I have a very good friend that owns, operates and designs custom performance aftermarket headers and exhaust systems .

JP Performance

He has previously done one-off prototype contract jobs designing headers for major manufacturers and his other projects have included Ivan Stewart's race Toyota and he did the initial prototype for a pro-truck race truck.

His credentials are impressive including manufacturing the headers for a winning BMW race team and he recently has gone from a small quiet operation working out of the family muffler shop doing one offs and fufilling special needs to opening a full blown performance exhaust and header shop.

His family has been in the business for 30 years and he is very well respected in his industry.

Why am I saying all of this?

Well, up to now no one has really made great progress with a header option for the X. I myself have heard very little about the SLR header available from anyone and the response has been lukewarm.

When he put on my new exhaust system he spent some time to look the X over and explore the possibilities of a header. He thinks he can produce a quality header that will produce a very real, dyno proven 16-20HP. If you look over the site at their other work and do a little searching over the other boards all of those who have purchased his products are nothing but happy and satisfied customers. His first initial project in the new venture was for the Toy Solara and they are flying out the door. I have researched the input on Solara/Camry boards.

In my mind those manifolds are going to become an expensive replacement part when the truck is out of waranty and it might be worth the hassle to switch it back for testing every four years.

Here's the rub:

There is NO WAY that you would be able to get passed your state inspection or get smog approval with these headers. They would clearly be an "off-road only" item and you would be on your own when it came to passing.

His other customers have been so happy with the performance and tuning of their headers that they have been willing to bite the bullett and deal with the ramifications.

In order for him to do the R&D on a header for the X he would need to know that it would have the potential of profibility. The cost estimate he has given me would hover around $700 for a quality thermal coated piece. It isn't cheap. But it would be a quality header that will have dyno credentials.

JP is one of the most quality people I have known. He is straight forward, honest and does amazing work.

In order for this to make sense there needs to be a minimum of 20 people who are willing to take the plunge. I'm not looking for maybees or could-bes. I want to know how many people ARE willing to take the plunge for a quality piece.

This is the real deal.