jardolei

This is a question for the people that actually know what they are talking about and have experience with aftermarket exhausts. I have read almost ALL the posts about i/h/e here and the thing that bugs me is that no one can actually be precise on the info they are giving. I know a lot has to do with tastes, but I just want the hard facts from the ppl who know what they are talking about.

I want to change my exhaust in the near future, but I am wondering if its worth changing the exhaust header for an aftermarket one. Will it actually be an advantage (if its 1 or 2 whp, thats not really an advantage in my opinion). I think the stock ones are actually good, or am I wrong?

Next, I am looking for the quietest PERFORMANCE exhaust. Please refrain from saying "I think", "aparently", and "my friends girlfriend-brother's grandma heard its better" So far I have come up with mugen that is close to stock (but expensive!). And dont say stock is the quietest, cause then you didn't read my post "properly". I'm forgetting Apexi N1 since everyone seems to say its loud as hell.

My criteria:

- More than 2-3 whp for header
- More than 2-3 whp for exhaust
- Quiet at low RPM but I don't give a crap about noise at high RPM
- Of course MONEY is a concern, but thats the last thing

Hope we can get some good answers so that future searches will actually help ppl.

92blkJDMh22

I have a DC sports header and a Greddy Evo2 Exhaust...

I have the header cuz my JDM H22 didnt come with one. I doubt im picking anything up but the header will effect your sound somewhat......... i dont think i have seen a thread where people discuss the sound aspect of the header as it does not make a whole lot of a difference.

I like the Greddy (comming from a nuespeed) Evo2 due to the fact that is is very soft and low... it does not have that buzz sound that many do and can be very silent at low RPM's.

I know for a fact that i have seen civics pick up more than 5 HP on the dyno just with the Greddy Evo2. I wish i could give the the prelude gains but i have only dyno'ed after several parts getting installed all at once....

The cheap headers will not give you any gains that you are looking for unless you mod the colector, and even then it wont be that much.

hope my data gives you some help....

98vtec

here's an exerpt from a writeup i did:

BOLT ON's

Bolt on performance parts consist of things like a header, intake, exhaust, intake manifold...etc. Pretty much anything on the outside of the engine is a bolt on. Bolt on's are only as good as the money you put into them. Don't want to spend much? Well then dont expect much power. It sucks, but thats the truth. If you really want to make REAL power with bolt on's, you must break your wallet. These quality (sometimes custom) parts are not for everyone. If you are just wanting to buy a header to buy it and say you have a header, megan racing makes "decent products"...kinda but are VERY easy on the wallet. I'm a quality guy myself, so megan and all those other products are worth didly squat to me.
<U>A very cheap bolt on setup might go like this:</U>
Ebay intake and K&N filter, Megan header, Magnaflow cat, Apex'i WSII or RSR exhaust
all that can be aquired for under 1000 dollars. It will sound good and look good. You will gain slight performance, but this setup is mostly for show.
<U>
A bolt on setup geared towards performance might go something like this:</U>
ebay intake, BPi flowstack and filter, Ported and port matched Euro R intake manifold, 68-70mm Throttle body, RMF/SMSP/Hytech/SSR custom header, test pipe, 2.5" exhaust
this setup will cost around 2000 dollars and will likely be loud and obnoxious. The headers listed are all in the price range of 850 to 1000+ a piece.

