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Hi! New to the site. I'm going to be getting a header in the near future. I want to get a
DC 4-2-1 header. Which is better, the stainless steel or the ceramic coated?

 
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Ceramic coated is better for keeping the heat out of the engine bay. But is easier to break if your car is lowered and rust if you leave in a place where they salt the roads and drive during the winter. Stainless wont rust and is stronger but lets more heat into the engine bay where you would like things cold. 4-2-1 good power throughout the power band and 4-1 good top end power. But dont expect much on our cars. And next time you should try searching the forums for the answer first.

 
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DC Sports doesnt make a 4-2-1 header for our cars, they only make a 4-1 header and only comes in ceramic. actually i dont recall any brand making a 4-2-1 header for our cars at all. i do know that the DC sports header isnt worth the money because its just like our stock manifold. everyone on this site seems to like the HP Racing header and the Kamakazie header, but both arent street legal.

 
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the only prob is that the hp header requires some adjustments to fit

 
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Hp isnt legal also if you have to have your emissions tested. Dc does make 4-2-1 and they do make them in stainless. The proof has been posted before.

 
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Our headers are so short 4-2-1 doesn't make any sense!! Anyone got a pic? I'm curious to see what it looks like

 
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i dont ever remember dc sports makin a 4-2-1 header recently

 
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I have a pic, but don't know how to post it. Go to this site and look up DC Headers. They have the one and two peice headers. Stainless and Ceramic. http://www.morepowerracing.com/

 
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I don't think that the one they have there is for our cars. Its for the 96-00 model.

 
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yup i don't think they ever made a 4-2-1 or else i would of gotten that instead of 4-1 shorty plus aftermarket downpipe

 
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The pic is definitely not for our car. It can't be like that & remain CARB legal.

 
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er. its not for our car. heh. sheesh.

there's no 4-2-1 header out there. except custom ones.

okay? done and done.

anyone state otherwise, I'll give you a free handshake.

 
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Listen, I just called Summit Sport Compact and asked about a DC 4-2-1 Header for a 01 Civic EX AT. The representative told me that they have the 1 and 2 peice ceramic 4-2-1 headers in stock and they can order the stainless steel 4-2-1 header. If you want to, call them yourself
1-800-962-9042 or visit their site SummitSportCompact.com

 
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2 piece header! LOL!! Summit Sport Compact doesn't know what they are talking about. I dare you to order one & install it!!!

This thread needs to end..

 
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eh get me a pic of one on a 01+ civic then I'll give the handshake.

lol.

if u take a look at the stock design, u'll know why I'm so certain about it.





thats the ex header and the 2nd pic contains the ex/lx downpipes..

ex has the cat convertor down there... welded to the downpipe..
while the lx has the cat up at the header.... so its just a long long mid pipe for the lx.

here's the LX header:



see the lil 4-1 header that... pretty much just rams 4 into 1 without any tube flow? lol.

thats the LX header... think they got space there to make 4-2-1?? heh.

or what about the EX? that thing is like what.. a foot in lenght at most.

hence, swapping the LX with a custom, carefully selected header and exhaust system can actually yield some gains... and you should probably get a highflow or relocate the current cat. convertor.

this is a familiar trait of Honda...

their EX models get the extra power not just from variable valve timing and lift electronic control... they get it from lots of diff. variation in the engine too.

ie: a more free flowing exhaust system.

so when you guys think there's no difference between those two 12 hp at the crank... you can see that it takes a lot of diff. mod just to get 12 hp at the crank.

hence, its even harder to bolt-on any significant power on our car.

anyway I'm done.

 
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CapYoda,
Where did you get the diagrams?

 
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pulled it out of my ***.

heh. jk.

check the link.

www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

has almost all the oem parts and all the related diagram of the parts.

comes in handy.

I got a service manual too though.

 
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Ok, Ok! It has become obvious to me that I have been lead down the wrong path by people just trying to make a quick buck off someone who doesn't have all the facts. But hey, that's why they made this site. Thanks for the info CapYoda! The diagrams are cool too. But, heres a question for you... Is it even worth replacing the header then?

 
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What makes a header for are cars not emissions legal, and couldn't you just swap the stock back when the time comes.

 
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well.. replacing the header..

you see, header affects power by its primary and secondary (if any) tube lengths and size... the way the tube bends affects where the power output will be at.

there is really no such thing as free horsepower concerning bolt-ons... (ie: intake, header, exhaust) the point of I/H/E is to relocate the powerband... for example, taking away the low end.. and moving it to the high end. since in rapid acceleration condition, you wont be under 3,000 RPM much... the effects of horsepower/torque lost wont be as relavant.

in any case... i'm straying a bit here... depends on the price of the header.. and what you've done to the car already.

I wouldn't pay over $120-150 shipped for any short header that has relatively the same design as the stock.

the DC you can tell its a bit diff.. it has a more smooth collector.. possibly increasing the high end and the tubes are a tiny bit bigger in terms of diameter.. the same goes for the flanges, which are smoother.

the aftermarket generic ones have big tube diameter... this is great if you've done other mods that will require extra lage volume of exhaust to be flown out... but personally, the generic ones aren't really that big of a deal.

its probably best to just stick with stock, unless u can get a header for around $100, none of them seems to be worth it.

as for the HP 4-1 race heade with highflow cat. convertor.. the power making point isn't the "highflow cat" (the highflow cat is actually just a freaking test pipe, not a catalyic convertor at all, those things are expensive)... what makes the power is the longer primary tubes... which allows for a better 4-1 merge, and will probably bump up the high end quite a bit.. but it will also probably rob a good deal of power from the low end too. the merging point also seems to have been enlarge, so again the high end will probably yield some gains too.

now, with the pictures I've come across.. I really dont think HP R&D their 4-1 race header for our car.. it looks exactly the same as the header for previous gen... all they did was slap on a "high flow" cat. convertor so it'll fit the ex exhaust.

so yeah its pretty much a price thing.. if its over 150, I duno if any is worth it.. maybe only the HP one.

I'm not realy sure about the kamikaze.. I haven't seen the design, but I suspect their header for the LX is simply some 4-1 header they had for some other car.. with a test pipe so it'll fit the length of the stock LX header/cat convertor.

as for emission legal deal...

truthfully, slapping on any of these short headers for the EX will probably not change the emission of our car at all... but the fact that the parts aren't CARB or emission exempt makes it illegal.

CARB exempt process is time and money consuming, so its not worth it for a lot of companies to get their products CARB exempted.

alright sometimes I overkill on the info thing.

lol. I was suppose to write all these articles on things I've found out through the years.. but I'm lazy, and instead here I'm typing out an essay here.