Some of you may or may not know but in the past I worked for Titan Motorsports. During my 3 years there I had the chance to do some very fun things and this header test I organized was probably one of the most well received dyno tests during my tenure there. We had some great people involved and tested some very nice headers.
Recently I found all the old dyno sheets on my computer and can show the results here. We originally had a thread posted on Honda-Tech with all the results but throughout the years the servers, images, etc had been lost. I am just going to copy and paste the text that I originally used there for time savings sake here. Remember this test was done back in December of 2003 so some of these products may or may be available on the market anymore but this will give you some results to check out. 8 hours on the dyno, 35 dyno runs, 100 pictures, 2 video's, 12 header swaps on the car, 1 trip to Hooters ….and we are done. After all is said and done I really believe that our header test has been a very big success. I feel that we gave all 8 headers that we had on a hand a fair shake and were able to a pretty good idea of the potential each header had with the limited number of dyno runs each header got.
First off I want to thank those involved as it couldn’t have happened without them:
- all at Titan Motorsports (shameless plug – http://www.TitanMotorsports.com )
- Darin Dichiara (aka Willis) for busting his ass for the testing
- Louis Cohen for all the help
- Bert from Gettel Acura for hanging out during the day and letting us borrow the Comptech Race Header
- Mike M from IPS Racing for use of the Toda Header
- Vibrant Performance
- Enzo from Headertech
- Danny Tran from DTR Fab
- Honda-Tech member 'tegedrex’ for sending out the Hytech Header
- John Yasko for use of the Weapon R Race Header
- All Honda-Tech Members
Here is the final list of the headers on hand for the showdown:
- DC Sports JDM 4-1 - $399 MSRP
- Vibrant Performance JDM Spec 4-1
- Weapon R Race Header - $850 MSRP
- Toda - $980 MSRP
- Comptech Race Header - $995 MSRP
- Hytech - $1300 MSRP
- Headertech - $650 MSRP
- DTR
Here are the specs on the engine that each header was run on:
- 1.8l gsr block
- .025” overbore integra type r pistons
- integra type r head
- integra type r intake manifold
- accel 255cc injectors
- overbore civic si throttle body
- injen short ram intake with filter removed
- b&m fuel pressure regulator
- titan motorsports cam gears
- jun type II intake cam
- integra type r exhaust cam
- all dyno runs were made open header
Originally we were just going to use the DC Sports JDM 4-1 runs that were made on the car as the baseline but we realized those runs were made with a catback exhaust on the car so towards the end of the day we decided to throw that DC Sports Header back on the car to get the baseline done running open header and in the same conditions as every other header. Ultimately I think this was a wise plan because in fact the DC Sports did make some more power than previously tested:
The first header on the car for the day was the Vibrant Performance JDM Spec 4-1. No fitment issues at all with this header – very easy install. Of all the headers on hand the generally consensus was that this header definitely appeared to be the prettiest. Unfortunately the dyno results of the header were less than impressive. Considering the DC Sports JDM 4-1 made 188 hp peak we expected the Vibrant with its larger runners to make a bit of an increase over this number, the opposite occurred. We even gave the Vibrant Header a 2nd go at it, towards the end of the day we decided to throw it back on the car for another run to see if indeed we tapped it of all its power. The same results occurred. Here is the graph of the Vibrant Performance Header vs. the DC Sports JDM 4-1:
Next on the dyno was the Weapon R Race Header. With its $850 MSRP price tag it was one of the cheaper headers that we had on hand. It did in fact impress us with its first run laying down a nice 192 peak hp run and following that up with a 194 peak hp run. At this point in the day we were pretty stoked to be getting these kind of numbers out of the car already. By the looks of it the peak hp and torque numbers that were achieved by the Weapon R Race Header were pretty nice, but once compared to the others in the showdown the area under the curve was a bit of a let down. But hey, for the money, you really can't go wrong – a very nice design although we did have to get a little aggressive with it to get it on the car. It was a previously used header so that might have had something to do with it but the exhaust manifold stud closest to the timing belt needed to be helped a bit to get the header on there. Here is the Weapon R vs. DC Sports JDM 4-1:
Up stepped the Comptech Race Header. The $995 MSRP price tag really isn’t bad at all considering the quality of the piece. Exceptional welds and what appears to be a very nice design make this header worth it. Fitment was a perfect, slid right on with no unnecessary force for installation. Power wise it was pretty decent. Peak numbers were pretty close on all the headers tested so you can’t really tell an outright leader that way but throughout the powerband the Comptech was neck and neck for the most part with the middle of the pack. Here is Comptech vs. Toda:
