matt260b

It seems like the price of headers range from 300s to 1200. Are the comptech ones the that much better then the cheaper brands? They all are made out of the same material and all claim the same HP????? I just bought a 03 S-type and I am looking to start to slighty modify, exhaust, air intake, chip, what you tell me??

LiQiCE

Comptech is the best for fitment reasons and quality control. Very few if any have complained about their Comptech headers not fitting right or having resonance issues.

Comptech is the only known header to work in the '03 CL-S 6speed too.

If you go with the cheaper brands there is a possibility of it not fitting and then you need to modify the headers to get them to fit. Couple of different common issues is the downpipes not lining up with the A-pipe, the O2 bung not being in the right spot so it hits the oil pan, and resonance (think of the noise you hear when blowing over top of a pipe or like a glass) from like 2500-3000 rpms.

You don't really have to worry about that with Comptech headers. With other brands, its a crap shoot ... you may have no problems but you might. I have no personal experience with any headers other than Comptech and Stone Racing. Stone didn't fit for me, two different tries (from the 1st and 2nd batch), Comptech fit, no problems no resonance, no issues.

thedream21479

I just bought a set of "cheap" Accord V6 stainless steel headers from ebay...they were $110.00 bucks plus $40 for shipping...so the total came to be aboug $150 bucks. They were shipped extremely promptly...and I installed them two nights ago. The fitment was PERFECT- even the 02 sensor socket was in the right place. The fit-and-finish was very good--though the match porting inside the runners wasn't quite as good as the Comptech header. It came with all the gaskets and bolts and I have no issues with it at all.

I didn't really feel any difference immediately but after a day or so of driving it...WHOA! It REALLY pulls hard to redline...before, the car would seem to flatten out at around 6500-7000 RPM and now I find myself bouncing off the rev limiter.

I know it's not a name brand and it wasn't expensive, but I am really happy with the purchase...and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

That and the CAI are the only engine mods so far.

Good luck!

thedream21479

I just bought a set of "cheap" Accord V6 stainless steel headers from ebay...they were $110.00 bucks plus $40 for shipping...so the total came to be aboug $150 bucks. They were shipped extremely promptly...and I installed them two nights ago. The fitment was PERFECT- even the 02 sensor socket was in the right place. The fit-and-finish was very good--though the match porting inside the runners wasn't quite as good as the Comptech header. It came with all the gaskets and bolts and I have no issues with it at all.

I didn't really feel any difference immediately but after a day or so of driving it...WHOA! It REALLY pulls hard to redline...before, the car would seem to flatten out at around 6500-7000 RPM and now I find myself bouncing off the rev limiter.

I know it's not a name brand and it wasn't expensive, but I am really happy with the purchase...and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

That and the CAI are the only engine mods so far.

Good luck!

phipark

CT is the best. Enough said.

All will provide the same gains because they are just pipes, all the same diameter. The main difference is reliability.

poisx7

iTrader: (1)

pls send me the link i need headers too, i have waited for used comptechs but no luck yet i have waited two yrs plus for a used one......

send or pm me the link pls pls pls,, on ebay ehhh, is it the stone racing headers/////???????

dfv3.2CL-S

iTrader: (1)

Comptech all the way, no questions about it. Somewhat pricey but you get a fine product.

thedream21479

No they aren't stone. One of course, is Megan. The other is a "no-name" brand that I bought. Sure Comptech is the best, but then it had better be if you are paying around $1000 dollars. For what I paid, i'm not unhappy.

And reliability? It's a header. It's stainless steel. It won't rust. It fits perfectly. The 02 sensor bung was in the correct place. It came with all the right gaskets and bolts. What else do you want? A stupid Comptech stamp? Take it down to a local engraver and have it engraved then.

mattg

you'll wish they had the stupid comptech stamp when the welds start to crack

cleancls

how about alpha werks.. anybody? nobody has commented on these..i heard pretty good results with their product..not too expensive but not too cheap...i read somewhere on this forum where the first batch they made had issues about the headers fitting rite, but i think the company fixed that now....

Red-CL

I've got a set of AlphaWerks headers.

I love them. I had them since August of 04.

