hi everyone

I have been reading different posts here, and have checked out the great header test as well. But i am still no expert and still can't make up my mind so can someone please advice me on which header and exhaust system would be best for my needs and car?

I will begin with a description of my car and of what i want to do in the future.

I am very lucky to have a 2001 integra Type R, and I love the car. It has about 35 000 km now and only engine mod so far is an AEM CAI.

In the future, I want to mod many other things on the car, mostly for power, and not for looks. I would like to even get a force induction system one day. But will have to mod one thing at a time because i am low on cash.

When it comes to mods, I always want to put the best or one of the top parts in the car, because i simply think that this car is great and would rather mod nothing than add an average part to it.

When it comes to the header and exhaust, i am looking for one of the best and not necessarily the best as i am low on cash, as i mentioned before. And most importantly, i am looking for quality, reliability, performance, and at a not too crazy price. I don't mind saving up more but i want to get something that will be worth the price.

So just to get some choices out, i don't want the DC header or the JDM copy of it or vice versa. From the research that i have done and i hope i am right is that these headers give power gains mostly in high revs but i want to gain power in low revs as well.

I have concluded for header to choose between Toda racing, SMSP or hytech. I know Toda goes for 980 US bu not sure about the other 2. I have e-mailed both SMSP and hytech and will wait for info on price and availability.

I like the Toda because it is hand made, has great ground clearance and has power gains from low to high RPM and price is not the most or least expensive but i can't make up my mind because everyone say that SMSP and hytech headers are the best.

And now, for the exhaust, Toda doesn't make one, right? So i have to choose between hytech, SMSP or is there another good quality company for exhaust?

And wil there be a big difference in performance if i change the whole exhaust system instead of header only?

i think i wrote a lot for now so i will stop here and am looking forward to read the replies.

2001TypeR

 

forgot to ask, how much will it cost on average to install new header and exhaust on the type R, and how long will it take on average?

And is this a hard job that will require a specialist garage? Thanks

2001TypeR

 

www.sms-products.com
http://www.theoldone.com/components/...ng_headers.htm
http://www.importpowerhouse.com/cust..._manifolds.htm

dave at sms has a few different header's available for the b series ranging from $600 to $1150. hytech's new production header is ~$800 and his custom header is $1300. his twin loop exhaust with cat is $900. another company i would recommend is RMF. he may not have the name recognition like smsp or hytech, but he makes some seriously killer headers.

take a look at this recent header test featuring all of the big dogs: http://oddballmedia.com/news/2005/Ho...t/article.html

as for exhausts, you can piece together your own. just make sure everything from the cat all the way to the muffler is 2.5" so there are no bottlenecks. www.kteller.com for piping kits.

install is something you can do in your driveway with basic handtools.

 

On my ITR powered hatch I had the Toda header, and custom 2.5" exhaust. It sounded great IMO and the gains in performance were outstanding IMO.

 

thanks guys for the replies.

I still haven't received reply by e-mail from hytech or SMSP by the way.

Hey Snoopy, from the link of the header test, it seems that hytech production header is not that good and has bad ground clearance. Other than being production and not custom, what are the main differences between the production and the custom header from hytech?

As for the SMSP headers, the cheaper kind seems nice but i would rather get the nice one with the all stainless steel.

At the SMSP site, I got confused though with the exhaust parts. I am not a pro at this stuff and now, i am a bit lost. There are many options for exhaust at SMSP. And for catalytic, there are 1 O2 and 2 O2 ?? I thought they only sell one exhaust kit that has everything included and together.

In terms of exhaust, just to make sure i am on the right track. I need everything to be 2.5 inches because that is the size of header end, right? More than that is no good, right?

After that, I need a 2.5 inches performance catalytic and a 2.5 pipe and muffler. Am i missing something? And you need a performance muffler, right?

Will the performance muffler eliminate some power? I know without catalytic, there is more power, right? But that would cause pollution.

Thanks all for the expert help. And sorry if i my questions are a bit stupid.

So far, to be honest. I don't see enough difference in power gains to make me want to get hytech or SMSP header over the TODA racing one. Although the price difference between the Toda one and the SMSP header is like 150 US, but not sure if that will be worth it?

But i didn't make up my mind on the header yet. But as of the exhaust, since Toda doesn't make one, I think i would go with SMSP, or hytech or another custom one. I just want to learn more about the exhaust and the part i need for it.

2001TypeR

 

quick question u say u want to do force induction then why waste the money on a header, cause u can't use it if u go turbo, unless u are deciding to sc... anywayz the point is u don;t want to spend money twice, if u want to do turbo then buy parts that will accompany to your goal, don't just buy a bunch parts that later u can't use IMO

 

i am not sure if i would want turbo or SC the car in future, when i have the money for this.

But anyways, why would a header not work with turbo? Car already has the stock header and all i am doing is changing it for a much better one. So if turbo doesn't work with header, then you won't even be able to put it on stock car, no?

I always thought that a performance header and exhaust will work better with future mods, specially force induction. No?? Now, i am confused.

2001TypeR

 

A turbo manifold replaces the header.

 

damn beat me too it^^^.....

I would research more what direction u want to take your car before spending that kind of moeny, IMO its a type R which i think should just be an all motor car...... NO turbo, no sc, just the nice fresh air!!!

 

An intake and header become useless once you decide to go turbo. With a blower-type supercharger, the intake manifold becomes useless. With a centrifugal-type supercharger, the intake becomes useless. Decide which method of forced induction you want to go with and don't buy parts you will not end up needing in the future.