Sub 300whp & Aftermarket Headers

[chhrisd]

I've been running the Tomei's for a couple years now. Love the sound. I don't miss the 'rumble' at all, and would never sacrifice performance for exhaust noise. The first thing I noticed after switching to EL was that the torque "punch" is flattened out a bit. The whole power band is much smoother. Like yourself, I chose them based on price and quality. Killer B's header looks badass, but I have a hard time believing the extra cost will give a worthwhile return (over a less expensive header like Tomei). For reference, my setup is probably what you'd deem as 'Stage 3'.

 

I've didn't have any issues with their gaskets, but the fiberglass heat wrap it ships with is a bit of a pain to install. If you want something easier to deal with (and something that won't make you itch for days afterwards) pick up the DEI exhaust wrap.

[Silinc3r]

I also have the Tomei UEL and love them coming from Megan racing header since they developed a very nice crack where the collector is to the up pipe. I did wrap them to keep heat out of the bay and for retention. We'll see how they hold up. I also don't drive the car a lot and it's garage kept so that'll help.

I also used the DEI titanium and highly recommend it. I actually just wrapped my Miata headers with the Tomei wrap and holy freaking fiber glass! I'll be itching for days I'm sure haha.

[covertrussian]

Thanks folks! I didn't know EFI had a database, that's awesome!

 

I'm not planning on wrapping the exhaust, don't want to ruin the headers with it. I am thinking about making heatshields though.

[xtea]

I saw this and thought of you.

[covertrussian]

Now that's intense, though I wonder if that's just as bad to header life as direct wraps.

[xtea]

Wrap is only bad in regards to rust. If the shielding keeps moisture out your fine. Coating is the best for rust. Surface rust is usually just that. I have coating with wrap over it.

[covertrussian]

Also wraps cause 304 stainless to overheat which starts to break it down. 321 is supposed to be fine with that heat, even wrapped, that's why Killer Bee went with that version of SS.

[Silinc3r]

Now that's intense, though I wonder if that's just as bad to header life as direct wraps.

 

he has 3 layers haha, so worse if you go by all the threads out there. I'll let you know how long mine last

[quick4dr]

I LOVE my Killer Bee Style headers fabricated by @200Octane

sound is incredible, spool is insane, and top end pull is no joke with my 1.5xtr she screams 19psi to redline no issue!

[covertrussian]

Got any links or Pictures? Details on build material, thickness etc?

[slvrlegacygt]

@quick4dr how much did it cost you to get killer b style headers?

[covertrussian]

After weeks of research and writing finally finished my post on header comparison: Header Design Theory & Turbo EJ Headers

 

 

Here is why I decided to go with EL Tomei's:

This thread was born because I couldn't decide if going equal length was all that much better then aftermarket unequal length headers, especially since you loose the iconic rumble. Then to help me decide if 4-2-1 or 4-1 would be better for a street car.

 

EL vs UEL?

After much thought I personally decided on an equal length header, mainly because I wanted all of my cylinders to have consist EGT's and I was willing to loose the rumble in order to have more reliability.

 

4-2-1 vs 4-1?

These articles are usually talking about full throttle operation, where the header is under pretty high pressure, at part throttle there shouldn't be a lot of pressure in the header, thus I believe overall header design becomes important. 4-1 headers are generally more peaky, while 4-2-1 should have more midrange. For a daily driver I decided on a 4-2-1, but with diameter similar to OEM size. I feel like this is the best compromise between low end and top end power.

 

Brand?

My requirement was for a thicker header, to avoid cracking. While Full Race is amazing, it was way out of my price range, thus I went with the runner up in thickness Tomei. And since it comes with an up pipe, that further sweetened the deal.

[covertrussian]

Tomei is a beautiful header, especially when compared to the stocker

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=253404&stc=1&d=1501644734

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=253413&stc=1&d=1501644792

 

This header is definitely meant for bigger turbos though, the up pipe is a huge 57mm ID and necks down at the turbo flange to 52.4mm. But that's still not enough since stock turbo is 44mm. So you would want to to port match the turbo to reduce flow restrictions.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=253419&stc=1&d=1501646721

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=253420&stc=1&d=1501646721

 

This might explain why this header loses some low end, but since Tomei's UEL uses the same up pipe it would have the same loses too. Also I thought my Invidia up pipe was huge, but it's only at 50mm OD (48ish ID), child's play compared to the Tomei up pipe .

 

You can see the full Tomei header design and size overview here.