I'm thinking about going with the HFS4 system from howerton engineering and figured I'd stop in here first and see who has it, how the install went, what gains were seen, and any advice. Most of the parts on the car now are Alta, soon to be changed. I'm thinking of swapping the Alta cold air for a ram air setup. Not sure about the Alta intercooler, might change it might not. I'm also having the car tuned after the install, I can't remember the name of the place but was recommended through howerton.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

I would call howerton and ask directly, however you may not need the 4 the 3 would fit your needs or the two if you dont want to run an extra gauge. where are you located?

 

I have the 4, it's great; no extra gauges though, just the one. The tune recommended is probably through RMW, the guy who runs it, Jan, has a mixed reputation on the forum, but there his no doubt that he can tune a car. I would think twice about the ram air intake, or at least talk to Jan or Jeff at Howerton about it, I know some types of intakes do something weird and it makes the car run strangely especially if you just get a canned tune instead of a custom tune; at least that's what I've heard, I could be wrong. I also wouldn't change out your intercooler, it would be a waste of money, that is, if you already have the ALTA. With Water/Meth injection, a larger intercooler isn't 100% necessary, since the meth cools the intake temp for you, but extra cooling is never bad.

I love my HFS-4!

 

I'm in Missouri. I called and talked to a guy there, Jan I believe, and was told the 4 was a bit safer and would read more of the car. The extra gauge isn't a big deal as long as I can locate it somewhere that's remotely unseen by prying kids around town. I was also pointed to jegs I think for the premix methanol. I just wonder if the HP and TQ increase is enough to justify $1100 for the system and another $850 to tune......

 

Ah yes Jeff is the the guy I talked to at howerton. And he have me the number to get ahold of Jan for the tune. Jan said to DL the cars map, email it to him, he'd adjust the map and email the new map back.

 

YES! It is worth it. If not for the pleasure of how much faster your car will go, the fact that the water/meth mixture cleans your engine and minimizes carbon build-up, which in turn extends the life of your car, should make you want it. I'm running the system with my car stock, with the exception of an exhaust, and with no tune. I can feel the gains and tell you it is worth it. Unfortunately, I found a really bad boost leak when I put it on the dyne to see what my gains were, but I can tell you, they are substantial. It even makes the engine run smoother... am I selling it enough?

 

Sounds like a winner then. Our last Dyno run produced 209hp and I believe 250's 260's TQ. However, no more than a week later we found the head to be warped and the cylinders to be egged. Baron BMW had to import a new engin they say "from Germany because theirs no jcw engines in the us". This engine is almost to its 4k mile mark. The numbers may differ a bit on this engine, feels like it pulls allot harder. And for some reason, while in sport, when shifting from first to second and second to third it pops and shoots about a 2-3" flame... Not sure yet what that's all about.