equal length headers, and why you should get em.

Just a reminder for those who are on the fence about getting one, to go ahead and spend the money. Its so worth it. I have tested my own perrin header on a few different cars, because the customer was on the fence about the sound, or was curious about the gain. I have tuned 6 cars before and after installing equal length header, 4 where with my header, one was a killer b, and another was invidia.

 

Time and time again I see a huge reduction in low load knock

 

faster spool

 

On VD i see a consistent 18+whp from 3200 and up, and have seen 30+tq on stg 2 cars

 

Tested the perrin on a freinds 2013 wrx with ewg, dp, and ebcs gained 28whp and 45wtq, was able to run less wgdc and doing so lessened the wastgate flutter.

 

I see an average of .08 gained on the maf, and i can usually add 6-8 degrees of timing pretty much everywhere.

 

Idle and daily driving is smoother with an increase in mpg.

 

exhaust note is quieter.

 

Spend the money if your on the fence.. all the advantages greatly out weigh the loss of some of the subaru rumble.

Why is the rumble lost?

You lose the rumble because the exhaust pulses exit in a steady stream as opposed to the unequal length where you have some exhaust pulse overlap.

yeah.

 

stock rumble exhaust pulses:

boom boom......... boom boom.........

 

el headers installed:

boom.. boom.. boom.. boom..

Thanks for the feedback, I've been really curious on the actual real world gains. Now you mentioned MPG gains, what kind of city & highway increase are you seeing?

 

Now another thing to consider, once you remove the exhaust restriction from the header, other parts of the exhaust will be restrictions. On a stock Legacy, doing a catback has negligible power gains, that's because everything before the catback is a bigger restriction. On my SR20DET Nissan, going from 3" straight through muffler to a 3" bored out stock STI muffler cost me about 10whp, because the exhaust manifold, turbo, and downpipe were flowing fairly well already.

Are the CNT headers good enough or to get any benefits do you need to spend 800+

Had the Perrin on my Legacy and I loved them, definitely worth every penny! The Killer B header is also a very nice quality piece but the rise in material cost is really making them expensive!

Yup this is exactly why i am getting a elh when my bonus comes in. happier motor.

absolutely one of my favorite mods. smooths everything out nicely. much better driving experience, much happier car.

These would fit our engine right?

http://www.cntracing.com/CNT-performance-08-13-Subaru-WRX-and-STI-Equal-Len-p/hd-s11-01.htm

For Equal Lengths, I've tried the perrins and another brand I could not identify that I got used. I was impressed with the no name brand but they eventually cracked at the welds. The perrins I unfortunately didn't have nearly as long but when I was running my rotated hta 30r with a .86 hotside on my pathetic 2.2L, they made a huge difference in spool and power under the curve.

 

At the time, the perrins were the best gains for the price. Yes they are expensive, but they're definitely worth it.

I saw those too. From what Ive read, even the Perrin's are a tough fit, so you can only imagine what a knock off header would fit like.

I saw those too. From what Ive read, even the Perrin's are a tough fit, so you can only imagine what a knock off header would fit like.

 

Supposedly the CNT are Perrin clones and fit about the same. I can't really find any reviews of them for 08+ wrx or 05 + Legacy GT though.

Not all headers are the same. Not all headers are good. Not all (even ELH) headers make more power than stock. Many headers decrease spool time. Threads like this make me SMH. The OP has tuned 6 cars!!! Somehow this thread is destined to now become interweb gospel. Lol.

Not all headers are the same. Not all headers are good. Not all (even ELH) headers make more power than stock. Many headers decrease spool time. Threads like this make me SMH. The OP has tuned 6 cars!!! Somehow this thread is destined to now become interweb gospel. Lol.

 

I mean at this point in this thread all we know is that Killerb, Invidia, and Perrin seem to be good for the OPs 6 cars that he tuned. Looking around on the different forums there isn't much information about ELH - most of it is ELH is good, knock-off brands have issues with fitment and exhaust leaks.

Zero regrets with my Invidia 1.5 scroll.

Not all headers are the same. Not all headers are good. Not all (even ELH) headers make more power than stock. Many headers decrease spool time. Threads like this make me SMH. The OP has tuned 6 cars!!! Somehow this thread is destined to now become interweb gospel. Lol.

 

I have tuned more than six cars sir, but I have personal experience with tuning 6 different subaru's with ELH. And so far, everytime I have seen the results posted for myself on VD. Take it and leave it for what its worth. increase of .06 to.08 on the maf and being able to add a good bit of timing. With the brands listed, Its night and day what the datalogs say and how the car runs.

 

I am no master at tuning. But I have more experience than the average weekend warrior tuner.

 

And I have seen 2mpg increase on the fwy.

 

I have no gain in posting this info, I am not selling or promoting headers, or my tuning.

Hell, the knock reduction in cylinders 2 and 4 are worth every dollar spent, And we all know number 4 is the most knock prone, and prone to ring land failure.

Hell, the knock reduction in cylinders 2 and 4 are worth every dollar spent, And we all know number 4 is the most knock prone, and prone to ring land failure.

 

The way you put ELH into perspective is appreciated. I will be going that route myself. At first with a cheapo ebay header I have sitting in my garage... if/when that gives up, I'll step up to a brand name with a good reputation.

Still shaking my head at this thread.

 

Carry on.

I'm shaking my head too - vertically!

Lemmings off a cliff. Lol.

 

I have a bridge to sell if any of the subscribed are interested.

m sprank, not sure why the hate? It's common knowledge in the automotive world that a properly paired tubular manifold/header will always do better then log manifolds/cylinders that contaminate each other*. The only manifold/header that is worse then the stock UEL header is a log manifold/header, where all 4 cylinders are contaminated by each other.

 

I think most of us just don't want to shell out $500+ on a header that gives about 10whp, but the more boost you push the more power you will gain. This is what Perrin pointed out in their bigger runner header too.

 

*Subaru owners incorrectly call their stock header unequal length. Technically you can have a tubular manifold/header that is unequal length that will gain power (and still loose the rumble). In Nissan and Honda world, Equal Length tubular headers are more of a buzzword based on assumptions of resonance and flows, I haven't seen any proof that a tubular unequal length does any worse then equal length though.

I only buy from bridge sellers that know that the customer is #1