No problems yet.

thedream21479

Not really. I figure for $150 bucks if they DO start to crack, i'll just buy another set. And still be saving money. I doubt it will happen because the welds look really good.

Don't get me wrong, If I found a set of CT headers used for a good deal, I'd jump on them...a good deal being around $400 MAYBE $500. Any more than that..no way...i'll just keep my "crap" stainless header or just stay stock. $1,000 bucks buys a lot of things.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I got my CT used and they were worth every penny. I wasn't too happy about spending more for them. If you are happy with the ones you have and don't mind swapping them if the welds don't hold, no worries. If the HP gains are the same, and they more than likely will be since they all copied CT's design, then good luck with them.

thedream21479

See that's a good response I am cpmpletely happy with them!

rtatsutani

Alright, emailed both Comptech and Nexus Industry (alphawerks) and have found the final answer to our question about which is better power wise. Nexus Industries claims that their headers only produce 13HP more than stock. Their dynos indicate 29 or 30 at the wheel but only achieves this amount b/c of their intake addition when doing the dyno. Comptech on the other hand claims that their headers produce 25-30 alone, w/o intake or any other mods at the time of their dynos.

Hope this answers your questions. Now is the gains worth the extra $700 you have to cough up? It's up to you!

03 CLS

So when using Alphawerks Air intake along with their headers created 29 to 30 WHP or at the crank?.. That's 16 to 17 ponies with a air intake added.

rtatsutani

Whp.

Hurleysurf24

those numbers dont mean shit because they make the environments perfectly ideal to extract the most ideal numbers .. and they dyno the hell out of the cars until they achieve the numbers they want ..... so they really arent that credible.

Anyways


THEDREAM I BOUGHT THESE HEADERS TOO ... THEY ARE ARE ARE ARE INFACT MEGAN RACING HEADERS

first look i took at the three to one part of the header is stamped with megan, but looks like it was buffed out.

thedream21479

LOL, congrats I thought so too actually...mine are the same way. You will receive them very quickly...the guy was awsome to deal with and had them to me in only a few days.


Note: If you plan on installing them yourself, its a PITA!!! Make sure you have jackstands and good tools...and I REALLY recommend having airtools. You have to remove the strut bar and such to reach the rear manifold bolts. The worst bolts are going to be the catalytic converter bolts...they were really rusted on my car- I had to cut them off. The header comes with new bolts so It doesn't matter!

Good luck to you!

P.S. I'm taking my car to the track this weekend- it's only an 1/8th mile but it will give me a good idea of my gains. My best ET before with only a cold-air intake was 9.33@78ish (give or take a couple mph), with an average of 9.5-9.6.

mrblorry

Here's my angle: No one, not even CT claims a performance improvement under 4000 rpm. I don't race my car. It's my daily transportation. Sure, I'll have fun every once in a while and stand on it, but I can count on two hands the number of times I break 4K on a daily basis.

Our cars are plenty fast, and if you're regularly winding it up past 4000, you are in ticketland unless you drive around all day in first and second gear. I have never used a cruise control more in my life, just because she'll crack 100mph without breaking a sweat, which usually makes me break into a sweat! Every time I see a Crown Victoria I have to glance at the speedo and hope the mphs weren't in triple digits

I'd love to put headers on my car, and I think I'm as exasperated as the rest of us with the "which brand is the best" debate--wanting to get CT, but can't even justify the cost of the Alphawerks--but I just don't know if it's all worth it for at most a 12% horsepower increase at an rpm range I rarely go into.

mrblorry

Oh! And with the %&@$&# price of gas these days, who the hell can afford to punch it that often anyways?

g1underground

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately............very good points

kensukikatayo

money makes all the difference..

LiQiCE

Car modding isn't for everyone ... If you don't have the itch, then good for you. You'll save a lot of money in the long run. For a lot of people, a 130hp Civic is "plenty fast" for them. I'd imagine the majority of people on these boards are car enthusiasts and car modding is on the brain.

For those of us that do have the itch... 30whp is a huge gain for a bolt-on mod. With many NA cars, you can't expect anywhere close to those kinds of gains from just a set of headers.

