Everyone around here praises the AFR heads, but are the 190's really the best of the best, or are they an overpriced yet high quality product kinda like Borla's very good, I'm sure, but VERY expensive exhaust components? :confused:

What are some other heads that are comparable to the AFR 190's?

 

What type of motor/setup are you using them on?

 

It's all hypothetical at the moment. I'm just doing some research for now.
Most likely it will be a 350cid motor. And it will remain fuel injected.


[Modified by A, 9:26 PM 2/3/2002]

 

Depending on what year car you have I would port the stock heads. The later L98 D ports, LT1, and LT4 heads flow very well ported.


[Modified by 93Polo, 10:31 PM 2/3/2002]

 

i dont think the AFRs are really overpriced at all, they seem to be along the same line as other performance heads, in fact they seem to be a bit cheaper than some.

 

What are some of these heads? I'm not trying to knock the AFR's or anything, I'm just trying to become informed so that when the time comes I won't be "Honda Shopping" buying based on brand name alone :)

Oh and I've got an '87. I think the D-ports started in 88 so I think I missed that by a year :(


[Modified by A, 9:43 PM 2/3/2002]

 

I would submit that the biggest key to performance is going to be in the porting of the heads. AFR's themselves are quality producs and can make quite a bit of power, but I am not a fan of the AFR from the factory porting.

If you are going to stay at 350" of displacement I would make sure your porter/head company knows this and you keep the runner volume down. The intake you go with (stock TPI, miniram, vic Jr, super ram, whatever) is going to make a large difference on the setup also.

Personally I like the trick flow heads and would choose them, but that's not to say a set of AFR's can't make good power also.

It's hard to say though untill you get your combination down - will it be NA, supercharger, nitrous injected, etc?

 

It will be N/A and I would like to run a low shot of NO2 at the strip perhaps, but the car is primarily a daily driver.

 

Canfields, Brodix, Trickflow's are all good quality heads. The Trickflow's seem to be the best bang for the buck :cheers:

 

It costs a whole bunch to have the L98 heads ported. Get an aftermarket set (i'd go AFR) and have 2 sets. You can keep one set as backup, or sell the originals for 350-450 to recoupe some of your costs.

 

From the research I hage done so far it's a toss up on price wether you pay someone to port and set up your L98 heads or buy new AFR 190s. If you purchase the AFRs thiy have 2.02 intakes. The stock L98s can't go that large.
C44EVER

 

Like Chris said, its all in what your goals are. I think the L98's are in a class by themselves with the TPI intakes and Super Rams. I think the intake makes the torque and not the port velocity as much but I'm not an expert. I have Competion ported AFR 190's (some call them 195's since the ports are supposedly 195 cc's after porting) which now I think that on my 396 are just not big enough. I had a set of CNC ported L98 castings that had 190 cc intake ports. I talked to Pete at CNC Heads and he told me that my CNC ported heads at 190'cc intake port volume were not large enough to support a 396 motor. I didn't listen to him and bought a set of AFR 190's. I talked to him last week a little because he was working on a CNC program on the Trick Flow 23 Degree castings. As cast they are 195 cc's and he was looking to finish out at 210cc's. Its his opinion that a 396 motor needs that much head to breathe. The LT4 heads he ports are 210cc's when he is finished. Also the fact that I have a Super Ram is all the more reason to have a larger intake port so as not to restrict flow. The intake iteself provides the velocity and not the head. Who knows, its all magic to me and one thing about questions like yours is that you get many different answers.

Jason


[Modified by 89vette, 3:14 PM 2/4/2002]

 

I just ordered a set of the AFR 195 competition heads with 64cc cambers for my new motor. I am currently using the trickflow twisted wedge G2 heads on my stock block and they work great. However, I cannot compare the two heads because I don't have the AFRs in the car. but based on the flow #s they should out perform all comparable heads on the market.

Go to http://www.airflowresearch.com and they have all of the flow #s and prices for all kinds of applications.

If anyone is interested in buying my trickflow heads, shoot me an email @ zelement@aol.com

 

[QUOTEThe stock L98s can't go that large.[/QUOTE]

:confused:

I've got a set of the 113 D-Ports in the garage that say otherwise.