<U>Intakes and filters:</U>
an intake is an intake
------i used to believe this statement. But i dont anymore. Well let me rephrase that. An intake is an intake if you are planning on buying a regular ole intake like the AEM v1. If you are looking at the AEM V2, which is a nice intake and serves a purpose, there are ways to get the same effect as the V2 but not hurt you wallet as much. The V2 is a good intake, its just too expensive for my taste. It's purpose is to increase flow, allow for less resistance which in turn increases power. I have a simple and cheaper solution which has been tested. It's called the BPi Flow stack.
My review can be found here:
http://www.sfpoa.net/forum/showthread.php?t=699
This intake setup can be had for around 150 dollars, which is about a 100 dollars cheaper than the V2. Use that 100 bux and take your girl out or something :tongue:
<U>
The everlasting Header debate:</U>
There are MANY headers out for our motors. But there are not many that actually do what they are intended. These headers consist of a stock-like design. These designs included: Dc sports, Megan, OBX and all the other Ebay crap. As they are designed like the stock header, they do not gain much on our motors. If you are just wanting something cheap and dont care about the power, these are your best choices. Dc sports and Megan are fairly comparable in quality however the Megan header is much cheaper. I would never suggest anyone to get OBX products. I have never believed in their product and never will.
Now, on to better exhaust manifolds, the next step up. There arent many in this category that you can get new anymore, but some of them consist/consisted of Prospeed, ANR, Kteller (custom). Some other non custom header are mugen and T1r. I havent heard many reviews about the T1r product but i hear they are very nice and also cost a pretty penny. Same goes for the mugen header. If you have the money to purchase these headers, then you might want to look into buying a custom header which i will talk about now.
RMF/SMSP/Hytech/SSR all make the best H22's headers, they range from 850 to 1000+ dollars and usually have a long wait to get one. Which one you end up going with is all a matter of who you like more honestly. I chose RMF because of his original designs and knowing his background. Whenever one of these products gets mentioned, there is usually a big debate on which one is better blah blah blah, but i honestly think they all make the same amounts of power.
I wont go into more advanced stuff like exhaust pulsing, the use of merge collectors and scavenging in this post simply because this is a BASIC intro after all and i'm not fluent on that topic.

<U>Exhaust</U>
Deciding on an exhaust really depends on your goals and if you are aiming for performance or whether you just want an exhaust that sounds good.
I'll start off talking about the mild exhaust setups that are more for sound and retaining that overall stock look.....kinda, lol.
Chambered exhausts like the Apex'i WSII, RSR EXMAG are quiet and relatively stock looking granted the polished piping and different muffler. They are chambered which means the exhaust is quiet. The chambers in the muffler slows down the velocity of the exhaust which in effect restricts power.
Straight through exhausts like the Apex'i N1, Tanabe Racing Medallion and so forth are just that. They do not have the chambers to hold back the exhaust flow. These exhaust typically will gain more power and allow for the other parts on the engine to work more efficiently.
In all honesty, the greatest exhaust is going to be one that you make yourself. Here's an example. www.kteller.com sells exhaust piping kits for our cars, even full exhaust that sound decent. But you can build your own.
For instance, 2.5" exhaust piping with two magnaflow resonators. With that you could buy pretty much any muffler you wanted and the sound would be pretty decent for a 2.5 exhaust. There's all sorts of combinations you can do when making your own. Thats what makes it so nice. Don't have the tools to put it together? A muffler shop can do that for you.


<U>High Flow Catalytic Converter and Test Pipe
</U>I am a relatively environmentally friendly guy so i'm always going to suggest a high flow cat over a test pipe. A high flow cat still has the capability to catch all the bad gasses that would pollute the air in its absense. A test pipe is just a straight pipe that replaces the cat. There are two kinds. Resonated and non resonated. The resonated test pipes are basically just resonators to keep the noise down while acting as a straight pipe. Test pipes do not catch the pollutants, however they do gain more power than high flow cats. How much? I dont know. I doubt its that much more, but every little bit helps. Test pipes make the exhaust VERY VERY loud, but some people dont mind it.

jardolei

Now that is what I was looking for!

Thanks 98vtec

k_lude

from experiencing two different ways of having the exhaust.I have an Apexi N1 and i unbolt it also sono exhaust just unbolt it from the pipe on the back..i recommend save your money and just take off the stock canister...More power then an exhaust mostly when the vtec screams, at low rpms you cant even hear it.....