I was wondering if anybody has the DC 4-1 Ceramic Header or the OBX 4-1 header....I was just wondering your opinions on them...if anything was different...or noticed anything with either....

You will get mixed opinions saying OBX isn't a real company or DC is crap. Well the DC is just a little bigger than the stock header. The OBX is model after the kamikaze header. So I would go with OBX personnally.

After carefully reading most of the header feedbacks, OBX or Kamikaze gets my vote.

The only advantage of the DC Sports is their claim that they are CARB exempt. They are CARB exempt on certain applications only. As I do further research...

...and my 04 Civic is ULEV. So no matter which header I get, it will not be street legal in CA technically. Unless the cop doesnt know the above quoted exeption.

Having said that, why pay extra for DC Sports when I am not going to be street legal anyway?! OBX SS is what Im getting...

see...that whole ulev part is where i get confused...cause that meaning ultra low emissions vehicle, if we put header, hiflow cat, and cat back on, wouldn't that just make it so that we are at either low or supposed normal?

which actually brings up another question...kinda on the same subject....which would be better for performance/sound level.....aftermarket header and catback and stock downpipe...or aftermarket downpipe and catback and stock header?

If you want the most gain, then get an aftermarket I/H/E. If you run a stock header, you are still having a bottleneck somewhere in your system. The same thing goes for stock downpipe.

you may be correct but its still illegal to alter a ULEV.

naw get kamikaze

So if I were to do the full h/e cause i already have the intake, what header and downpipe mix should i get for the best gain/lowest sound level....nh doesn't allow over 95 decibles and i really wouldn't want to be driving with the silencer in there....so what would a quiet set be?

i would get kamikaze. i had the dc 4-1 ceramic and it cracked on me one night. i had it for about a year in and i didnt see much difference from stock nor felt any difference, maybe just sound.

you have a DX, if you install a DX/LX aftermarket header on it, you will lose the cat...AFAIK.

If you want to keep a cat, run an EX aftermarket header with RandomTech hi-flow cat as the downpipe and get an EX aftermarket exhaust. CA doesnt allow more than 95dB on idle either.

As for the brand of the Header, I just ordered the Civic EX OBX SS which was modeled after the Kamikaze.

I've had a GS-R with DC Ceramic for two years and no crack. FYI.

I own an 04 LX.

The EX stabilizer bar arrived in the mail today.
Tomorrow, the EX RandomTech/Magnaflow Exhaust arrives as well.
Friday, is the ETA for the OBX Header.

Sunday is the install day..

edit:

MagnaFlow and RandomTech arrived shortly after the stabilizer bar.

Awaiting the OBX header...

^^^^^^^^^ are you stupid? You are gonna lose the cat no matter what. So he would have to get a new cat either way.

also you don't have to worry about being carb exempt since you don't live in california.

Thank you for the kind words.

On LX:

I thought if you install an LX header, you will lose the stock cat, no? LX has the cat-converter on the header. Is there any hi-flow cat for the LX? Megan claims to have one but that isnt a real cat-converter. The whole idea of having a less bottleneck is to run a hi-flow cat while maintaning your car as CARB compliance as possible.

On EX:
Are you also losing the cat with an aftermarket header? NO. Because the b-pipe (downpipe as most intelligent member calls it) has the cat-converter as opposed to the LX. How are you going to lose the cat-converter in this case?

This is why I said if you wanna keep a cat with hi-flow, get an EX header along with hi-flow randomtech EX cat converter and mate it with MagnaFlow exhaust.

Tell me which part I missed Master. I just bought my car 3 weeks ago and Im still in the process of learning this 2004 LX

How smart of you Master. There's no such thing as CARB in NH since CARB stands for California Air Regulatory Board.

If the emission is not the issue in NH, then forget what I said about the hi-flow cat.

On the other hand, he may want to keep in mind that in the near future...
from http://www.dmv.org/nh-new-hampshire/...gistration.php

Another difference in the dc header, is that it give the car more low/mid range hp and torque because of slightly larger than stock exhaust piping. All the other headers have a lot larger diameter than the stock piping which robs low end torque and puts it higher up.

yes, i do have a dx, and yes, i was planning on switching to the ex exhaust since that has more options...and i do know that i need to change my front sway bar, but that's besides the point....i know that nh doesn't have to worry about the carb thing...being in new hampshire, the onlythings that i have to worry about is having a cat, a muffler, and being below 95 db...so what set up would give me the higher gain yet the lower db level...the catback that i was planning on was an Apex'i N1 style...then i'm trying to figure out the header and cat...

those who have OBX header on their civic ex, did you guys get any noticeable gains? and if you buy header off of e-bay how long does it take to get in?