this may be a stupid question to ask but here goes..

is there really a difference between the brands of headers (specifically the 4-2-1's)

ive been looking and comparing mainly the dc sports, megan, and greddy and it may be my lack of experience but there really dosent seem to be that much of a difference between the ones ive seen

i want the hytech 4-1 but sadly cant afford it so thats out of the question for now

so i would like to get the next best thing but if thats the 4-2-1 what sets the greddy and dc apart from the megan? if name and price is all then why am i hearing stay away from megan? because from what im seeing its all "mandrel bent" "304 stainless steel" etc.

thanks in advance

 

this has been asked and answered so many times


people will tell you over and over again that dc and megan isn't that much of a gain over oem. and they'll only really make a difference, noticeable at least, if you do a 2.5" collector mod. people will tell you to get megan over dc because it's cheaper on ebay and you get the same results. (might still be carb legal i think) greddy is supposed to be slightly better, compared to dc and megan, and still carb legal but it only fits the 4th gen and it still requires a 2.5" collector mod. i think it's all in the name, can't be that much better than dc can it? a fujitsubo or jasma is equivalent and slightly better then the greddy.

vibrant is like a mugen replica for slightly less money. both will give you some gain but nothing worth the $500 to $600 you spent for it. might as well invest a few bills more and get a rmf (no longer being made) or hytech or smsp if you got the money. header is arguably a very important mod and to be stingy with it won't do you any good.

all depends on your goals and budget. for 100 bucks or so, a megan aint so bad if you just want a few hp extra and a more aggressive sound to your car

 

just wanted to mention real quick also that even if you change your header, it still dumps into the same catalytic converter. you must eliminate or alleviate all exhaust restrictions or bottlenecks to get the most out of all your exhaust parts. a test pipe or high flow cat such as randomtech or carsound or magnaflow. then a nice tuning will bring it all together.

 

yeah ill be doing a high flow, or test pipe for my setup.

but doing my research i found a camp1320 header, ive never heard of this before and cant find one anywhere and was just curious as to the specs of it because everyone speaks very highly of it.

and what would i need to do to do the 2.5'' collector mod to get the piping 2.5 all the way back?

thanks!

 

i've heard highly of camp1320 too, except that it will rust quickly. but you won't find one anywhere anymore. the camp has debanded or something and whats left of their h22 headers might have rusted away. and maybe it was never for the bb6 to begin with, i forget. either way, it was a nice header, but it does not exist anymore so give up that idea.

to have a 2.5" exhaust, you'd have to have it custom made since there are no mass produced headers that large, most will be 2.25" or so. i believe t1r, type 1 racing or something, once might have suggested or advertised a 2.5" exhaust system but i don't remember anything happening or coming out. they also have a nice header that's rarely spoken about, a nicer better designed vibrant from what i read, but it's expensive as an rmf or so.

the suggested method of custom making a 2.5" exhaust is to pick up the stainless mandrel bent pipe kit from kteller, along with a resonator or two and a muffler from them, all available from their site. then have a muffler shop piece it all together for you. supposed mandrel bends are better than crush bending that muffler shops do, but it's been argued that only v6's and up benefit from mandrel.

on that note, a 3" exhaust might be the way the way to go. it's been debated and i think documented by 98vtec (or so i recall), one of many knowledgable people here on HT, that a 3" exhaust with proper tuning will out perform a 2.5" exhaust even on a NA set up. he, whoever wrote the article, states that the popular reason people think a 2.5" exhaust is right on NA is that it preserves backpressure or "the scavenging efffect". which in a nutshell is physics regarding exhaust gases traveling at a certain velocity inside the pipes so that they literally pull gases behind them, increasing gas flow and efficiency. too large of exhaust piping and the effect doesn't happen and the gases just gush out sloppy like a garden hose with no nozzle on it. he also states that scavenging effect ends at the last merger, or the collector, so anything after it is just a restriction. his references and sources for his argument come from SAE books and someone having a 2.5" exhaust and 3" exhaust dyno'd in similar conditions on the same car and showing that the 3" exhaust with tune gives you more gain.


i personally believe in backpressure, but i believe 3" exhausts keeps the right amount i'm no professional anything, so my conclusions and suggestions are just worth 2 cents. but i haven't seen any concrete evidence swaying the masses in any one direction, so figure out what your plans are and modify accordingly. if you only do bolt ons, then a 3" exhaust probably won't do you any good. if you are serious enough to tune, then spend more for a header and exhaust, otherwise the megan and any exhaust like an apex'i or greddy might be the best choice for you.

 

thats the info im looking for! thanks for the advice that pretty much answers my questions

 

im on ktellers website, and they have a 4-1 header anyone had any experience with them?

 

well thought out response.

back pressure and exhaust scavenging are not the same thing tho. Exhaust scavenging has to do with the use of merge collectors and equal length runners.
think of it this way. Just look at one cylinder/runner. The gas shoots out of the exhaust valve and through the primary runner and enters into the merge collector. Right after the first exhaust pulse exits the combustion chamber, there is another one following right behind it on another cylinder.
The first pulse goes through the merge collector and pulls vacuum behind it. This vacuum pulls the next pulse through the collector thus increasing velocity.

back pressure is just the amount of "air" acting against the gases trying to exit the exhaust.

i would not go with a camp for a couple reasons.

1) ive had friends with bad experiences
2) these things were pumped out so fast, god know how many errors were made in the process.

buy quality. period. Don't put junk on your car.

 

hey 98, are you familiar with ktellers 4-1? and if you are, is it any good?
just curious cuz i saw it and im kinda liking it lol

 

kteller doesnt make a header anymore. He has "JVT" which might as well be obx for like 150 dollars. Back in the day he made a 4-1 header, buddy of mine had it. Looked ok but i was never able to look on the inside of it.

If you arent going to get a nice one, keep the stock header. Its pretty efficient.

 

okay, i may do that, it seems every time i see one that sounds too good to be true, it is lol