Alright guys i have been on this forum for a while now and searched a ton, i try to research one thing for my car till u cant research anymore on one part for my car. So i bought a hks exhaust and crawford cats, now its time for headers. I have researched alot and the best headers i found out are, crawford and nismo. Am i missing any other good performers? I know dc sports, stillen, and strup are all the same headers with just there name on it correct. Now i know if u get the dc sports headers they arent very good until u get a tune, but when i get headers i will be getting a tune right after. So can someone tell me some other headers that are good or should get. I know the nismo and crawford are equal length thats why they are good and i seen some long tube headers but they are like 1200 bucks. Thx

 

Bump

 

Go with Tomei.

Nothing wrong with DC, I just lump with with Honda mainly.

 

I know tomei are expensive, how are the crawford and strup compared to the tomei? I found some strup for pretty cheap are they better than dc?

 

Tomei is not equal length.
It's more just the brand more than anything.
Strup, DC, Stillen are basicly the same thing.
They are close to equal length.

Nismo and crawford are the real equal length with true F1 collector but you need to lift you engine if you want to install crawford.
Therefore Nismo is the best compare to all others.
Headers should be the last thing you do before all others.
Seeing from you mod list looks like you don't have intake plenum spacer so you might want to do that before headers

 

Tomei V1s headers are not equal lengths but V2s are and are the longest equal length shorty headers with the largest collector on the market. I have them on my car and are the third pair of aftermarket headers. They are expensive at 1200. Hard to say the exact gains from stock since I upgraded from stillen/strup/dc design headers, but the gains from those were 6hp/6tq almost throughout the entire revband. I would say the Nismo R-Tune are closer to strucp/dc then they are to Tomeis. I would say Nismo are closer to DC/Strup/Stillen then they are to Crawford. Take a look at the following pics, both are mine.

 

I can never update my sig it says i have too many characters and i delete half the stuff and is still wont work but i have the 5/16ths iso motordyne spacer. Im not a dumny lol i do things in order just like it says on this forum, now im porting the lower runner and getting my plenum thermo coated. I havent seen anyone do this yet but its worth a try a local performance shop does it on all his personal stuff so its worth a try. So now im looking for headers and then tune. Alright so tomei u dont have to lift the engine. They are the best, so nismo arent that good and crawford are goin to be a pain in the ***** to put it? My dad owns a body shop so it wont cost me anything to get them installed. Thx for the info guys.

 

bump im still not convinced what i want to get, there is no way im spending a grand on headers, if i find used ones ill will get them. I found some strup headers for 300 bucks dont u thing its worth it and save the money for a tune. thx for the help so far

 

I have a set of ebay headers that cost me $100 shipped and I'm happy with them. They are DC/Stillen copies and really looked well made. They have lastes me a bit as well ( I've had them for about 3K miles already )...well see how long they will go.

 

if your decision choices are Strup Headers + Tune or Expensive Headers then the obvious choice would be Strup Headers + Tune. There is no way the Expensive Headers alone will give you the gains you will see from just a tune even with no headers. Keep in mind that every mods you do to the intake or exhaust will alter the dynamics of your car and will not see it's fullest potential without a tune.

 

stock with tune if you don't plan to upgrade internal breathing mods (i.e cams/headwork). Simply not worth the expense. The tomei's, crawford, and SG's (aren't sold) are the only ones I'd buy and you are looking at a minimum 1500 installed for the two that do exist. Gabe has a thread with his gains with the tomei's somewhere around here.......search for it.

 

Alright guys thx it wont cost me anything to get installed. But yah i found some strup for cheap and some brand new ss dc for 400. It is almost impossible to find tomei or crawford headers used so it looks like i will be buying strup or dc. But are they exactly the same headers? Which would u guys trust more? In my eyes to spend a grand on header for a dd, 6hp and tq would be nice but i can gain more from the tune. But maybe in the future and im looking to push out some more hp then i will. I dont like to do things the cheap way but idk i hope im happy with them after tune. Im not looking for much but anything helps. What gains should i look for from the dc or strup after a tune. thx

 

Just an example....Myself and another guys both have exactly the same mods (except he has strup headers). His car made .3whp and .1wtq more than my car. Both us made just under 263 on an uncorrected dynodynamics (the highest NA I have seen in tuning mode on this particular dyno). It is as close a comparison as you will likely get. Same dyno.....within 1 week of each other, and within 2 degrees ambient temperature. Without the read out you honestly would just see one line on the screen with ours compared.

Personally I would not get the headers without a tune. More than likely your car is already dangerously lean with all of those breather mods. Adding headers will likely lean the car out further and result in little if any gains (perhaps hinder performance). You WILL see more gains with just a tune vs just headers. If you want to get both go for it, but think about what your future goals are first (i.e forced induction (type?) or whether you wish to go forward with an NA build.

I hate to sound so "anti-headers", but I just haven't seen any other than the three mentioned in my previous post worth the time, effort, and money.

 

Dont get any headers period. The 6hp/6tq increase gabe is talking about is compared to the strup/dc headers. So probably 10 hp/10tq over stock. If you are going to get headers get tomei or SG. Dont waste your money on the other cheap ones. Afterwards get a tune.

Headers will benefit more if you upgrade your cams though.

 

Tomei's are pretty money. Tons of R&D and even a previous production model makes them a legitimate, worth while purchase. Of course you have to pay for all that...

P.S. the SG's aren't in production and are likely (from what I have heard) to be in the 2,000-2,500 price range.