ITRCA

I have a cai and cat-back exhaust. I amplanning on getting a vfac and header. What header will give me the best performance??

None, having any piping at all is restrictive. Just unbolt your entire exhaust

Or you could use the Search feature

SMSP or Hytech will tend to provide the most power. You are looking at $1000-$1300 for a header.

The mild steel version of the SMSP, even in its curren design, is under $900.

I don't know when he's making more of these, though. He's in the middle of a long run of stainless B18 and H22 headers.

what is the ballpark on stainless? 'd just as soon have mildd teel jet hotted but the price differece sounds to be minimal.

i have a dc sports jdm 4-1 header. i think i got good power gains, plus it was less then $400. man, $900 plus for a header?? ouch.

MastrHU wrote:i have a dc sports jdm 4-1 header. i think i got good power gains, plus it was less then $400. man, $900 plus for a header?? ouch.

He asked for the most power. DC sports while good won't make near the power of SMSP, Toda, Hytech or Comptech.

Had he said most power for the money I woudl have suggested OEM JDM 4-1.

I think the those headers are too expensive for me. I was gonna get a toda but around $900 thats a bit much. What about the dc sports, comptech, or just a cheaper header. Which is the best for price. And does 4-1 or 4-2-1 make a difference?

needs to be 2.5" collector . . . Comptech is $995. I'd say JDM OEM 4-1

A 4-2-1 header will improve midrange power at the expense of some top end power; a 4-1 header makes excellent top end power but has less midrange punch.

kabob wrote:A 4-2-1 header will improve midrange power at the expense of some top end power; a 4-1 header makes excellent top end power but has less midrange punch.

THis is a very outdated opinion and depedning oin the 4-1 or 4-2-1 not a true statement anymore. 4-2-1 can produce more topend depending on the tube design. As can 4-1 produce more low end than a 4-2-1. The main thing is set a budget and looki at the options.

I was going by the common convention I'd learned when comparing designs between the '96-spec 4-2-1 JDM header and the '98+ 4-1 design, specifically. Does that not hold true for them?

Trey wrote:what is the ballpark on stainless? 'd just as soon have mildd teel jet hotted but the price differece sounds to be minimal.

Actually my current ITR design in ceramic coated mild steel runs $975. However, I'm currently out of all custom bends for this piece and therefore will be going with stainless steel from now on. I hope to have pricing in the coming weeks for all the custom work.

I'm also doing a 2-1/2" stainless bolt on cat back system similar to the one on George's car. There is also a good possiblity that I'll be offering a 2-3/4" system for cars with B20VTECs. Also, I'll have some sweet deals on OEM Honda replacement pistons.

kabob wrote:I was going by the common convention I'd learned when comparing designs between the '96-spec 4-2-1 JDM header and the '98+ 4-1 design, specifically. Does that not hold true for them?

It may hold true to some extent but if I am not mistaken the 96 spec is a 2 piece header which add another aspect and undesireable feature. You can certainly pick out a 4-2-1 and 4-1 that will meet your generalization when compared but my point is companies these days can make headers that are 4-1 or 4-2-1 with little sacrafice on either side. YOu will have to pay dearly for these headers but they are there.

That said the JDM 4-1 loses no bnottom end power over a stock 4-2-1 manifold so I don't see the 4-1 design as an issue. A 4-2-1 design with a 2.25" collector might make as much power as a JDM 4-1 down low but will fall short up top and who ever tries to make power at 3500 rpms anyway :p. I don't even shift my car till 5000 rpms on a daily basis and 9000 rpms when I race. My power concerns are about 5000+ (Not to discount the initial power for a launch of course)

I saw a site with dyno's of all the headers on the type R and leaders were Toda, Smsp and Hytech

though the Best Bang for the Buck remains the DC JDM 4 1

Hytech wasn't tested in thwe webpage you saw. That said it should be similar in power gains.

Trey wrote:
He asked for the most power. DC sports while good won't make near the power of SMSP, Toda, Hytech or Comptech.

Had he said most power for the money I woudl have suggested OEM JDM 4-1.

