Does anyone have any idea how many HP you would gain by installing a set of headers and a good catback exhaust?

I'm in the market for both, but unsure what brand to get. I've been told to stay away from Borla headers, but that's about all the advice I have so far.

What header/exhaust setup would you recommend to produce the most HP gains?

and yes, I've already searched.

 

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depends what headers you get...depends what catback you get...

even then it will be difficult to guess, at best, what kinda gains you will see. every car is going to react differently to mods...

dc sport ss headers w/ stillen, fast intentions, or hks...

don't want to mess with the stock cats, eh?

 

aHero has a point.

As for me, I'm leaning toward this configuration when I have the money:

Stillen True-Dual
FI HFC
DC Sport Headers

Most of this is personal preference; From what I hear, the DC headers are the best-bang for buck.

Also, anyone know what the advantages are of Stainless Steel headers besides maybe a few less pounds and looks? Is it heat resistance?

The ceramic coated headers are significantly cheaper; makes me wonder if SS are really worth it.

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durability plays a big role.

for instance, FI recommends their ss cats over their ceramic ones for f/i applications. however, even though i don't see myself going f/i any time soon...i will always pay the difference for ss for the peace of mind. it's just more comforting - for me, anyway.

 

For na, I usually prefer ceramic coated since you won't have to worry about welds breaking with these. But most quality ss headers should not have problems there, although there are always the few. Just avoid anything polished and you should be fine.

 

If you're in the market for an exhaust, I recommend choosing sound over performance. I really doubt any exhaust is going to outperform the others by any large margin NA. And on the topic of headers, I honestly don't know if they are worth it.

My stillen airbox, ztube, motordyne mrev+, ichiba headers, kinetix resonated test pipes, stillen exhaust, and utec tuned by one of the best tuners in the country(Sharif) only netted me between 20 and 25hp to the wheels. 9 of that was from the utec and the tune. Some of that was just from the engine breaking in over time. I wouldn't have gone with headers if I hadn't had them installed for free while my engine was out.

My point: don't expect miracles in the power department.

 

Yeah, but you got a sedan.
In my opinion, it doesn't matter what headers you get. They all flow the same. You could get some extra power by changing the stock cats for test pipes.
The catback is what gives you the sound. I recomend geting an HKS, because it's the best sounding on the market. If you want to check out a Greddy evo2, click below:

 

Just incase you dont know, there is not a difference in drivetrain/engine (performance) between the Coupe and Sedan.

What would make you think there's a difference?

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Good Point. I spent a few hours searching for good sound clips of various types of exhaust. I found some good clips on youtube and g35turbo.com. I really like the Injen system, but wasn't sure about the headers. I was thinking if I'm going to install exhaust, I might as well do the whole system. From what I'm hearing though, the headers might not be worth the extra cash....

 

I would look into boring the throttle body for a little more kick if I was in your shoes. But I really don't know much about this car yet, so I'm not sure if our throttle body's design is already adequate enough (hoping someone can tell me here ).

 

And that sedan would run circles around your coupe. FYI, sedan's tend to be fractionally quicker. I know it's painful, but it true

 

Eh, nothing significant. He was implying that the Sedan is inferior to the Coupe in performance. Obviously that's false. But neither is the opposite. A few lbs won't do much.

Let's just leave it to here: they both have the same potential.

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I wouldn't waste any time or money on headers unless you use test pipes with them. Headers on stock cats don't make any gains.

Test pipes OTOH always make good gains. And they are cheap and easy to install.

As for an exhaust system, you gan get just about anything and it will make power over the stock system.

Tony

 

Yeah forget the headers. Just get some HFC and an exhaust. I have FI's cats and cat back and have gained 15hp's and it's not all top end.

 

geez. Not more AT/MT coupe/sedan rants. Leave it alone people. Be confident in what you have and leave it at that--no need to make generalizations and **** on others, even if this is a public forum. I mean, the topic has been beaten to death and if you must make such claims to boost your ego, I suggest maturing cuz u sound like a friggin kindergartener.

BTW, I'm happy I installed headers, despite the money to hp ratio, especially after a TS reflash.