Toda was the next header to get its shot. Probably the simplest design of them all and a $980 MSRP price tag made it seem to be a winner all around. No fitment issues at all and ground clearance was better than average. Where we saw the Toda excel as we expected was throughout the powerband. It made good power at any rpm point you desire and still pulled hard up in the top end of the rev range. Here were have Toda vs. Weapon R:
By the looks of it thus far we were all thinking these headers are going to be pretty close regardless of manufacturer. Next we got to HeaderTech. As noted by Darin when installing the header it was by far the lightest header that we had on hand for the showdown. Fitment issues didn’t exist and the quality of the piece was top notch. We did note that the outside of where the flange meets the runner right off the cylinder head wasn’t welded on the outside and left a less than desirable look. This doesn’t affect the strength of the piece at all as it is perfectly welded on the inside of the flange and smoothed down to avoid from any flow problems, more of a continuity problem aesthetically speaking. We were quite impressed by the Headertech once we made a couple of pulls with it as well. The power seemed to be everywhere and even with the adjustments that were made to the car gaining and losing here and there depending upon the adjustment we feel like this header had a lot more potential in it if we had the time to really play with it. Here is Headertech vs. Weapon R Race Header:
Up next we had Hytech. When we first received this header from a fellow Honda-Tech member and posted pictures of it John from Hytech dropped me an email more or less letting me know that this header is an older design that has been revised and that in fact this header didn’t appear to be for a 1.8l engine, more for the 2.0l engines. Well in all honesty it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth because firstly John hadn’t volunteered a header himself for the test so we are lucky at all to have one on hand for the test and secondly it seemed as if he was trying to put a disclaimer on his product before the test had even begun. Well all that basically doesn’t matter at this point because the Hytech layed down the biggest peak hp and torque numbers of the day with 196 hp and 135 torque and the area under the curve didn’t seem to bad at all either. No fitment issues at all with this header and and quality was definitely among the best on hand. The only thing holding this header back in our opinion is the $1300 MSRP price tag. But then again there is always the saying that I use frequently, “you gotta pay to play.” Here is the Hytech Header vs. Toda:
and Hytech vs. Weapon R Race Header:
Hytech vs. DC Sports JDM 4-1
Hytech vs. Comptech
Last but certainly not least we installed the DTR Header from Danny Tran Racing. When we first got the header from Danny he told me that we would have to trim about 0.5” of the stock radiator shroud in order to get the header to fit. Well we were so excited to get the header on the car we didn’t do this and the header rubbed slightly against the radiator shroud and during the runs melted away – you guessed it – about 0.5” of the shroud. This was completely our fault and in no way related to poor fitment issues, just overzealous boys. Other than the radiator shroud that we were warned about there was no problem at all getting the header into the car. I do believe though that of all headers on hand we were all most excited to see this one on the car to make some runs. The smooth design of the runners appeared to be excellent for flow. Once the header was on the car and runs were made I can’t say we were let down at all really, although the peak numbers were about the same as the front runners the area under the curve as a bit better than average. With more tuning this header could of just as easily been in the #1 spot as where it was. But we can say that about a lot of headers on hand as well. Here is DTR vs. Headertech:
DTR vs. Hytech
DTR vs DC Sports JDM 4-1
Our conclusion from the testing is that the Hytech came out on top. All through the power band it just seemed to have the best reaction. Regardless of what tuning we did to the Hytech Header is didn’t really phase it. Although we were limited to time and the tuning tools that we had on hand we feel that it was clearly the front runner. But on a side note each header that was at the top of the field could have done better with more tuning. It is so close between the majority that ultimately any of the headers could have came out up front, just a matter of finding its sweet spot on the limited number of runs that we had. But we do feel that this gives a pretty good idea of what kind of power these headers can offer over the competition. Some give more midrange while others you can see are pulling pretty hard up top. I am working on getting all the pictures from the test up in a thumbnail format for all to see as well as all 35 dyno runs that were made for reference. If there is a comparison in particular that you could like to check out please just let me know and I will get it created as soon as possible. If you have any questions either please feel free to let me know and I will help out as much as I can. Here are all headers tested in one sheet:
