Open header

[Research]

hey guyz.. :wave:
i've been hearing tat ppl r usin open headers in the car..
1 tat i've seen in another forum is a white eg with open header, juz goin on the drag strip..

the thing tat i wanna ask is, if i wanna do open header, do i need to get specialized header i.e. toda open header (a friend told me, toda has 1).. or can i juz take off my stock cat converter n alakazaamm i got an open header..

i also saw on youtube tat in the US, ppl have d16y8, do open headers..
n another thing is.. will it ruin the engine if i do open header n use it for track day ONLY??

for all of ur comments, thank you in advance..
im curious bout tis issue.. THX AGAIN!! :D

[vinnY]

other than being highly illegal you'd go deaf just driving at a slow pace anywhere

open headers is exactly as it suggests, nothing connected to the headers

admittedly i've done it once to get it home and get it to the exhaust shop the next day but never again will i put myself through that again :\

[Zdster]

Tat is mad sik! Youz shud def do it!

[SiReal]

Lol, read the actual post. He is referring this to DRAG and TRACK, not daily use.

Seeing that Drag and Track is usually private property, I believe that you are fine to run open headers. However, be wary as the heat from the exhaust might damage stuff under the car (hence why the exhaust goes all the way out to the back of the car).

[JasonGilholme]

You could always get a pipe to dump out the side of the car. that way its not just dumping to no mans land with possibilities of damaging components and leaking fumes into the cabin...

[Research]

im sry i forgot to mention tat i drive an EH civic Si with stock engine, d16a8..
anywayz, back to the topic..

so if i wanna use it for track day (not drag strip), SiReal, JasonGilholme n claymore, u guyz r suggesting to use a straight through pipe n not juz an open header?? cool!!
i guess i'll try to get myself a straight through pipe juz for track days lawl!!

aside frm givin some damage to the underbelly of the car, will open headers and/or straight through xhaust give damage to the engine itself?? coz i asked my mechanic n he said, it might shorten the engine's life, as it's gonna work much "harder" n its gonna drink fuel like water.. =P

thx again guyz!!


other than being highly illegal you'd go deaf just driving at a slow pace anywhere

open headers is exactly as it suggests, nothing connected to the headers

admittedly i've done it once to get it home and get it to the exhaust shop the next day but never again will i put myself through that again :\
as SiReal said, i'm gonna only do it on the track.. so no harm done to the locals :D
n yes.. i guess it's gonna be louder than a hard rock metal band lawl!!


Tat is mad sik! Youz shud def do it!
LAWL.. i wanna see other ppl's opinion 1st before i do it lol.. but thx.. :)

[vinnY]

fuel consumption probably going to be crappy too

any reason why you'd want to run open headers on an otherwise stock d16a8 other than having a loud mofo car?

[dsp26]

Open headers will work fine, BUT if you disconnect just before the CAT you may get a Malfunction light depending on your model car and engine. If you are just worried about heat don't worry about it if you do it only at the drag strip as the engine is on only a few minutes. On a road circuit you may get some damage undercar as you run with the heat for longer amounts of time and may need to add a straight pipe directing the exhaust out the side

yep.. depends if its obd2.. I THINK the obd2 models have 2 o2 sensors, 1 on the headers and one the actual cat.

i also THINK it should be fine in terms of heat of the heat shield under the shifter is still in place.

did it once on my sr20 minus heat shield (as the exhaust shop didn't put it back on) and you can feel the shifter getting hot!

[vinnY]

nope my ek4 only has one o2 sensor on the headers itself(obd2a)
had to drive with the windows down though, don't want to faint inside the car because of the fumes
no heat shield under my car so it did get a bit toasty down there

[dsp26]

^^lol.. so the fumes leaked past your shift boot? isn't the un-catalysed fumes harmful to lungs? btw did you hear the good news with your cams? pm me

[vinnY]

yep, sure are
wasn't for long though, got it to the exhaust shop quick smart :p

[xntrik]

its too noisy to drive with open headers.

[Research]

any reason why you'd want to run open headers on an otherwise stock d16a8 other than having a loud mofo car?
hmm.. ppl might think tat im juz tryin to do sumthn useless here :p
but honestly.. im still way too far from doin any engine swap and i won't do any big engine modifications to the d16.. so in the meantime, i juz wanna experiment a bit with my stock engine n hopefully can "gain a little tiny bit of power" from it :D n yes.. i know its gonna loud as crap.. but juz wanna try it on a track day :thumbsup:


yep.. depends if its obd2.. I THINK the obd2 models have 2 o2 sensors, 1 on the headers and one the actual cat.

i also THINK it should be fine in terms of heat of the heat shield under the shifter is still in place.

did it once on my sr20 minus heat shield (as the exhaust shop didn't put it back on) and you can feel the shifter getting hot!
im not too sure if mine is obd1 or 2.. thx for the input.. :thumbsup:


Your car isn't going to "Drink Fuel" with open exhaust. The ECU may enrich the mixture a LITTLE bit to cope with the increased flow but nothing you would ever be able to measure. You need to find a more informed mechanic.
oo.. tats great to know :thumbsup: i'll have to do more research on tis i guess.. :D


its too noisy to drive with open headers.
yea i know lol.. i guess if i juz do it for the track day is fine.. i think.. :p

[delsol9000rpms]

your cars not obd2.... so yu can run an open header and it will not damage yur engine in any way.... as some people have said make a dump pipe off the header so it dumps the gases towards the floor or out the side so the fumes dnt burn anything under yur car etc.

[Research]

your cars not obd2.... so yu can run an open header and it will not damage yur engine in any way.... as some people have said make a dump pipe off the header so it dumps the gases towards the floor or out the side so the fumes dnt burn anything under yur car etc.

cool.. thx for the confirmation..
i'll definitely use a dump pipe for it hehehe..
thx man.. :thumbsup:

[delsol9000rpms]

nwss mate

[dsp26]

hey Research... full pic of your avatar? :p

[EGB18CT]

open header is fine, although im not sure of the gains if the motor isnt built. Also check to see if they track of place you go to has noise limits, which they may tell you to quieten up your car, although i have rarely seen of this. If your not sure just experiment at the track, do a few passes with exhaust on and off, see how you go.

[mars_panas]

hey Handy if u attempt on doing it... make sure u get a vid clip haha i wanna see how loud is loud....

[Research]

hey Research... full pic of your avatar? :p
LOL!! here it is..
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh297/bagi2poto/076photo111.jpg


open header is fine, although im not sure of the gains if the motor isnt built. Also check to see if they track of place you go to has noise limits, which they may tell you to quieten up your car, although i have rarely seen of this. If your not sure just experiment at the track, do a few passes with exhaust on and off, see how you go.
well i hope with the stock engine, it can "gain" juz a tiny lil bit of power LOL!!
n abt the noise limit on the track, i never heard of it b4.. but thx for the tips!! :D i'll sure find out abt it beforehand.. :thumbsup:



hey Handy if u attempt on doing it... make sure u get a vid clip haha i wanna see how loud is loud....
LOL rido.. yea.. i'll try to get a vid of it.. if i can get a hold of a small camera n place to put it inside the car, tat'll be great.. but if i cant, i'll juz ask my gf to record when i pass through LOL!!

[JohnL]

Most (all?) tracks will have noise restrictions. If your car is over a certain decibel reading they'll ask you to park it...

[tekung89]

open headers on the d16a8 feels like the car has 0 torque. other than that , do it man and tell us how it goes lol and also tell me how much ur car will vibrate

[yourfather]

actually most tracks have noise limits too.... its a bit ****en stupid imho

[string]

My first engine swap the B-pipe was 20cm short of my old cat. I drove it to work for a few days. It was extremely loud, and very slow. Even if it did gain power it wouldn't be close to an even trade off, the noise level is just incredible.

[JohnL]

My old Nota (poor man's Lotus 7) once had half of the external exhaust fall off, leaving about 1m of unsilenced pipe. After retrieving the muffler, I had to drive the thing about 10km home at outrageous db levels. I got there, but expecting to see blue lights the whole way, police could have heard it suburbs away!

Embarrasing is the word that comes to mind, but I have to say that the noise at full bore reverberating in tunnels was just fantastic (couldn't resist!). Added to the sheer roar, on the overun it popped and banged (more like large and then simply huge explosions), with sheets of blue flame lighting up everything on the left side of the car...

[Research]

great inputs ppl!! thx a lot!! :thumbsup:
i'll surely let u guyz know how it feels n whether it's good or not LAWL!!
but it'll probably be done in a few months time.. so keep ur eyes peeled for my nxt thread LOL!!
thx again for the inputs n some stories.. sure fun to read tis thread..