Im gonna have to disagree with you on the part about Comptech...the DC JDM 41 makes exactly the same HP and torque as the Comptech header for less than half the price. In fact it even makes more HP than a Mugen header, provided the Mugen header makes 2 lb/ft torque more than the DC. For dyno tests of all the major headers check out this link...in fact the link should probably be a sticky so people dont keep asking this question. Click here----> http://bob123e.tripod.com/thegreatheadertest/

otb2000itr wrote:

Trey wrote:
He asked for the most power. DC sports while good won't make near the power of SMSP, Toda, Hytech or Comptech.

Had he said most power for the money I woudl have suggested OEM JDM 4-1.

Im gonna have to disagree with you on the part about Comptech...the DC JDM 41 makes exactly the same HP and torque as the Comptech header for less than half the price. In fact it even makes more HP than a Mugen header, provided the Mugen header makes 2 lb/ft torque more than the DC. For dyno tests of all the major headers check out this link...in fact the link should probably be a sticky so people dont keep asking this question. Click here----> http://bob123e.tripod.com/thegreatheadertest/

Anyone do anything other than read that stupid test? Best info we have but to this point outdated badly. The SMSP header in production now is a redesign and the Comptech header I am referring to was NOT even in the test. Neither was the Hytech and both should make similar gains to the SMSP. Comptech does make more than just ONE header now a days. Check out the comptech RACE header.

Agreed, Comptech does make a race header, but thats certainly not street legal as it eliminates the cat. But yeah the test is a few years old, but the majority of those headers are unchanged designs, minus SMSP, which is a smaller company and its production numbers are limited, thus making it easier to make changes. Speaking from personal experience though, I like the DC 4-1 JDM header along with a Carsound race cat. It's a great combination for the amount of money being spent, and the seat of the pants dyno will notice the difference.

Funny you mention street legal all the Headers on the link you posted were tested with a 2.5" exhaust and test pipe, That said again, he didn't ask for street legal as none of the hytech/comptech"Race"/SMSP allow for a normal length cat and standard length exhaust. Bust they still do make more power than a JDM DC 4-1.

Onto the second topic brought up. DC JDM 4-1 is a good bang for the buck but when I use the term bang I am more referring to the ground clearance problem. Stock height cars this isn't an issue and you personally may not have seen this but compared to a JDM OEM 4-1 it is a good bit lower and many people have reported road contact over small bumps.

That said the Comptech Race header will have ground clearance issues too. You want a header that has it all it is the SMSP IMO.

I will agree with you 100% on the ground clearance issue, the header does hang a bit low, especially with my h&r springs...bumps are an issue. However, I would just assume that he would want it to be street legal as most places, are quite strict with emissions as well as having a cat on your car. Not to mention, with a test pipe installed on the Type R, most people will get a check engine light, unless a bung for the o2 sensor is added to the test pipe...but even then it sometimes trips the light. Funny thing is he hasnt responded to anything weve posted, but its informative none the less With all that being said, I agree that any of the hytech/comptech/ or smsp headers will outperform the DC header, but its just a matter of what you want and how much you wanna spend.

Definitely good info that he seems to be missing. CEL's are a concern unless you change to OBD 1 but they will not affect performace base don the secondary O2 sensor.

I won't disagree the JDM OEM/DC 4-1 is the way to go on a budget and Test pipe/cat is an option you can decide on your own. As a word of advice I use only 54006 style Carsound cats as they seem to escape the defects prone ot other models. I know SMSP sells a newer model carsound that has yet to prove faulty.

I used to own a JDM OEM 4-1 and was very happy with the system. I like the option to have a heat shield for the OEM lok as well as the little extra ground clearance.

Really...I wasnt aware that smsp sold a version of the carsound cat, but I have the same model you are referring to as far as the cat goes and its been working lovely thus far. Just out of curiosity Trey, did you get my message about writing the content writing? Im interested in it if you have some positions available, but the header talk has been most informative. As you seem to have a very nice setup on your R (I read your profile) what do you think about a JDM obd1 p73 ecu programmed by Skunk2?? I would really like to go hondata, but theres not a dealer here in NM to do any tuning...any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanx guys for all the information. Sorry i haven't been replying. From all the info given, and with the little money to spend, i think the oem jdm 4-1 header will be best for me. I don't want to deal with the ground clearance. Would i have to buy a carsound cat to install the oem jdm 4-1 header?

Trey,

do you have a dyno chart on the Comptech Race header with their custom exhaust other than the one on Comptech's site? It was my understanding that you were going to test this soon.