Shawn S

Sounds to me that someone is doing their best to justify NOT buying Headers.
I had some of the same thoughts before I bought mine, but I’m glad I finally did.

I don’t rev the engine to 7,000RPM on every shift, but the power is there if/when I feel the need for it.

Comptech Headers > *

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I got my OBX headers for 330 shipped. No complaints here.

03 CLS

I would love to see a before and after dyno with Alphawerks as I found a site that has them for $429....

Chaptorial

Save yourself the hassle of anything go bad down the road and just go with Comptech. You won't be sorry.

mrblorry

Now see, for that kind of $$ I could easily be persuaded back into the header buying itch

What was that site?

03 CLS

speedstash

http://www.speedstash.com/headers.html

03 CLS

The site shows 429.00 on sale, but when I went to buy them this morning it showed up in my cart as 650.00 so I made a call and they said there was a mistake and it would be correted to the sale price. I just went back and now if you add them to the cart it shows 550.00...so I called and they said that is the price $550.00.......

Sorry, looks like I'll be going to CCC to look at some Comptech's

rtatsutani

Yo, don't buy it from them! Here's a site which sells them for $399!

http://www.importperformanceparts.net

SG81

iTrader: (1)

i would and plan to get the Comptech one. i don't want anyother

mrblorry

Whoa! Damn! Here I am, making every possible effort to talk myself out of these damn things, and you show a site that sells Alphas for CHEAP!

Now what the hell do I do? You're KILLIN' me here!

rtatsutani, thanks for the link.

rtatsutani

I emailed the guys at Nexus Industries and they claim there's no way the CT headers are putting out 25-30WHP. They said that was false and the headers are putting out the same WHP as eachother.

NiteQwill

This discussion has been done before. There are HARD dyno numbers everywhere supporting the additional 30WHP... Just look around.

rtatsutani

Yes there are hard dyno numbers out there, but all are from CompTech who of course have the ability to post biased numbers (so Nexus Industry claims). I have NOT been able to find posts from other people with their own dyno results with ONLY CT headers installed and NOTHING else. Post a link to one if you know of it. Please please prove Nexus wrong b/c I for sure do not want to spend $1100 for a product which Nexus claims is the same as their $400 ones.

LiQiCE

The gains on the headers are all the same.

The confusion is the 32whp gain on the Comptech dyno. The 32whp gain is the MAX gain. Its not the peak gain which is what a lot of people will look at on a dyno.

The 32whp gain is somewhere around like 5500-6000 rpms if memory serves. Its simply that when they dynoed stock, the car got like lets say 155whp @ 5500rpms, and then with the headers the car put down 187whp @ 5500rpms .. A gain of 32whp. Does that make sense?

Peak gains for headers is like 15-20whp I think. So if your dyno shows you putting down 195whp peak with no headers, you'd be putting down 210-215whp peak with headers.

Its all about how you interpret the gains. Comptech has been marketing a 32whp gain, but the gain doesn't occur at peak, so you don't see those numbers when people dyno their cars. Most people with the standard I/H/E will dyno around 215-220whp, working their way closer to 230whp as you add on additional items like the pulleys, Unichip, maybe Thermoblok spacers?

Hope this makes sense.

RUF87

Good post LiQiCE.

Here's some more details from Comptech

http://www.comptechusa.com/store/cldyno.html

Notice that the gains are 6HP or less all the way up to 5800rpm.

That's why myself and others will say the Icebox is the better bang for the buck.

Look at the Icebox dynos and you'll see that 6HP increase comes in at 2800RPM.

Also, I'm willing to bet that the headers will give better usable HP sooner with an Icebox.

Ruf

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

I had a TL-S w/ all the comptech goodies, including their headers (which I bought used for $600.00, and then sold for $550.00 to a member on this board -- who still loves them! that's how reliable they are... they've been on three different cars... an Accord, my TL, and this guy's CL).

The advantage of the headers, one that no one has mentioned yet .. is that when you are at WOT from a roll, and say you're at the track... since all your upshifts drop you near or very close to VTEC territory ... and since this is where the headers add their power .. the headers REALLY shine in terms of your ET and trap speed. Just b/c they don't work under 4000rpms is not that important at the track. That's what superchargers are for .. low end torque.