Anybody tell me how much of a difference they have seen when adding on a header? And perhaps suggested gains with mods listed below?

Do I have to worry about losing too much back pressure?

And which header would you recommend?

Cost not a factor, however year round driveability is a factor. The goal is to demonstrate that I can add all of these goodies and still drive the car in the great white north during winter.

Current mods to car include;

2.8", Stage II, Intense Stage III PCM, CAI, 2.5" Magnaflow Cat back exhaust, Snow performance water/meth injection, Front mount heat exchanger, Ingals stiffy engine dampner.

And... I know I'll probably get flack for this!! I am not using any gauges to monitor engine specifics.

So.... another question... what gauges at minimum over AFR should I be using?



Maliblu
Leduc, Alberta, Canada

 

i have the hahn header and i ported it and it did make a difference on how my car performs more along up top then down below though

 

You should get about 15 from the vibrant head/dp. Besides afr you'd probably want to monitor intake temps and boost...I don't know another gauge that monitors intake temps besides the interceptor and maybe the plx oled one.

By the way...in the snow this car will suck on anything other than snow tires (graspics, blizzaks, dunlop m3s)...too much torque. It's not a wrx but with 16" graspics my redline is quite awesome and more importantly excessively fun. May want to go down to 17s in the winter but that's upto you.

 

I would recommend the vibrant also.

 

Clear Image ive heard has great gains, cheaper than vibrant...

 

i love my zzp header/downpipe.

on a side note, you WANT to lose backpressure. backpressure = bad.

 

I have an SLP Shorty (pre-production run) and love it! SLP only went into full production with their long tube design but the quality of both products (JetHot coated stainless) is top notch!!!

 

Wicked!! Thanks for the support.

In reply to a couple of comments...

I have had the car for two winters, bought it '06, drove one day in the snow and that was it!!
I purchased a complete set of 16" Yokohama's, and man do they work great.

Backpressure. I have always been on the understanding that you need a little back pressure, particularly with 4 cyl engines. Can you help set me straight. I recognize that as you stuff more "contents under pressure" you will need bigger exhaust, but that is only true to a point no?


Maliblu
Alberta, Canada

 

Thats why i thought... I knew alot of back pressure wasnt good, but i always thought you needed a little bit?

Add On: But Then i found this, 45 seconds after posting...

http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_pr...torquemyth.htm

 

backpressure is air going the wrong way through your exhaust. i love the spitball/straw exmple, because it's easy to understand.

if your mouth is the engine, the straw is the exhaust, and the spitball is the air, imagine trying to shoot a spitball out the straw. now, imagine someone on the other side of the straw trying to blow the spitball back into your mouth. that's backpressure.

you don't want it, you don't need it, doesn't matter what kind of car, how many cylinders, type of induction, etc.

 

That makes plenty of sense... for the spitball explaination theory.

 

here is another source to read about back pressure. it is kind of long but it goes into the scientific route of explaining it. enjoy!

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/ex...-you-ever.html

 

Sold on the spitball theory - good analogy, and the link to backpressure fills in the rest of the blanks and debunks the myths!!

 

glad i could help. best of luck with everything, and if you have any other questions let us know.