto HE has held up on very aggressive canyon runs in 90+ degree weather. Also have the AMS LDP, love em.

 

[Jason666]

I have no experience with the Mishimoto or BMS HE, however, I have not heard anything negative in the terms of installation or driveability issues with these HEs. I went with the Infiniti-branded AMS HE and had it installed by my dealership to reduce any issues with warranty going-forward. The Shop Foreman at my dealership installed it, and they gave me a 1-yr/12k mile warranty on the installation.

But I am not sure if the dealership will do that in Canada. I think it would only offer in US. Even my Infiniti Sport exhaust, I bought it from one of the dealer store from US.

Megan racing lower downpipes

If you are looking for the cheapest route, by all means, go with Megan.

Thanks for your link . BTW did you install the LDP by yourself? or did you send it to the auto shop? To install LDP, seem like pretty straight forward from all the install video lol

 

[Jason666]

I have the Mishimoto Heat Exchanger. I'm very impressed by it and the price is unbeatable. I live in California and this summer has been scorching. The Mishimoto HE has held up on very aggressive canyon runs in 90+ degree weather. Also have the AMS LDP, love em.

Great. How does your Mishimoto HE perform on the track? Will it heat soak after a few pulls? I living in a cold climate area(Winnipeg). I really don't know if I need the HE. Anyways, I was comparing those HE for Q60. For AMS HE, there are lots of reviews there, no bad review as I see so far. However, 799+labor+no dealership warranty that will be a little bit too much for me. So I am looking for a mid-price product that I can afford. Considering BMS(429) and Mishimoto(529) now. There are 100 bucks different between these two. One has a larger surface and one is cheaper. hesitating now...
Btw, how much did you spent on labor for installing the Mishimoto HE? and how many psi did you run with JB4? +9?

 

[IridiumRS400]

Thanks for your link . BTW did you install the LDP by yourself? or did you send it to the auto shop? To install LDP, seem like pretty straight forward from all the install video lol

Yes, I installed the FI LDPs & CBE with a friend using his 4-post Bendpak lift. The one challenge to removing the stock secondary cats was removing the flange nuts from the top, which was one (1) each per side. The driver's side nut is slanted towards the firewall, so you need long extensions plus an elbow to make sure the socket stays fully-engaged on the nut. And when you break it loose, you'll likely remove the exhaust stud with it (both sides). It was a little scary when I worked on this new car with barely a few thousand miles on it!

For future under-car work, I purchased the Bendpak QuickJack lifting platforms from Costco last year. They give you about 2 feet of clearance to work under the car.

Good luck.

 

[FenyrQ60]

Great. How does your Mishimoto HE perform on the track? Will it heat soak after a few pulls? I living in a cold climate area(Winnipeg). I really don't know if I need the HE. Anyways, I was comparing those HE for Q60. For AMS HE, there are lots of reviews there, no bad review as I see so far. However, 799+labor+no dealership warranty that will be a little bit too much for me. So I am looking for a mid-price product that I can afford. Considering BMS(429) and Mishimoto(529) now. There are 100 bucks different between these two. One has a larger surface and one is cheaper. hesitating now...
Btw, how much did you spent on labor for installing the Mishimoto HE? and how many psi did you run with JB4? +9?

I've never tracked my Q. However we have some very aggressive canyons out here in LA and I've been able to beat on the car HARD for at least 40min before timing starts getting pulled. I installed the Heat Exchanger myself, took about 5 hours but very easy. Mishimoto has a step by step video guide on their Youtube. On my JB4 I'm running +7 Psi right now.

 

[DrJason]

I'm actually from the Infiniti Q50 forums and I just created a Q60 account just to browse and chat here too. I ran into this thread and decided to give my 2 cent. Deciding on if you need a Heat Exchanger really depends on location of where you live/drive, weather, and how you drive.

I honestly don't think you need a heat exchanger if you live in Canada and its cold most of the time. I'm basing this on personal experience as someone that lives in cold weather, like yourself.

I live in San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is know to literally be 50-60 degrees year round. Right now - we are in our "hot month" which is 65s average and that's not even hot. Not even warm by LA standards. To highlight this even further, my weather app (based set to zip code) shows my location at 57 degrees right now (remember this is our "hot month"). For literally most of the year, its 50-60 degrees and during the winters, it goes below 50 sometimes... The warmest is if you drive to San Jose and San Jose is not even that hot, to be honest. Not hot like LA.

I have done pulls and runs on the freeway (101 and 280) to work before. I have done continuous and multiple pulls/runs in the same time frame. I have done spirited driving. And I have also done a few drag strip runs in Sacramento. I have never once experienced heatsoak in the weather conditions I lived in with the mods I have.
Note: I probably didn't experience heatsoak drag runs because I didn't stay at the drag all day. I did a few pulls (with break in-between each).

I personally would only recommend someone to get a heat exchanger or tell someone to get it if they live in a hot area, do heavy spirited-driving, and heavy lap sessions. So if you are in a cold area, you do spirited driving, and never track your car, you would not need a heat exchanger. I would recommend you skip the heat exchanger and save the money for other mods.
I also want to note that when I bought my tune from AMS awhile back. I discussed with them if I needed their heat exchanger too. From what we concluded, they told me if I ever plan to track (continuously do lap sessions) with my car, or do tons of "intensive" pulls in hot weather then I should get the AMS HE. However - if I don't do continuous lap sessions and I'm not doing pulls in hot weather, I can skip the AMS HE.

Only recently I bought a AMS HE because I got it used off my friend. And I'm considering doing track sessions.

Like Bevo said, heat exchanger will play its biggest role in track sessions because you are continuously driving fast for long periods of time. But if you aren't doing that, you should be fine.

 

[whatsgood]

I live in San Francisco Bay Area.

Where did you go about getting your Q AMS tuned in the Bay and what was that experience like?