Well, I finally got around to doing the install. I bought a cheap header off ebay probably 4-5 months ago and finally put it on the car. Back when I first got it the whole idea was to try to get a little more sound out of the car without the droning of an axle back (Greddy n1 style droned). My plan was to install it and see if there was a difference in sound volume if the stock cat back was retained.

Well, I can finally answer that question. For the most part it is still quiet. Though I can hear a little bit of an airflow noise. I checked all gaskets/flanges and all appear to be sealed. This sound is similar to a CAI I guess you could say. When you tap the throttle you can actually hear air flowing (very slightly mind you).

I can also say that there is a hint of rasp starting at around 2800 rpm and dieing out around 3500 or so. It is very slight, at least from inside the car. If the windows are up I can barely hear it at all.

As far as the seat dyno goes...absolutetly nothing. But I really didn't expect anything either.

In any case, I guess the mod-bug has bit me yet again and this time I ordered a new lower grill with fog lights (yellow), new 20mm spacers for the rear and some new led bulbs for my parking lights and license plate. Basically little stuff.

I already have a set of spacers (f/r) but in both cases I have to knock out the stock studs and for the rears that is just a pain because you pretty much have to take the hub off. So I ordered new ones. Yes, I only ordered for the rear but that is because my money in paypal is locked down because of some new rule with ebay (if you don't sell something for over a month they classify you as a new seller and lock down any received funds for up to 21 days-or 3 days after they have confirmation that delivery was made) In any case, the rest of my money is sitting in the account just waiting to get out.

Once I have the funds, I will be picking up the front spacers, a Race Land intake, and a cheap @ss cat back. I figure if I don't like the muffler, I at least got a mid pipe out of the deal ($124). My buddy is giving me his old 6k HID kit and the car is going to get its new Neo Gen tires tomorrow (can't wait to get rid of the worn out stock tires). Next on the list will be a crank pulley and that will be about it. I figure I will start saving up for some new wheels finally and maybe redo he suspension (need more low).

So I just thought I would post up since I said I was going to do the header install ages ago! Over all it was pretty straight forward and went pretty smoothly. Probably one of the best fitting knock off ebay car parts I have every purchased!

 

so would you say your exhaust sounds better with the header? you really didn't get any power improvement!?

 

I would say that to me the exhaust doesn't sound much different at all. There is a hint of rasp in it but that is all I can tell from inside the cockpit. I definitely did not feel any hp difference. I don't have a dyno in my garage so I can't offer any real numbers. None the less, I certainly did not feel like it was pulling harder, accelerating and faster... It looks good under the hood though.

 

Of course you're not going to feel much of anything, the exhaust is still constricted at the s-pipe on back. When you change that up let us know how the car is.

 

Ok, I will restate that I did not expect any hp gains out of this thing and did not buy it with the idea that it would add some 20 hp. I have had many cars with lots of mods and of course several turbo set ups. I went into this purchase knowing that I was not going to notice any hp gain from this and that is not really what this post was about.

My header consists of the manifold and S pipe. That means the stock cat back is still there which of course is going to be a little restrictive (I think that was the word you were thinking of).

I won't get into some of my feelings about bolt on mods for this car here but just wanted to post back what my results were for the header install while maintaining the stock cat back. This was largely in response to some inquiries I received over the past couple of months.

 

Yea, restrictive is the word, need to get me some sleep lol.

Sounds like the OBX set up, 4-1 header and s-pipe combo. I knew a local that ran the setup along with Greddy SP2 axle back, don't know if he changed the mid-pipe though, still had that rasp.

Which spacers did you get? I've yet to order some but have looked at eBay for slip on spacers as I have ARP extended wheel studs installed.

 

I remember ya now.....You say there is slight rasp, now is that under normal driving load or full WOT?? cuz I'm sure at WOT rasp would be more noticeable and cover a wider range of RPMs than what you're saying lol.

 

I had a ebay 4-1 header ebay s-pipe and a tsudo catback. I didn't notice anything except alot of rasp lol. I felt a slight power loss at low rpms nothing really gained that i noticed. I just removed the header and now it sounds nice and didn't notice any power loss. I think a header is a waste on this car from my experience.

 

X2 with Jbarker - I have a DC 4 -1 header, car is auto and I have a power loss at low rpms it feels as if I have no gooooooo ... it does look nice under hood but I have not noticed a big HP increase at low rpms. bearly no Rasp since I have resonators and cats welded all over the place...If I punch it then yeah it rasp slightly.

 

Ok, so after driving the car around a little more today (well, not too much since the wife is down and out due to a foot surgery and the car was at the shop getting some new tires). None the less, the check engine light popped on. This is probably due to me only having two bung extenders to use at the time of the install. But I picked up two more this afternoon and slapped a third one on. This time I did not drill out the last one (the one that actually threads into the header-the first one) so we will see what happens. Gotta reset the ecu first though.

Ok, so as I was saying yes, there is some rasp. It is very faint under normal throttle/driving. typically in the reve range I mentioned. At wot, I would have to say that the rasp lasts longer. It still isn't very loud at all with the stock cat back. I'm sure that will change once an after market cat back is added.

I haven't really tried any sort of lauches or quick accellerations to be able to tell whether or not it has lost lowend power. But running a 4-1 you typically do lose a little on the lowend but gain on the top end. Not necessarily on a TC mind you. I tell you, bolt ons just don't do much of any wonders on our cars. But its on there now and will be there until something breaks.

 

Depending on type of catback you go with....but...

Most catbacks will generate even worse / more rasp due to less being restrictive. Most solutions.. 44-48"+ of resonators.. yes that's a lot. but don't take my word for it, try it out and see

of course you can also do some "searching" on here and google. you'll get good results.

 

Why go through the trouble of all this is in the end you need to get resonators welded in to hide the rasp, don't get any real gains, and trip your CEL? I was considering a header but it seems more and more pointless to go through the hassle...

 

^^^I fully agree. That is exactly why I just bought a cheap header to start with. The bottom line is that they all generate rasp and the hp gains are minimal between them.

I also don't agree with adding a bunch of resonators and a silencer cap just to have a header. My experience in the past with other cars when using a silencer cap, I could actually feel a bit of a loss in power. Granted these were cars with turbos but none the less, I totally don't understand how people can say that running a silencer cap doesn't decrease the hp. It basically restricts air flow. I mean in the case of our car, you would be goign from a 2.5" exhaust down to a 1.5" or whatever the hole is in the silencer. The whole idea of an after market exhaust is to remove the restriction/bottle necks. so how can adding a silencer cap not create a restriction?

In any case I got rasp already so I'm not sure what direction I am headed at this point. I know I will go ahead and order my intake next along with the front spacers. Once those are in I will figure out how much farther I'm going to go with the exhaust.

 

The reason why people get resonators? cuz they were blunt enough to not listen to the advice of those who HAVE HAD header installed and went back to OEM manifold or threw on extra resonators cuz the rasp is just un-bearable!!!

But if you like rasp and want to sound like a puny honda civic or dodge neon; go right ahead, add that catback to the header; or the header to your catback and see for yourself.

I learned my lesson....

 

Well, I'm not worried about a little bit of rasp but I know for a fact that I would probably die if I tried to add a cat back on to it at this point. For now I think I am leaving it the way it is and just leaving the header on their with the stock cat back.

As far as adding resonators, well that just seems like added cost to me and no improvement in hp which is a waste. But since I picked up my header for super cheap, had it sitting around for months, I figured wth and slapped it on there. No noticeable gain other than a bit of rasp but nothing near what a full on exhaust would be.