best header for street/competition

98gsr

New Member
What is the best brand/type of header for a DD but a weekend warrior for most hp gain in your opinion?...and i kinda want to keep my cat and add a high flow cat later. THANKS!!
 

J_Jay_B

teg driver
well definitely stay away from cheap headers like Megan racing... i have one and i am very upset with them. they do not sit right and they blow gaskets every time you replace one... i would go with a one piece because it is one less gasket to worry about. go with a 4-1 header, because most 4-2-1 headers are 2 piece.

with that said the best design for a header so far is the Try-y design, and you can get a hytech replica, Try-y design, for around 450 shipped on ebay. these however do not use a cat because they are race headers and are n ot made for the street, a cat can be added but you will have to cut your exhaust down to fit one in. if you can find an RSR header, i beleive is one of the few 4-2-1 designs that is a one piece then you will be golden, other than that the comptech header has great results, and not too expensive.

whatever you do stay away from cheap stuff because quality > quantity is what matters, if you dont have the money to do it right the first time then dont do it. stay with Greddy, and Comptech, and RSR (not made anymore, have to get a used one, and are hard to find), DC Sport (everyone has these and they have horrible ground clearance), or anything that cost over $250 really...
 

98gsr

New Member
J_Jay_B said:
well definitely stay away from cheap headers like Megan racing... i have one and i am very upset with them. they do not sit right and they blow gaskets every time you replace one... i would go with a one piece because it is one less gasket to worry about. go with a 4-1 header, because most 4-2-1 headers are 2 piece.

with that said the best design for a header so far is the Try-y design, and you can get a hytech replica, Try-y design, for around 450 shipped on ebay. these however do not use a cat because they are race headers and are n ot made for the street, a cat can be added but you will have to cut your exhaust down to fit one in. if you can find an RSR header, i beleive is one of the few 4-2-1 designs that is a one piece then you will be golden, other than that the comptech header has great results, and not too expensive.

whatever you do stay away from cheap stuff because quality > quantity is what matters, if you dont have the money to do it right the first time then dont do it. stay with Greddy, and Comptech, and RSR (not made anymore, have to get a used one, and are hard to find), DC Sport (everyone has these and they have horrible ground clearance), or anything that cost over $250 really...
Click to expand...
anybody else have good experience with the greddy header? does it delete the cat?
 

TegSox

Super Duper Moderator
98gsr said:
What is the best brand/type of header for a DD but a weekend warrior for most hp gain in your opinion?...and i kinda want to keep my cat and add a high flow cat later. THANKS!!
Click to expand...
There is no single best header, there's the header that best for your car that will work well with your other mods.

Read the Header Tech article in the All Motor forum (in the Sticky).
 

JDMxDB8

Raceline USA
I have a DC Sports ceramic 4-2-1 1-piece header. No complaint. Planning to get a HyTech one soon.
 


TegSox

Super Duper Moderator
JDMxDB8 said:
4-2-1 will give you more mid-range power. 4-1 will give you more high-end power.
Click to expand...
That's mostly true when your talking about headers that end at the stock cat location. Longer headers like the Hytech, SMS-P, and JDM headers outperform USDM "staright bolt-on" headers (like Greddy, Apexi, DC, Megan) throughout the RPM range.
Read the Header Tech article and you'll know why.
 

JDMxDB8

Raceline USA
TegSox said:
That's mostly true when your talking about headers that end at the stock cat location. Longer headers like the Hytech, SMS-P, and JDM headers outperform USDM "staright bolt-on" headers (like Greddy, Apexi, DC, Megan) throughout the RPM range.
Read the Header Tech article and you'll know why.
Click to expand...
I know. Sorry. I didn't specify which headers I was talking about.
 

98gsr

New Member
TegSox said:
That's mostly true when your talking about headers that end at the stock cat location. Longer headers like the Hytech, SMS-P, and JDM headers outperform USDM "staright bolt-on" headers (like Greddy, Apexi, DC, Megan) throughout the RPM range.
Read the Header Tech article and you'll know why.
Click to expand...
wont the jdm header delete the cat?
 

tilegend

New Member
J_Jay_B said:
well definitely stay away from cheap headers like Megan racing... i have one and i am very upset with them. they do not sit right and they blow gaskets every time you replace one... i would go with a one piece because it is one less gasket to worry about. go with a 4-1 header, because most 4-2-1 headers are 2 piece.

with that said the best design for a header so far is the Try-y design, and you can get a hytech replica, Try-y design, for around 450 shipped on ebay. these however do not use a cat because they are race headers and are n ot made for the street, a cat can be added but you will have to cut your exhaust down to fit one in. if you can find an RSR header, i beleive is one of the few 4-2-1 designs that is a one piece then you will be golden, other than that the comptech header has great results, and not too expensive.

whatever you do stay away from cheap stuff because quality > quantity is what matters, if you dont have the money to do it right the first time then dont do it. stay with Greddy, and Comptech, and RSR (not made anymore, have to get a used one, and are hard to find), DC Sport (everyone has these and they have horrible ground clearance), or anything that cost over $250 really...
Click to expand...
just to clarify and reiterate what tegsox said... theres no single best header out there...

the best header is the one suited for your application... someone with an LS might read this and buy a tri-y :???:

and DC Sports does make a 1-piece... and i believe edelbrock pro-flo headers have 1-piece designs also.
 

TegSox

Super Duper Moderator
98gsr said:
wont the jdm header delete the cat?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily, you just won't be able to use your stock cat. What you can do is buy an aftermarket cat, a "universal" type, and have it cut to the proper legnth. I did this to install an OEM JDM ITR header in my GSR. I bought a Carsound universal cat and had it cut it to legnth.

JDM ITR and my universal Carsound cut to legnth to fit in my GSR:


The cat would up being exactly 1 foot long. A stock GSR cat is around 17 1/2 inches long.

Hybrid header can be so long there's no room left to install a cat, in which case you'll have to cut down your exhaust B-pipe to make room.
 
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