Performance Header

[nick sundberg]

I knew I had a small exhaust leak at the exhaust manifold in my 98 Integra GSR... so I pulled the heat shield and found out, to my delight, a cracked manifold. NEW HEADER!!! Yeah! So the question is 4-2-1 or 4-1? Stainless or ceramic coated? Thanks.

[92MNstanger]

I am by no way an import man, but Tri Y headers (4-2-1) have been popular for 40+ years, they are supposed to help scavenge at low rpm and help build low end torque. If you have the $$$ def go for the Ceramic coating. This will help keep underhood temps down.

[EWAustin]

The 4-2-1 design Will help midrange torque, whereas the 4-1 design will be better for peak power.
And Yes, ceramic coating will help in two ways. 1) keeping the underhood temperatures down, and 2) keeping the (heat) energy in the exhaust which will improve the exhaust gas velocity helping with scavenging.
Just be careful not to go with too large of a diameter, because it could reduce the exhaust gas velocity to the point that you would actually lose power.

Cliff Notes: You want the 4-2-1, ceramic coated, from a respected performance brand that has the resources to dyno test a bunch of designs and pick the best one.

[Citizen_Insane]

Depends on what you want to spend. If you're willing to spend over $500, the AN-R header is one of the best honda/acura headers on the market. I think it runs somewhere arround $560 with ceramic coating. There is also the bisimoto race header that runs arround $750. The bisimoto is supposed to make 21hp over stock on a b18c GSR. If you're not going for an all out race header, I'd just pick up a used DC sports 4-2-1 off of ebay or partstrader.

[StevenMosley]

I ran with a DC Sports header and it served well. The car pulled a 14.8 with I/H/E.

[pinhead]

If you're still running in STS next year, make sure that the header does not relocate the cat. The cat has to stay in the same place. Some guys got protested for that at Nationals, and lost.

[nick sundberg]

How about on the cheaper range of things.... OBX and Tsudo vs. DC sports and Greddy. Is there really that much of a Hp difference?

[Citizen_Insane]

I doubt there's much HP difference, but the DC should be the best quality of the batch. I've heard nothing but bad things about OBX and Tsudo.

[tmalzahn]

I have a Comptech 4-2-1 on the 'Teg and TSX. Darn expensive tho.

The best one for top power is a Honda JDM Type-R and they are relatively cheap on eBay.

Or...You can spend megabucks on a really good one (HiTech if I recall correctly) if you are drag racing and need absolute top power.

However, for auto-x I recommend one that produces more low-end power.

If you drive the car in the winter, I would get a stainless. A mild steel has a very limited life in MN.

-Tim

[MattD]

My 4-2-1 DC ceramic coated one has lasted for about 5 years with no problems - it still looks good - AND, it was easier to install than a one-piece header. ...oh, and it was cheap.

[tmalzahn]

After the Comptech, my knee-jerk reaction is to get a DC header. Good build quality and power bump for the price.

If you don't like it or want to upgrade later, they are super-easy to sell.